Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram

23 reviews

infinitefandomstrash's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

love_bookswillbetheendofme's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hunter is a fairly self absorbed character, but that isn't unexpected considering he's 17 and has spent the last few years in the spotlight. I feel that a lot of the news articles consistently forgot the fact that he's still a child. That said, I do feel like he was able to grow up a bit during this story.

Kaivan didn't seem to do as much growing, but I felt that his relationship with Hunter was genuine and sweet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Body shaming

jeanniea's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A fun read! Rly spoke to the teenage me. Felt that the ending and character conflicts were a bit rushed, but enjoyed the format of the story telling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Homophobia

Minor: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent

bookhoarderbea's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Outing, and Racism

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent

internationalreads'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Racism, Homophobia, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

dododenise's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

This book was really fun! It tackles all the bits one would expect from a book about gay singer in a boyband: expectations of fame, pressure, homophobia, loneliness, stereotypes and being formed into something you’re not.
Next to it blossomed a beautiful romance. Those were the bits I enjoyed most with great dialogues that were so much fun and could get into some other themes. Really enjoyed the conversation about racism and privilege throughout. 

I would have wished the other characters to be more fleshed out. I feel like I barely know anyone but Hunter and Kaivan. There were just glimpses of the others. Ashton and Ethan a bit more, but I really wanted to get to know the band a bit better. 

Overall a really enjoyable read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

theromanticace's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

regal_leaves's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Emotional abuse

Minor: Racism, Cursing, and Death of parent

caidyn's review against another edition

emotional 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

What a cute read! I didn't expect to fall in love so quickly with this book, but I did. And it was so damn cute. I also loved how this handled teen sexuality and how the media treats LGBTQ+ celebrities. Not to mention white privilege of celebrity. Just a very good read that I enjoyed a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Racism