Beautifully written and a story for the ages. I enjoyed every moment spent in this world and look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! All thoughts are my own.

Wow. All I can say is wow.
This should be required reading. This was so powerful and moving. This was community and love. Rage. Acceptance. The story about life as a queer individual in many time periods and the strength they had to overcome the prejudice that was shown to them. This book holds on to your heartstrings, plucks them but never lets go. I loved everything about this.

Abdi Nazemian never ceases to impress me. I greatly enjoyed Exquisite Things. I am an avid reader of queer historical fiction, so I was very excited to read his upcoming release. I plan to recommend this book to older teens at my branch looking for engaging queer stories.

this book is so good :') romantic and heartbreaking and fantastical. Nazemian has a talent for weaving between decades in his stories, and this one utterly shines. although the secret to immortality didn't make a whole lot of sense, i simply didn't care. what i cared about was the ups and downs of a love between two teenage boys that you can't help but adore despite and sometimes because of their flaws. the lessons they learned and the bonds that they cherished. the hardships that they experienced when they tried to be together made their relationship all the more real. anyway, it's almost 2am and i'm a little delirious but this book is really, really good :')

nghhh I feel like, for me, this teetered into like SLIGHTLY too pretentious and twee for me but it had some really elegant moments and an interesting high concept. I think it'll hit for a certain flavor of pretentious gay teen (I say this with LOVE)

(for me personally Only This Beautiful Moment was the EXACT level of wordy pretentious teen character I love)

I enjoyed the writing, but sadly I felt like the character's relationship wasn't developed enough. I didn't understand why they were together or why we should root for them to be.

I was so captivated by this book’s title but mostly by the cover. It’s very reminiscent of one of my most favorite books, I loved the colors and the depth of it. My hopes were exceptionally high based on this alone. Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed. I was confused to find a book with such an enticing cover to be labeled as ‘children’s fiction’, and when I opened the book, I discovered that wasn’t an error. The writing, to me, felt exceptionally juvenile compared to the cover of the book. If I disregard the cover, I could see where this book would appeal to a younger audience.

Rating: 3.75/5 stars

This is one of those rare books where I think the concept would work better for in a movie format. Something visual. Watching the times change back-and-forth I think would be much easier to take in that reading it.

The writing was exquisite. Abdi Nazemian really knows how to write. And the emotion present throughout the story really shined. What made .e falter the most, I think, was the relationship between the two MCs. Stuff was rockier between than I had anticipated going in, and I felt I wasnt quite given enough of their feelings for each other and why they should be together. I wanted so much more of THEM. Together. But the romance portion ended up not being quite what I thought I was gonna get going into the story. And I also had difficult with both of them and their decisions towards each other. Which only added to the romance not really working for me.

So what really grasped me was the humanity painted throughout the years. Watching the world change from the eyes of two queer men. It really hit deeply. It hurt. Many of their thoughts and dialogue made me feel seen. That aspect of the book was a 5/5. If it had spent a little more time growing the two MCs and their relationship together, I think this would have been the perfect book for me.

This book blew me away with its storytelling. I’ve been know to review high for a good historical authors note, this whole book is one. The way different periods and important queer events are interwoven into the plot is masterful: it teaches readers who didn’t grow up knowing this history and rewards those who did with nuance, accuracy, and care. It’s one of the most realistic and grounded depictions of queer historical experience I’ve seen, even with the fantastical framing.

That said, the final conflict felt like it came out of nowhere, showing up in the last 10% of the book, along with a surprise twist involving big pharma and conversion camps. These were all important threads, but cramming them into the ending didn’t give them the weight they deserved. Honestly, this might’ve been stronger as a duology or longer standalone.

I found myself wanting to see more of the mundane in between: how did they survive undocumented for decades? What did the years really look like when no one was watching?

Character-wise, I got there eventually. One character’s childishness positivity makes more sense when you realize it’s armor from a love-starved childhood, but the text doesn’t fully earn that reveal. And the “sad one” actually felt pretty valid? Like sorry I’d also be devastated if someone skipped our special trip. So sue me.

It’s incredibly approachable for younger readers without ever talking down to them. Essential reading for young readers and adult historical fiction and romance alike.

Abdi Nazemian cemented himself as one of my forever favourites with Like A Love Story, and each book before and after were hit after hit. Exquisite Things was even better if possible.

This story emotionally destroyed me and I will thank it for it. I am still reeling from all the feelings and my eyes won't stop shedding tears.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read "Exquisite Things." Since I wasn’t able to finish it, I can’t offer a full review. That said, I want to praise the quality of the writing—it has a certain grace and elegance that’s rarely found in novels written for a slightly younger audience.

The reason I couldn’t bring myself to continue is, I think, more about context than content. Having read widely across the gay literary canon, I found "Exquisite Things" to be a beautifully concise reflection of its recurring themes and emotional weight. For readers less familiar with queer history—especially first-hand accounts from the 19th and 20th centuries—this will likely be moving, maybe even revelatory. But for those who know those stories well, it might feel like running your fingers over a smooth surface, rather than something you can really hold onto.

It’s a thoughtful, beautifully written book, and I imagine it’ll speak powerfully to readers earlier in their journey with queer stories.

Thank you Harper Collins for the advanced copy to review!

First of all - Abdi Nazemian could publish his random scribbles on paper and I’d line up to read it first. His prose is gorgeous and this book is just a stunner. I savored it because I did not want it to end. I highlighted over 130 lines on my kindle and struggled to narrow it down to 18 snippets to share.

This is a love story that spans over 100 years and it is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty. I loved the dual POV and how seamlessly Abdi moved between these two characters.

It’s so easy to root for and love Shams/Bram and Oliver. It’s heartbreaking to watch Oliver’s depression and know exactly how he feels. It’s so heart wrenching to see Shams/Bram feel so lonely and finally find the person he’s meant to be with. The love story. The romance. The yearning. The sweetness. The hurt. It’s all worth it for that ending.

The importance and significance of chosen family in this cannot be overstated. It’s vital in each timeline, but wow. The 80s timeline got me good.

Every single word of this book is important and beautiful. Exquisite prose. Gorgeous storytelling. Another incredible book from @abdaddy and we are truly the lucky ones to read it.

I’ve already preordered my copy and you can too from @chevaliersbooks in LA which is Abdi’s preferred home indie!!

@abdaddy ilysm and I’m SO grateful I found your stories last year. You changed my life in all of the best ways. I’ll never stop being grateful.

An eternal life. That’s what some of us sometimes wish for, right? I’m afraid to die. I want to stay in this world and see with my own eyes what happens. I want to make a difference. I want to be with my loved ones. But what if they’re all gone and I’d be the only one still living? Hmmm, the world might be incredibly lonely by then.

Shahriar has huge dreams. Believes in a world that gets better over time. He’s desperate for eternal love. He’s also selfish. According to Lily, one of the side characters (but the most important one!) he’s: “An unloved child who thinks he can remake the world in his image.”

Oliver is used to hiding. He thrives in groups where he can be himself. Needs love from other people. He’s also depressed at times. “I always told you I was afraid. That it was the worst of my qualities.”

Exquisite Things is a story about two seventeen-year-olds who find eternal life. And always stay seventeen. The concept is marvelous and only an author like Abdi Azemian can pull this off. Two POVs in three different timelines. He did it in Only This Beautiful Moment and is doing it again, a story so small and so grand at the same time.

I don’t want to say too much about it. Just know the two boys live their lives on their own—sometimes decades apart—but always find their way back to each other. The eighties timeline stood out for me the most. The harshness of that time, but also filled with so much love and music: Spandau Ballet, the Human League, David Bowie, and so many others.

Some people always look back. Nostalgic because in the past everything seemed to be better. Others live in the future, with big dreams. But maybe we should try to live more in the now, even with all the terrible stuff happening at the moment. Hold on to the ones we love. And to ourselves. Give ourselves breathing room.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 because I could’ve done with a few less adverbs in the dialogue tags.

Nazemian is a really good writer, and I'll continue to always read his releases, but this was my least favorite thing he's published so far. Other than the main characters being 17, it didn't really feel like a YA book to me for some reason. I also just personally don't love books that jump around in time, but that's a me problem not a problem with the book. However, I did think there wasn't enough development of the relationship between the two main characters - I didn't understand what they like about each other between how they looked and their shared history, and I didn't feel like the reader was given enough to want them to end up together. Plus, I found both of them to be a bit selfish and manipulative. I did like that parts of this were set in Massachusetts though, that was fun for me!

Once this book got going, I could hardly put it down. There were several quotes about life, being queer, and everything in between that made me have to put the book down and think “wow”.
A lot like another of Abdi’s books, this one had characters so complex and a story so well told that I didn’t want the book to end, I felt so strongly that what we get on page is not the whole story and the characters’ stories continue after the book stops.

This is a six stars book if I’ve ever seen one.
This is compared to Addie LaRue but while I do love that book this feels a lot deeper and more meaningful. I wish this was out already so everyone could read it this month, it’s the perfect read for pride month.
We follow Bran and Oliver through the decades as the world changes and evolves(or not). Bran wanted to experience love in a time he could do it freely, and he gets the opportunity by becoming immortal somehow. Upon meeting Oliver he does the same for him with the hope they could live together forever. Obviously things don’t go as swimmingly as he hoped.
This book is so well written, I underlined many parts. The descriptions are so vivid I felt like I was there. I felt the character’s helplessness and rage, their love and their hope. I am sure it will stay with me, it moved me like very few books ever did. I honestly don’t have words to describe how great it is.
Exquisite Things is about love, community, justice, prejudice, acceptance, rage, and above all, life. This feels like required reading, I urge everyone to read it once it comes out.