Tell Me How You Really Feel, Aminah Mae Safi

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the queer, brown Gilmore Girls remake of my dreams and I am LIVING FOR IT. This was the best kind of enemies-to-lovers story fueled by misunderstandings and insecurities rather than actual douchebaggery. Both Sana and Rachel were gorgeously fleshed out characters coming to terms with family expectations, dreams versus reality, financial pressure, and struggling to present the most honest version of yourself.

I was once again blessed to read the second story in the last month about a Jewish character whose Judaism is actually an integral part of her identity and her story. The Passover seder literally had me wanting to shout from the rooftops because this is how you include cultural tradition and identity into story!! I really had to put the book down and just soak in that scene because it felt so god damn good.

Honestly, I'm just kinda sitting here grinning stupidly to myself over how much I just adore this book. This was definitely one the highlights of my year and I will absolutely be coming back to this book again and again.

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You Asked for Perfect, Laura Silverman

You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so very very much. Queer Jewish boy dealing with the bullshit academic pressure put on high school students is totally my jam. Even better, Ariel is a religious Jew who obviously finds great comfort in Judaism and the Jewish community. Do you know how rare that is in media of any kind?? In a lot of ways this was a love letter to Judaism and it was so beautiful. I especially liked that Ariel's queerness wasn't an issue at all. His family and community accepted it as part of him. I feel like every time I see religious queers in YA it has to be a struggle so seeing Ariel just be bisexual with no negative commentary whatsoever was great. Plus his love interest was a queer Muslim boy whose sexuality was, again, just not an issue. All in all, a lot of real good shit.

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