Thank you to Hot Key Books UK for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I decided to give How It All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi 4.5 stars out of 5.

Amir Azadi, an eighteen-year-old, always expected it would be messy coming out to his Muslim family. However, what he wasn't expecting was to be in an airport interrogation room, telling his story of a spontaneous trip to Rome while his family are also being interrogated next door.

Amir talks about the boys and blackmail that caused the trip and the fun adventures he during the whole month he was there for.

I loved this book. It was a fun read while also telling an emotional story which grips at the heart at points. How It All Blew Up approaches racism, family relationships and sexuality really well and I thought it was impressively written. Ahmadi's writing has really put me in the perfect summery/holiday mood and brought a smile to my face repeatedly throughout while also having the perfect amount of lows.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys young adult contemporary reads and LGBTQIA+ stories.

Refreshing, heartfelt and needed. I feel there is not enough LGBTQ+ literature out there at all, nevermind for YA. YA is just as interesting and engaging for grown ups and i loved this story. It broaches racism, sexuality and family and Amir's journey of self discovery in a way. Growing up is complication, especially nowadays.

This was wild. I can only imagine how terrifying it must be to worry about being outed to your highly religious family, but just getting on a plane to Italy to avoid it? I was baffled that this teenage boy was able to literally fly across the world before his parents even realised. I'm all for avoiding conflict but damn that was wild. The story itself is really well written, and I loved how we got flashbacks, present day and multiple POVs. It provided a great look into the world of each character and how their views on the situation differed. It was a really sweet coming of age story to see him become someone he was proud of, and how he could fully be himself. The nipple story? That's a HUGE no from me however 💀

this one was fun! i had an idea of what it was going to be about and it turned out nothing like it at all,  but it was good! switching between the interrogation rooms in an airport to the streets of rome, it follows a boy who panics at the thought of his parents finding out he's gay and flees to rome, i adored the descriptions, esp of the trastevere area which i visited a couple of years ago and it made me want to go back even more . i loved all the friends in rome, the community and the drama and the support they caused and provided. and i loved the sister, who was trying her best to help. 

a good read!

Such a great book which broaches such important topics! Extremely well written and intriguing from the get go.

I really enjoyed this quick, fun YA romance about acceptance, being true to yourself and exploring new places. 

We follow the story of Amir, an 18 year old Iranian American boy who’s about to graduate high school. 
Amir is smart, shy and gay. His parents are pretty set in their Iranian culture and Muslim beliefs and when someone attempts to commandeer his coming out, Amir ditches graduation and escapes to Rome, where his family can’t find him and he doesn’t have to face their reaction.

Cue a summer of finding yourself amongst new friendships in a totally new place and learning to be proud of who you are. I loved all the descriptions of Rome and of all the yummy Italian food! 

I really enjoyed this book but it was slightly ~too YA to be anything more than a 4 star read for me, but I am getting on a bit now!

"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."

One of those books you inhale, it's so easy to read - enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this book. I loved the exploration of sexuality, especially in different cultures. And how difficult coming out can be for people. I also loved that it was set in Rome, the imagery was great and I felt like I was there living it with the characters.

While this was an interesting idea, I never really felt like the characters were real. The premise of a Muslim boy thinking he's been outed to his parents would be a story that resonated with many people however it ends up being a silly story about gay culture in Italy. Not for me but maybe others would enjoy it more.

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.

A great and engrossing read. It was nice to read this kind of romance and friendship coming of age story with a boy main character as so often it is focused on the girls. His Italian life was beautifully and romantically described and his family love and struggles were well handled. I'm not sure about the ending as I feel I missed a little something but overall I will definitely recommend it to students 14+ for a fun read with some extra depth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book is a must-read for any teen wanting to come out to their loved ones, especially for Asian males for whom this ensures representation. The arc is delicately handled and, although the plot sometimes feels too overblown to be based on reality, the characters are very realistic. Vital and important.

This book was so easy to read! It's definitely one of those stories you start and finish in one sitting because you get so attached to the main character you can't live them. The dual timeline told from Amir's point of view is easy to follow, although I did prefer the interrogation scenes to the flashback scenes. But it's definitely a book I'd recommend! (3.5)

I went into this expecting a coming of age/romance, but actually parts of it read more like a thriller. It was very fast paced, compelling and interesting, and I really felt for Amir. I'd be interested in what Arvin Ahmadi writes next.

I'm somewhere in the middle: I liked the book but also disliked some parts. 
I liked how easy it was to read. I also like how the author built the whole story: between Amir's journey in Italy and all the scenes in the airport. Amir finding his "new family" in Italy, somewhere where he fitted in, somewhere people could finally understand him honestly warmed my heart. 
But also, I was a bit taken aback by some aspects of the story, especially the fact that Amir, an 18 year old boy who just graduated high school, spent all his time in Italy with 30ish adults. Maybe it's just me but this age gap really disturbed me. I mean, I have nothing against them hanging out together but you really felt the age gap: one of the running gag was Amir not understanding some movie references because he was too young when the movie was first broadcasted in movie theater. More than that, Amir even hooked up with one of the adult. Also, another 30-somethingèyear-old adult kinda tries/implies something but Amir brushed him off. But the intent was there you know? The adult actually wanted something. 
Anyway, maybe it's just me, maybe I just don't like big age gap. I don't know.

DISCLAIMER: having just come across a 5-star review that says negative reviews should not remark on how this book doesn't really explore Amir's faith and/or heritage I felt the need to better articulate my thoughts about this book: 1) I'm not saying this book doesn't have great Muslim rep because I found it unbelievable that a Muslim mc wouldn't be thinking about his faith/heritage 24/7 or because the mc is a non-practicing Muslim 2) I do think that this book could have delved deeper into Amir's relationship to his faith/heritage. Throughout the course of this novel Amir states that being gay is incompatible with being Muslim...and that's it. He merely reiterates 'Muslims don't like gay people'...that strikes me (I am being entirely subjective) as somewhat simplistic. 3) the novel opens with his family being detained at an airport. The author states that he wanted to 'subvert' this type of situation but I am not sure he succeeded. Scenes from this 'interrogation' are interspersed throughout the novel, and it felt extremely gimmicky and insensitive (treating a serious situation in a very superficial and unconvincing way). 4) I'm not a Muslim so I recommend you read reviews from Muslim users.If you are thinking of reading this book I suggest you check out more positive reviews. What I can comment on however is Ahmadi's depiction of Italy and Italians (yes, I'm Italian)...which truly irritated me. Maybe non-Italian readers will be able to overlook the stereotypes in this novel...personally I'm tired of books that portray Italy as a quirky land of Vespas and pasta. Fun fact: Italians don't just eat pizza and pasta (I know, mind-blowing). Also, why do we always get this quaint image of Italian women hanging their laundry? The Italian characters left much to be desired. There is this Italian couple (the only two Italian guys who actually make more than two or three appearances), possibly in their late twenties, and they are not monogamous. Cool for them, right? Except that they are actually deeply unhappy and they (view spoiler) Then we have a cute Italian guy from Puglia who plays a rather irrelevant role (I guess he's there so we can have a kiss scene in the Sistine Chapel?). Another Italian character is a guy who works at a bar/restaurant and speaks in a "It's-a Me, Mario" accent (his supposed all-caps texts to his daughter? Ridiculous). The story is very rushed. Amir is blackmailed, skips his graduation day, and flies to Rome. Here he manages to get an apartment, even if he's never been to Rome before nor does he speak Italian. Lucky for him he comes across a group of 'friends': some are American, some Italian, most are gay. They invite him out, make him feel more comfortable with his sexuality. He manages to make some 'illegal' money by writing Wiki articles, he avoids his parents' phone calls, and he tries not think about returning to America. Although he's eighteen, he acts like a young teen, which made some of his encounters with his new 'friends' a bit problematic. More disappointing still is the fact that none of these gay couples are actually happy (as most of them seem to resent their partner and/or their friends). What kind of message are the readers supposed to get? Amir has 'fun' sort of. He drinks out and goes to parties. But then we 'realise' that they are either cruel, uncaring, unforgiving, and/or liars. While a certain positive review calls my review out on this, saying that characters should be allowed to be imperfect, I think they missed the point I was trying to make. I'm all for flawed characters but they have to be somewhat realistic. The characters here don't 'change' or 'learn' from their mistakes. They are and remain one-dimensional (we have the closeted jock, the smart younger sister, the 'motherly' mother, the distant father). I had the impression that Ahmadi skipped a lot of scenes, so that we had these jumpy transitions in which 'time passed' and 'stuff happened'. The ending felt anticlimactic, angsty for the sake of being angsty (of course we have to have a big fight between our 'friends'). The interrogation scene predictably amounted to nothing. The writing, the characterisation, the way Italy is portrayed, all leave a lot to be desired (once again: this is my personal opinion).

This book does that YA thing where it tries to tie together a lot of important and concerning themes - being gay, being Muslim, being Iranian, coming out, knowing your parents won't accept you, finding 'your people', being targeted by flight marshalls because of race - but doesn't quite spend enough time on any of those things to make them significant. That may be because these are some of the author's exaggerated memories, or the POV writing of a teenager. But a short novel gives an impression without giving much depth.

Amir is 18 and gay. He's always known that it would be hard to come out to his Muslim Iranian American family, but had expected to do it in his own time, or not at all. Instead he finds himself being blackmailed by a boy at school and realises that, instead of doing this himself, he could just run.

Amir finds himself in Rome, and is immediately swept up by members of a loud, proud gay community. For once, he feels as though he can fit in, that he could have a life here. But it's not as easy to run away from coming out to his parents as he hopes.

The story opens with Amir trying to explain to a US Customs official why he and his family were having a big argument on a plane. This doesn't serve a huge purpose for the story - except for a point about racial profiling - but the separate interrogation rooms do provide a way of hearing not just from Amir, but from his mother, sister and father too. 

Having those additional points of view really helps the story along - we hear from the pragmatic musical theatre-loving sister, the fierce but quiet mother and the father who believes that this is a family matter, not for discussion, whilst inwardly hoping his son will have an easy life and this will all pass.

Amir is ... a little naïve. And in many ways this is a story about him coming out to himself, not just his family, as he has been hiding a way an important part of himself for so long. He initially scores himself 'gay points' as way of seeing how well he would fit in with the gay community, which he soon forgets as he learns to feel comfortable in himself.

The community he ends up in Rome is in many ways fun and supportive, but in many ways very disfunctional. And perhaps a little odd that a very young 18 year old has ended up being taken in by a community of late 20s/early 30s (?) gay men. In some way it proves that there is not just one type of gay man and Amir begins to see a whole breadth of relationships, from single men to open relationships, to committed partners. And even better, he gets to meet Jahan, a gay Iranian who takes him under his wing.

And, of course, I loved the setting of Rome. Even if some of it is clichéd, but it's a great backdrop for anyone to learn more about themselves.

There were a few parts of this book that felt as though they needed more fleshing out. And Amir himself seemed to range from being very mature to very, very young. I liked the overall message - that family matters, and families love, even if they can't understand. I wouldn't say I necessarily got much closure from the book, especially with the interrogation storyline.

But, as RuPaul says: "If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?"

Overall 3 stars for a heartwarming story with some poignance but not 100% execution.

This was such a personal book for me, I related in so many ways to Amir’s journey. I also have conservative parents and constantly keep a track from my earliest memories of the comments they have made. Now I’m seeing someone, I feel awful to keep lying to them but also I can’t find anyway to say the words out loud to them. I’ve now moved out and have in my own way “ran away from it all” although I only moved about an hour away as opposed to Rome! That said, there were so many quotes in here that had me bawling my eyes out. I just connected on such a raw level because I’m still in Amir’s journey and reading this has definitely given me hope for my own future. 

I would highly recommend this book, I loved the heartfelt sweet moments and romance, but also the funnier less serious fun that the gang have hanging about in Rome. It was also fun to “see” Rome’s sites through Amir’s eyes as I had planned to go to Rome this year (thanks Covid!) so it felt like I was getting to see it still. 

I will say that the drama near the end got a touch much for me, but that said this is still a book I’d love other queer kids to read. It’s a story that has 100%resonated with me and I truly think will also help others. I’m so appreciative that this was such a personal book to write and it’s amazing that the Rome trip is actually based on the author’s own journey, so thank you Arvin for writing this book.

tw// body horror, Islamophobia, queerphobia, racism
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This book is such a subtle and alluring story that I believe resonates with every brown, queer person; if not all queer people. The way this book so effortlessly and authetically presents the intersection of being a person of colour, a Muslim and a queer person is commendable. The way it strengthens its narrative using those elements of Amir's personhood is a sight to see.
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Even though I am not Muslim or Iranian, I could instantly related to Amir's plight. Of feeling out of place in your culture and your family because of your queerness. The way he kept a scoreboard of how his family reacts ro queerness, adding and docking points based on everyday circumstances resonated deeply with me. Because consciously or subconsciously, I think every queer child has done that, every time they think about coming out to their parents. I certainly have. Another thing that resonated with me was thinking that you have to separate your religion and culture from your queerness to fully embrace it.
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I really liked the unconventional manner this story uses to give us an insight into each Azadi family member. The way that they all get detained at the airport because *ding ding ding* racism, and they try to explain themselves. It made us privy to the thoughts and emotions of Amir's mom and dad which they would never state in front of Amir. It was unusual, since most YA coming out stories focus only on what the parents say to the protagonist.
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I found myself extremely thrilled at the prospect of Amir running away to a whole other country and finding his place there, in more ways than one, instead of facing his family with the fact that he is gay. Because, let's be honest, who hasn't thought of that. When you grow up in Arab or Asian cultures, it feels like there is no way to be a part of your family and be queer. We have imagined running away, cutting all ties and starting whole lives elsewhere; because that way, we would get to truly be ourselves.
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I liked how Amir's time in Italy wasn't all just rainbows and sunshine. He learns and grows, in many ways. He finds friends, but they aren't what they seemed like at first glance. He learns to embrace his queerness and his culture at the same time. He learns love and live his truth. Which led to a very satisfying ending of him not just going home with his parents because they had found him and what else could he do; but because he wanted to. He did not let 'the gay thing' fall into obscurity, he made his parents confront it and accept him. Implying consequences, if they could not. The ending implied a learning curve for both Amir and his parents. It wasn't happy ending, arguably; it was just an ending, which made it much more real.
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I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. Especially for its intersection of religion, culture, race and queerness.
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Thank you @pridebooktours for having me on this tour. And @hotkeybooksya for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

TW: blackmail, outing, homophobia, racism. 


I’ve been wanting to read “How It All Blew Up” for a while now, we definitely need more queer Muslim MCs in YA, so I instantly added this one to my TBR. 

I loved the writing style and the story was very fast-paced, but overall, this wasn’t really for me. I enjoyed the layout of this book, with the interrogation room scenes and going back and forth between telling Amir’s story and then his family recounting the events too. But other than that, not much really happened. 

Overall, this is a messy, fun and quick YA by an author I’d definitely read more from in the future!