If you love to read about passion and desperation and forbidden love, this will surely satisfy. If you are into Romeo and Juliet, grab this for sure. It’s not a retelling by any means, but you get that same irresistible pull between lovers, that same willingness to risk everything to be together.
I could have read this all in one sitting had it not been for pesky basic obligations like feeding my child. It is very compelling, you’ll want to race through the pages to find out what happens. Sometimes Sahar can be infuriating. You are really able to see how her emotions are controlling her and sometimes you want to just shake her. But she does grow up throughout the course of the book and I found the ending very satisfying.
Sahar has been in love with her best friend Nasrin for as long as she can remember. But in Iran, love between people of the same sex is forbidden. They are managing to survive on stolen moments until Nasrin’s parents find her a husband. With her beloved engaged, Sahar is filled with panic and is willing to do anything so that they can be together, even consider sex reassignment surgery.
Age Recommendation: While the actual sexual activity is pretty tame, the sexual topics discussed, ranging from prostitution to sex reassignment surgery are fairly mature. I would recommend this for Grades 9+
Racism – I’m not really sure about the sentence: Women make noises “like Indians in cowboy movies.”
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Girls buy bras and get their periods. Girls kiss on the mouth. A girl will likely have an arranged marriage. A boy has boyfriends. Sahar thinks of a man as a pedophile even though he technically is not (he is in his thirties marrying an 18 yr old). Sahar talks about her breast size and needing a breast reduction. A girl appreciates that men can’t stand next to women on the bus, so that no one’s penis brushes her bum. There are multiple transgender characters. There are lots of prostitutes and some people who are responsible for setting up the prostitutes jobs. Someone comments that bathrooms can be sexy. There’s talk of sexual reassignment surgery. There is kissing and earlobe biting. People are “hot” for each other.
Profanity – “asshole”, “whore”, “damn”, “son of a bitch”, “pervert”,
Death, Violence and Gore – Two boys are hung, supposedly for raping another boy, but likely for sodomy. A girl’s mother has passed away. In a joking way it is suggested that the inventor of high heels be maimed with shears. Adultery is punishable by stoning to death. Sahar wishes she could smash someone’s teeth in with a crowbar. A woman slaps someone. People are sometimes forced to have gender reassignment surgery as a way to correct their sexual orientation. Someone has attempted suicide. A man has been beaten. His lip is bleeding and his eye is swollen. He has been punched, kicked and whipped. Cousins fight physically, with punches and hair pulling.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A man smokes. People drink alcohol. Sahar’s mother used to smoke. People are smoking and not just cigarettes. People smoke opium. It’s probably one of the characters is a drug dealer. Someone is a heroin addict. Some takes anti-depressants that belong to someone else. People are drunk.
Frightening or Intense Things – A man had been suicidal. A woman is confronted by police for immodest dress. The police are armed with batons and guns and aren’t afraid to appear threatening.
