The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali

"Their presence tonight showed me unconditional acceptance of who I was, and there could be no greater gift for me than this moment right here, right now. For the first time in a long while, I was truly happy."

It's been a long time since I've found a book that was able to speak to me the way this one does. As a teenaged member of the LGBT+ community (I'm Pan and Non-Binary) with a less than accepting family, my heart broke for Rukhsana. My family has never done anything that extreme before, but I trust that her experiences were written accurately because everything else she went through that I have was represented so accurately it felt as if I was Rukhsana in some moments.

I certainly know what it's like to be the only person of color in the friend group, and having to explain the cultural differences to the friend group, along with having to sneak around when you are being your most authentic self so I immediately connected to Rukhsana when she worked so hard to go to college and getaway. I really felt represented because my own personal mantra has been “ Only four more years” since my last birthday.

I think that if you are a member of the LGBT community you should read this book. Same as if you are an ally, a person of color tired of hiding your own culture to fit in, or the parent of an LGBT child. This book does such a good job representing me, it's definitely worth a read.