time slowing down, the thin line between reality and fantasy, delusions of grandeur, a deeply gothic and deeply southern atmosphere. hell yeah.

amazing, stunning, devastating....

filled with great interior reflections that we all experience, from quick funny or profound musings (or funny and profound), to the complicated issues we debate with ourselves over and over again never coming to any real conclusion.

such complex and interesting characters with so much depth. they go through hardships, both those that are thrust upon them by the world and those that are of their own making. they grapple over and over with their insecurities and they make disappointing choices. they are hypocritical and self-aware and contemplative and human. they show some growth, but at the same time show how much more potential they have to continue to grow, emphasized by the open ending.

posits questions of when can we forgive, can people truly change, what do we have to do to move on from our biggest mistakes in the past, will we ever know ourselves and what we truly want deep down? do we have to? in the battle between tradition and nonconformity, can our true desires fit somewhere fuzzy in between? and it never gives you any answers or solutions, it just lets you sit with them.

i loved it wowowowowowowow

very heartfelt and moving, and overall just feels very very human.

I really enjoyed the characterizations of both ellie and homa. both were very nuanced and felt like real people. the relationship between the two was also very real and imperfect. sometimes your closest friendships can still be complicated and uneven, can contain competition, jealousy, and moments of weakness, but also contain support, joy, and encouragement. friendship is as complicated as any other relationship, and I loved to see that explored here.

another relationship I thought was done well was between ellie and her mother. the way ellie's personality and struggles directly stem from her mother's treatment of her was super compelling and nuanced, even if the way the story ended on this note felt a little unearned. comparing ellie's family experience to homa's along with their socioeconomic differences added so much to their characterizations and the difficulty in their relationship.

the book does a really good job of creating a looming sense of dread over the course of the story. from the betrayal hinted at in the prologue, to the continued motif of the evil eye, to the politics of iran and the dramatic irony of knowing how history has played out, there always seems to be an underlying anxiety in the background. but amid that anxiety, there is still happiness and love and beautiful moments. the theme around the evil eye, envy bringing a terrible fate upon the envied, and ellie's complicated relationship to it, was the most compelling aspect of the novel for me. it created this feeling that everything that happens is destined, while at the same time insisting that we are all affected by our decisions and those of the people around us.

the setting and the themes of feminism, justice, activism, survival, immigration, motherhood, the beauty of culture/food/fashion/craft... all feel very timely and important. I really enjoyed this, I love reading about complicated women and their complicated friendships and their complicated approaches to this complicated world!