Scan barcode
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
While very different in style from Khorram's previous books, there's still the same heart and emotion pulsing behind this story. Apparently I've been on kind of a boy band kick lately, and I'm happy to say this book didn't disappoint. From the beginning, I didn't want to put this book down!
One of the things that works so well for this book is the news articles, blog posts, email chains, and text conversations between chapters. Not only does it help provide context for Kiss and Tell's success as a band, but it also provides the reader with what's happening in the broader pop culture elements of their world. We also get character growth in these articles, and they're just so clever.
And the characters! If there's one thing that Khorram excels at it's writing characters. Yes, Hunter is messy and a bit self-centered and a boy who thinks he has to take everything on by himself. The dynamic he has with Kaivan evolves and it's quite adorable, honestly. They had great chemistry as a couple.
Underneath the boy band drama of the book, Khorram also touches on important issues, like society's expectations for gay people in the spotlight, racism in the music industry, and the tolls of a public persona. While I do wish that some of the race stuff was explored a little more, Hunter does grow a lot in this aspect. By the end, I do feel like he realizes he has privilege in ways that his band members do not.
I do wish that there were maybe like 30 more pages in the story? I just wanted a bit more resolution at the end, to see a little more after all that goes down with Hunter and the band. Plus, I wanted to see Hunter and Kaivan's relationship expand a little more there at the end.
All in all, this is a fantastic addition to Khorram's already fantastic books, and I can't wait to see what he does next!
One of the things that works so well for this book is the news articles, blog posts, email chains, and text conversations between chapters. Not only does it help provide context for Kiss and Tell's success as a band, but it also provides the reader with what's happening in the broader pop culture elements of their world. We also get character growth in these articles, and they're just so clever.
And the characters! If there's one thing that Khorram excels at it's writing characters. Yes, Hunter is messy and a bit self-centered and a boy who thinks he has to take everything on by himself. The dynamic he has with Kaivan evolves and it's quite adorable, honestly. They had great chemistry as a couple.
Underneath the boy band drama of the book, Khorram also touches on important issues, like society's expectations for gay people in the spotlight, racism in the music industry, and the tolls of a public persona. While I do wish that some of the race stuff was explored a little more, Hunter does grow a lot in this aspect. By the end, I do feel like he realizes he has privilege in ways that his band members do not.
I do wish that there were maybe like 30 more pages in the story? I just wanted a bit more resolution at the end, to see a little more after all that goes down with Hunter and the band. Plus, I wanted to see Hunter and Kaivan's relationship expand a little more there at the end.
All in all, this is a fantastic addition to Khorram's already fantastic books, and I can't wait to see what he does next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Body shaming, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent, Car accident, and Fatphobia
rey_therese07's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcohol and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexual harassment
aus10england's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another great book by Adib! I went in with pretty high expectations, considering how strong their first two books were, and for the most part I was satisfied. I think that the book is in its prime in the first half, as we get to see the boys on tour, and the drama that ensues. I appreciate that the main character is allow to be a #messygay, and I feel was realistically portrayed for somebody in that position. I also HEAVILY enjoyed the bits between chapters, (email exchanges between managers, text messages, tabloid articles, etc.) they really added to the story, and contextualized the fame of the characters involved. Where the book fell flat for me was the romance elements, I just didn’t buy the attraction and the actions that transpired. It is successful in the sense that it is VERY melodramatic. If you enjoy boy bands, flawed characters, and Canadian culture references, I would highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Outing, Alcohol, Racism, and Sexual content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
ladythana's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Homophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs
joensign's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
perpetualpages's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
CWs: experiences of homophobia and some homophobic/sexual slurs; references to racism; descriptions of online harassment and some sexual harassment; mentions of parental death; brief mentions of fatphobia, graphic sports injury, and vomit; instances of underage drinking; and some mild sexual content
On the surface, Kiss & Tell promises a simple and straightforward story about a queer boy bander trying to navigate the spotlight, but in true Adib Khorram fashion, it's also so much more! While this is a very different story from Adib's previous books, it has that same level of thoughtfulness and heart at its center.
On the one hand, this is a super fun, fast-paced story about a mega-popular boy band blazing across North America on one of their biggest tours, but it's also asking a lot of deeper questions about the cisheteronormativity of the boy band market and what it means to be "visibly queer" online and on stage.
As a white cis gay boy, Hunter definitely holds a lot of privilege, and the fact that he's able to be out as a gay man with his label and have it be a non-issue is definitely part of that. However, he's still having to deal with people dehumanizing him and reducing him to nothing more than just a label, and he also finds himself being continuously forced into this "token gay boy" box. Whether it's the way he's told to dress, the kinds of press junkets he's allowed to do, or the content he's allowed to post, every aspect of his expression is carefully controlled by the people around him. There's a compelling contradiction between Hunter having an immense platform that comes with an incredible amount of power and also not having a lot of freedom to choose for himself as a result.
I really appreciate how this story makes the reader think about who boy bands are marketed towards and why. Generally speaking, the majority of boy bands are marketed towards younger audiences, and primarily cishet audiences, and they occupy a very strange liminal space where they're expected to be "wholesome" and "virginal" but also attractive and suggestive enough to be "desirable" to their audience. By those standards, Hunter already finds himself at a disadvantage of sorts, because his target audience (young cishet girls) can't romantically project themselves onto him. So his label feels that he has to make up for that quote-unquote "deficit" by really leaning into the stereotypical "twink" styles and mannerisms and molding himself into this perfect, wholesome queer role model for young people.
That dilemma further opens up the question of what it even means to *be* a role model, and how that concept in itself can be even more limiting in some ways. Especially as a queer boy, Hunter finds his every action to be put under a microscope, and he finds it harder to make himself seem "perfect" and "wholesome" when he's constantly being confronted by the misconception that sexuality and queerness is solely about the act of sex, when it's not. When his toxic ex drunkenly releases screenshots of Hunter's private conversations, that onslaught of commentary becomes even more pressing.
I truly appreciate how Adib Khorram has crafted a sex positive story about a young queer man who's constantly being forced to grapple with the conception that he's either "not gay enough" or "too gay." Especially in a world where queer men are often seen as hypersexual, which is then seen as "shameful" (even though there's nothing inherently bad or wrong about sex), this story makes a powerful statement about embracing those parts of yourself that are deemed "imperfect" and being unafraid to to claim all those messy sides of yourself that don't neatly fit into any box. Being openly queer as a public figure is often a matter of Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't. Every action you take is extrapolated and interpreted as a representation of the entire queer community at large when it shouldn't be, and Hunter having to fight against that feels incredibly realistic.
On a lighter note, I also enjoy how this story puts a different spin on the "fake dating" trope. While Hunter and Kaivan are technically dating for real and by their own choice, it still feels like a front at times since the label is intentionally playing it up for press. So you kind of get the best of both worlds, where you get to see this very soft, genuine romantic connection unfold over the course of the story, but there's also your typical "fake dating shenanigans" with all these public-facing dates put on for the fans.
Another highlight is the way the story makes use of multi-media interludes between chapters, where you get to see the snippets from various press junkets or interviews, transcripts from Kiss & Tell's documentary, as well as excerpts of blog posts and think pieces. I love the way those pieces of media are able to indirectly build out the "world" of the story and reveal more about the characters from an outside perspective, and it's even interesting to see how the events of the story are being spun by the press for online consumption. It was also nice to have media inserts that were not just interviews, because those added to the larger commentary of how being a queer boy bander complicates the cisheteronormative narrative popularized in the mainstream.
There were two tiny things that kept this from being a five-star book, for me personally. The first is that I wish Hunter's bandmates were a little bit more prominent in the story. Besides Hunter, the rest of Kiss & Tell is made up of more ethnically diverse pop stars—who are Vietnamese-, Brazilian-, and Indian-Canadian—and I wish we could have more directly seen the kinds of pressures that *they* face. There's a small discussion of that towards the end, when Hunter's bandmates sort of call him out for assuming that his queerness is a "bigger burden" than the racism they face online, but I think getting to see those experiences or discussions play out would have made that land even better.
My second tiny note is that I found myself wanting a bit more from the romantic relationship between Hunter and Kaivan. Throughout the story, it's made clear that Kaivan has somewhat of a superiority complex when it comes to the success of boy bands versus the success of traditional bands, some of which is definitely warranted when you consider the vast disparity between them. However, that leads him to saying some controversial things in his interviews where he openly questions the talent-level, creativity, and integrity of boy banders. When that eventually comes to light, it ends up feeling somewhat glossed over. I think there were more conversations to be had between Hunter and Kaivan to meaningfully reconcile those differences in order for me to feel fully on board with their relationship by the end. Even so, overall I did enjoy the romantic element.
As always, I remain absolutely floored by Adib Khorram's ability to craft a deeply meaningful and thoughtful story that's also able to balance humor, romance, and fun. As I said up top, even though this seems like a simple story on the surface, it proves to be so much more and offers the reader a foothold to better grasp deeper questions about societal expectations and self-expression. As with all of Adib's books, I enjoyed this so much, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what he writes next. No matter what it is, I will definitely be reading it!
On the surface, Kiss & Tell promises a simple and straightforward story about a queer boy bander trying to navigate the spotlight, but in true Adib Khorram fashion, it's also so much more! While this is a very different story from Adib's previous books, it has that same level of thoughtfulness and heart at its center.
On the one hand, this is a super fun, fast-paced story about a mega-popular boy band blazing across North America on one of their biggest tours, but it's also asking a lot of deeper questions about the cisheteronormativity of the boy band market and what it means to be "visibly queer" online and on stage.
As a white cis gay boy, Hunter definitely holds a lot of privilege, and the fact that he's able to be out as a gay man with his label and have it be a non-issue is definitely part of that. However, he's still having to deal with people dehumanizing him and reducing him to nothing more than just a label, and he also finds himself being continuously forced into this "token gay boy" box. Whether it's the way he's told to dress, the kinds of press junkets he's allowed to do, or the content he's allowed to post, every aspect of his expression is carefully controlled by the people around him. There's a compelling contradiction between Hunter having an immense platform that comes with an incredible amount of power and also not having a lot of freedom to choose for himself as a result.
I really appreciate how this story makes the reader think about who boy bands are marketed towards and why. Generally speaking, the majority of boy bands are marketed towards younger audiences, and primarily cishet audiences, and they occupy a very strange liminal space where they're expected to be "wholesome" and "virginal" but also attractive and suggestive enough to be "desirable" to their audience. By those standards, Hunter already finds himself at a disadvantage of sorts, because his target audience (young cishet girls) can't romantically project themselves onto him. So his label feels that he has to make up for that quote-unquote "deficit" by really leaning into the stereotypical "twink" styles and mannerisms and molding himself into this perfect, wholesome queer role model for young people.
That dilemma further opens up the question of what it even means to *be* a role model, and how that concept in itself can be even more limiting in some ways. Especially as a queer boy, Hunter finds his every action to be put under a microscope, and he finds it harder to make himself seem "perfect" and "wholesome" when he's constantly being confronted by the misconception that sexuality and queerness is solely about the act of sex, when it's not. When his toxic ex drunkenly releases screenshots of Hunter's private conversations, that onslaught of commentary becomes even more pressing.
I truly appreciate how Adib Khorram has crafted a sex positive story about a young queer man who's constantly being forced to grapple with the conception that he's either "not gay enough" or "too gay." Especially in a world where queer men are often seen as hypersexual, which is then seen as "shameful" (even though there's nothing inherently bad or wrong about sex), this story makes a powerful statement about embracing those parts of yourself that are deemed "imperfect" and being unafraid to to claim all those messy sides of yourself that don't neatly fit into any box. Being openly queer as a public figure is often a matter of Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't. Every action you take is extrapolated and interpreted as a representation of the entire queer community at large when it shouldn't be, and Hunter having to fight against that feels incredibly realistic.
On a lighter note, I also enjoy how this story puts a different spin on the "fake dating" trope. While Hunter and Kaivan are technically dating for real and by their own choice, it still feels like a front at times since the label is intentionally playing it up for press. So you kind of get the best of both worlds, where you get to see this very soft, genuine romantic connection unfold over the course of the story, but there's also your typical "fake dating shenanigans" with all these public-facing dates put on for the fans.
Another highlight is the way the story makes use of multi-media interludes between chapters, where you get to see the snippets from various press junkets or interviews, transcripts from Kiss & Tell's documentary, as well as excerpts of blog posts and think pieces. I love the way those pieces of media are able to indirectly build out the "world" of the story and reveal more about the characters from an outside perspective, and it's even interesting to see how the events of the story are being spun by the press for online consumption. It was also nice to have media inserts that were not just interviews, because those added to the larger commentary of how being a queer boy bander complicates the cisheteronormative narrative popularized in the mainstream.
There were two tiny things that kept this from being a five-star book, for me personally. The first is that I wish Hunter's bandmates were a little bit more prominent in the story. Besides Hunter, the rest of Kiss & Tell is made up of more ethnically diverse pop stars—who are Vietnamese-, Brazilian-, and Indian-Canadian—and I wish we could have more directly seen the kinds of pressures that *they* face. There's a small discussion of that towards the end, when Hunter's bandmates sort of call him out for assuming that his queerness is a "bigger burden" than the racism they face online, but I think getting to see those experiences or discussions play out would have made that land even better.
My second tiny note is that I found myself wanting a bit more from the romantic relationship between Hunter and Kaivan. Throughout the story, it's made clear that Kaivan has somewhat of a superiority complex when it comes to the success of boy bands versus the success of traditional bands, some of which is definitely warranted when you consider the vast disparity between them. However, that leads him to saying some controversial things in his interviews where he openly questions the talent-level, creativity, and integrity of boy banders. When that eventually comes to light, it ends up feeling somewhat glossed over. I think there were more conversations to be had between Hunter and Kaivan to meaningfully reconcile those differences in order for me to feel fully on board with their relationship by the end. Even so, overall I did enjoy the romantic element.
As always, I remain absolutely floored by Adib Khorram's ability to craft a deeply meaningful and thoughtful story that's also able to balance humor, romance, and fun. As I said up top, even though this seems like a simple story on the surface, it proves to be so much more and offers the reader a foothold to better grasp deeper questions about societal expectations and self-expression. As with all of Adib's books, I enjoyed this so much, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what he writes next. No matter what it is, I will definitely be reading it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Vomit, and Sexual content
sarahmreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Five Canadian boys come together to form one of the world's biggest bands, Kiss & Tell, after a video of their first song "Poutine" goes viral. Now as they head off on the tour of their second album, Hunter Drake, the only opening gay member of the band, has to deal with heartbreak after his first major breakup and the repercussions that come with it. Will Hunter find a way back to who he authentically is, or will he crack under the pressure of the world watching his every move?
This story is very much authentically raw in its portrayal of marginalized communities within the public eye and the impacts on those marginalized and it really leaves an impact with you long after you finish. There were a few parts with Hunter being handled in ways he didn't approve of by fans that was so painful to read and I was convinced I couldn't get through it. Other parts included some hate speech even unsolicited pictures, and it really goes to show the brutal reality of being a member of a marginalized community while also being very much in the public eye.
There were a few really important discussions highlighted over the timeline of the main discourse of the story, that being how you can authentically be yourself when there are so many societal expectations pushed on you? The label that the boys play for (which is literally called The Label, could have had a better name) kept trying to force Hunter to be more feminine in his attire, or even present himself in an entirely different light just so the label and the band wouldn't go under. All the while, people from the LGBTQ+ community in various articles express concern that Hunter isn't owning his queerness, although he donates seats for each show to LGBTQ+ shelters. It really emphasizes double standards, and we even see that in Kaivan's story as a recently out gay with Iranian-American heritage. I can't speak to the accuracy of that representation as I am not of this ethnicity, but it was a really good discussion to be had.
Furthermore, Khorram isn't afraid to put it bluntly that white people don't need to be saviors for people of color or even attempt to fight their battles for them. POCs face much more difficult struggles that white people can't even comprehend, and it's up to them to figure out how they can be a good ally while also not stepping on their toes. It was wrapped up a bit too nicely at the end, but I'll get to that later.
The characters are messy, but they also work really well throughout the story when it comes to the overall plot. Hunter is definitely working through a lot, and at times has a tendency to focus on himself and shut out the rest of his friends and even his ex. While he was not the cleanest character I've read, I still really liked him through his struggles and his passions. It highlighted the best and worst parts of him, and that's why I liked him so much. I do wish we saw some more of the other band members, however, since a lot of the time is focused on Hunter's "relationship" with Kaivan and Hunter dealing with all the things the world expects of him.
Some things I was a bit iffy on while reading. First, the ending was too neat, as in it ended on a high note but absolutely no clue as to what happened after the end of the last chapter. We know the epilogue is them still on tour, but that's it. There's no clue as to what The Label (I'm sorry it's such a dumb name) is doing to make up for what they've done, or the band, or what happens between Hunter and his love interest. Yeah it circles back to the very beginning, but give us a better idea of the outcome of the story.
Next, some conversations about self-pleasure were had, primarily through Hunter's perspective, but it was kind of just forced at the beginning and not really talked about since? For me, it could have been a discussion on positive reinforcement and normalization of masturbation but read as another typical teenage boy needing to get off. I know it adds to Hunter's messy character, but it was uncomfortable for me to read.
Despite its flaws, Kiss & Tell is a fast-paced and beautiful story that my former One Direction fan self fell in love with. It's brutal and honest and passionate and absolutely addicting.
I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from NetGalley and Penguin Teen. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This story is very much authentically raw in its portrayal of marginalized communities within the public eye and the impacts on those marginalized and it really leaves an impact with you long after you finish. There were a few parts with Hunter being handled in ways he didn't approve of by fans that was so painful to read and I was convinced I couldn't get through it. Other parts included some hate speech even unsolicited pictures, and it really goes to show the brutal reality of being a member of a marginalized community while also being very much in the public eye.
There were a few really important discussions highlighted over the timeline of the main discourse of the story, that being how you can authentically be yourself when there are so many societal expectations pushed on you? The label that the boys play for (which is literally called The Label, could have had a better name) kept trying to force Hunter to be more feminine in his attire, or even present himself in an entirely different light just so the label and the band wouldn't go under. All the while, people from the LGBTQ+ community in various articles express concern that Hunter isn't owning his queerness, although he donates seats for each show to LGBTQ+ shelters. It really emphasizes double standards, and we even see that in Kaivan's story as a recently out gay with Iranian-American heritage. I can't speak to the accuracy of that representation as I am not of this ethnicity, but it was a really good discussion to be had.
Furthermore, Khorram isn't afraid to put it bluntly that white people don't need to be saviors for people of color or even attempt to fight their battles for them. POCs face much more difficult struggles that white people can't even comprehend, and it's up to them to figure out how they can be a good ally while also not stepping on their toes. It was wrapped up a bit too nicely at the end, but I'll get to that later.
The characters are messy, but they also work really well throughout the story when it comes to the overall plot. Hunter is definitely working through a lot, and at times has a tendency to focus on himself and shut out the rest of his friends and even his ex. While he was not the cleanest character I've read, I still really liked him through his struggles and his passions. It highlighted the best and worst parts of him, and that's why I liked him so much. I do wish we saw some more of the other band members, however, since a lot of the time is focused on Hunter's "relationship" with Kaivan and Hunter dealing with all the things the world expects of him.
Some things I was a bit iffy on while reading. First, the ending was too neat, as in it ended on a high note but absolutely no clue as to what happened after the end of the last chapter. We know the epilogue is them still on tour, but that's it. There's no clue as to what The Label (I'm sorry it's such a dumb name) is doing to make up for what they've done, or the band, or what happens between Hunter and his love interest. Yeah it circles back to the very beginning, but give us a better idea of the outcome of the story.
Next, some conversations about self-pleasure were had, primarily through Hunter's perspective, but it was kind of just forced at the beginning and not really talked about since? For me, it could have been a discussion on positive reinforcement and normalization of masturbation but read as another typical teenage boy needing to get off. I know it adds to Hunter's messy character, but it was uncomfortable for me to read.
Despite its flaws, Kiss & Tell is a fast-paced and beautiful story that my former One Direction fan self fell in love with. It's brutal and honest and passionate and absolutely addicting.
I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from NetGalley and Penguin Teen. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Racism, Racial slurs, Outing, Homophobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content
Minor: Hate crime and Alcohol
foreverinastory's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
4.5/5
This was really great! I feel like it could've been longer to really explore some of the discussions presented. Kiss & Tell follows the incredibly popular boy band "Kiss & Tell" and Hunter Drake, the only gay member in the band. Hunter has been an icon for queer youth everywhere, but after his breakup with his boyfriend and texts are leaked, his image is put into question. Hunter never wanted to be the Label's perfect queer kid, but navigating the line between keeping the Label appeased and being himself is hard enough without thousands of fans and parents talking about his actions like they know him.
Then there's Kaivan, the drummer of PAR-K, the opener for Kiss & Tell on their North American tour. Hunter and Kaivan start a flirty friendship when Kaivan comes out to him. Hunter thinks this could develop into something romantic, but when the Label gets involved, Hunter doesn't know what to do.
This was such a great story about the pressure of being in the spotlight and how that affects people. Hunter is a white cis gay boy and he has a lot of privilege. It was very interesting to see all the things he dealt with and how he centers himself. Three members of Kiss & Tell are BIPOC, but when Hunter finally talks to them, he realizes that he's not the only one dealing with stereotypes and microaggressions. Hunter is a bit selfish and closed off in the beginning of this, but we see him start to come out of his shell and begin to listen. I wish this book was longer so we could've seen more action from Hunter as he comes to all these realizations.
I do wish Hunter had taken a bigger role in educating himself. Maybe it's because he's Canadian, but I think it stems more from being white. But Hunter is constantly educated by the people of color in his life and I can't imagine how tiring that was for them. I do like that by the end he's finally more receptive to what their saying and how racism is different from queermisia, but is still just as damaging.
I did like Hunter's character. He's only a teenager and he doesn't have everything figured out. Plus with private texts leaked by his ex, he's dealing with a lot. His image and reputation are in question and Hunter doesn't know how to navigate this, especially as a gay boy. The Label wants him to become more of a femme/twink persona even though that's not him. He spends a lot of time internally debating how to navigate this and what he should do.
I really enjoyed Hunter and Kaivan's friendship/relationship. Kaivan was so cute and I wanted more of him. The past interviews with him definitely made me worried. I liked how he did eventually talk to Hunter about all of it. There was so much interesting presence about heteronormativity, and toxic masculinity. We do get some discussions of it and I was glad for that. I would've loved more, but ultimately, I really enjoyed this book.
Last thing I'll say is that this cover is RUDE and screams pansexual vibes and then there was no pan characters and I was sad. Oh well :(
Rep: white Canadian gay cis male MC, Iranian-American gay cis male side character, white Canadian gay cis male side character, white Canadian cishet male side character, Vietnamese-Canadian cishet male side character, Brazilian-Canadian cishet male side character, Indian-Canadian cishet male side character, Black queer nonbinary drag monarch side character, white American gay cis male side character, various queer & BIPOC side characters briefly mentioned.
CWs: Body shaming, slut shaming, homophobia/homomisia, racism, sexual harassment. Moderate: alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, sexual assault, outing, consensual sexual content, grief, past death of parent. Minor: Car accident.
4.5/5
This was really great! I feel like it could've been longer to really explore some of the discussions presented. Kiss & Tell follows the incredibly popular boy band "Kiss & Tell" and Hunter Drake, the only gay member in the band. Hunter has been an icon for queer youth everywhere, but after his breakup with his boyfriend and texts are leaked, his image is put into question. Hunter never wanted to be the Label's perfect queer kid, but navigating the line between keeping the Label appeased and being himself is hard enough without thousands of fans and parents talking about his actions like they know him.
Then there's Kaivan, the drummer of PAR-K, the opener for Kiss & Tell on their North American tour. Hunter and Kaivan start a flirty friendship when Kaivan comes out to him. Hunter thinks this could develop into something romantic, but when the Label gets involved, Hunter doesn't know what to do.
This was such a great story about the pressure of being in the spotlight and how that affects people. Hunter is a white cis gay boy and he has a lot of privilege. It was very interesting to see all the things he dealt with and how he centers himself. Three members of Kiss & Tell are BIPOC, but when Hunter finally talks to them, he realizes that he's not the only one dealing with stereotypes and microaggressions. Hunter is a bit selfish and closed off in the beginning of this, but we see him start to come out of his shell and begin to listen. I wish this book was longer so we could've seen more action from Hunter as he comes to all these realizations.
I do wish Hunter had taken a bigger role in educating himself. Maybe it's because he's Canadian, but I think it stems more from being white. But Hunter is constantly educated by the people of color in his life and I can't imagine how tiring that was for them. I do like that by the end he's finally more receptive to what their saying and how racism is different from queermisia, but is still just as damaging.
I did like Hunter's character. He's only a teenager and he doesn't have everything figured out. Plus with private texts leaked by his ex, he's dealing with a lot. His image and reputation are in question and Hunter doesn't know how to navigate this, especially as a gay boy. The Label wants him to become more of a femme/twink persona even though that's not him. He spends a lot of time internally debating how to navigate this and what he should do.
I really enjoyed Hunter and Kaivan's friendship/relationship. Kaivan was so cute and I wanted more of him. The past interviews with him definitely made me worried. I liked how he did eventually talk to Hunter about all of it. There was so much interesting presence about heteronormativity, and toxic masculinity. We do get some discussions of it and I was glad for that. I would've loved more, but ultimately, I really enjoyed this book.
Last thing I'll say is that this cover is RUDE and screams pansexual vibes and then there was no pan characters and I was sad. Oh well :(
Rep: white Canadian gay cis male MC, Iranian-American gay cis male side character, white Canadian gay cis male side character, white Canadian cishet male side character, Vietnamese-Canadian cishet male side character, Brazilian-Canadian cishet male side character, Indian-Canadian cishet male side character, Black queer nonbinary drag monarch side character, white American gay cis male side character, various queer & BIPOC side characters briefly mentioned.
CWs: Body shaming, slut shaming, homophobia/homomisia, racism, sexual harassment. Moderate: alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, sexual assault, outing, consensual sexual content, grief, past death of parent. Minor: Car accident.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Grief, Outing, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an arc of this one.
Hunter is the only queer person in his boyband, and he is feeling the effects. After a messy breakup with his ex of 2 years--also a bandmate's twin brother--Hunter's sexts get leaked and his public persona is entirely changed. Hunter has to change everything about who he is for the public to keep the label and the fans happy, but he has had enough.
This book had my entire heart for....almost all of it. I was so immersed and reading this so fast because I loved it so much. Hunter is a great character and I loved watching him grow. A lot of his struggles made me so frustrated because of the way queer people are always treated. But it was all really important stuff.
I also really enjoyed the focus on having queer friends and how different it is when you are with cishet people all the time. I felt that!
The only thing that really frustrated me with this book is that I felt like nothing was resolve regarding the slut-shaming that Hunter went through. There was a little about it but...apologies needed to be made, and they weren't, and I felt like frustrations were redirected and then it was just swept under the rug instead of really been taken account for. So that sucked.
But I loved the rest of it.
Pub Date: March 22, 2022
Hunter is the only queer person in his boyband, and he is feeling the effects. After a messy breakup with his ex of 2 years--also a bandmate's twin brother--Hunter's sexts get leaked and his public persona is entirely changed. Hunter has to change everything about who he is for the public to keep the label and the fans happy, but he has had enough.
This book had my entire heart for....almost all of it. I was so immersed and reading this so fast because I loved it so much. Hunter is a great character and I loved watching him grow. A lot of his struggles made me so frustrated because of the way queer people are always treated. But it was all really important stuff.
I also really enjoyed the focus on having queer friends and how different it is when you are with cishet people all the time. I felt that!
The only thing that really frustrated me with this book is that I felt like nothing was resolve regarding the slut-shaming that Hunter went through. There was a little about it but...apologies needed to be made, and they weren't, and I felt like frustrations were redirected and then it was just swept under the rug instead of really been taken account for. So that sucked.
But I loved the rest of it.
Pub Date: March 22, 2022
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Racism, Body shaming, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault
More...