Best friendship blossoms into something more in this gorgeously written queer literary romance. "The heartache and longing of witnessing a beloved character pine hopelessly over her best friend has never brought me this much unadulterated joy." –National Book Award Finalist Sonora Reyes, author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School Over the past five years, Mitra Esfahani has known two constants: her best friend Bea Ortega and The Book—a dogeared moleskin she and Bea have been filling with the stanzas of an epic, never-ending poem since they were 13. For introverted Mitra, The Book is one of the few places she can open herself completely and where she gets to see all sides of brilliant and ebullient Bea. There, they can share everything—Mitra’s complicated feelings about her absent mother, Bea’s heartache over her most recent breakup—nothing too messy or complicated for The Book. Nothing except the one thing with the power to change their entire friendship: the fact that Mitra is helplessly in love with Bea. Told in lyrical, confessional prose and snippets of poetry Just Another Epic Love Poem takes readers on a journey that is equal parts joyful, heartbreaking, and funny as Mitra and Bea navigate the changing nature of I love you . Kirkus Best Books of the Year Booklist Editor's Choice New York Public Library Best Books of 2024 ★ “In Akhbari's powerful debut, poetry gives life to the text through the verses of Mitra and Bea, as well as the renowned poets they read…This is laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, realistic, and heartbreaking in the best way.” – Booklist , starred review ★ “An achingly poignant combination of coming-of-age and young queer love between two teens of color, this book easily deserves a spot on the shelf alongside Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club.” – BCCB starred review “A dazzling best-friends-to-lovers sapphic love story...that feels both genuine and extraordinary. If this wonderfully moving novel is what Parisa Akhbari writes her first time out of the gate, I can’t wait to see what her sophomore release will hold!” –Autostraddle “Akhbari skillfully enmeshes myriad poetic styles with organic depictions of Iranian culture and food, and channels the insecurities of adolescence and the overlapping pressures of growing up to worthy effect in this promising debut.” – Publishers Weekly “[A] tenderly written novel… A love affair among poetry, Iranian culture, and teenage angst is happily fused in Akhbari’s debut.” – School Library Journal “ Just Another Epic Love Poem is both a beautiful queer love story and a poignant coming-of-age tale about healing and learning to forgive. With lyrical prose, stunning poetry, and unforgettable characters, Akhbari's debut is a must-read.” – Adiba Jaigirdar, award-winning author of The Henna Wars “The heartache and longing of witnessing a beloved character pine hopelessly over her best friend has never brought me this much unadulterated joy. My love for this never-ending epic love poem will truly never end!” –National Book Award Finalist Sonora Reyes, author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School “Be prepared to be utterly charmed and have your heart stolen by Mitra and Bea and their story.” – Sara Farizan, author of Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel Parisa Akhbari is a writer and mental health therapist from Seattle, Washington. When not writing or therapizing, she can be found trying to replicate her grandmother’s drool-worthy Persian recipes, hanging out with disability community, and marathoning sci-fi movies with her partner and dogs. Just Another Epic Love Poem is her debut novel. The Never-Ending Poem Whenever she got nostalgic, Bea would ask me, “Do you remember how it started?” And I wouldn’t need to ask her What? because I already knew what she was talking about. But she’d coax me on anyway: “The first thing I ever wrote to you.” I remember how the poem started, I want to tell Bea now. I remember, I remember. But I think she’d rather we both forgot. The Beginning Bea and I were thirteen when we met, when I transferred into her eighth-grade classroom at Holy Trinity. Bea would fight me on this part, but our friendship—and everything after—began with her pelting me in the back of the head with a wad of paper. Not that I was a stranger to fielding other people’s spitwads. But my first day had already been off to a miserable start, mainly because of the uniform jumper. It hung in this thick, carpet-like fabric down my body, a pleated headache of red and gold plaid. This is the first day of the rest of your life, I thought. I looked like a human Christmas tree ornament. And maybe that was the point of Catholic school. How would I know? We had just moved to Crossroads, the one almost-affordable pocket in the uber-rich city of Bellevue, Washington. I loved our new neighborhood because of its proximity to the Crossroads Shopping Center, home of the only Iranian-owned pizza parlor I had ev