"Like A Love Story" by Abdi Nazemian

SYNOPSIS (from goodreads)
It's 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.

Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS.

Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance...until she falls for Reza and they start dating.

Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.

As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart--and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known.

REVIEW
It’s fascinating and pretty devastating to see the AIDS crisis through the eyes of 3 teenagers. You can feel the fear, the anger and the hurt in all three of them. They are all affected by it in their own way but it casts such a shadow in their lives that it is hard not feel its weight through most of the story. 

There are elements to this story that feel very familiar but I felt so connected to the characters that I did not care. I couldn’t wait to read each character’s take on every situation and genuinely rooted for them all to have a happy ending...even when I felt some of them were in the wrong or was growing frustrated by their actions. (I don’t think a character always needs to be likable. They just need to have motivations that feel authentic.)

Despite the subject matter, there is something very comforting and safe about this book. I loved the relationship between the 3 teens and Uncle Stephen. There isn’t enough interaction between generations in the queer community so it was so refreshing seeing these 3 really connect and look up to this older gay man. 

I am really going to miss these characters. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️