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A review by james1star
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales, Cale Dietrich
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
I did enjoy this book but I think I’ll start with my cons.
Not to fat shame a book but this was mentally phattt. And, if I may, bloated… very, very bloated. This is just my personal opinion and is shared by some others on here and the GoodReads but I just couldn’t - like literally could not for the life of me - read a lot of this in one go (well except for the last 60ish pages that is). It’s written well and the characters are loveable (I’ll get to that in a sec) but I honestly felt it was a struggle to read this in parts. There is quite a lot of repetitive scenarios, themes, conversations and dilemmas. I feel these could definitely have been reduced. Also the acceptance of toxic relationships (professional and personal) is just hard to read at some points and because it basically continues throughout you want to get inside the pages and just slap people you get me?? No?? Okay.
Now comes the good bits. These characters are very very lovable and as the book goes on, they certainly develop and become the true authentic people that they are. This development is hard but ultimately beautiful to read. The main characters are Ruben who’s gay and continually forced into the closet by the music management industry, Zach who discovers his bisexuality (and subsequent relationship with Ruben) and a massive people pleaser. These two make up our protagonist with the chapters alternating between their POVs which I feel is done well but at points it is a bit difficult to decipher who’s talking as there is sometimes maybe not enough dissimilarity. They make up 1/2 of the boyband at the centre of this novel - the other 2 being Jon who is the son of their manager and has to deal with micromanagement from his father and other people’s views being the ‘rich son of a powerful man’ and their subsequent dislike/using of him at points and Angel who is shown to deal with drug and alcohol addiction problems and the controlling aspects of the music industry who went as far to take his real name from him (Reece). All 4 do definitely develop over time and this is great to see as well as their relationships with each other - their (I hate the word but I don’t know what else to say) banter with one another is really great with funny, witty and cute remarks and their group hugs and affectionate actions are really lovely and sweet. Zach coming to terms with his sexuality is told really well, very relatable (well all the characters are relatable to be honest) and you for sure understand his thoughts and feelings. Additionally, Ruben’s storyline with his overbearing and toxic as so may same mother is actually rather difficult to read about but you definitely sympathise with him. All in all the queer elements were done really well with mentions to PReP and exploration of gay sex activities in a sensitive way, perfect for the target YA audience. They’re all also written very much like actual human beings with nuances, flaws, individual personalities and as a whole I can really see Saturday being a real boyband - sometimes even forgetting they weren’t. Great.
The plot is relatively fast paced but as I mentioned before is quite bloated and repetitive so whilst it’s easy to follow, for me it was a struggle to read a lot in one go. Not a spoiler but the last 60ish pages were by far my favourite part, I just wish some of the prior elements were shortened and and this part expanded on. Or even following on more from the ending would be better - I guess i don’t really like the ‘mistreat’ trope that much as quite a lot fitted into this.
Final note but I personally would love to see this made into a film or tv show. The plot would be very much liked by a lot of people so Yhh. Just a thought if anyone’s reading haha. It’s also quite dialogue heavy and the characters are super relatable, different and loveable (albeit problematic). Also seeing the topics in the book portrayed to a larger audience would be great, like: substance abuse, the music industry, discovering one’s sexuality, being queer in the public eye, forced closetness (made that up but you get me), positive coming out stories, toxic family relationships, queer sex and many more.
P.S. many people draw connections to fan fictions, specifically about One Direction, and whilst I can see that in some points without any experience with fan fiction I don’t personally see any relativity to them or anyone in particular. But then again I have no experience so maybe there is.
Not to fat shame a book but this was mentally phattt. And, if I may, bloated… very, very bloated. This is just my personal opinion and is shared by some others on here and the GoodReads but I just couldn’t - like literally could not for the life of me - read a lot of this in one go (well except for the last 60ish pages that is). It’s written well and the characters are loveable (I’ll get to that in a sec) but I honestly felt it was a struggle to read this in parts. There is quite a lot of repetitive scenarios, themes, conversations and dilemmas. I feel these could definitely have been reduced. Also the acceptance of toxic relationships (professional and personal) is just hard to read at some points and because it basically continues throughout you want to get inside the pages and just slap people you get me?? No?? Okay.
Now comes the good bits. These characters are very very lovable and as the book goes on, they certainly develop and become the true authentic people that they are. This development is hard but ultimately beautiful to read. The main characters are Ruben who’s gay and continually forced into the closet by the music management industry, Zach who discovers his bisexuality (and subsequent relationship with Ruben) and a massive people pleaser. These two make up our protagonist with the chapters alternating between their POVs which I feel is done well but at points it is a bit difficult to decipher who’s talking as there is sometimes maybe not enough dissimilarity. They make up 1/2 of the boyband at the centre of this novel - the other 2 being Jon who is the son of their manager and has to deal with micromanagement from his father and other people’s views being the ‘rich son of a powerful man’ and their subsequent dislike/using of him at points and Angel who is shown to deal with drug and alcohol addiction problems and the controlling aspects of the music industry who went as far to take his real name from him (Reece). All 4 do definitely develop over time and this is great to see as well as their relationships with each other - their (I hate the word but I don’t know what else to say) banter with one another is really great with funny, witty and cute remarks and their group hugs and affectionate actions are really lovely and sweet. Zach coming to terms with his sexuality is told really well, very relatable (well all the characters are relatable to be honest) and you for sure understand his thoughts and feelings. Additionally, Ruben’s storyline with his overbearing and toxic as so may same mother is actually rather difficult to read about but you definitely sympathise with him. All in all the queer elements were done really well with mentions to PReP and exploration of gay sex activities in a sensitive way, perfect for the target YA audience. They’re all also written very much like actual human beings with nuances, flaws, individual personalities and as a whole I can really see Saturday being a real boyband - sometimes even forgetting they weren’t. Great.
The plot is relatively fast paced but as I mentioned before is quite bloated and repetitive so whilst it’s easy to follow, for me it was a struggle to read a lot in one go. Not a spoiler but the last 60ish pages were by far my favourite part, I just wish some of the prior elements were shortened and and this part expanded on. Or even following on more from the ending would be better - I guess i don’t really like the ‘mistreat’ trope that much as quite a lot fitted into this.
Final note but I personally would love to see this made into a film or tv show. The plot would be very much liked by a lot of people so Yhh. Just a thought if anyone’s reading haha. It’s also quite dialogue heavy and the characters are super relatable, different and loveable (albeit problematic). Also seeing the topics in the book portrayed to a larger audience would be great, like: substance abuse, the music industry, discovering one’s sexuality, being queer in the public eye, forced closetness (made that up but you get me), positive coming out stories, toxic family relationships, queer sex and many more.
P.S. many people draw connections to fan fictions, specifically about One Direction, and whilst I can see that in some points without any experience with fan fiction I don’t personally see any relativity to them or anyone in particular. But then again I have no experience so maybe there is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Addiction, and Alcoholism