I loved this book about books, music, and girls trying to be more than they were told they could be. I love stories of forbidden identities in traditional spaces, stories of how they subsumed those spaces or broke free or both. So I won't ruin this beautiful book for you in this way. This is because it is a story that depends at least in part on surprise, or more generally than that even, on form, for its potency and effect.

ROSES, IN THE MOUTH OF A LION by Bushra Rehman is a book I will struggle to describe further without ruining it for you. ROSES is quiet, but ferocious - I found it utterly unpredictable and I was on the edge of my seat while I read. New York back drops ROSES, IN THE MOUTH OF A LION by Bushra Rehman, a story about young girls' friendship bearing up (or not) under the strain of expectation, family life and love for Islam, a misfit in a new country finding her own country, and a fight for first romance. Thank you NetGally, Bushra Rehman, and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audio copy of this beautiful book. Punctuated by both joy and loss, full of ’80s music and beloved novels, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a new classic: a fiercely compassionate coming-of-age story of a girl struggling to reconcile her heritage and faith with her desire to be true to herself. When their relationship is discovered by an Aunty in the community, Razia must choose between her family and her own future. At Stuyvesant, Razia meets Angela and is attracted to her in a way that blossoms into a new understanding. When Razia is accepted to Stuyvesant, a prestigious high school in Manhattan, the gulf between the person she is and the daughter her parents want her to be, widens.

They embark on a series of small rebellions: listening to scandalous music, wearing miniskirts, and cutting school to explore the city. She finds solace in Taslima, a new girl in her close-knit Pakistani-American community. When a family rift drives the girls apart, Razia’s heart is broken.

Razia Mirza grows up amid the wild grape vines and backyard sunflowers of Corona, Queens, with her best friend, Saima, by her side. For readers of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and My Brilliant Friend, Bushra Rehman's Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is an unforgettable story about female friendship and queer love in a Muslim-American community.

Roses in the mouth of a lion