Well this was an emotional journey.

Really appreciated the range of topics this young adult novel touched upon. Dealing with grief and survivor’s guilt, the challenges of addiction for both addicts and those who love them, and having the strength to follow your own path despite familial expectations.
I thought the book dealt with these topics very well with nuance and sensitivity.

I also thought the depiction of Bodie and Kam’s friendship was brilliant. It felt so real. Totally captured the joy of teen friendships, but also the complexities of navigating friendship when you’re growing up, changing and experiencing difficult things.

Interestingly when I picked this up, I thought it would be more mystery type vibes. And whilst there was a little of that, this book is way more about emotional growth and healing. There was lots of sad moments, but also a lot of hope. 💜

It was perhaps a little too intense for me at times, but actually I think things do feel super intense when you’re a teenager. Im sure lots of this book will speak to lots of people. 💜

I got an eArc and since the book is not out yet I'm gonna try to say this with the least spoilers as possible but OMG I REALLY LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I was really in love with Abdi's previous book Only This Beautiful Moment and was so excited when I heard about this (also as a Brazilian, I love the little message at the end to the brazilian readers <3<3). I love the characthers, their relationships are not perfect, that's kinda one of the main themes the age gap of Kam and Ash, with Kam barely entering puberty and Ash already being a senior that is ready to become an adult was a such a red flag once it was pointed it out by Bodie, but it kinda matches the way that Kam ideolized his first love. Also I love Bodie. I got where his plot was going really early on and I love it because there where so many little interactions hinting at it and was really satisfied with how the story went, I love the pinning and drama between the two.

History is All You Left Me meets Hideous Beauty!

‘Sometimes, we have to look back in order to move forward.’

Abdi Nazemian is a superb YA author. His previous books, Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, were fantastic. And here’s another amazing one. Think of History is All You Left Me, but maybe most of all Hideous Beauty. Desert Echoes is a beautiful, sad boy story, a mystery imbued with hope, written in a dual timeline: the year Kam returned from Joshua Tree without Ash, and two years later when Kam goes back to Joshua Tree and has to face what happened back then.

There’s Covid in this book, talk of masks, social distancing, and vaccines, things I hate to see in stories—I even DNF’d books with mentions of Covid in it. But for the first time, I didn’t mind because the Covid references portrayed loneliness and the loss of human connections so beautifully, both significant themes in this story. Kam craves those connections so much, of course with Ash, but maybe even more with his parents and Bodie, his best friend.

In the now chapters, Kam’s grief is palpable on every page. In the videos he watches, in the music he listens to, in the conversations he has with Bodie. And slowly, I realized his pain wasn’t only because of Ash’s disappearance. The same applies to the then chapters. The love Kam and Ash had for each other felt so energetic, almost frantic. I smiled so many times, and still …

When I found out more about the truth, my heart ached for Ash. At the same time, I wanted to hug Bodie so badly because his love for Kam shone so brightly from page one, and Kam was so oblivious.

This story is about first love and moving on, about (co)dependency and cravings, and like I said above about loneliness and human connections. And just like Only This Beautiful Moment, this story is incredibly personal. Tears burned in my eyes while reading the last chapter and then I started to smile so much! This story, including the title and the cover is gorgeous! It’s so incredibly vibrant!