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davidbythebay's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
As with Abid Khorram's Darius duology, this book has LGBTQ+ characters. Ans as in the Darius duology we get a Persian (Irani). But thats kind of where the similarities end. Well, one more is the fantastic writing style and tone of the piece, but subject matter ends with those two similarities.
Our main POV throughout the narrative chapters is a gay boy in a boy band, Hunter. We do get emails, texts, interviews, and other things from various people showing other perspectives. The main focus, however, is Hunter. Hunter is dealing with being a celebrity at only 17 years old. His every move is to maintain a particular image. Things go off the rails, on the rails, and all around the rails.
This is more adult in its content. There is talk of sex and there is a lot of more adult themes of becoming a beacon of good in the world. A bit of mental health discussion. But nothing like in the Darius duology, which I loved and read both last year.
Of great note is the FANTASTIC use of the LGBTQ+ spectrum! There is a nonbinary drag performer and activist who sort of briefly mentors Hunter. There is a young gay country music star. The spectrum of gender identities and sexual orientations are present here, even in passing characters in the bands meet and greets with fans. And that is what brings a huge smile to my face.
Romance is not a big focus here. The focus is living your life authentically by your rules, not the rules of others. Hunter talks about how his record label dresses him to appeal to the public for ticket sales by "meeting their expectations" of what a gay person dresses like. Then when the scandal hits, they rework him to be that particular subsect of the gay community's stereotypical posterchild. Heck! The band is making a documentary and the filmmaker actually asks Hunter yo act more gay, and especially more feminine gay. It's these harmful microaggressions and stereotypes that persist. It was wonderful seeing them called out.
I loved this book. My one drawback is this: I wanted more. I don't mean simply that I could have continued in this story. Yes, I could. What I really mean is there were a few things introduced that just scream for more time. The nonbinary drag performer and activist, Masha Patriarki, is one of them. The story of Kaivan (the Irani gay boy from the tour's opening band) is another. The ending left me with questions. I'll leave it at that. I think this would do well with a sequel or a companion short story collection. I want to know about Hunter and Kaivan! This is all in the description. I just want more. And I want more of the other boys.
This cast was diverse. The boy band Kiss & Tell is 5 Canadian friends, each with different backgrounds. And Khorram treats race with the same reverence as gender identity and sexual orientation.
Because I was left a little with a "that's it?" Feeling at the end - and I do mean a little feeling of that - I can only give this a 4.5 stars. It is a fantastic novel. Abid Khorram's a favorite author of mine, to be sure. Each of the three novels I've read have just been handled so wonderfully and written beautifully. I absolutely recommend this to anyone, especially if you are seeking some LGBTQ+ content that includes some representation beyond the white gay/lesbian representation books often see. I will read everything Abid Khorram writes.
Our main POV throughout the narrative chapters is a gay boy in a boy band, Hunter. We do get emails, texts, interviews, and other things from various people showing other perspectives. The main focus, however, is Hunter. Hunter is dealing with being a celebrity at only 17 years old. His every move is to maintain a particular image. Things go off the rails, on the rails, and all around the rails.
This is more adult in its content. There is talk of sex and there is a lot of more adult themes of becoming a beacon of good in the world. A bit of mental health discussion. But nothing like in the Darius duology, which I loved and read both last year.
Of great note is the FANTASTIC use of the LGBTQ+ spectrum! There is a nonbinary drag performer and activist who sort of briefly mentors Hunter. There is a young gay country music star. The spectrum of gender identities and sexual orientations are present here, even in passing characters in the bands meet and greets with fans. And that is what brings a huge smile to my face.
Romance is not a big focus here. The focus is living your life authentically by your rules, not the rules of others. Hunter talks about how his record label dresses him to appeal to the public for ticket sales by "meeting their expectations" of what a gay person dresses like. Then when the scandal hits, they rework him to be that particular subsect of the gay community's stereotypical posterchild. Heck! The band is making a documentary and the filmmaker actually asks Hunter yo act more gay, and especially more feminine gay. It's these harmful microaggressions and stereotypes that persist. It was wonderful seeing them called out.
I loved this book. My one drawback is this: I wanted more. I don't mean simply that I could have continued in this story. Yes, I could. What I really mean is there were a few things introduced that just scream for more time. The nonbinary drag performer and activist, Masha Patriarki, is one of them. The story of Kaivan (the Irani gay boy from the tour's opening band) is another. The ending left me with questions. I'll leave it at that. I think this would do well with a sequel or a companion short story collection. I want to know about Hunter and Kaivan! This is all in the description. I just want more. And I want more of the other boys.
This cast was diverse. The boy band Kiss & Tell is 5 Canadian friends, each with different backgrounds. And Khorram treats race with the same reverence as gender identity and sexual orientation.
Because I was left a little with a "that's it?" Feeling at the end - and I do mean a little feeling of that - I can only give this a 4.5 stars. It is a fantastic novel. Abid Khorram's a favorite author of mine, to be sure. Each of the three novels I've read have just been handled so wonderfully and written beautifully. I absolutely recommend this to anyone, especially if you are seeking some LGBTQ+ content that includes some representation beyond the white gay/lesbian representation books often see. I will read everything Abid Khorram writes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol
piperclover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This is just very boring. It gets really interesting only about 150 pages from the end but thats already 2/3 of the book. Theres more extra tour material like schedules and interview transcripts than pages in each chapter and they happen between every chapter so it feels like reading flashes of a story instead of flashes of the extras. I think its an unnecessary amount and drags the book way down plus its a lot of the negative press so it just makes reading a little sad. The character development is really good though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Infidelity
Theres no actual infidelity but its talked about a bitinternationalreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
1quillb's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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
5.0
This was so good. The way it was written, with both a storyline and little snippets of news articles or interviews, made it a really interesting read that kept me entertained for the whole 6 hours that I sat on my bed reading it (I COULD NOT put it down!). I also loved the way relationships between characters were portrayed in such an honest way, showing that no one is perfect by any means.
I definitely recommend this to everyone. Also, if you liked this, a similar book is If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich, it’s a very similar concept!
I definitely recommend this to everyone. Also, if you liked this, a similar book is If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich, it’s a very similar concept!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
criticalgayze's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I will start by saying that this one got lost at the bottom of the barrel of me trying to get through the fact that I had taken on one too many romance books at one time. I binge-finished four different romance novels this weekend, and I think this one being the one I did on audio gave it short shrift.
I think all the kids here are really sweet, and I think the novel is much kinder than December's If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzalez. I think the situations are very believable that the characters are placed into, maybe even more so than the aforementioned title, and I like that this one had more moments of levity in the romance and more support for the love interests.
But I also think that this book tried to be kind and tough at the same time. I think the choice to tell this from a "nice white gay" point-of-view was maybe the wrong choice as it leads to too much equivocating by and forgiveness for this white lead. I also don't think that either of these two very similar books quite get at what a fully fleshed out performance of Queer + youth fame would look like, and I would love a novel like this from someone who was a Queer musician with some novel writing prowess. (Sivan? Lil Nas X? Are either of you good authors as well as musical artists?)
I will say that some of the more interesting parts of this for me that I think really got to something worth having a conversation about were the media interstitials Khorram weaved in, and he once again proves himself to have very interesting things to say.
I think all the kids here are really sweet, and I think the novel is much kinder than December's If This Gets Out by Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzalez. I think the situations are very believable that the characters are placed into, maybe even more so than the aforementioned title, and I like that this one had more moments of levity in the romance and more support for the love interests.
But I also think that this book tried to be kind and tough at the same time. I think the choice to tell this from a "nice white gay" point-of-view was maybe the wrong choice as it leads to too much equivocating by and forgiveness for this white lead. I also don't think that either of these two very similar books quite get at what a fully fleshed out performance of Queer + youth fame would look like, and I would love a novel like this from someone who was a Queer musician with some novel writing prowess. (Sivan? Lil Nas X? Are either of you good authors as well as musical artists?)
I will say that some of the more interesting parts of this for me that I think really got to something worth having a conversation about were the media interstitials Khorram weaved in, and he once again proves himself to have very interesting things to say.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
milkyboos's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
anil's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
there I go trying to read something non hockey related and then it's a book about a former hockey player who's had a career ending injury. AGAIN.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Racism, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
Career ending injurysunnymashi's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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
4.0
A solid read. I really enjoyed the various conversations about the complex relationship between a star's identity and the media and also the role of the audience in determining the fate of a star. I thought Hunter was a really interesting character to follow, although I would've loved to see more character from the other guys, as they often seemed like props to reinforce the fact Hunter is in a boy band. (I especially wanted to know more about Ethan but that's besides the point). The romance Hunter had with Kaivan felt really natural to me and seeing their relationship evolve was enjoyable to experience. Additionally, the integration of different types of media (articles, fanfic blurbs, interviews, documentary clips) really supported how there are so many different ways you can interpret reality and how we really aren't sure of what's going on in reality for these celebrities. It added to the existing discussions between characters and made this band and the other celebrities feel so much more real. There were some spots in the book where I felt iffy about the writing but it wasn't too distracting from the overall highlights of the story. There's so much else that was remarkable about this book, but I can't really think of how to phrase it... all in all it was a pleasure to read and it was the perfect thing to get me out of a reading slump!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
tarannosaurousrex's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
5.0
A fun queer romance that is an interesting exploration of what it is like to be queer and famous, and how only certain presentations of gayness are acceptable to a mainstream audience. It can hit those insights while still being a sweet, unashamedly queer romance, a super fun read I really enjoyed!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism