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siggyo's review against another edition
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcohol, Racism, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Grief
Minor: Vomit and Death of parent
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
donttellmomwhatimreading's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Death of parent, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
tkhenry99's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
challenging
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Adult/minor relationship
pucksandpaperbacks's review
Content Warnings: Queer and racial microaggressions, racism, f-slur on page, homophobia, sexual content, mention of dieting and calorie counting, underage drinking, sports injury, alcoholism.
I devoured this book like I was eating a plate of poutine. Kiss & Tell is an excellent commentary on sports injuries, kids being thrown into the public eye with no support or resources, and the way the public scrutinizes young queer celebrities; especially gay men. But it doesn’t shy away from the important topics of the way POC are treated in the music industry.
Our main character, Hunter Drake is a 17-year-old boy from Vancouver, BC, a Canucks fan, and a drummer. While on tour with his band, Kiss & Tell, made up of his best friends; Ian, Ashton, Ethan, and Owen, and grieving the loss of his dead and fresh heartbreak, Hunter quickly realizes he’s taking on too much. As he agrees to stage a fake dating with Kaivan, a boy in their opener, PAR-K; an Iranian-American band of brothers, in an attempt at damage control after a controversy strikes.
Hunter is in over his head when The Label demands he dress a certain way and act more feminine to sell the image. The book is a great commentary on how intense the music industry can be. Hunter is a messy character who is self-centered but as his racial biases are checked, he begins to grow. I love how Khorram shows Hunter as a messy boy who holds in his feelings until he explodes and doesn’t give him a pass when his privilege is showing.
Kiss & Tell hit all the right chords and doesn’t shy away from the reality of being a teenage boy. The book is sex positive and open about gay sex and men’s mental health. I had such a fun time reading this book. I highly recommend it! I do hope this isn’t the last we see of Kiss & Tell because I would love to read more books about the other characters because the boys were so much fun to read.
As a hockey fan and someone who grew up in the One Direction fandom era, this was such a treat!
Content Warnings
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.shybookstagramer's review against another edition
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Bullying
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
parasolcrafter's review
emotional
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-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
0.5
this book SUCKED you guys dont even know how glad i am to be finished with it. my god.
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
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
Content Warnings
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
emotional
funny
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
3.0
I don't remember a whole lot about this book seeing as I read it months ago, so here's what I do remember based on a conversation I had with my friend about it immediately after:
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent and Fatphobia
jeanniea's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Homophobia
Minor: Infidelity, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent