Funny yet tragic, the family dynamics are what make this book stand out. I was utterly captivated and by the end of the book, felt I had been on a journey.

Tehrangeles is told in multiple voices, and in some chapters has omniscient narration. Most (all?) of the narrators are members of the Milani family, Iranian-Americans living in Los Angeles, wealthy due to a frozen food sensation created by dad Al (Ali). Mom Homa is quiet, aloof, but somehow also all in on the family's 24-carat lifestyle. The daughters are Violet, a 20-year-old model; Roxanna-Vanna, a 17 or 18-year old influencer; Mina a maybe 15 or 16-year-old closeted she-doesn't-know-what-yet-but-definitely-queer, and Haylee is 14 and a gym rat/health nut.

We meet the Milanis in late 2019 as they're planning a new reality show with producers. The worldwide shut down shuts down production, as well, and the family are left to their own neuroses. Violet takes up baking, Haylee takes up QAnon, Mina goes deep on K-pop, and Roxanna...last about two months before she decides they need to throw a party.

At one point I wondered if the four-daughters were Little Women-ish, but I didn't think the personalities gibed. But somewhere near the end, one of the sisters references the Alcott book, and we learn from author Khakpour that there was a connection--Tehrangeles started as a sort of hate write of Little Women. That makes me like it a little more, but ultimately, I found the narration changes frustrating and the characters unsympathetic. I guess it's it'a hate-write, the characters are meant to be annoying, but I think the book would have benefited from less authorial distaste.

oh. my. goodness. this book was absolutely incredible!!!! i had so much fun reading this book. it was lovely and wonderful and amazing. thank you so much to netgalley for letting me read this book before the publication date!!!

Was I skeptical about a book about influencers about to land a reality show? Of course! Was I pleasantly surprised? You bet!
In Tehrangeles we meet the Milani family, multimillionaires from a microwave snack empire, on the cusp of launching a reality TV show all about their family. Of course there are secrets being kept that threaten to surface, especially with cameras about to roll.
But, the pandemic happens, and here is what I loved about Porochista Khakpours book. It cleverly puts a magnifying glass on the state of the world, and the state of this country during that time, and captures it brilliantly. Between the 4 Milani daughters and the parents, Khakpour was able to showcase the different, shall we say, personality types that seemed to have emerged during quarantine in this country. Complete with super spreader events.
Don't let the reality TV part sway you, give this one a read for a portrait of America, of family belonging and most importantly, identity and what that means for this Iranian-American family, and the rest of us. I laughed as much as my heart broke for these kids. Don't let me forget...there's a cat with a wild part of the story too!

Tehrangeles is the story about an Iranian-American family and their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. This story is told from multiple perspectives, highlighting each of the different family members.

This was the worst book that I've read in a while. It glorifies eating disorders and taking drugs. The characters are all completely undesirable and I disliked every single one of them. A huge part of the story is one of the sisters coming out as gay. There was not one character that I liked here. They made fun of conservatives and Christians and white people in general.

This book did not have a storyline or plot. I really don't know what the author was trying to evoke with this book, but for me it was just disdain.

I love reading books from writers who have a different cultural background than I do. I used to live overseas in a country that isn't my homeland and I can often relate well to these experiences and I still enjoy learning about different cultures. This book was so icky that I cannot recommend it to anyone.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc of this novel. This was ultimately a case of “oooh I love that cover, I need that” however it wasn’t as mesmerizing as I hoped. Dnf at 15%

I wanted to love Tehrangeles - a soap opera style sister drama on the cusp of the pandemic - but the book became more claustrophobic than insightful. Four sisters, aged 14 through 19, each with wildly different personalities, are preparing to star in a reality TV show. Meant to circle on their various quirks, the show is continually delayed. Fearing her spotlight opportunity slipping away, the second oldest, Roxanna, throws herself a massive birthday party in an attempt to draw drama and launch the family on TV.

A few things didn’t work for me; first, while each sister falls into a trope, there’s very little drama between the siblings, and most interactions seemed to happen over text despite being only a few doors down. Second, for being part of ‘Tehrangeles’, there’s shockingly few Persians present beyond the family. This opens up confusion on how Roxanna could have convinced people that she was Italian, if she was part of this community.

While it seemed like the book was going for a ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ vibe, I didn’t feel the implied luxury. While the house was huge, and the on-hand staff speaks to opulence, other than the party (which felt kind of mythical) it felt like the daughters were standard run of the mill spoiled.

Finally, while the book takes place over only a couple of months, there wasn’t as much character development as I wanted. Haylee’s dive into the alt-right felt like the closest thing to satire, but all other sister’s development felt disappointingly static.

It’s the beginning of the global pandemic, and the Milani’s are more concerned with their upcoming reality series. The family consists of four daughters deep into the world of social media, a father in charge of a microwaveable snack empire, and his wife, who holds the family together.

As each family member realizes their long-held secrets are about to be brought out into the open on their national debut, they all try to figure out ways to deal with their fears about what might happen once the cameras start rolling.

This was a juicy story about socialites and social media. Everything about this novel was an exquisite peek into the spoiled world of four young women and their parents. Even though I would have loved more of a back story on the family, this felt like what I would think a fast Hollywood “rise-to-stardom” moment would feel like. Rushed, anxiety-ridden, and slightly messy.

Overall, it is a fun and surprisingly quick read.
The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was pleasantly surprised by how accurate and funny/sad Porochista Khakpour’s book is. Tehrangles is a multi-generational immigrant story. When Al Milani comes to America from Iran with little money in his pocket, he never dreamed of becoming super rich and famous. Al hits it big, marries an unassuming fellow Iranian because he was too intimidated by the women who were already Americanized and starts a family. He has all girls. The action really takes place during the pandemic while under their lavish roof. The family and the girls, plus a cat and a housekeeping couple, make up the day to day backbone outrageous story. Even though the pandemic is raging, their daily life is so different that it almost becomes television fodder.

Why read this book. If you are curious about the LA Iranian scene it is spot on. If you want to see how families of get along and don’t get along read it. If you want to see that people who you think can never change do, read it. Basically, it is a fun read and well researched.

I would not recommend this book. I didn’t believe the family relationships (the sibling dynamics, the child/parent dynamic, the parents’ relationship) and did not care for any of the characters. I also did not care for the pandemic storyline, which was not mentioned in the description of the book. Had I known, I would have been less likely to pick it up in the first place.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

A cool book about a wealthy Iranian family filled with secrets and all the struggle it takes them to reveal them or hide them. Thanks for the arc

Porochista Khakpour's last book was a harrowing, intense memoir of her years living with chronic illness and navigating the world of doctors and medicine that had few answers for her. So I was puzzled to read that this new novel would be about an absurdly wealthy Iranian family in Los Angeles and their pursuit of fame.

The patriarch of the family became rich by inventing a junk food beloved by millions, and the family of 4 daughters plus his wife and their household help live isolated in a mansion. There is the possibility of a reality show as part of the storyline, yet most of the book involves the obsessions of the daughters: internet influencers, eating issues, drugs, and sexuality. When the Pandemic hits, the story takes a turn confusing all of them. They are not able to buy their way out of the feelings and the sickness that comes with this new world. Every member of the family has a secret they each feel would be devastating to reveal. And they each finally figure out that the secrets are the most devastating, and revelation freeing.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.