Thanks, Bookishfirst for the chance to read this awesome book.
I spent three years living in Italy so, suffice it to say, I felt a lot of what the character's in this book say and think. Italy is a nice place to visit, not to live, but I am sure others have a different opinion. That being said, Rome was my favorite city (I visited twice!) and I fell in love with the things that Amir fell in love with. His struggles were not my struggles. I'm in a military family so I did not go willingly. Amir struggled at first but was happy to find that most Italians do speak English, especially those in tourist towns, and his thoughts on the old arse plumbing and small space were spot on. I lived in an ancient concrete house that did not hold heat in the winter and would not cool down in summers. Hot water took forever to heat and I could not run two major appliances at the same time. Good times.
Anyway, back to the book. This is a fairly quick read and moves at breakneck speed. Amir is a Muslim queer who gets blackmailed by a student at his school to pay him money otherwise he'd out Amir. Amir, frantic, skips out on graduation and flies to New York. Panicking again, he buys a ticket for the first place he thinks of when he spots a gelato shop in the airport terminal. Rome. He books an Airbnb and eventually hooks up with the queer community and has the time of his life until his past creeps up. He realizes no matter how far you go, you cannot outrun your problems.
This was a great book. I loved the romp around Italy and how Amir integrated himself. His newfound friends were both good and bad for him, but overall I liked the as B characters. A particular scene where he eats at a local restaurant and amazes how many courses are in a typical Italian dinner made me laugh. It is so true. When I went out to eat, I usually chose the meat dish only and got so many sidelong glances. It's cool. How do they expect you to eat three-course meals??? Italians are amazing.
Amir's screw up eventually brings his family together and that was the best part. His parents loved no matter what and saw him not for his sexuality, but for the amazing person he's growing to be.
I spent three years living in Italy so, suffice it to say, I felt a lot of what the character's in this book say and think. Italy is a nice place to visit, not to live, but I am sure others have a different opinion. That being said, Rome was my favorite city (I visited twice!) and I fell in love with the things that Amir fell in love with. His struggles were not my struggles. I'm in a military family so I did not go willingly. Amir struggled at first but was happy to find that most Italians do speak English, especially those in tourist towns, and his thoughts on the old arse plumbing and small space were spot on. I lived in an ancient concrete house that did not hold heat in the winter and would not cool down in summers. Hot water took forever to heat and I could not run two major appliances at the same time. Good times.
Anyway, back to the book. This is a fairly quick read and moves at breakneck speed. Amir is a Muslim queer who gets blackmailed by a student at his school to pay him money otherwise he'd out Amir. Amir, frantic, skips out on graduation and flies to New York. Panicking again, he buys a ticket for the first place he thinks of when he spots a gelato shop in the airport terminal. Rome. He books an Airbnb and eventually hooks up with the queer community and has the time of his life until his past creeps up. He realizes no matter how far you go, you cannot outrun your problems.
This was a great book. I loved the romp around Italy and how Amir integrated himself. His newfound friends were both good and bad for him, but overall I liked the as B characters. A particular scene where he eats at a local restaurant and amazes how many courses are in a typical Italian dinner made me laugh. It is so true. When I went out to eat, I usually chose the meat dish only and got so many sidelong glances. It's cool. How do they expect you to eat three-course meals??? Italians are amazing.
Amir's screw up eventually brings his family together and that was the best part. His parents loved no matter what and saw him not for his sexuality, but for the amazing person he's growing to be.