genre: historical fiction
Ellie's life in Tehran has pivoted in a deeply upsetting way. When her father dies, her family is forced to leave their expensive home and move to a rougher part of the city and even at seven years old, she knows she wants a real friend. She is surprised when a girl walks right into her life and becomes that friend - Homa. Homa who is adventurous and passionate and driven. The two become inseparable but as the 1950s turn into the 1960, politics and religion begin to play a role in both of their lives, neither of them imagining how their beloved Iran will change.
On the one hand, I feel like this book gave me an intimate look at what Iran was like before the Islamic Republic. I really appreciated that about it and I did get a wonderful sense of the culture, both for better and worse. The plot is believable, I think, I have no complaints about that and I do love stories about female friendship. I just honestly couldn't see what Homa saw in Ellie. She's not a very likable character as a girl and young adult, at least not through the conversations and interactions that we are party to as a reader. Homa feels bigger than life and I just kept wondering why she stayed friends with Ellie. The dialogue, especially the mom's, was very caricatured, but overall, as a historical fiction story, it kept my attention and I feel a deep compassion for what the people of Iran had and what they lost.
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