No God but Us, Bobuq Sayed (Review by Omonivie Williams)

No God But Us is a beautiful story of duty, family, self and queer identity. Taking place in 2014-2015, we follow Delbar and Mansur, two gay Afghan men who flee their respective countries, meeting in Türkiye. Delbar grew up in America in an immigrant, nouveau-rich family with aspirations of making a name in drag. He leaves America after being unceremoniously ousted to his family. For Mansur, Türkiye is not his first time being a refugee, but it is the first time he finds himself without his family. The characters that Bobuq Sayed creates, to explore tension within a people, to challenge notions of love, queer or not, to delve deeper into identity as an outsider in a country and in one’s own body, are all real people that Sayed writes into being, flawed, real people you can’t help but love. Sayed’s writing is engrossing, vulnerable and humorous at times. It is ironic, poking fun at the power we put in labels and borders and the complexities of bonds forged by hardship when the hardship faced is different for everyone. And most of all, what happens to them when a better chance seems like a betrayal? Sayed explores both challenges of immigration and of being queer, as well as the burden and gift that is family. They write from converging moments in time, creating almost a mystery as we catch up to see how the characters we know turn out how they did. They have a deep understanding of their characters, writing their intimate thought processes in a natural way that blurs fiction. No God But Us resonated a lot with me and would with anyone of queer identity or a history of immigration or rich cultural background, whether you feel in touch with it or not. The book was rich in not just content but also in references. I had to take breaks, not just to decompress, but also to immerse myself; to read along with the poetry of Forugh Farrokhzad, watch Madhuri Dixit in Devdas, and listen along to Googoosh’s “Behesht.”