How it All Blew Up, the 2020 novel by Arvin Ahmadi, is a short book, at around 260 pages of text. The plot moves very fast: after another student blackmails him and threatens to out him to his conservative Muslim Iranian parents, Amir (our main character) skips his graduation and flies to Rome on a whim. While there, he is able to live outside of his family, meet other gay men, and explore his sexuality. The novel is very well-constructed and is told mostly in flashback, interspersed with interview transcripts from Amir and his family in an airport interrogation room. Because of this structure, the reader already knows where the plot is going to end up–with a confrontation between Amir and his family on an airplane. You’re just not sure how it gets there, and that structure did keep me turning the pages.
As a person who found meeting other queer people pivotal to my coming out, that aspect of Amir’s journey of self-discovery really resonated with me. At times, I wasn’t sure to make of the depictions of Italians (too stereotypical? I haven’t spent enough time in Italy around Italians to know). Apparently there’s been some controversy surrounding the marketing of this book as “gay Muslim representation” even though Amir does not discuss his religion very much. Can you identify as Muslim without practicing the religion? I think you can. I was raised Catholic, but do not practice the religion; however, my Catholic upbringing very much shaped my growing up, so it’s an integral part of who I am. That aspect of the book did not bother me, although I understand why some readers would be disappointed. While some of the plot elements seemed contrived, I overall really enjoyed the themes of this book, and found Amir’s efforts to understand his queerness as defined against others quite relatable.
Gay YA 