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erica_s 's review for:
Kiss & Tell
by Adib Khorram
A very fun read - teens who like/liked boy bands, think crushes are the peak of romance, and like to hear what people are wearing and how they did their hair will appreciate both the story arc and all the little details of this book. The rest of us (lol - me being a 58-year-old reader who doesn't follow boy bands, doesn't have crushes or follow fashion) will still enjoy the first-person inner dialogue that critiques the music industry, social media, and sheer, overwhelming superficiality & obsessively intense, attention-driven world of celebrity fans.
I said critique - and that does happen, but at the same time, Khorram shows how much the young musician-celebrities adore their fans and are willing to put up with getting smothered on a daily basis because it feeds into their purpose. Their purpose is NOT just to be celebrities and make money - they are committed to the artistic endeavor as well as to the positive impact they can have on society.
It is fascinating to hear this imagined perspective of a 17-year-old in a boy band that wants to "do good" in the world, gets some ideas, and still wants to do more good - and eventually gets past the self-centered, ego-driven world, and is open to a dialogue about what matters to different people.
The whole story is also about being gay and how that puts a person into a rare category - not the "normal" that "everyone else" experiences, and YET how their experiences are not SO different, too. The constant inner dialogue of the red-headed, pale-skinned gay main character shows how much microaggressions hurt, and how he first automatically acknowledges, but then ALSO slowly becomes viscerally aware of how much all the other people around him also feel similar pain for different reasons.
There are people in his group, crew, entourage, family, & acquaintances who display all sorts of diversity - which doesn't feel like tokenism (to me) because it really does reflect the natural world (that we are all different & unique), and it especially seems to reflect the photogenic, social-media-focused world of pop music. They don't get much time to talk - red-headed Hunter Drake takes up most of the time and attention - but he reflects their points of view sufficiently to cover the gamut of feelings in this rarified community of pop celebrities.
Interestingly, the author's own identity (queer Iranian American) seems to not match the main character's (queer, light-skinned, red-headed Canadian), but that of the secondary character in the book - Kaivan, the love interest of Hunter Drake. I would love to know more about this choice...I have a feeling someone must have asked Khorram in a live interview somewhere already...but from the reader's perspective, it made me wonder why the secondary character wasn't more fully developed. Clearly, Khorram has spent plenty of time with his Canadian relatives; they are authentically gentle, forgiving, imperfect, humble, and steadfast. Of course, so are the entire Iranian American cohort.
Yes, the book is sweet all around - which makes Hunter's meltdown (and Aidan's) feel as shocking as it was supposed to feel. Bad language, lewd sex acts, and shivering with pent-up fury; exactly what you'd expect when you push a nice person too far. (lol)
Very entertaining, with plenty to write a book report about, if needed.
I said critique - and that does happen, but at the same time, Khorram shows how much the young musician-celebrities adore their fans and are willing to put up with getting smothered on a daily basis because it feeds into their purpose. Their purpose is NOT just to be celebrities and make money - they are committed to the artistic endeavor as well as to the positive impact they can have on society.
It is fascinating to hear this imagined perspective of a 17-year-old in a boy band that wants to "do good" in the world, gets some ideas, and still wants to do more good - and eventually gets past the self-centered, ego-driven world, and is open to a dialogue about what matters to different people.
The whole story is also about being gay and how that puts a person into a rare category - not the "normal" that "everyone else" experiences, and YET how their experiences are not SO different, too. The constant inner dialogue of the red-headed, pale-skinned gay main character shows how much microaggressions hurt, and how he first automatically acknowledges, but then ALSO slowly becomes viscerally aware of how much all the other people around him also feel similar pain for different reasons.
There are people in his group, crew, entourage, family, & acquaintances who display all sorts of diversity - which doesn't feel like tokenism (to me) because it really does reflect the natural world (that we are all different & unique), and it especially seems to reflect the photogenic, social-media-focused world of pop music. They don't get much time to talk - red-headed Hunter Drake takes up most of the time and attention - but he reflects their points of view sufficiently to cover the gamut of feelings in this rarified community of pop celebrities.
Interestingly, the author's own identity (queer Iranian American) seems to not match the main character's (queer, light-skinned, red-headed Canadian), but that of the secondary character in the book - Kaivan, the love interest of Hunter Drake. I would love to know more about this choice...I have a feeling someone must have asked Khorram in a live interview somewhere already...but from the reader's perspective, it made me wonder why the secondary character wasn't more fully developed. Clearly, Khorram has spent plenty of time with his Canadian relatives; they are authentically gentle, forgiving, imperfect, humble, and steadfast. Of course, so are the entire Iranian American cohort.
Yes, the book is sweet all around - which makes Hunter's meltdown (and Aidan's) feel as shocking as it was supposed to feel. Bad language, lewd sex acts, and shivering with pent-up fury; exactly what you'd expect when you push a nice person too far. (lol)
Very entertaining, with plenty to write a book report about, if needed.