How It All Blew Up had potential. It had all the themes I love in YA- friendships, beautiful setting, family, acceptance. I really wish I loved this book that I wanted to. But it fell flat to my expectations.

It has good representation and the theme of finding your sexual identity, while embracing your cultural identity and being an immigrant, plays a huge role in this book. And of course, Italy is one of my favorite countries to read about. But what specifically didn't work for me was the weak storyline. Though I usually prefer character oriented stories, I can't help but think how this story could have been better if the plot was handled well. And the characters themselves were not strong enough to take the story on their shoulders alone. All of them were pretty much one dimensional.

The friendship that Amir finds in Italy was quite fast and sudden? But I loved that group. I loved the way they tried to make Amir at home. The scenes where Arvin was trying to explore his sexual identity were done beautifully.

This wasn't a bad book. I just wish the implementation was better.