Despite the brevity of the book and its intense subject matter, most characters in If You Could Be Mine are provided riveting backstories and familiar motivations. When Sahar goes to her first party, you remember the fear and elation of being somewhere exciting and dangerous, drunk with possibility. When Nasrin pulls Sahar into her bedroom after weeks apart, it is easy to recall the last time you kissed someone like you might not ever see them again.

It's a world full of people you feel like you've met before, not to mention, a world that isn't dissimilar to the one teens inhabit now. Farizan says this cunning was intentional, "The people in the book are doing very ordinary things like eating burgers and listening to R&B music, so it's not just scary 'Oh! They're coming after us!' It's real people who have real emotions and feelings, and who do normal things."

The novel, driven by the relationship between Sahar and Nasrin, is thick with the angst of teen coupling, compounded with the fear of retribution for their perceived sin. They are careful to make sure no one would suspect them as anything more than best friends, and mostly succeed. They are only affectionate with one another behind closed doors, aside from holding hands, which is perfectly normal for same-sex friends in Iranian culture.

Farizan's parents immigrated from Iran in the '70s, her father a surgeon and her mother a homemaker. "My coming-out was this constant thing," says Farizan, who came out when she was college student in Washington, D.C. "Not even just coming out as gay or lesbian, but coming out as bi. I just think it's a very emotional thing to be comfortable in an identity that people can't necessarily see."

Her parents weren't thrilled, but eventually came around. Farizan is sympathetic to their position: "When I came out to my mom, I was 18, but I think she knew for quite some time. She's a wonderful woman, my best friend, and I love her to death. And her main concern was 'You are already a minority, you are already Iranian-American. You are already a woman. I don't want life to be difficult for you.'" A similar situation occurs in the novel between Sahar and Nasrin's mother, who insists she married Nasrin off to protect her.

Farizan's empathy for her characters is also what allowed her to see Nasrin from a different perspective from most of those who've read it. "Readers who have talked to me about the book, they're not that crazy about Nasrin. And she's actually the character I'm most empathetic toward," says Farazin. "Sahar has invested so much into this one person. Nasrin is basically her whole world. And then toward the end you can see that Sahar has a life now."

After receiving the news that Nasrin is to be married to a handsome young doctor, Sahar feels betrayed not only by her heart, but the circumstances of her gender in a culture in which women do not have equal rights. In Iran, being lesbian or gay is illegal, but gender reassignment surgery is not. Not only is it legal, the surgery is paid for in full by the government. While same-sex relationships are considered sexual deviancy, being trans is considered a mistake of nature. The seamless introduction to a community of trans characters who run the gamut in personality is perhaps the most impressive element of the story. Paraveen, Sahar's friend, is a gorgeous trans woman with a supportive family; Jamshid, a trans man who mentors the younger men in their support group; and Katayoun, a trans woman who believes people in same-sex relationships have made "a bargain with the devil." Though Farizan's written these characters beautifully, it is not lost on her that she may not be the best person to tell these stories. She says, "When I found out the book was coming out, I worried because I'm cisgender, and I have trans characters, and is that my place? Am I allowed to do that? Part of me feels like, no, I'm not. Mostly because I'm nervous about writing characters who aren't like me. Especially if they're characters who aren't well-represented in media."

Indeed, this is the first book I've ever read with young trans characters. In the past year, trans rights have become a bigger part of our cultural conversation on gender. On May 29, actress and transgender activist, Laverne Cox graced the cover of Time magazine. As people become more comfortable discussing trans rights, and writing characters who are doing the same, would Farizan like her novel held up as example for how to do that the right way?

"My feeling is people who identify as trans should be given that voice. But my hope is that with this book and other stuff I write, if it does do OK, and it has done critically all right, that people will take a chance on other writers who are perhaps not seen as much."