13 March 2013

Book Review: If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan


Consider this:

1. Homosexuality is illegal in Iran.
2. Gender reassignment surgery is paid for by the government in Iran.
3. Sahar and Nasrin are two girls who live in Iran.
4. They are also in love with each other.

Leave it to Algonquin, one of my favorite literary presses, to launch their new line of books for younger readers with a novel like If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan.  Nothing like a nice, safe, book that is sure to be a crowd pleaser, right?  No, in fact I salute Algonquin for picking a book like this; it's not often that we see so many layers of non-traditional protagonists in one book: Sahar is not white, nor is she is heterosexual, nor of a Judeo-Christian heritage.

Sahar narrates the story from a first person, present tense point of view.  She and Nasrin are in love and have been since they were little girls. They sneak kisses and caresses behind closed doors until the terrible day that Sahar learns that Nasrin's parents have arranged her marriage to a suitable man. Lucky for Sahar, she can confide the burden of her secrets to her cousin Ali, himself a mover & shaker in the underground gay community, and he introduces her to Parveen, who has undergone gender reassignment surgery.

 From the moment Sahar meets Parveen, her driving thought is to follow in her footsteps so that she can marry Nasrin, and like many teens, she is completely heedless of the consequences that might follow such an action. All she can think about is Nasrin and not being separated from her; it never crosses her mind that Nasrin might not continue to love her in a man's body, much less than being in love with somebody at the age of 17 isn't a good enough reason to undergo such a medically and psychologically intense process.

Alas, Nasrin never seemed worth it to me. In the same breath that Sahar tells the reader how much she loves Nasrin, she inevitably shares a story that demonstrates how shallow, self-involved, and unconcerned with academic achievements Nasrin is.  I never was able to understand what it was about Nasrin that made Sahar want to forsake her life as she knew it for this other girl, other than her beauty and popularity. Maybe that's the author slyly playing with the idea of teen love, hinting that it can only ever be in the eyes of the beholder? Perhaps, but that would imply a level of sophistication that is otherwise not present in the novel.

There are some interesting minor characters here, including her cousin Ali, but also Nasrin's betrothed (who pops up later in a twist I admit I didn't see coming) and a pair of prostitutes who pose as a mother/daughter team. I would have very much enjoyed seeing more of all of these characters, as I cetainly found them more compelling than Nasrin, and even, occasionally, Sahar. The book is fairly slight--it's a small trim size with generous margins and fewer than 250 pages--so it's a shame that it wasn't fleshed out a little better.

Though I greatly admire the author for tackling difficult issues, I wish she would have developed them more. While these issues are certainly worthy of a teen or adult novel, the handling of said issues feels more like a middle grade novel--lacking the depth and nuance that I have come to expect from finer young adult writers. The first person, present tense (or the present pernicious, as my friend Rob calls it) does not do the book any favors, either.  It is the least sophisticated POV, in my opinion, and a 3rd person narrative could have done wonders for allowing the author to show more from Nasrin's perspective rather than simply to tell the reader certain things, which is how the novel plays out.

Still, I applaud Sara Farizan and Algonquin for producing a novel that is sure to make some young readers think about their world in a new way, including many things they take for granted, and I look forward to more of Farizan's work.  If she reacher her potential and creates novels as substantive as her topics are, she will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.

NB: I read an ARC of the book that I picked up at Winter Institute. Algonquin Young Readers will launch its new line with this YA novel at the end of August of this year. 

12 comments:

  1. Wow, sounds really interesting! Too bad that it's not fleshed out better, but I think it's great that there's a book like this out there hitting the mainstream presses. I love that you mention that Nasrin might not love Sahar as a man - that was the problem that immediately popped up for me when I started reading your summary, so I'm glad it doesn't get ignored in the book. I'll have to check this out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't want to put this in the review in case someone thought of this as a spoiler BUT...Nasrin didn't learn what Sahar's plan was until near the end of the book. But the whole time I kept thinking...what? you want to live as a man? and just what would nasrin have to say about that?

      Delete
  2. I've never read a book about this issue before, so it's great that a book like this exists. It's a shame the author didn't develop things more though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Makes me wonder if maybe I'm expecting too much of the YA setting. I felt the same way about David Levithan's Every Day, which was also asking interesting questions about identity.

      Delete
  3. Amazing review! We do come to expect a nearly adult level of depth, yet this is quite a good read.

    S

    ReplyDelete
  4. P.S. Hesitate to admit this, but my new book is in "present pernicious."

    ReplyDelete
  5. You continue to amaze me with all you read and the depth in which you take the books into your mind and soul!

    Any chance you'd do a review of my new book? Here is a link to the trailer that I just made.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aj6mgL9pS8

    Let me know and thanks much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Levonne, I don't have Flash player installed on my computer so I cannot watch anything on YouTube. I mostly only read fiction and narrative non-fiction: does your book fall under either heading? If so, I'd be happy to take a look at it.

      Delete
  6. I was intrigued by this book as well. Good to know your thoughts on it! I always love hearing what the other Emily thinks! Hope y'all are doing well and we all miss y'all!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was intrigued by this one as well, so it's very interesting to know what the other Emily thinks:) Hope y'all are doing well, and we all miss y'all down here!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Argh, blogspot ate my comment!
    Ironically, I have a very different book but also with a nonwhite lesbian protagonist coming out the same week from Prizm Books, and I'm interested in having it reviewed. What's the best way to contact you? I'm at siglassman at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've been having some problems commenting so if this posts three times, my apologies! Anyway, I found this review while Googling to see if the book had a happy ending or not, and once I found you I realized that I'd like to submit my own book to you for review. Like this book, mine has a nonwhite, lesbian protagonist, and is listed as YA. It's a feminist fantasy novel about a gay woman, a straight woman, and a dragon, and it's due out from Prizm Books on August 21 (the same week as the one you reviewed!) How can I submit it for review? If blogspot eats my contact info, my email is siglassman at hotmail dot com. Thanks for the rec for the Iranian-American book, although I'll probably make one of my friends read it first so I can have the ending spoiled! :P

    ReplyDelete

Please, sir, may I have some more? (Comments, that is!)