Sara Farizan

An Engaging Exploration of Sexuality & Gender Identity in Iran

Sahar is seventeen and in love – with her best friend Nasrin. In Iran, homosexuality is a crime punishable by imprisonment, corporal punishment, and even execution, forcing the young women to keep their relationship – and sexuality – a secret. But when Nasrin’s family arranges a “suitable” marriage for her, each girl struggles to find a way to hold onto the other. Nasrin’s solution? An extramarital affair – which show more can also earn you the death penalty. Meanwhile Sahar, emboldened by a chance meeting with trans woman Parveen, hatches a misguided plan to undergo a sex change operation so that she can marry Nasrin herself.

Iran is home to more such surgeries than any country save for Thailand; typically they’re even funded in part by the state. Yet this development is far from positive, as the government views sex changes as a handy “cure” for homosexuality: a way to align one’s sexual orientation with one’s gender. Thus, many gay and lesbian Iranians are pressured to undergo such surgeries (including under threat of imprisonment); and, while arguably more acceptable than homosexuality, transgender Iranians are met with discrimination and oppression just the same. Meanwhile, gay and lesbian cissexuals who undergo coercive sex reassignment surgeries are trapped in a prison of a different kind; one possibly worse than any concrete and steel cell erected by a government: bodies which are not their own.

Sarah Farizan’s debut novel is brimming with characters you want to root for - people who are flawed and complicated but also (mostly) sympathetic and relatable. People who are doing their best to get by in a society that doesn’t accept them, and who they are, at the deepest, most fundamental levels. People like Sahar’s cousin Ali, who serves as Sahar’s mentor and guide to Tehran’s gay subculture (“Iran’s gay messiah,” Sahar observes wryly); Parveen, a trans woman who takes Sahar under her wing; Sahar’s Baba, the charmingly clueless Mr. Ghazvini, who fell into a deep depression after the death of his wife, Hayedeh; and of course Sahar and Nasrin, whose illicit relationship was doomed from the beginning. These characters will stick with you long after their story ends.

There’s quite a bit of grief and heartache here, but it’s tempered by Sahar’s wit and Ali’s optimism, even in the face of violent persecution. Farizan’s prose is lovely and engaging; I found If You Could Be Mine terribly difficult to put down, and in fact I devoured it in just several sittings over a marathon 12-hour reading session. (I realize that some book bloggers are known to read one book in a night, but this is unheard of for me!)

I eagerly await the release of Farizan’s sophomore effort, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel – another tale of girl-on-girl love featuring a woc protagonist.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2014/08/04/if-you-could-be-mine-by-sara-farizan/ show less

Lila hasn't yet found her "thing" the way her best friend Melanie has soccer, her bandmate Carolina has piano, and her talented, competitive older sister Parisa has, well, everything. When Lila learns that the school music program might get cut, she goes to the bank to ask for a loan, and while she's there, she finds a little box with a key inside; when she reads the inscription on the box, Lady Luck herself pops out, in the form of an eleven-year-old called Felise. Felise will stay with show more Lila for seven days, during which Lila will have good luck, but she must keep the key close during that time. Of course, the rich, powerful old white guy who dropped the key wants it back; but Felise tells Lila that they key found her, and Lila - unlike, apparently, all the other people Felise has helped throughout history - uses her luck only to benefit others, donating prize money to the school music program. She also - unlike others - seems to care for Felise personally, not just for what she can do for her. In return, Felise helps Lila see that she is already lucky, and she already has a thing: the comics and animation she loves.

Shiny good fun, with some suspense, and a satisfying ending. Lila's family is Persian-American.

Quotes

"Bad luck happens to good people sometimes and good luck happens to bad people sometimes, but belief in oneself and taking chances one otherwise wouldn't can impact someone's fortune." (Felise to Lila, 48)

...I do know that I like feeling a part of things. I want to help in some way, even it's by doing something small... (59)

I always thought that if a person was good at something, it had to be because they loved it. (80)

"I don't believe there's anything shameful about things that don't harm anyone and provide us and others joy. The real shame would be not pursuing one's interests. In trying to be like everyone else, no?" (Felise, 125)

"That's the problem with humans and innovation....Your kind always ask yourselves if you can build something, but never whether you should." (Felise, 164) show less

I really loved the supporting characters and the wider queer community shown in the book. Sahar has a gay cousin who she can talk to about her secret relationship, and she befriends a trans woman, which is how she comes up with the idea to transition in the first place. I felt bad for Sahar, since everyone can see that Nasrin is not going to be with her no matter what she does, but she herself refuses to see it. I think if I had read it when I was actually a teen I would have been really show more annoyed by her, but reading this as an adult was kinda just like watching a train wreck. So many times I shouted "don't do it, girl!" 
I liked that this book gave a portrayal of what life is like for a woman in Iran during this time. I also liked learning about (what is probably) a lesser-known fact about Iran, that gender transition is legal and covered by the government, even while being gay is illegal. There's even a trans character who looks down on the gay character as unnatural. It's not a point of view I'm used to seeing where I'm from. Overall, I thought the treatment of the trans characters was good. The description of gender affirming surgery was written in a purposefully scary way (I mean, after all, when someone isn't trans, it would sure sound horrible to go through those things). I was really glad she didn't go through with any aspect of transitioning in the end.
I really loved the ending, where Sahar is able to follow her own path. She doesn't get forced into taking the nuclear option (leaving Iran, never speaking to Nasrin again). I felt a sense of closure for her personal story.  show less

I don't normally read horror, but I had to get this book after meeting the author at a book festival and having the BEST time listening to her sell it! She was hilarious, and I somehow thought the book would be funnier too. I was a little wrong about that part, but it does have some lighter moments and it wasn't nearly as horror-ific as I might have feared. It's a great read-alike for fans of Stranger Things, because it's set in a small town in both 1992 and 1987, there are a fair amount of show more 80's and 90's pop culture references, kids sneaking around without adults knowing, random people going missing due to supernatural means--and a possibly haunted pinball machine is involved! It's also a nice LGBT coming-out story, well, a partial coming-out, because main character Cori still can't come out publicly, but as she grows closer to potential girlfriend Janet, she's sorting out her feelings and at least acknowledging them to her. Great hook for a story: high school seniors and former best friends Maz and Cori are confronted with the sudden return of their best friend Sam, who disappeared five years ago--and who is still 12 years old! They have to try to figure out what happened, and why, and oh no Sam seems to maybe be evil now...but also, he's still the same immature goofball he was back then. Fun horror-lite story about outgrowing friendships and rekindling them, and the deceptive lure of nostalgia. Lots of fun. show less