Reviews

Just Another Epic Love Poem by Parisa Akhbari

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anniekslibrary's review

4.0

Poetic and romantic, but also messy, thoughtful and complex, this story takes on learning to trust those you love through the perspective of Mitra, who has been through a lot because her mother struggles with addiction, and it's made it difficult for her to trust the people she loves, like her best friend Bee, who she's starting a relationship with. This book doesn't shy away from complex emotion, and it does so with so much love and care.

secretskeeper's review

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4.0

This is a beautifully written coming of age, sapphic, YA, romance book. The idea of two classmates going through high school with one series of books they've created together called "The Book" is beautiful. They share secrets, ideas, break ups, love. All the things high school girls go through is written in this "book". When one falls in love with the other it's hard to write that knowing the other can see and read it.
This book was about exploring a new unknown relationship outside the realm of friendship. It explored how to deal with a parent with addiction, how to cope with moving forward and going to college, how to deal with jealousy and learning to trust.
I love how Akhbari incorporated some poetry in with the storyline. It broke things up and each was so beautifully written.
Akhbari did an amazing job. This book is a little gem. I will be recommending it.

asrhoad's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

blove0312's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Oh, high school romances. I am so glad I’ve got almost two decades separating me from my high school years.

It was good, cute. Fast paced, somewhat emotional. I think it was written realistically; teenagers and charged emotions and the dramatics. The mom situation was tough to read and I’ve never had parents who struggled with addiction, nor a separated house. But I’ve had many friends who struggled, and it brings up a lot of memories.

Still not a fan of poetry. And for so much of it, it just arbitrarily line breaks, and then a comma will be after the first word of a new line when it clearly should’ve been part of the line before it. Idk. Doesn’t make sense and I like for things to make sense.

My friend and I, the one reading Green Creek with me, were just discussing poetry a week or two ago. She said she read a lot of it in high school and I told her it figures because it’s pretentious (implying like her, but that part in jest bc she isn’t; poetry is though).

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a lovely YA sapphic romance about two best friends who fall for each other and start dating. Mitra and Bea have had a poetry book going between them for the last five years, and now, they're learning how to navigate that when they start in a romantic relationship. We get to see glimpses of the poems they write each other, as well as the poems that Mitra writes for class. They are all quite lovely and add a lyrical, emotional element to the story.

Mitra is also navigating the fact that her estranged mom, who left because she struggled with addiction, has come back into their lives. It forces Mitra to confront her own trust issues, both with her family and in her relationships. There's a lot of complex emotions in this book, and they are all so well done.

This is Akhbari's debut, and I can't wait to see what she does next!

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