maehwa 's review for:

Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram

3.0

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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It's refreshing to read a book that approaches topics around queerness and queer sexuality with so much frankness. Like, teenage queers send spicy texts and have messy awkward sex and, critically for this book, don't always make fully logical, cool-headed decisions when under a lot of pressure. At times I would think to myself "just fucking communicate!!!" and then I would remember myself at 17 and how I thought I had it so together but was actually thoroughly incapable of articulating my feelings and needs, and would then think "ah... nevermind." Just like Darius the Great, I think that this book does a great job of exploring the weird little nuances of a bunch of teenagers who have had fame thrust upon them trying to navigate their interpersonal relationships and the challenges and intersections of their respective identities, and it does it all with such a wry and heartfelt narrative voice. Charming, funny. My only gripe is that I feel like we didn't get quite enough time spent on the reconciliation at the end, but I guess also the relationship itself wasn't the whole point of the book, so I can forgive it.