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Arvin Ahmadi

How It All Blew Up Paperback – 22 Sept. 2020

by Arvin Ahmadi (Author)

191 ratings

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Arvin Ahmadi has written a novel that is authentic, hilarious and heart-wrenching all at once. A unique point of view combined with riveting storytelling, How It All Blew Up will grab you from the first page and won't let go - Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE HATE U GIVE and ON THE COME UP

Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew that coming out to his Muslim family would be messy, but he wasn't expecting it to end in an airport interrogation room. Now, he's telling his side of the story to the stern-faced officer.

Amir has to explain why he ran away to Rome (boys, bullies, blackmail) and what he was doing there for a month (dates in the Sistine Chapel, friends who helped him accept who he is, and, of course, drama) . . . all while his mum, dad and little sister are being interrogated in the room next door.

A nuanced take on growing up brown, Muslim and gay in today's America, HOW IT ALL BLEW UP is the story of one boy's struggle to come out to his family, and how that painful process exists right alongside his silly, sexy romp through Italy.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Hot Key Books
Publication date

22 Sept. 2020
Reading age

16 years and up
Dimensions

12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm
ISBN-10

1471409929
ISBN-13

978-1471409929
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Product details

Publisher : Hot Key Books (22 Sept. 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 288 pages
ISBN-10 : 1471409929
ISBN-13 : 978-1471409929
Reading age : 16 years and up
Dimensions : 12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 80,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 9 in Islamic Fiction for Young Adults
- 26 in Fiction About Bullying for Young Adults
- 27 in Books About Siblings for Young Adults

Customer reviews:
191 ratings

Product description

Review

Compelling, clever, and achingly honest. A book for anyone who has ever grappled with who they are and who they want to be. -- Katherine Webber ― Katherine Webber

This wild ride of a novel is all about finding your true self in the unlikeliest of places ― iNews

Book Description

The power of finding yourself, finding your people and living your truth

How It All Blew Up Arvin Ahmadi Girl Interrupted Angie Thomas Pride LGBTQ

Written by Arvin Ahmadi

Arvin Ahmadi is the author of two previous critically-acclaimed novels, Down and Across (2018) and Girl Gone Viral (2019). He grew up outside Washington DC, graduated from Columbia University, and worked in the tech industry prior to becoming a full-time writer.

When he's not reading or writing books, he can be found watching late-night talk-show interviews and editing Wikipedia pages. He lives in New York City.

The power of finding yourself, finding your people and living your truth.

A deeply moving and bighearted coming-of-age story from a rising star in YA fiction.

Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew that coming out to his Muslim family would be messy, but he wasn't expecting it to end in an airport interrogation room. Now, he's telling his side of the story to the stern-faced officer. A nuanced take on growing up brown, Muslim and gay in today's America, HOW IT ALL BLEW UP is the story of one boy's struggle to come out to his family, and how that painful process exists right alongside his silly, sexy romp through Italy.

'A dramatic ticking time bomb of a finale that will leave readers astonished' - Adam Silvera
'Filled to the brim with heart, wit, tenderness and hope.' - Adib Khorram
'A story brimming with honesty, passion, and strength.' - Sara Farizan

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Customer reviews

5 star		53%
4 star		29%
3 star		13%
2 star		4%
1 star		1%

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Amazon Customer

Full of cliches. Very stereotypical

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2021

Verified Purchase

I couldn’t get through this book as all the characters were just stereotypes. It was just dull and had no real story.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Really well written. Funny, sad, happy and affirming - it's a tale for all.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 September 2020

This, refreshingly, is a tale with drama where the drama's not at all faux - I think it helps that the author's gay himself and from an ethnic background where a lot of what he's written might have grains of a personal truth in it.

I liked that it was told from Amir's voice, but that the voices of his mother, father and sister - all trying to figure out where he is and why he's done a flit (in their eyes, as he once 'ran away' from home - overnight) - punctuate the tale. I loved his sister's support and also her resentment that he didn't tell her what was up, and I loved her sleuthing on social media that led to her figuring out where he was and what he was doing. I loved his mother's conflict in the sense that I could see how torn she was - protecting her son from future pain as a gay ethnic man, and a Muslim at that, in today's USA; protecting her innocent young daughter from having her eyes exposed to too much too soon; and her trying to temper her husband, because of how he'd reacted before, and because of his toxic masculinity, which I felt wasn't an affectation, but to do with his past, his experiences, his worries as a father and as a Muslim man who's seen prejudice in his time in the USA. The tale flowed and felt natural and the only thing I didn't like was that Amir encountered a group of slightly older gay men in Rome, all of whom took him under their wing, and he wasn't honest with them about his reasons for being in Rome. He kind of did have his reasons, but he told a version of the truth he'd anticipated - perhaps not wrongly - but hadn't actually experienced due to his doing a flit. Still, though, this is one of the best, sweetest, funniest and most touching books I've read in a while. If you enjoy this, I'd highly recommend The Story of Us, a tale by Barbara Elsborg, which resonated more with me due to my being a Brit of an ethnic minority, and because the actual events of the tale that felt more realistic than Amir's, with all due respect to Arvin Ahmadi's book.

ARC courtesy of Bonnier Books/Hot Key Books and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

AMM

3.5 STARS

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 September 2020

3.5 STARS.

How It All Blew Up follows eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi as he explains why he ran away to Rome to an officer in an airport interrogation room. We hear about his fears about coming out to his Muslim family, the friends he made whilst in Rome, and about the drama that led his family to the interrogation rooms.

I'm a massive fan of LGBTQ+ YA, so I was super excited to dive into this story. Add in the fact that this is the first book I've read with an Iranian-American protagonist, and that it’s set in Italy (one of my favourite countries), and it’s safe to say I was looking forward to getting lost in Amir’s story.
We follow an enjoyable cast of diverse characters, and a standout for me was Amir’s sister who is desperately searching for him. I felt the scenes from his family’s point of view really added depth to the story and helped us to understand their thoughts and reactions to Amir coming out. The friends he makes in Rome were fun, but I think lots of people (especially Italians) will draw issue with how stereotypical some of the characters were. I did have to suspend disbelief slightly when it came to how quickly they accepted him into their group, and all the fun things they got up to. There’s lots of rooftop parties, cool poetry readings, drinking champagne on fountains, Vespas, and of course pizza and pasta (another stereotype I think people may have an issue with). Although these were fun to read about, they did feel slightly unrealistic. Furthermore, all of Amir’s new friends are much older than him (about 10 years older) and it felt slightly problematic to me, especially as this age difference was never really acknowledged. There are a couple of points where some of the guys make sexual advances towards Amir, and it made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

My other issue with the book was the lack of depth around his faith, and how that affected him as a gay teen. It’s mentioned that he and his family are Muslim, and yet this was never really explored which I felt was a real shame. This is an OwnVoices novel, so I felt like I expected more from it in regards to this aspect of Amir as a character. I think he mentions at one point that he doesn’t really practice his faith, but I would have liked more of a reflection on how his faith and sexuality intersect and impact his life. The Muslim aspect of Amir’s life is heavily promoted in the description of this book, however I feel like it was really lacking.

I felt like the author did a great job of bringing Rome to life, there were some lovely descriptions of the architecture and streets in which the story was set. I sat outside reading this on a warm evening and it was such a lovely experience, I felt like I was totally transported to Italy. It’s a short and fast-paced story that I got through very quickly. I did feel like there were times when the plot became very rushed, and it ended up that important scenes didn’t deliver the impact they should have. The ending was rushed and anti-climactic and I didn’t feel like it rounded off the story in a cohesive way, also there’s no resolution to the blackmail he experiences (and the guy he was seeing back in the US is never really mentioned again).
There was also a story about a nipple piercing that honestly made my toes curl. I felt like it had absolutely no place in the story, especially as it happens in the middle of a kiss. When I think of this book the first thing that comes to mind is the nipple story, and I'm guessing that that’s not the lasting impact the author wanted to make.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, I ended up wanting to know how Amir’s story would turn out, and I did generally like him as a character, even if he did make some stupid decisions. Parts of the book are a bit messy, but maybe this is a reflection on how life is rarely smooth-sailing. However, parts of the story were well-done, Amir’s fear of coming out to his parents was written well, and I think something many closeted teens will relate to. Overall, I was slightly disappointed because I felt like it was such a great premise that just didn’t quite deliver but I'm sure there will be people who really enjoy this book.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Curlygirl79

A story of learning to be comfortable in your skin

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 November 2020

From reading the author’s note it is obvious that this is a deeply personal book. I can only imagine how difficult his life has been at times and even then I suspect I will not be picturing anything close to reality.

Amir has such a distinctive voice that I found myself with a very clear picture of him in my mind almost instantly. I loved the almost humorous tone with which he deals with what must be an awful situation of being detained at an airport, an attitude that forms a stark contrast to the sorrowful, defeated air to his father, Afshin’s, interview. He seems broken by the system and by circumstance, and that just made me feel so sad for him. In a further contrast to both Amir and Afshin, feisty Soraya is a real force of nature and a character I would like to get to know more.

The vibrant atmosphere of Rome is brought to life in marvellous technicolour that made me long to be back there, and even more to be part of Jahan’s circle of friends. They just felt so full of life and exuberance. The truly overwhelming nature of the city and the people Amir meets, as someone who has lived a sheltered existence up to that point, is captured in mind-spinning detail.

How It All Blew Up is a true coming of age novel as Amir learns how to blend all the conflicting aspects of who he is and become truly comfortable in his own skin.

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How It All Blew Up Paperback – 22 Sept. 2020

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Book Description

About the Author

From the Publisher

Written by Arvin Ahmadi

The power of finding yourself, finding your people and living your truth.

A deeply moving and bighearted coming-of-age story from a rising star in YA fiction.

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