OH MY AFFOGATO!

A young Iranian American woman navigates the transition to adulthood with a trip across Europe in this co-authored debut.

Eighteen-year-old Soraya Soltani and her best friends, Marisol and Anya, embark on their first independent international trip together, managing a limited budget and navigating public transportation. Sora feels a buzz of excitement not only for the trip itself, but because of something she’s concealing: She’s secretly planned to meet up with Wes, the ex she had a tumultuous relationship with, who’s going to be on the Amalfi Coast with his fraternity brothers at the same time. Marisol and Anya despise Wes for the way he treated Sora, but she’s struggling with feeling left behind as her friends will be going out of state for college while she stays behind in Georgia, attending the same school as Wes. Sora acts impulsively, often regretting her decisions and choice of words. When her secret rendezvous with Wes are revealed, her ongoing deception causes a major fracture with her friends. But she’s grounded by Nico, an attractive university student whose family owns the small, slightly shabby bed-and-breakfast they’re staying at in Sorrento. Sora’s dedication to helping Nico save his family's business from foreclosure is appealing. The book would have benefited from deeper development of her relationships with Anya, who's cued white, and Marisol, who presents Latine, as she tries to break her pattern of seeking external validation from boys.

A whirlwind romance of self-discovery with not enough payoff for the angst.