• how it all blew up
• young adult, LGBT, contemporary
• “A friend of mine with older children likes to say that at the beginning of your children's lives, you are teaching them. But there comes a point in life when they begin to teach you.”
• rating: ☆☆☆.5

Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew coming out to his Muslim family would be messy--he just didn't think it would end in an airport interrogation room. But when faced with a failed relationship, bullies, and blackmail, running away to Rome is his only option. Right?

Soon, late nights with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel start to feel like second nature... until his old life comes knocking on his door. Now, Amir has to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth to a US Customs officer, or risk losing his hard-won freedom.