If You Could Be Mine

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
4/5 stars
Alqonquin Young Readers, 2013
247 pages
YA Contemporary LGBTQ

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book grabbed my attention with its setting in Iran. Doubling my interest was the plot about two young girls in love-a love that could lead to punishment as severe as execution if discovered. It was actually a topic of conversation with people in real life. One of my coworkers isn't much impressed with my reading material (he tends to like hard sci-fi and epic fantasy) but he was very thrown to hear my summary of the book as follows.

So in Iran, it is a sin, punishable by death to be a woman in love with another woman (similarly if both parties are male). However if someone feels like a man trapped in a woman's body, it is desirable, encouraged, and even funded by the government to perform gender reassignment surgery to correct the "flaw." This is the basis for the story of Sahar, long in love with her best friend Nasrin as the latter prepares for her arranged marriage. Sahar desperately conceives of a plan to become a man in order to stay with Nasrin. Isn't that a unique premise? I want to read more multi-cultural books and I don't want to become blase to all the exciting stories being told in YA so I'm really glad that I checked this one out.

Honestly the hardest part of this book for me was seeing Sahar slack on her previous stellar academic record because she was so obsessed with her love. I hate seeing that in a character. What I did like though was that Nasrin is just as in love with Sahar as she can be despite Sahar's astonishment that that could be true. I'm such a sucker for romances where each person thinks they're the luckiest person in the world because how could that wonderful other person be willing to be with them? However I did put a caveat that Nasrin is as in love as she can be; the spoiled girl likes attention and the easy life and isn't necessarily willing to be Sahar if it means disobeying her wealthy parents.

Another important subplot was Sahar's cousin Ali, who is carefully navigating his sexuality in intolerant Iran while also building a thriving mini-empire. He connects Sahar with so many people and opens up her eyes to a whole new world. Her father is also important. After the death of her mother five years ago, he has basically withdrawn from everything, leaving Sahar to fend for herself. His development over the course of the book is remarkable as he finally starts to wake up to his life again.

I wish there had been a bit more discussion of religion beyond Sahar's casual references. However the political side was more of note. For example, I loved Sahar's imagination of Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei as grandfathers alternately angry and disappointed in her. It made me want to read a lot more about the Iranian Revolution of 1979 as I am very unfamiliar with it.

As for the ending, it's not the ridiculous happy ending that one might hope for but it is very fitting and I found it quite satisfying. It felt realistic and optimistic. I hope Sahar finds her place!

Other Opinions:
A Reader of Fictions
Blkosiner's Book Blog
Great Imaginations
In Bed With Books

Starting From Here

Starting From Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow
4/5 stars
Amazon Children's Publishing, 2012
282 pages
YA Contemporary LGBT

Source: Received an ARC through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

This was a different kind of contemporary for me-most of the YA books I read are filled with characters who are economically comfortable if not insanely rich. The biggest worry might be paying for college, certainly a concern in this age of skyrocketing college expenses. But money isn't so much a concern. That is not the case in Starting From Here.  Main character Colby lives in a trailer, works a boring job at a grocery store to pay for gas and insurance (having worked at a grocery store, I can confirm that it is often dull), and rarely sees her father as he is always off driving his cab, trying to keep them afloat. I liked that this economic situation kind of shook me up and gave me a different perspective.

In some ways, this could be viewed as a pretty bleak book with Colby in a depression, never recovered from her mother's succumbing to cancer and falling further in when her not-quite-girlfriend Rachel dumps her and gains a boyfriend almost immediately. Colby is also extremely isolated and aching for her father's presence even though she cannot spit out the words. There is so much pain. I just wanted to hug Colby and there is an adult character who tries to reach out to Colby with some bumps along the way. She didn't seem to realize she was loveable and it just broke my heart.

Then Colby rescues a dog and starts flirting with a new girl and things are looking up! But not before more drama. Happily, unlike a lot of LGBT literature, this one ends optimistically. I haven't read very widely in that sub-category but I'm glad to have a book with its bright spots to balance out the darkness. I do tend to prefer happier lighter books than this one but you can rest, knowing that although a lot is packed into this story, it ends with hope.

Overall: A short book but a good one. It's not about starting all the way over; it's about starting from here and making the situation better.