Wow! So beautiful! I had to force myself to slow down reading this one. I wanted to see what was going to happen next. It got a little rocky there around the 80% mark to the point I thought was reading a different book, but it recovered with that ending. Just so beautiful!

Thank you NetGalley, Navid Sinaki, and Grove Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Medusa of the Roses by Navid Sinaki releases August 13, 2024!

I was really sucked in at the beginning of this book. The writing and the characters were instantly compelling. But I found as it reached the halfway point the story started to drag and the characters grew to be more frustrating and the writing more confounding. At such a short length it's tough to feel a book is dragging. While it illustrates a life and oxymoron of policy that many are trapped to abide, the characters here did not carry enough to keep the story interesting. When the final act came, the more thrilling scenes felt dropped in from a completely different story. All together, I found the book confusing and disappointing.

I thought this book was brilliant! I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. Great debut. Looking forward to teaching this along some Greek Mythology.

This was a thriller, but it was also literary and thought provoking. I really enjoyed the diversity in characters and getting a glimpse of a culture different from my own. At times this was a bit too confusing and literary for me, but I really enjoyed the time spent.

I would recommend looking into triggers, and there was a lot of focus on sexual acts. This isn’t really a negative but something I want to mention so you know going in case it is something that bothers you.

I got this digital copy for free from NetGalley, and really appreciate the chance to read it early.

This is an interesting and confident debut, a queer noir set in Tehran. The references to Greek and Persian mythology and classical Hollywood films built in a sense of allegory and unreality that contributed to the sense of dread. Anjir is a compelling narrator, amoral and driven by fear. The depiction of LGBTQ+ lives in Iran was sensitive and illuminating. Unfortunately, I found the other characters underdeveloped, and the noir plot that kicks off the novel comes in and out of focus in a way that I found a bit frustrating. I wish it had been a bit more evenly paced and more tightly plotted, as everything sort of explodes at the end in a melodramatic fashion that felt at odds with the slow drip of dread that characterizes the rest of the novel. More atmosphere would also have helped make this one a truly effective literary thriller. This wasn’t my favourite, but I would be interested in reading more of Sinaki’s work.

thank you netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book!
this is a great debut as far as they go and i did really enjoy it!

This novel was truly excellent, The prose was spare and beautiful and yet the novel had a sustained power and tension that was almost unbearable. The characters contemplate love and obsession, desire and identity against the backdrop of modern Iran, where homosexuals are discriminated against and brutalised. This novel doesn't provide easy answers, none of the characters are wholly good but they feel more realistic for that. This will be my first choice for a book club book when it's released, there is just so much to be explored and appreciated.

The writing was very confusing for me, hard to keep track of what was happening and which charcter was in the spotlight, I am sad to say it was very hard for me to get through this book.

What happens when you live in a world where it is dangerous to be who you are? Dangerous meaning that you risk your life to be alive? To even exist? When you suppress parts of your identity, they implode and explode in flourishings that carry you for the rest of your life.

Sinaki has a poet's tongue, skillful in the way he mixes memories with metaphor, every action is an art:

"𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦? 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱. 𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘡𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴, 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦."

And it's beautiful to see love like this.
It's beautiful to see yearning like this.

It's beautiful in the ways when under oppression comes a suppression that falls hard on itself to allow you to touch more finely, more intentionally. Sinaki creates music out of touch, creates song from a kiss. Sex as symphony. Sex, also, as a ways of survival for the queer body in this respect.

For those that enjoy poetry and prose in the novel form, this one is meant to captivate.

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪-𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘦, "𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳?"
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦: 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵.

This is an incredibly beautiful book that shines a spotlight on the persecution faced by queer and trans people in modern-day Iran. Though there are moments of laugh-out-loud wit, it is overall a quite dark and somber book, so I think you need to be in the right mood to enjoy this one. The plot progresses slowly at the beginning before sharply escalating toward the end of the book. The prose is absolutely gorgeous, and the way the author draws parallels between ancient myths and the book’s characters will delight mythology fans. I love books that pull me out of my world and into another culture, and I enjoyed the dynamic and stereotype-defying characters.

Overall, this story was masterfully told and I would definitely recommend it to lovers of lit fic.

DNF @ 52%
This is very boring for a mystery/thriller. The main character is the most passive character; he doesn’t do anything and he doesn’t even have anything to say, really. The mythology element is hardly there, and the roses and snakes motif is almost to the point of overkill.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC!

Anjir and Zal are childhood best friends who discovered their sexuality together and have grown into adult lovers. But in Tehran, being openly gay is an offense punishable by death, both in the actual law and the law of society. Zal has married a woman but the pair have long dreamed of escaping Iran to be together. Medusa of the Roses picks up as their plan might finally become reality.

The ups and downs of their complicated relationship is told as a noir. I rate it a 3--it's really more of a 3.5. I loved the journey of the story and the way it was told, but the ending came on too quickly and became rather trite. I'm owing some of this to playing into the cheesy side of a noir, but it just didn't fit the rest of the book.

thank you netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book!
this is a great debut as far as they go
zal and anjir are everything honestly, reading about their troubles and tribulations in modern day iran is honestly eye opening. excited to see more

Beautiful, almost achingly so. Thoroughly entertained by the beautiful prose to the finish line. Thank you for the opportunity.

The prose is very well written and the story was immersive enough to keep me engaged. 3 stars overall

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC!

This was more like a 3.5. This takes place in Iran and it's LGBTQ+ rep. I'm just not sure if I loved it. I enjoyed it. Let's leave it at that. It's also got Greek mythology for those who love that stuff like myself.

I wish I enjoyed this book more, but I just think it wasn’t meant for me. I found it hard to follow & a bit dense. The cinematic prose was great. I really liked the way the novel was written but I came out of it not really understanding why the characters did what they did or who they really were. It didn’t seem like Anjir really had any character development, the only thing I know is how sexually active they are. I would have liked to know some motivation behind the characters actions or some description of their personalities.

thank you Grove Atlantic & Netgalley for the eARC

One thing I find interesting is that the summary of the book mentions that the book is steeped in Greek and Persian mythology. How that comes across is through metaphors and analogies that happen more often than I was expecting, or than I found enjoyable. This would often feel shoehorned in, a moment of "see how this relates to this myth? or this other myth? look at the parallels I'm drawing!" It felt less poetic than I hoped for, and more forced.

The book deals with fascinating, important topics, and is generally good, but I found myself distracted by the way that the author consistently told me what myth I was supposed to be thinking about at all times.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

Medusa of the roses is a troubled story of queer lovers. I was so curious and enthusiastic to read this book, but for me it didn’t get through.
It promised a lot, but somewhere in between the confusing writing style and the messy plot, it felt a lot like chaos.
The final plot twist I think I would have loved if the whole story was better told.
In the end, one good thing about the heavy tone and the messy thoughts, is that it communicates the tortured love of the MC.

With a strong political message, queer in a way in which the lyrical richness of the lyrics is approached from Greco-Roman and Persian references.

The details were the forte of the book, some of those who read this book felt that the story fell "short" and could have exploited more thoroughly the conflicts of the plot. Maybe if the editor had something to do with it, I would have chosen to propose a "prose and verse" story if I were you.

I recommend it if you want a Queer Persian read, with a picturesque aesthetic with detailed descriptions and heartfelt stories.