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fruity_flavor 's review for:
Kiss & Tell
by Adib Khorram
adventurous
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
a gay guy in a boyband faces backlash in every facet of his life as he navigates life as a queer figure.
okay so i adore abid khorram and his writing so much, i loved darius in "darius the great is not okay" and i loved hunter. khorram has a way of writing these characters where they are multi faceted and their struggles are very real. hunter was a stand out character for me in this; he is an open gay public figure, and faces as much backlash for this as you would expect, but it gets worse when his ex, aidan, releases their sexts to the public as an act of revenge. now hunter is being disparaged in the media for not being the "perfect" queer role model, and what the hell is a "perfect queer role model" anyway?? hunter entire journey throughout the book was incredibly well written, and even when he crashed out at the end of the book, i understood why, even if i was like "bitch, what are u talking about". i loved the way sex was discussed in this book, especially in the way that hunter was shamed for 1) having sex as a gay man (safe sex too btw) and 2) being a bottom. we see the way that hunter's sex life became a focus even though HE WAS A MINOR and it was really no one's business. gay people are allowed to exist, until they don't follow heteronormative society patterns and then they get torn to shreds in the media and public image. this part of the book was incredibly well done, and stood out to me.
another part i thought was done well was the racism, espcially the discussion of colorism and racism in queer spaces. our cast of characters are public figures, and those who are poc face microaggressions and straight up racism.
now to the parts i didn't like LMFAO. so- hunter is part of a boy band, and these characters are very underdeveloped. they exist only to let hunter know he is not the only one experiencing hate crimes/microaggressions and because hunter needed a boy band. there was no distinct differences in the characters to be completely honest, and i wish there wasn't because the glimpses we got were really good! but they all sort of blended together in order to teach hunter a lesson.
i didn't really like hunter's relationship with kaivan. i wasn't a fan until the last chapter, and throughout the story it felt like kaivan didn't really like hunter either. kaivan makes passive and rude remarks about hunter being in a boy band that wasn't resolved until the last chapter? while the context made sense it came off as rushed in a way and left a bad taste in my mouth. and to be completely honest, i wish their relationship didn't start so soon in the book. hunter just gets out of hsi first ever long term relaionship and his ex literally releases REVENGE PORN of him, and then he just gets with kaivan? throughout the entire book i just kept thinking that it felt like hunter wasn't ready for a relationship and i wish instead of them getting together, there was more growth and recovery from hunter BEFORE instead of DURING, which i felt twisted the relationship for me. at the end, i found myself really liking them, and they were quite cute, i just wish hunter had more recovery first.
SPEAKING OF RECOVERY: hunter's ex literally leaks their SEXTS, an INTIMATE moment of VULNERABILITY that aidan released to directly HARM and HURT hunter. right? and we spend more then half of the book seeing the repercussions of this, hunter is sexually harassed and humiliated by the media debating his sex life, aidan is fucking dick. then, we're just expected to forgive him? aidan comes back and apologizes and we hear how bad his mental health is, BUT LITERALLY HE DID THE SAME TO HUNTER?? he posted that shit on THE WORLD WIDE WEB!!! i don't care how depressed he was that was fucking horrendous and the way we were supposed to forgive him??? fuck NO
anyways-
all that being said i did really like the book. the topics of sex positivity, queer sex, queerness in the public eye, racism in the media and musics, etc, was done exceptionally well and i loved reading about. it made me think and have discussions on it with a friend which was really fun. i just have. few gripes here and there! i NEED to read more books by khorram omg.
okay so i adore abid khorram and his writing so much, i loved darius in "darius the great is not okay" and i loved hunter. khorram has a way of writing these characters where they are multi faceted and their struggles are very real. hunter was a stand out character for me in this; he is an open gay public figure, and faces as much backlash for this as you would expect, but it gets worse when his ex, aidan, releases their sexts to the public as an act of revenge. now hunter is being disparaged in the media for not being the "perfect" queer role model, and what the hell is a "perfect queer role model" anyway?? hunter entire journey throughout the book was incredibly well written, and even when he crashed out at the end of the book, i understood why, even if i was like "bitch, what are u talking about". i loved the way sex was discussed in this book, especially in the way that hunter was shamed for 1) having sex as a gay man (safe sex too btw) and 2) being a bottom. we see the way that hunter's sex life became a focus even though HE WAS A MINOR and it was really no one's business. gay people are allowed to exist, until they don't follow heteronormative society patterns and then they get torn to shreds in the media and public image. this part of the book was incredibly well done, and stood out to me.
another part i thought was done well was the racism, espcially the discussion of colorism and racism in queer spaces. our cast of characters are public figures, and those who are poc face microaggressions and straight up racism.
now to the parts i didn't like LMFAO. so- hunter is part of a boy band, and these characters are very underdeveloped. they exist only to let hunter know he is not the only one experiencing hate crimes/microaggressions and because hunter needed a boy band. there was no distinct differences in the characters to be completely honest, and i wish there wasn't because the glimpses we got were really good! but they all sort of blended together in order to teach hunter a lesson.
i didn't really like hunter's relationship with kaivan. i wasn't a fan until the last chapter, and throughout the story it felt like kaivan didn't really like hunter either. kaivan makes passive and rude remarks about hunter being in a boy band that wasn't resolved until the last chapter? while the context made sense it came off as rushed in a way and left a bad taste in my mouth. and to be completely honest, i wish their relationship didn't start so soon in the book. hunter just gets out of hsi first ever long term relaionship and his ex literally releases REVENGE PORN of him, and then he just gets with kaivan? throughout the entire book i just kept thinking that it felt like hunter wasn't ready for a relationship and i wish instead of them getting together, there was more growth and recovery from hunter BEFORE instead of DURING, which i felt twisted the relationship for me. at the end, i found myself really liking them, and they were quite cute, i just wish hunter had more recovery first.
SPEAKING OF RECOVERY: hunter's ex literally leaks their SEXTS, an INTIMATE moment of VULNERABILITY that aidan released to directly HARM and HURT hunter. right? and we spend more then half of the book seeing the repercussions of this, hunter is sexually harassed and humiliated by the media debating his sex life, aidan is fucking dick. then, we're just expected to forgive him? aidan comes back and apologizes and we hear how bad his mental health is, BUT LITERALLY HE DID THE SAME TO HUNTER?? he posted that shit on THE WORLD WIDE WEB!!! i don't care how depressed he was that was fucking horrendous and the way we were supposed to forgive him??? fuck NO
anyways-
all that being said i did really like the book. the topics of sex positivity, queer sex, queerness in the public eye, racism in the media and musics, etc, was done exceptionally well and i loved reading about. it made me think and have discussions on it with a friend which was really fun. i just have. few gripes here and there! i NEED to read more books by khorram omg.