Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Kiss & Tell

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

its_vendetta's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

3.75

Loved the conversation about how fan culture treats celebrities, especially younger kids and adults, in the spotlight. The discussion on how that further affects queer people and people of color was amazing and needs to be said more.
However the plot felt a little all over the place sometimes, and the inclusion of so many side characters felt overwhelming.

Maybe if the book was dual POV so we could see how Hunter handled being criticized and then switched to Kaivan so he could discuss the struggles that he faces. It felt very competitive whenever Hunter had his meltdown, like a “who has it worse” contest. I wish the book was longer or gave more space to work through all the very serious topics Hunter, Kaivan, and the other band members were dealing with; instead of rushing through the ending in Hunters POV.

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.

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donttellmomwhatimreading's review against another edition

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3.5

Hunter’s life is a mess. He’s on his first North American tour with his bandmates/friends, recently out of a relationship with his best friend’s twin brother, and said ex just leaked text about their sex life. So having the whole world know details about his sex life isn’t great, but the label trying to market him as “a bottom” means a look that doesn’t feel like himself and constant questions about being queer. Kaivan Is the drummer for their opener and being with him feels great, he’s determined not to make the same mistakes from his prior relationship, unfortunately he’s 17 and has an immense amount of pressure on him that he refuses to share.

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tkhenry99's review

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3.0

the book explores some important themes and the format is cool, but i think it tries to tackle too much and there’s poor balance between the scenes of hunter, hunter and kaivan, and hunter and everyone else. the other characters don’t feel important to the story, it’s almost like they’re just there for convenience. so much happens before the book takes place and i felt like i didn’t have a good understanding of why things happened bc it was just summarized for the reader later (literally summarized in the form of interviews). i was disappointed that kaivan’s brothers actually never appear on page (that one 2-line interaction doesn’t count). i also felt like being in the band wasn’t even integral to the story, they could’ve been any other kind of celebrity, bc most of them being a band also happens off-page. also, why did hunter just literally never talk to his friends about anything ever?

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.

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hobbithopeful's review

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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

4.25

I never thought a book about a diverse boy band would have so much depth and discussions on race, sexuality, and what it means to be gay. I thoroughly enjoyed this way more than I thought I would, even though I did have trouble at time differentiating characters who didn't get as much on page time. There isn't a single topic that gets brought up in the book that misses the mark, everything about the way boy bands are weirdly expected to be pure and get stereotyped, and how being queer is treated in the entertainment industry. (and really everywhere!)
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!

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shybookstagramer's review against another edition

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4.0

gay boy band romance, what else is there to say? I really enjoyed this book and I loved the characters and the storyline. I thought that all the difficult topics that were brought up throughout the story were tackled beautifully. There was definitely a lot of passion and thought put into this story and it really shows.

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

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bookhoarderbea's review against another edition

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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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wrensandroses's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

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shamelesslyash's review

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Once again Khorram grabs me by the heart and won't let go! His writing is just so prefect. This was his first book out without Darius and it doesn't disappoint. The book is written through traditional chapters, interviews, gossip sites, and social media. It's a fun way to read the story of Hunter Drake.

Khorram doesn't shy away from what it's like to be young, gay, and famous. He brought out the truth and how it's not all sunshine and rainbows. I really like that Khorram also doesn't shy away from mental health in this book. I know in his Darius books there is talk of depression, so I wasn't sure if this book would also talk about mental illness, but it is brought up. Along with racism and some homophobia.

I really enjoyed this one. It's one of my top reads of the year.

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