This is a book about a young man reconciling two parts of his identity that he feels strongly about; 1. He's Muslim, and 2. He's gay.
"Look, I hadn’t gotten to steer my own destiny in a very long time. I had been closeted by circumstance. I had been driven to Rome by circumstance. But now that I was here, my circumstances belonged to me."
I like this premise a lot, and I really enjoyed Amir as the protagonist. Ahmadi has a great voice for characters like him, upbeat and confident, but not without his worries. I also thought that the choice in Rome as setting was clever (even though overall I found the depiction of Italy and Italians a bit stereotypical...). The saying "When in Rome.." applies to Amir's entire life. ~When in a Muslim family, do as a good Muslim son would do~ And he planned on continuing to put on the facade of being straight, but as a result of blackmail, was pushed into fleeing.
"It’s hard enough living one life; no one should have to go through the trouble of living two."
Pretty good stuff. I also liked the way it ended...not to be too spoilery, but things aren't tied into a perfectly neat bow.
"Look, I hadn’t gotten to steer my own destiny in a very long time. I had been closeted by circumstance. I had been driven to Rome by circumstance. But now that I was here, my circumstances belonged to me."
I like this premise a lot, and I really enjoyed Amir as the protagonist. Ahmadi has a great voice for characters like him, upbeat and confident, but not without his worries. I also thought that the choice in Rome as setting was clever (even though overall I found the depiction of Italy and Italians a bit stereotypical...). The saying "When in Rome.." applies to Amir's entire life. ~When in a Muslim family, do as a good Muslim son would do~ And he planned on continuing to put on the facade of being straight, but as a result of blackmail, was pushed into fleeing.
"It’s hard enough living one life; no one should have to go through the trouble of living two."
Pretty good stuff. I also liked the way it ended...not to be too spoilery, but things aren't tied into a perfectly neat bow.