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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the other bandmates besides ashton were all the same bland character to me i wish there was more of them
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
emotional
funny
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
This book was so incredibly disappointing. I expected so so much more. Not only did they miss out on an amazing fake dating plot line but the whole thing was just so utterly boring. Plus, Hunter is a garbage character. So ungrateful and self obsessed. He kinda apologizes by the end but he shouldn’t be immediately forgiven for his behavior. Plus what even was the Aiden plot line?? Like he literally did nothing while on your. Not a single character was well developed. I just finished and I already can’t remember most of their names. I was so excited to read this book but instead it took me forever to read it because it was just so horrible boring. 1.3/5 stars
I feel like I should confess that I come into this story with a deep love for Khorram's Darius The Great duology, so I'm biased towards liking it and predisposed to nitpick every little detail.
Khorram continues to write characters that I deeply connect with despite having nothing in common besides being human and the past experience of being a teenager. Hunter and the people around him read like believable people that are living through an incredible experience to the best of their ability. Hunter is an endearing character that I immediately felt protective of and wanted to see happy. The things he has to go through just because he's out as gay while being in a massively popular boy band feel like all too real possibilities and shine a light on microaggressions that don't always get called out.
The plot feels somewhat familiar, with many of the important plot points being obvious way before they happened. However, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and seeing how Hunter's story developed enough that I'm giving that a slight pass. I would have liked to see him interact more with the other members of the group as it's constantly mentioned that they're all best friends, especially as it's also mentioned that they constantly face racist microaggressions that mirror the kinds of things Hunter faces.
Overall, it's a solid YA entry that puts the character's development at the forefront and brings up topics that keep you thinking even after the story is over. Not exactly on par with the Darius books, but solid writing all the way.
Khorram continues to write characters that I deeply connect with despite having nothing in common besides being human and the past experience of being a teenager. Hunter and the people around him read like believable people that are living through an incredible experience to the best of their ability. Hunter is an endearing character that I immediately felt protective of and wanted to see happy. The things he has to go through just because he's out as gay while being in a massively popular boy band feel like all too real possibilities and shine a light on microaggressions that don't always get called out.
The plot feels somewhat familiar, with many of the important plot points being obvious way before they happened. However, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and seeing how Hunter's story developed enough that I'm giving that a slight pass. I would have liked to see him interact more with the other members of the group as it's constantly mentioned that they're all best friends, especially as it's also mentioned that they constantly face racist microaggressions that mirror the kinds of things Hunter faces.
Overall, it's a solid YA entry that puts the character's development at the forefront and brings up topics that keep you thinking even after the story is over. Not exactly on par with the Darius books, but solid writing all the way.
Darius the Great Is Not Okay wasn’t a perfect book but it was fascinating and genuinely emotional and sincere, which is more than most queer Bildungsromans get, so tbh I’m ready to follow Adib Khorram wherever he leads including into perilously Disney Channelesque territory
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I didn't enjoy this at all, but I give credit for the discussion of how little control pop stars have over privacy and their images.
I'd liken Kiss & Tell to One Direction more than K Pop groups because there's white members, they're from the West, and the song lyrics were more Western style. I wasn't a Directioner, so I'm not sure if they were also supposed to be sexless and "pure" the way people view K Pop idols. I do remember their fans attacking anyone they suspected of breaking Harry or Liam's hearts, though.
I don't know whether the muddled, annoying treatment of race was due to the publisher or the author. It felt like someone was aware of issues with diverse representation and, instead of trying to add more diversity, thought mentioning these issues would excuse perpetuating them.
Also, Hunter was self centered and didn't work nearly as hard for the group as the reader is told he does. The entire book, Owen, (who really didn't have much of a focus) was doing the brunt of the songwriting. On his own. Hunter gets mad at him for working with Gregg the producer, but he's actually trying to get work done, bro. Ashton is the one who seems to know more about what his band members of color have faced in terms of discrimination. He was right to mention this when Hunter was melting down on TV.
Also, Kaivan sort of sucked for coming up with the idea to photo bomb the lesbian's engagement. What the hell was that? What if they weren't even fans?
I spent the entire book wondering why it wasn't from Kaivan’s POV and who's decision it was to make this one of the many "diverse" books that center white characters. As if that wasn't enough, the many, many mentions of the discrimination the BIPOC face made it harder to ignore. It made Hunter's pity parties even more annoying.
Perhaps the strangest thing was trying to make Kaivan out to be a villain for telling Hunter Kiss & Tell's music sucked and was like vapid, generic, pop music. Maybe I would've understood Hunter's defensiveness more if the book hadn't included some of their lyrics. They were vapid, they weren't deep, and I couldn't understand how a member of a big band with 2 albums under their belt would be so defensive because one person didn't like their music. Was Kaivan a snob? Yes. Do I think Hunter was a little too defensive over his music? Yes.
Also, it was creepy how obsessed the public was with the sex life of a child. Hunter would be considered a minor in TX. It was creepy and this book made me feel like a prude with how obsessed they were with what "role" he took during sex. Also the public shipping of real people.
Anyway, I appreciate the discussion of how heavily controlled the images of pop stars are. I appreciated the discussion of how the managers and publicists and stylists tried to force Hunter to fit the gay image they approved of. However, I felt like the race discussions were all over the place.
I'd liken Kiss & Tell to One Direction more than K Pop groups because there's white members, they're from the West, and the song lyrics were more Western style. I wasn't a Directioner, so I'm not sure if they were also supposed to be sexless and "pure" the way people view K Pop idols. I do remember their fans attacking anyone they suspected of breaking Harry or Liam's hearts, though.
I don't know whether the muddled, annoying treatment of race was due to the publisher or the author. It felt like someone was aware of issues with diverse representation and, instead of trying to add more diversity, thought mentioning these issues would excuse perpetuating them.
Spoiler
The discussion of the group having diverse members while the novel centered one of the white members was a choice. Discussing how Hunter was ignorant of the racist vitriol his bandmates faced while centering Hunter was a choice. The fact that the band members that are BIPOC were underdeveloped and hardly featured was a choice. The mention that people saw Masha Patriarki as a Magical Negro when they're featured in one real scene, in which they give the white character advice. That was a choice. Just mentioning the problem doesn't excuse perpetuating it.Also, Hunter was self centered and didn't work nearly as hard for the group as the reader is told he does. The entire book, Owen, (who really didn't have much of a focus) was doing the brunt of the songwriting. On his own. Hunter gets mad at him for working with Gregg the producer, but he's actually trying to get work done, bro. Ashton is the one who seems to know more about what his band members of color have faced in terms of discrimination. He was right to mention this when Hunter was melting down on TV.
Also, Kaivan sort of sucked for coming up with the idea to photo bomb the lesbian's engagement. What the hell was that? What if they weren't even fans?
I spent the entire book wondering why it wasn't from Kaivan’s POV and who's decision it was to make this one of the many "diverse" books that center white characters. As if that wasn't enough, the many, many mentions of the discrimination the BIPOC face made it harder to ignore. It made Hunter's pity parties even more annoying.
Spoiler
I feel like the country singer was introduced as a way to say "see, in comparison, Hunter's doing pretty well".Perhaps the strangest thing was trying to make Kaivan out to be a villain for telling Hunter Kiss & Tell's music sucked and was like vapid, generic, pop music. Maybe I would've understood Hunter's defensiveness more if the book hadn't included some of their lyrics. They were vapid, they weren't deep, and I couldn't understand how a member of a big band with 2 albums under their belt would be so defensive because one person didn't like their music. Was Kaivan a snob? Yes. Do I think Hunter was a little too defensive over his music? Yes.
Also, it was creepy how obsessed the public was with the sex life of a child. Hunter would be considered a minor in TX. It was creepy and this book made me feel like a prude with how obsessed they were with what "role" he took during sex. Also the public shipping of real people.
Anyway, I appreciate the discussion of how heavily controlled the images of pop stars are. I appreciated the discussion of how the managers and publicists and stylists tried to force Hunter to fit the gay image they approved of. However, I felt like the race discussions were all over the place.