If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

I wanted to read this book from the second I read the review. A lesbian love story set in Iran for teens--that is definitely something I hadn't seen before.

Sahar wanted to marry her best friend Nasrin when they were six years old. And things haven't changed by the time they are teenagers. Nasrin feels the same way, but that sort of thing isn't accepted in Iran and they could be killed if anyone finds out.

Nasrin's family finds her husband and throughout their engagement, Sahar desperately seeks a way for them to be together--finally settling on gender reassignment surgery. Unfortunately Sahar does not feel she is in the wrong body and the choice boils down to choosing to be with Nasrin or being true to herself.

More about identity than romance this will be a popular book. My only wish is that it had been longer. I felt that more could have been added to the characters and the plot. However, I also didn't feel like there were loose ends or unexplained events. A solid addition to YA literature.


ARC provided by publisher at BEA