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cocoonofbooks 's review for:
Kiss & Tell
by Adib Khorram
Khorram's YA books are unlike anything else I've read, and I'm so grateful he's out here telling new and authentic stories. Don't go into this book looking for a straightforward queer YA romance — there is a relationship that forms between two boys, but it's early on in the plot, and the book is about much more. Hunter has to grapple with being in the public eye after the band he formed with his friends in high school skyrockets to international fame. Alongside Hunter's first-person perspective, Khorram has authentically created everything from news articles to emails to documentary footage transcripts to show how everyone has a strong opinion about who Hunter, as an openly queer boy band member, should be — how he should dress, whether he should talk about sex, how much he should discuss his personal relationships, how he should give back to the community. The pressure to make everyone happy builds as the band moves from coast to coast on their North American tour.
I wondered why Khorram decided to make a red-headed white kid his protagonist for this book, but that soon became clear. Khorram runs headlong into the tensions and nuances of being a white queer icon, as Hunter's focus on the scrutiny he's under as a gay kid prevents him from acknowledging the ways that his non-white bandmates and new love interest deal with their own share of microaggressions and unwanted media attention. To be clear, Khorram isn't trying to say that one is better or worse, but that only when all the guys are open with each other about what they're dealing with can they feel less alone and work together to make things better.
The pacing is admittedly uneven – Hunter and Kaivan's relationship had to happen pretty quickly after they met in order for the rest of the plot to work, and then there's a long stretch of them publicly going on dates before a lot happens very quickly. The resolution with Aiden felt a little shoehorned in. But on the whole, I really enjoyed the book, and I thought all of the extra material — the tweets, the articles, the emails, the transcripts — was brilliantly done. I definitely recommend this one!
I wondered why Khorram decided to make a red-headed white kid his protagonist for this book, but that soon became clear. Khorram runs headlong into the tensions and nuances of being a white queer icon, as Hunter's focus on the scrutiny he's under as a gay kid prevents him from acknowledging the ways that his non-white bandmates and new love interest deal with their own share of microaggressions and unwanted media attention. To be clear, Khorram isn't trying to say that one is better or worse, but that only when all the guys are open with each other about what they're dealing with can they feel less alone and work together to make things better.
The pacing is admittedly uneven – Hunter and Kaivan's relationship had to happen pretty quickly after they met in order for the rest of the plot to work, and then there's a long stretch of them publicly going on dates before a lot happens very quickly. The resolution with Aiden felt a little shoehorned in. But on the whole, I really enjoyed the book, and I thought all of the extra material — the tweets, the articles, the emails, the transcripts — was brilliantly done. I definitely recommend this one!