Like a Love Story

By: Abdi Nazemian

Narrated by: Lauren Ambrose, Vikas Adam, Michael Crouch

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

A 2020 Audie Awards finalist - young adult

“A love letter to queerness, self-expression, and individuality (also Madonna) that never shies away from the ever-present fear within the queer community of late '80s New York, Like a Love Story made me feel so full - of hope, love, courage, pride, and awe for the many people who fought for love and self-expression in the face of discrimination, cruelty, and death.

"A book for warriors, divas, artists, queens, individuals, activists, trend setters, and anyone searching for the courage to be themselves.” (Mackenzi Lee, New York Times best-selling author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue)

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.

This is a bighearted, sprawling epic about friendship and love and the revolutionary act of living life to the fullest in the face of impossible odds.

©2019 Abdi Nazemian (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Excellent!

The writing, the performance, the story are all phenomenal. This is an amazing work! Nazemian writes from multiple points of view with compassion and deep understanding. I was only in grade school during this time and while I understand the references now, hearing them in a different context has been wonderful.

Amazing book! Just don’t listen while eating….

Loved the book. We were assigned this from our high school teacher and the entire class enjoyed it. However, I was listening to this audiobook while eating (the part where Reza talks about art’s sweet).

To conclude:
Amazing book
Amazing narration
Amazing story line
Don’t listen to it while eating

Una maravilla

una historia entrañable que coquetea con la realidad y aun así no te cansa ni pierde el ritmo.

Highly recommend.

4.5*

I was a sophomore in college during the year this book takes place, and other than seeing the AIDS crisis all over the news, it never really touched my life. So this book really brought home, in a small way, how it must have felt to be a gay teen during those early years, when so much was unknown. It honestly never crossed my mind back then, to wonder how AIDS was affecting younger people, those of my generation at the time. It's not that I lived in a bubble, but small towns in southern MD and WV (for college), in the late 80s, didn't have quite the demographics your larger cities did. Sure, we may have had an inkling a fellow classmate was gay or lesbian, but I can't recall a single classmate who was "out", not until years later.

I had to take a break from this book, with about 2 hours left. I knew what was coming and I just wasn't ready to handle it. I finally picked it back up and powered through. For all the heaviness of this story, it really wasn't until those last couple hours of the audiobook that it all started weighing on me, and I cried pretty much through to the end.

So much in this book is thought-provoking. It really opened my eyes to a time in history that, even though I was alive during, I really had no clue about, except in the most broadest of terms. Like a Love Story is another book that I hope finds its way into school libraries. It might be weird to say this about a young adult novel, but it's a history lesson many could learn from.


A fun thing for me in this book was the mention of the Cap Center here in MD! I don't believe I've ever seen it mentioned in a book before! And I'm pretty sure I was at that same Madonna concert with them!

I forgot to mention anything about the actual audiobook itself! This is one of those books that I'm glad I listened to instead of just reading it- the three narrators really helped bring this story to life. I liked getting 3 points of view from this time in history, even though it was from 3 teens. Art and Reza were my favorites- you really got to see how different they saw the world and what was happening around them.
Michael Crouch is a favorite when it comes to narrators for young adult, he's always terrific. I'm a fan of Vikas Adams, as well. Although he sounded just a little too old for Reza, I did enjoy all the emotions he brought to the character. Lauren Ambrose is a new to me narrator. Her portrayal of Judy was well done. She has a very pleasant sounding voice, age appropriate, and she brought the emotions when needed. I would definitely recommend the audiobook.

BEAUTIFULLY NEEDED

Character development is outstanding. Such a beautiful story of life and journey and friendship. The narrators were perfect. Loved this book.

Great book

It was a touching and heart warming story. I cried and cried. I highly recommend it.

Perfect for our time. There is no future without a past.

It is important to remember those who came before us. Who built the bridges so that we may cross the river.

LOVE

Amazing and pure love! This book is about true friendship, love and history that we can't never forget.

A beautiful and compelling story to read

This book was amazing. Initially it was a little slow pace however once the story developed itself it was well told. Historically beautiful.

Tell Your Story, it can help others

Not what I expected...great read. Speaking from a teens point of view life is broken down about sex, AIDS, homosexuality, friendship, love, virginity, and finding oneself no matter what your family or friends think. What's surprised me more was the Iranian boy( Reza) defying the odds and addressing his feelings and his sexual thoughts even though it's frowned upon in his culture. I loved that uncle Stephen was the teens sounding board because he himself libed through what they are experiencing. Uncle Stephen, an activist, is also a gay man dying from AIDS. Uncle Stephen exposes Madonna to the teens who grew to love her as much as him. This story has so much love, uncertainty and all the feels. Please read this, whether young adult or old hen. #Book33of2021 #bookworm
#Booklover #whatsnext