If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I liked the book, though some of the injustice I couldn't stand to read. In the end I ended up not being able to finish it. It was... heartbreaking.

Sahar and Nasrin have been in love since they were six. They have kissed and stolen touches in the moments when no one is looking. Because they are in Iran, and because they are both girls, it is forbidden for them to love each other.

Nasrin is about to get married to a doctor her parents picked out for her. She suggests they continue in secret, but Sahar wants to love Nasrin openly and exclusively. So she thinks about getting sex reassignment.

I couldn't read much after the beginning. It was just so unfair! I had a hard time with it, but the writer was pretty good. I don't think I'd be able to finish it without crying, though.

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Synopsis:

In this stunning debut, a young Iranian American writer pulls back the curtain on one of the most hidden corners of a much-talked-about culture.

Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light.

So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they have been, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly.

Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants, in the body she wants to be loved in, without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?

 

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