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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Boy bands are so often presented in a sanitized way--sexy, but not actually sexual, with each member typecast into a role to widely appeal to the market. Hunter, the only queer member of the Canadian boy band Kiss & Tell is allowed to be out, but not portrayed in a relationship, and certainly never admitting to sexual activity...until he and his (sort-of-sekrit) boyfriend have a spectacular breakup that results in the leaking of private messages and public heartbreak. While Hunter struggles with his real identity versus his band persona, he's also getting over his ex, and maybe embarking on a new relationship with the cute lead singer of their opening act. The supporting characters were a little more one-dimensional, but I was fine with the focus on Hunter and his vulnerabilities. Queer sex-positivity is always a plus.
Author Khorram offers a realistic portrayal of the behind the scenes touring and songwriting--it's not all glitz and glamour, but also long nights, hard work, disagreements that need to be resolved, and the various personalities in the band and their management. I really love when a novel's narrative goes meta and includes interviews or text messages to offer a glimpse of insight or a new perspective on the story, but Khorram goes a step above and beyond with quizzes, social media commentary, and fanfiction summaries.
I read #Kiss&Tell via Overdrive through my local public library.
Author Khorram offers a realistic portrayal of the behind the scenes touring and songwriting--it's not all glitz and glamour, but also long nights, hard work, disagreements that need to be resolved, and the various personalities in the band and their management. I really love when a novel's narrative goes meta and includes interviews or text messages to offer a glimpse of insight or a new perspective on the story, but Khorram goes a step above and beyond with quizzes, social media commentary, and fanfiction summaries.
I read #Kiss&Tell via Overdrive through my local public library.
I didn't expect to get through this one as quickly as I did but there's something to Adib Khorram's books that you get completely absorbed by. I liked this book because 1) I love a good boy band and will never be ashamed to admit that and 2) it showed the dark side to fame and how once you're in the limelight, you will never be a faceless person anymore. I can only imagine the sorts of things that happened to some of my favorite boybands over the years though I imagine it was probably worse than what the author wrote in this book and I feel really bad for them. To not only have your professional life under scrutiny by millions of people, but your personal life as well? Awful.
4,5 ⭐️
This book was cute , i really loved it. I love reading about gay musicians, i really loved the representation in this book. It was amazing <3
This book was cute , i really loved it. I love reading about gay musicians, i really loved the representation in this book. It was amazing <3
Oh man this is a hard one to rate. I really enjoyed this overall - it was extremely readable, and the characters were likable and the issues were well portrayed. There wasn’t a ton of nuance but it didn’t need it to get the point across.
I think I had a hard time more because of my own headspace, currently extremely anxious and down. The majority of this book is Hunter struggling and it was hard to read. The happy ending was worth it, and the book touching on things like how queer people are framed in the media, and the lack of sex positivity in our culture, and how racism enters into all of that, is so important.
But it made for a hard read when my headspace wasn’t super great.
I think I had a hard time more because of my own headspace, currently extremely anxious and down. The majority of this book is Hunter struggling and it was hard to read. The happy ending was worth it, and the book touching on things like how queer people are framed in the media, and the lack of sex positivity in our culture, and how racism enters into all of that, is so important.
But it made for a hard read when my headspace wasn’t super great.
The problem here is one of pacing.
It’s a delicate balance, to be sure, when you’re writing a book about a blossoming romance between teenagers: the difference between why-haven't-they-kissed-yet and whoa-there-hold-your-horses. Especially in something as constrained in form as a young adult romance, there are only so many plots. This is not a unique problem.
I can admire the decision to dive headlong into things right out of the gate; that’s not the problem. What happens after, though, is... not much. Which is, frankly, inexplicable. They never get to have the space to just be together, nor is there enough happening outside of that to move their characters along any sort of arc. Both leads do eventually get put in their place, but it never gels together in a thematic whole.
Which is a shame, because there’s a lot to like in the book. The characters’ love for music shines through everything, first and foremost. You could consider the music a character in its own right, if you were so inclined. Even the secondary cast gets time to shine (I especially love the ex-boyfriend, who is straight up a disaster).
But by giving so much time to that expanded cast (and there are a lot of characters) we don’t get a chance to properly invest ourselves in the leads. What about them works? Why are they together, really, if not as a rebound and a publicity stunt? And the answers proffered are unsatisfactory, the ending unearned. It is a sweet story, though, if ultimately hollow – a piece of candy you think is filled, but when you bite down there’s just air inside. There’s that lingering disappointment that it could have been just that much more than it is.
It’s a delicate balance, to be sure, when you’re writing a book about a blossoming romance between teenagers: the difference between why-haven't-they-kissed-yet and whoa-there-hold-your-horses. Especially in something as constrained in form as a young adult romance, there are only so many plots. This is not a unique problem.
I can admire the decision to dive headlong into things right out of the gate; that’s not the problem. What happens after, though, is... not much. Which is, frankly, inexplicable. They never get to have the space to just be together, nor is there enough happening outside of that to move their characters along any sort of arc. Both leads do eventually get put in their place, but it never gels together in a thematic whole.
Which is a shame, because there’s a lot to like in the book. The characters’ love for music shines through everything, first and foremost. You could consider the music a character in its own right, if you were so inclined. Even the secondary cast gets time to shine (I especially love the ex-boyfriend, who is straight up a disaster).
But by giving so much time to that expanded cast (and there are a lot of characters) we don’t get a chance to properly invest ourselves in the leads. What about them works? Why are they together, really, if not as a rebound and a publicity stunt? And the answers proffered are unsatisfactory, the ending unearned. It is a sweet story, though, if ultimately hollow – a piece of candy you think is filled, but when you bite down there’s just air inside. There’s that lingering disappointment that it could have been just that much more than it is.
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
FUCKING FINALLY!!
i finally finished this absolutely heinous, dumpster fire of a book. i literally don’t write reviews, but this book made me so mad that i just had to let it out.
i truly had high hopes for this one, seeing as the author’s previous books had amazing reception, and this one surprisingly did, too. but dear god…i shouldn’t’ve even had hopes for this one.
hunter drake (MC) was so fucking intolerable, annoying, dense, selfish, and the bitchiest character i’ve ever seen in a book. it amazes me how horrible he was to everyone around him all because he was so far up his own asshole, he practically lived there. i don’t know how his bandmates let him get away with being such a douche the entire time, because me, personally, i wouldn’t let that slide. but that’s just me.
his relationship with kaivan was also so plain and weird. it even felt forced. how is it that one month after a messy break up, hunter was already interested in kaivan? and how is it that kaivan found any interest in hunter after knowing him for like, what, a week? that’s an enormous red flag for both of them right there
i finally finished this absolutely heinous, dumpster fire of a book. i literally don’t write reviews, but this book made me so mad that i just had to let it out.
i truly had high hopes for this one, seeing as the author’s previous books had amazing reception, and this one surprisingly did, too. but dear god…i shouldn’t’ve even had hopes for this one.
hunter drake (MC) was so fucking intolerable, annoying, dense, selfish, and the bitchiest character i’ve ever seen in a book. it amazes me how horrible he was to everyone around him all because he was so far up his own asshole, he practically lived there. i don’t know how his bandmates let him get away with being such a douche the entire time, because me, personally, i wouldn’t let that slide. but that’s just me.
his relationship with kaivan was also so plain and weird. it even felt forced. how is it that one month after a messy break up, hunter was already interested in kaivan? and how is it that kaivan found any interest in hunter after knowing him for like, what, a week? that’s an enormous red flag for both of them right there