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mrsherrera's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Medical trauma
Minor: Toxic relationship
its_vendetta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
However the plot felt a little all over the place sometimes, and the inclusion of so many side characters felt overwhelming.
Overall, loved how flawed Hunter is as a character. It felt very realistic. However, I wished the side characters were more developed and the plot and struggles they go through were looked at more closely instead of just brushing by them. I also wish that the romance was more developed as well. My enjoyment with this book was about 4.5 stars, but with all my notes and the problems i’d put it at a 3.25.
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
tkhenry99's review against another edition
3.0
tbh it feels like the author set out to write a boyband!AU without making it fanfic and somehow fanfic concepts don’t seem to translate well to regular fiction.
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Racism
Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Bullying
evelynyle_88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Adult/minor relationship
hobbithopeful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I do have some sus theories about the queer country artist that Hunter meets, I wish we had seen a little more of him. There were a few other threads that seemed to kind of just get dropped with how the seemingly quickly the book ended, I wish we had more from some of the characters.
A short read about the the importance of staying true to who you are, and not being ashamed.
I recommend this book!
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, Animal death, Racism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content
lim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Gaslighting and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia and Toxic friendship
Minor: Islamophobia and Racism
shybookstagramer's review against another edition
4.0
I thought the addition of different format styles was great, besides the normal story, there was documentary transcripts, interview transcripts, articles, texting chat logs. It was a unique way to tell the story and I liked it.
content warning: mention of the death of a parent, cyberbullying/online harassment, homophobia, racism, sexual content, toxic relationship
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
elskabee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
One aspect I really liked was the emails between the PR and management and co. They gave an extra insight that we don't get from the main character and the way they talk in the emails is brutal because it's where our main character doesn't see. They way they talked about him as if he was a product was - I'm not sure how to put it - disgusting as hell. However, it felt realistic in a painful way and I think that element of management controlling everything the group says or does should have been even more intense to be even more realistic. The other inserts of social media posts and articles were very hit or miss for me, some added while others just felt unnecessary.
The main thing that boosted this book's rating for me was that the main character was very self-centred in a very believable and somewhat sympathetic way. Like he did have a lot of shit to deal with and that made him make some questionable decisions and impact his relationships with others. But also, he was so self-involved that he didn't stop to consider things from anyone else's point of view and that ultimately made things worse. A teenager dealing with that much bullshit I could totally believe would act that way and then thankfully learn from it! The only part that this didn't work for was the poorly handled stuff in the third act I mentioned in the spoilers above.
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content and Racism
there's a lot of slut-shaming including internalised stuff with the main character. The main character is harrassed by fans several times throughout the book, including non-consensual touching (e.g. being grabbed). Near the the end of the bookparasolcrafter's review against another edition
- 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
0.5
the characters are underdeveloped and some hinge solely on stereotypes, a couple are barely there (like why were owen and especially ian there so scarcely??? makes no sense!!!) despite the fact that the book focuses on a boy band who are all, seemingly, best friends, and overall none of them are all that likeable. hunter is a self-obsessed boy who seems to think the world revolves around the fact that hes a bottom (did the author think if he didnt mention the fact that hunter is a bottom in every chapter that we'd forget??? made me so mad. shut up about it.), kaivan is okay but has almost no personality, aidan is the stereotypical bitter ex, and ashton is just...there. nothing of note really happens in the book either...? like it doesnt break any ground. doesnt do anything new. doesnt really pose any questions about society. it was all so shallow
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body shaming, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Racism
Minor: Fatphobia and Death of parent
this_momma_is_booked's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
- It was cute, but I struggled throughout the entire book with something that irked me and I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.
- I think part of the reason I didn't love this book is that everything felt very surface level. We didn't really dig deep into the feelings or situations present.
- It was never really explained why Hunter was into Kaivan, other than he was the only other gay guy in the vicinity. He was defensive the entire book about it NOT being a rebound when it so clearly was.
- The book just...ended. Like, there was no closure or explanation about everything that happened. It just ended.
- Hunter experienced a literal breakdown and the story glossed over it like, "he had a lot of bottled up emotions." Like what he experienced is entirely normal and a healthy part of growing up.
- The author himself is Iranian-American but the book is written from the perspective of the white guy in the relationship. Now, I'm not saying that just because the author is of this particular identity he has to write from the perspective of the other POC in the relationship - but there were so many instances of veiled racism in the text that were simply not explored BECAUSE it was from Hunter's perspective. I feel this is a missed opportunity.
- Basically this read as very surface-level One Direction fanfiction.
If this is the kind of story you're looking to read, I would suggest reading If This Gets Out instead.
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Fatphobia