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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
This book was actually so horrible. Every character was either flat or completely unlikeable. I hardly knew anything about any of them except for face value character traits that were nailed in so many times it became excruciating. The main couple had zero chemistry, there was no plot, and no tension. And please, please, can we just stop having trauma competitions? Any time any character tries to open up about something, another will jump in and be like “oh, yeah, but the thing I experienced is worse.” And it happens EVERY SINGLE TIME. Over and over again, character’s pain is treated like a way to one up someone. It was honestly painful to read.
This is exactly the kind of book I probably would have loved as a teen. A little messy, and sometimes the dialogue could’ve been a little smoother, but still fun.
Cute and I really enjoyed the articles and interviews between each chapter. I also thought there was some interesting, thought-provoking stuff here about assimilation, using your platform for good, fame... I didn't totally buy the central romance (and in particular I feel like they have to talk about how they deal with fans bc these guys were on totally different pages) but I enjoyed the main character's growth and thoughtfulness.
Considering Kiss & Tell is a contemporary YA romance, this is perhaps the bleakest, most crushingly depressing book I've ever read in my whole life. Relentlessly sad. I wish I could give Hunter the biggest hug. (Content warnings: abusive relationship; slut shaming; victim blaming; gaslighting; underage sex)
When openly gay boy band member Hunter's ex leaks their explicit sexts and other extremely personal information online, his life becomes increasingly micromanaged as his identity is put under the spotlight by fans, their label, their management, the media, the general public, social media, etc.
I felt so, so hopelessly sad for Hunter while reading this book. He has no one, no genuine connections or emotional support, and he's left to flail after the incredibly hurtful betrayal of his ex. The fallout was so painful to read, his humiliation and his isolation. What this book made clear to me is that I can handle extremely sad narratives, PROVIDED there's some ray of hope, preferably in the form of a romantic partner or friend who is genuine and supportive. Because everyone who surrounds Hunter is so manipulative or emotionally distant or self-absorbed, it just felt as though he was getting beaten with a hockey stick over and over again, and no one had a shred of empathy for how badly he'd been hurt, and how he was just expected to get on with life like nothing had happened. All I can say is it made me so deeply sad to read, like, it's a truly upsetting book, and I didn't really see much light at the end of the tunnel.
In general as well I didn't like how the narrative sort of goes, 'OK, get over it, Hunter, by yourself, or with your shitty new boyfriend who we never know is a good guy or not, and forgive your trashy ex, and feel bad for everyone else, and shut up every time you try to be emotionally vulnerable, and The End.' I felt like Hunter got shafted, and that he was a much better MC than the book allowed him to be. To be honest the book felt as exploitative of Hunter's situation as the cruel people around him. He needs a blanket and a hug, and to spend some of that (assumedly large amount of) money on a long holiday.
When openly gay boy band member Hunter's ex leaks their explicit sexts and other extremely personal information online, his life becomes increasingly micromanaged as his identity is put under the spotlight by fans, their label, their management, the media, the general public, social media, etc.
I felt so, so hopelessly sad for Hunter while reading this book. He has no one, no genuine connections or emotional support, and he's left to flail after the incredibly hurtful betrayal of his ex. The fallout was so painful to read, his humiliation and his isolation. What this book made clear to me is that I can handle extremely sad narratives, PROVIDED there's some ray of hope, preferably in the form of a romantic partner or friend who is genuine and supportive. Because everyone who surrounds Hunter is so manipulative or emotionally distant or self-absorbed, it just felt as though he was getting beaten with a hockey stick over and over again, and no one had a shred of empathy for how badly he'd been hurt, and how he was just expected to get on with life like nothing had happened. All I can say is it made me so deeply sad to read, like, it's a truly upsetting book, and I didn't really see much light at the end of the tunnel.
In general as well I didn't like how the narrative sort of goes, 'OK, get over it, Hunter, by yourself, or with your shitty new boyfriend who we never know is a good guy or not, and forgive your trashy ex, and feel bad for everyone else, and shut up every time you try to be emotionally vulnerable, and The End.' I felt like Hunter got shafted, and that he was a much better MC than the book allowed him to be. To be honest the book felt as exploitative of Hunter's situation as the cruel people around him. He needs a blanket and a hug, and to spend some of that (assumedly large amount of) money on a long holiday.
medium-paced
A romantic romp featuring a Canadian boy band at its heart that takes a deep dive into how the media forces expectations on people whether they want them or not.
Hunter figured that his life would end up being far from normal. As a gifted hockey player, he imagined that he'd someday go pro. After a tragic accident ends his sports career, he finds himself taking a different path to stardom: that of being part of an elite boy band by the name of Kiss & Tell. On his first American tour with his four best friends, life couldn't possibly be better. Except that he just had a public breakup with his former best friend and boyfriend, Adrian. As the only gay member of Kiss & Tell, Hunter feels as though he must act as the perfect queer icon, even if it means burying his true self. Adrian makes it hard though when he leaks a series of incriminating messages that showcase the boys' intimate relationship with the world. Now forced to reconcile with the consequences, Hunter finds himself becoming someone he no longer recognizes. Is it worth losing himself to be the queer icon that the Label wants him to be?
I love how this book tackles so many different topics head on and in a very authentic way. One of my favorites is how this book showcases how anyone who lives in the public eye feels an overwhelming amount of expectation to be perfect, fit the mold that society wants them to fill, and cut out all the pieces of themselves that aren't jiving with their fanbase. I feel that anyone who is presenting themself in any way online or in the media feels these burdens and I think this book did a great job of exhibiting this. The news articles, social media posts, blog articles, and other excerpts between chapters truly brought to life the face of the media and how easily things get distorted despite people's best efforts.
Another thing I love about this book is how it embraces queer sex positivity. Teen sex viewed in a positive light is something that can often be hard to find in literature in general, so it is even less common to find books that showcase sex between members of the LGBTQIA+ community in a glowing manner. Yes, this book deals with the media stereotyping and criticizing Hunter on every decision that he makes romantically and sexually, but the author puts up a great fight to show that teenagers indeed have healthy, consenting sex, even queer ones. I think many people in this day in age are still very put off when it comes to homosexuality, so I think facing these concerns head on can do great things for those who are questioning humanities differences and validate many others simultaneously. This book also does a great job of addressing imposter syndrome, racism, stereotyping people, and homophobia in general. So yeah, many great lessons to dive into in this novel.
Unfortunately, despite all the positive messages that I adore, there were many things about this book that were pretty mediocre for me. Firstly, I had a hard time connecting to most of the characters, which made it very hard for me to distinguish the characters from one another. The only people that I really felt like I knew anything about was Hunter, the twins Adrian and Ashton, and Ethan (the jokester of the group). This made it a tad difficult to be truly moved by much of this story, but I'm sure many readers felt more connected. Secondly, I found Kaivan to be a rather icky character. Being the love interest, it made it hard for me to feel connected to the main romance that was going on in this book. I just never found myself trusting the guy and I knew that he was going to treat Hunter awfully in the end. I wasn't looking forward to reading that train wreck, so I got very little good vibes from this guy.
Some scenes in this book were so hard to read, because some people can just be so awful, especially when they can hide behind a username and a profile pic of a cat. My heart goes out to anyone who is bullied, shown prejudice, harassed, and treated as lesser for just trying to be their authentic selves. People need to get over themselves and realize that the world doesn't revolve around them.
Overall, "Kiss & Tell" was a book that overflows with positive messages about being authentic, supporting the LGBTQIA+ community (and other diverse groups), and sex positivity. I didn't love the romantic elements and I didn't find myself attached to many of the characters, but I still find myself appreciating all that this book set out to do.
Hunter figured that his life would end up being far from normal. As a gifted hockey player, he imagined that he'd someday go pro. After a tragic accident ends his sports career, he finds himself taking a different path to stardom: that of being part of an elite boy band by the name of Kiss & Tell. On his first American tour with his four best friends, life couldn't possibly be better. Except that he just had a public breakup with his former best friend and boyfriend, Adrian. As the only gay member of Kiss & Tell, Hunter feels as though he must act as the perfect queer icon, even if it means burying his true self. Adrian makes it hard though when he leaks a series of incriminating messages that showcase the boys' intimate relationship with the world. Now forced to reconcile with the consequences, Hunter finds himself becoming someone he no longer recognizes. Is it worth losing himself to be the queer icon that the Label wants him to be?
I love how this book tackles so many different topics head on and in a very authentic way. One of my favorites is how this book showcases how anyone who lives in the public eye feels an overwhelming amount of expectation to be perfect, fit the mold that society wants them to fill, and cut out all the pieces of themselves that aren't jiving with their fanbase. I feel that anyone who is presenting themself in any way online or in the media feels these burdens and I think this book did a great job of exhibiting this. The news articles, social media posts, blog articles, and other excerpts between chapters truly brought to life the face of the media and how easily things get distorted despite people's best efforts.
Another thing I love about this book is how it embraces queer sex positivity. Teen sex viewed in a positive light is something that can often be hard to find in literature in general, so it is even less common to find books that showcase sex between members of the LGBTQIA+ community in a glowing manner. Yes, this book deals with the media stereotyping and criticizing Hunter on every decision that he makes romantically and sexually, but the author puts up a great fight to show that teenagers indeed have healthy, consenting sex, even queer ones. I think many people in this day in age are still very put off when it comes to homosexuality, so I think facing these concerns head on can do great things for those who are questioning humanities differences and validate many others simultaneously. This book also does a great job of addressing imposter syndrome, racism, stereotyping people, and homophobia in general. So yeah, many great lessons to dive into in this novel.
Unfortunately, despite all the positive messages that I adore, there were many things about this book that were pretty mediocre for me. Firstly, I had a hard time connecting to most of the characters, which made it very hard for me to distinguish the characters from one another. The only people that I really felt like I knew anything about was Hunter, the twins Adrian and Ashton, and Ethan (the jokester of the group). This made it a tad difficult to be truly moved by much of this story, but I'm sure many readers felt more connected. Secondly, I found Kaivan to be a rather icky character. Being the love interest, it made it hard for me to feel connected to the main romance that was going on in this book. I just never found myself trusting the guy and I knew that he was going to treat Hunter awfully in the end. I wasn't looking forward to reading that train wreck, so I got very little good vibes from this guy.
Some scenes in this book were so hard to read, because some people can just be so awful, especially when they can hide behind a username and a profile pic of a cat. My heart goes out to anyone who is bullied, shown prejudice, harassed, and treated as lesser for just trying to be their authentic selves. People need to get over themselves and realize that the world doesn't revolve around them.
Overall, "Kiss & Tell" was a book that overflows with positive messages about being authentic, supporting the LGBTQIA+ community (and other diverse groups), and sex positivity. I didn't love the romantic elements and I didn't find myself attached to many of the characters, but I still find myself appreciating all that this book set out to do.
a really great examination of being a queer celebrity and how your identity and something so personal is scruntinised and you have to be perfect, and queer but not too much but at the same time you literally can't please everyone. our mc, hunter, had a really great arc going through this as he also navigates a breakup and a new relationship and how that all intersects with his identity (as his relationship and queerness have all been very public and a big part of his "role" in the boy group). i really liked the use of articles and other media to really push this point home that no matter what he does his queerness will be criticised for being too much/not enough about sex, for being to messy or too clean, for being not authentic enough etc etc. this was the strongest point of the book tbh and we also got to look at it bit through the li, kaivan's, lens, who is iranian-american, so also brought a different look to the conversation and how the issues differs for qpoc.
for me i didn't love the romance but i didn't hate it either; it was just kinda there for plot but i didn't really feel the chemistry and honestly their feelings felt a bit quick and underdeveloped. but it was there to move the plot and themes forward and i think it helped with that well.
honestly my biggest problem is the lack of development for most of the characters. of course our main character is honestly written really well, and the li is interesting. then there's hunter's best friend and bandmate ashton and the ex boyfriend aidan (who is also ashton's twin) and like they're not the most fleshed out but they have arcs and a purpose and they do really add to hunter's story. another bandmate, owen, at the very least has a role, which is writing songs which is something hunter is struggling with as he struggles with his public identity. but the other two ethan and ian are just so bland and have absolutely nothing too them. like ok ethan has some good conversations with hunter that shed light on things the other members are going through due to being non white but ian was barely even in the story and kinda pointless. like they just had no personality and it didn't give a vibe of this boy group, when like the found family group of friends is something i love so much about bg books. there are some like "banter" scenes but not really of any substance because we don't really know the other boys. and we do get some of their history as a group but mainly only focusing on ashton aidan and hunter so :// honestly the band could've just been 4 or maybe even 3 members and it would've made it so the members could've been more fleshed out and the group would really feel more like a group. i think this is an understandable problem bc bgs have 5 members typically but then the book needs to be longer to make them worth being in the story i guess and so you can include more scenes to show their dynamic as a group. in a way i kind of get it because hunter doesn't spend much time with the group on tour because he's occupied with his issues and his new relationship (which is being like heavily promoted by his label ie lots of public dates) and i guess it's meant to be he's so consumed with himself he doesn't notice the other's problems. so i get it. but i mean ian probably could've been cut and maybe i would feel slightly less strongly because the group wasn't totally the focus and it's more about their roles. but ian was pointless. anyway i can still be disappointed because i love a found family dynamic like that ,especially with something like a bg because there's lots of forced proximity, and i didn't get it and i know it can be done well. (like hello iwbft. also that bg book i read last year also did a good job with the other members in a way in which they all had their arcs and problems and together they felt like a group of real different people who were friends.)
anyway overall still a fun story, with a great mc and a really great examination of queerness in the spotlight which is ultimately what it set out to do. just disappointed i didn't get the chaotic group vibe i wanted.
for me i didn't love the romance but i didn't hate it either; it was just kinda there for plot but i didn't really feel the chemistry and honestly their feelings felt a bit quick and underdeveloped. but it was there to move the plot and themes forward and i think it helped with that well.
honestly my biggest problem is the lack of development for most of the characters. of course our main character is honestly written really well, and the li is interesting. then there's hunter's best friend and bandmate ashton and the ex boyfriend aidan (who is also ashton's twin) and like they're not the most fleshed out but they have arcs and a purpose and they do really add to hunter's story. another bandmate, owen, at the very least has a role, which is writing songs which is something hunter is struggling with as he struggles with his public identity. but the other two ethan and ian are just so bland and have absolutely nothing too them. like ok ethan has some good conversations with hunter that shed light on things the other members are going through due to being non white but ian was barely even in the story and kinda pointless. like they just had no personality and it didn't give a vibe of this boy group, when like the found family group of friends is something i love so much about bg books. there are some like "banter" scenes but not really of any substance because we don't really know the other boys. and we do get some of their history as a group but mainly only focusing on ashton aidan and hunter so :// honestly the band could've just been 4 or maybe even 3 members and it would've made it so the members could've been more fleshed out and the group would really feel more like a group. i think this is an understandable problem bc bgs have 5 members typically but then the book needs to be longer to make them worth being in the story i guess and so you can include more scenes to show their dynamic as a group. in a way i kind of get it because hunter doesn't spend much time with the group on tour because he's occupied with his issues and his new relationship (which is being like heavily promoted by his label ie lots of public dates) and i guess it's meant to be he's so consumed with himself he doesn't notice the other's problems. so i get it. but i mean ian probably could've been cut and maybe i would feel slightly less strongly because the group wasn't totally the focus and it's more about their roles. but ian was pointless. anyway i can still be disappointed because i love a found family dynamic like that ,especially with something like a bg because there's lots of forced proximity, and i didn't get it and i know it can be done well. (like hello iwbft. also that bg book i read last year also did a good job with the other members in a way in which they all had their arcs and problems and together they felt like a group of real different people who were friends.)
anyway overall still a fun story, with a great mc and a really great examination of queerness in the spotlight which is ultimately what it set out to do. just disappointed i didn't get the chaotic group vibe i wanted.
emotional
lighthearted
sad
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
Clearly a YA boyband book, but I had a lot of fun reading it. It has heart, sometimes cringy, but the characters were cool. Interesting to read because I never had the boyband phase. So fun to see a bit more about that life. And also thinking about being a fan and then seeing the perspective of the boyband. More of a politically correct book about the world of fame and boybands, but that was fine. The main character couldn’t catch a break sometimes my guy :(