Like a Love Story

This YA novel, despite taking place during the AIDS crisis, is ultimately filled with hope.

With three diverse perspectives, it draws us into a messy world of teenage exploration and discovery.

Before you ask, yes, it is humorous and heartbreaking, and it always reminds me that we are never alone in how we feel.

So often, queer history is told through the lens of adults, as if young gay people didn’t exist.

In Like a Love Story, the late 80’s AIDS era is seen through the lens of closeted Iranian teen Reza, who finds himself caught between a best friend and potential love interest, all while feeling haunted by the disease that is killing so many gay people. The shadow of the disease takes a toll but the book leans into the possibility of risking intimacy even so, providing Reza with a chance at his own future happy ending.

This is one of my all-time favorite YA novels. Set in NYC in 1989, at the height of the AIDS epidemic, it tells the story of three teens: an Iranian boy who is just realizing he is gay, a fashion-designing girl who loves him, and an out gay teen from a conservative family. Speaking as someone who remembers those years very well, the portrayal of these characters rings true: gay identity, AIDS, and homophobia were so tangled up together for us as young adults. This is a very beautiful book about love, friendship, activism, community, and families—the ones we are… show more.