Truly one of the all-time great modern queer romances. It's true that this book is full of lesbian yearning, but it's also incredibly hopeful in its ending which is rare for a book like this. It's a story of gender envy, the power of owning your own identity and narrative, and embracing the sexual aspects of your sexuality.

It's also incredibly hot, written in a pragmatic and delicate way that only a queer person could have written. It's a beautiful meditation on butch identity and the way that good sex and good queer friends can provide gender euphoria. It's so tactile I could feel the heat steaming off the grass and the satin of Mrs. S's skin. Truly beautiful literary fiction.

There are a lot of reviews talking about 'nothing happens' or its 'slow', but tbh I think that's a true skill issue. There is so much to dissect in this book and so much being said in every sentence. The tension is so rich and thick it's delicious.

you know how they recently created an entirely new genre called cozy fantasy? well i’m gonna start a new one called cozy horror and make this the top of the list—and not because it is cozy in a feel-good sense; quite the opposite, actually—but because i so delicately relate to the pressing anxieties lathered in this book like warm shampoo through untangling hair. i see myself embroidered in the discomfort and the brutal reality of dysfunction, and it’s not to make me feel like a stitch out of place, but as a welcome disturbance. i feel at home in the horror, and that is something not all books set out to achieve—to show you a mirror and tell you it’s okay to look. you are still yourself even in the darkness.

all that to say it was deeply personal for me and i enjoyed it very much. this book is invaluable as a cultural asset, touching upon themes of racism, systemic injustice, loneliness, beliefs, and undiscovered identity, all wrapped tightly in fear and exposed one by one like laying out your meal on a picnic table, waiting to be devoured. except it’s dark and your companions are the forgotten ghosts that the system was built to ignore, ghosts who had a name once. this book is a platform for them.

i gasped, cried, slammed the book and went to sleep angry, laughed silly, stood in the corner of my room and dislodged myself from reality. you name it, i’ve been there 😀👍🏼

kylie lee baker has created a gruesome, yet tantalizing story for me and all the others who have 0-2 friends, the youngest sibling whose decisions are somehow always chosen for us, who kin courage the cowardly dog, who still use masks in 2026. she has become my new fave author (this is my second book of hers!). what she does, she does well, and i’m seated for all of it 😌

The Lion Women of Tehran was an incredibly emotional read for me. I finished it teary-eyed, and there were several moments throughout the novel that genuinely moved me. At times, I almost forgot I was reading about fictional characters because of how vividly the story is woven into the real history of Iran from the 1950s through the 1980s.

What captivated me most was the relationship between Ellie and Homa. Their friendship is the heart of the novel, spanning years of political upheaval, personal growth, separation, and reunion. It feels authentic in all its complexity. Through them, the novel explores joy, loyalty, jealousy, grief, love and betrayal in ways that feel deeply human. I found myself connecting with both women, even when I didn't always agree with their choices. One of the book's greatest strengths is its willingness to let its characters be imperfect without losing empathy for them.

The historical setting is equally compelling. Rather than feeling like a backdrop, Iran's changing political landscape becomes an active force in the characters' lives, shaping their opportunities, relationships, and futures. I learned a great deal about Iranian history and culture while reading, but never in a way that felt like a history lesson. Instead, these events are experienced through the lives of people you come to care about.

Beyond its historical elements, the novel explores themes of feminism, motherhood, autonomy, sacrifice, and resilience. I particularly appreciated how it portrays different kinds of strength and different ways of being a woman. There is no single path to fulfilment, activism, or courage, and the book allows its characters the space to navigate those questions for themselves.

Beautiful, devastating, hopeful, and heartbreaking, The Lion Women of Tehran is ultimately a story about friendship, about the choices that shape our lives, and about the enduring bonds that connect us to one another.