Scan barcode
its_vendetta's review
- 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
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: Racism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol and Bullying
Minor: Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent
tkhenry99's review
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
jgarrin93's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol
pucksandpaperbacks's review
Moderate: Grief, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Queer and racial microaggressions, racism, f-slur on page, homophobia, sexual content, mention of dieting and calorie counting, underage drinking, sports injury, alcoholism.love_bookswillbetheendofme's review
- 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
Kaivan didn't seem to do as much growing, but I felt that his relationship with Hunter was genuine and sweet.
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Body shaming
bookhoarderbea'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
4.5
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
davidbythebay's review
- 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
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.
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Vomit
criticalgayze's review against another edition
- 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 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.
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
dododenise's review
- 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
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!
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
wrensandroses's review
- 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
Graphic: Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, and Body shaming
Minor: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Fatphobia