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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
medium-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
I'm not sure if I can properly put into words what I loved about this book. It was an easy read, one that I could not put down. It was addictive and I finished it quite fast. While I felt disconnected from the romance portion, I loved being able to get the perspective of Hunter Drake, a famous boyband musician. It made me think a lot about the days I loved One Direction. It gave me a lot of empathy for celebrities and what they go through every day. I wonder how accurate it is to the experiences of celebrities. Regardless, I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who has loved a boyband!
this feels like if one direction fanfiction was written by a professional author
Holy sudden ending, Batman! I was really enjoying the story and looking forward to seeing what'll happen next and then it just ENDED.
I enjoyed the writing style and read it fairly quickly. But between each chapter is 1 to 3 short news clips to add some extra info to the story, but each chapter is SO short that I felt like I was just getting into the narration again when BAM, I have to read a bunch of homophobic tweets instead that pull me out of Hunter's monologue.
The book hits a lot of great big feeling topics, such as from racism in the industry, toxic fan culture, and the tokenisation and infantilization of queer celebrities. But the actual characters and relationships in the story feel incredibly underdeveloped and underutilized. The side characters didn't feel like they had enough talking time. We barely got to know the personalities of any of the bandmates, which was a really pity. I'd have really liked to have seen Hunter interacting with them more.
Because Aidan, the ex, was giving a lot of jealous toxic vibes, and then there were so many hints about Kaivan not taking Hunter and his band very seriously, plus them getting together so early in the book, I was fully convinced throughout reading this that there would be a love-interest switcheroo at some point and that Anthony would become Hunter's love interest at some point. So getting an apology from Kaivan in the 99% mark of the story and that being the conclusion to the romance element of the book was really jarring.
I liked Hunter as a character and I found his white cis gay rich boy guilt to be very believable. But it seemed like every single time Hunter expressed feeling upset or overwhelmed people would IMMEDIATELY shut him down with a "well BIPOC people have it worse than you you know!!" which doesn't ever actually help people feel better??????? Like cool he's in the middle of a depressive anxiety spiral and you just threw a "other people are suffering worse than you" at him for no reason, what's he supposed to do about that? Just shut up and continue to bottle up his feelings? A lot of apologies are handed out at the end of the book but it still never feels like anyone takes Hunter's feelings seriously.
I enjoyed the writing style and read it fairly quickly. But between each chapter is 1 to 3 short news clips to add some extra info to the story, but each chapter is SO short that I felt like I was just getting into the narration again when BAM, I have to read a bunch of homophobic tweets instead that pull me out of Hunter's monologue.
The book hits a lot of great big feeling topics, such as from racism in the industry, toxic fan culture, and the tokenisation and infantilization of queer celebrities. But the actual characters and relationships in the story feel incredibly underdeveloped and underutilized. The side characters didn't feel like they had enough talking time. We barely got to know the personalities of any of the bandmates, which was a really pity. I'd have really liked to have seen Hunter interacting with them more.
Because Aidan, the ex, was giving a lot of jealous toxic vibes, and then there were so many hints about Kaivan not taking Hunter and his band very seriously, plus them getting together so early in the book, I was fully convinced throughout reading this that there would be a love-interest switcheroo at some point and that Anthony would become Hunter's love interest at some point. So getting an apology from Kaivan in the 99% mark of the story and that being the conclusion to the romance element of the book was really jarring.
I liked Hunter as a character and I found his white cis gay rich boy guilt to be very believable. But it seemed like every single time Hunter expressed feeling upset or overwhelmed people would IMMEDIATELY shut him down with a "well BIPOC people have it worse than you you know!!" which doesn't ever actually help people feel better??????? Like cool he's in the middle of a depressive anxiety spiral and you just threw a "other people are suffering worse than you" at him for no reason, what's he supposed to do about that? Just shut up and continue to bottle up his feelings? A lot of apologies are handed out at the end of the book but it still never feels like anyone takes Hunter's feelings seriously.
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content warnings: homophobia, slut shaming, accusations of cheating, hospitalisation (in the past), descriptions of physical injuries (in the past)
This was cute and I very much enjoyed the discussion of the way that the various characters were pigeonholed by the label and had their images constantly manipulated as a result. However. There was something about the characters in this one that I didn't *entirely* engage with? I cannot pinpoint why, but I feel maybe like it threw us into Hunter's complex love life too quickly without giving us time to get to know HIM??
Also, I absolutely did not need the full email addresses read aloud every single freaking time in the audiobook because dear GOD that got annoying.
This was cute and I very much enjoyed the discussion of the way that the various characters were pigeonholed by the label and had their images constantly manipulated as a result. However. There was something about the characters in this one that I didn't *entirely* engage with? I cannot pinpoint why, but I feel maybe like it threw us into Hunter's complex love life too quickly without giving us time to get to know HIM??
Also, I absolutely did not need the full email addresses read aloud every single freaking time in the audiobook because dear GOD that got annoying.
O segundo livro sobre boybands lido em sequência, Kiss & Tell é divertido, mas acho que se perde um pouco no caminho, apesar de trazer boas reflexões sobre a fama e o potencial que ela tem na representação e qual seria o papel fundamental de uma pessoa famosa que representa um certo grupo, seja uma minoria ou uma nacionalidade.
Os personagens são legais, mas senti falta da união da própria boyband e achei o ex namorado um chato que podia ter sido explorado melhor, tinha potencial pra ser um personagem bem mais interessante. O casal principal eu gostei, é um casal fofo.
Os personagens são legais, mas senti falta da união da própria boyband e achei o ex namorado um chato que podia ter sido explorado melhor, tinha potencial pra ser um personagem bem mais interessante. O casal principal eu gostei, é um casal fofo.
Ok so, I loved this book. In a similar way to Oseman's 'I was born for this', 'KIss & Tell' tells the story of a boy band member. The boy band in question is quite diverse, with only two white members out of five, one of which is gay - Hunter, the main character. We clearly see how the members' lives are 'constructed' to appear in a certain way for the public, and particularly how Hunter's forced to behave a certain way to be the 'safe gay guy', who is just a nice guy, a bit effeminate and chaste and pure. All of this kind of crashes when Hunter's drunk ex posts some very inappropriate messages and pictures on Twitter. Hunter will then have to come to terms with the 'real' himself, and understand what he's willing to do to be able to continue this job. The fact that a new romance is on the horizon does not simplify things... I won't say more, but do read this!! There are a lot of very pertinent conversations which will make you think!
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
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