Name: Claudia Ganea's review of Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram
Item: Kiss & Tell
Rating: 3
Author: Claudia Ganea

Adib Khorram

A smart, sexy YA novel about a boy band star, his first breakup, his first rebound, and what it means to be queer in the public eye, from award-winning author Adib Khorram Hunter never expected to be a boy band star, but, well, here he is. He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend--leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all--and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens. But Hunter isn't really sure what being the perfect queer kid even means. Does it mean dressing up in whatever The Label tells him to wear for photo shoots and pretending never to have sex? (Unfortunately, yes.) Does it mean finding community among the queer kids at the meet-and-greets after K&T's shows? (Fortunately, yes.) Does it include a new relationship with Kaivan, the star of the band opening for K&T on tour? (He hopes so.) But when The Label finds out about Hunter and Kaivan, it spells trouble--for their relationship, for the perfect gay boy Hunter plays for the cameras, and, most importantly, for Hunter himself.

Kiss & Tell

A smart, sexy YA novel about a boy band star, his first breakup, his first rebound, and what it means to be queer in the public eye, from award-winning author Adib Khorram Hunter never expected to be a boy band star, but, well, here he is. He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend--leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all--and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens. But Hunter isn't really sure what being the perfect queer kid even means. Does it mean dressing up in whatever The Label tells him to wear for photo shoots and pretending never to have sex? (Unfortunately, yes.) Does it mean finding community among the queer kids at the meet-and-greets after K&T's shows? (Fortunately, yes.) Does it include a new relationship with Kaivan, the star of the band opening for K&T on tour? (He hopes so.) But when The Label finds out about Hunter and Kaivan, it spells trouble-for their relationship, for the perfect gay boy Hunter plays for the cameras, and, most importantly, for Hunter himself.

Kiss and Tell

Brooke Barnett

A smart, sexy YA novel about a boy band star, his first breakup, his first rebound, and what it means to be queer in the public eye, from award-winning author Adib Khorram Hunter never expected to be a boy band star, but, well, here he is. He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend--leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all--and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens. But Hunter isn't really sure what being the perfect queer kid even means. Does it mean dressing up in whatever The Label tells him to wear for photo shoots and pretending never to have sex? (Unfortunately, yes.) Does it mean finding community among the queer kids at the meet-and-greets after K&T's shows? (Fortunately, yes.) Does it include a new relationship with Kaivan, the star of the band opening for K&T on tour? (He hopes so.) But when The Label finds out about Hunter and Kaivan, it spells trouble—for their relationship, for the perfect gay boy Hunter plays for the cameras, and, most importantly, for Hunter himself.

Lindsay

skim haunts

Claudia Ganea

3.5/5

As soon as I found this book online, I knew I had to read it - I mean, come on, boybands and a queer main character? It felt exactly up my alley, and I really enjoyed this story!!

(view spoiler)[As someone who has been a fan of a boyband for many years now (albeit in very different terms, since K-Pop is a unique scene in and of itself) and is engaging with fan culture on a daily basis as a result, I really appreciated the exploration into how demanding and toxic fans can be, and how that directly affects the artists that they claim to love. We've all seen the mobs, artists getting followed to their hotels, them being chased around public streets and tossed around like a puppet while surrounded by "fans", the purity culture that becomes an unspoken rule, the inappropriate tweets and messages that still get sent in spite of that - I feel like this book captures the less positive aspects of being in the public eye very well.

Add being a queer teenager to all that? And it all gets so much harder. It's no wonder that Hunter feels this overwhelming amount of pressure from trying to cope with all of it. Not only that, but constantly needing to uphold an image that sells rather than being himself definitely didn't help, either.

While all of this remains true, I also love that the book showed us how great being in the band is for him, and Hunter's relationship with his bandmates is what sold it entirely for me. His relationship with Kaivan was absolutely a plus, don't get me wrong, but it's his friendship with the other boys that ultimately keeps him going, and reassures him that he's on the right path. It's knowing that he doesn't always have to shoulder everything alone, that he has a support system around him that he can take advantage of and communicate better with, that pulls Hunter back to the surface, and I'm such a sucker for strong friendships in books, did you know, probably yes 😭

All in all, this was super fun and easy to read! Don't let the dates fool you - I started it at the beginning of the month, and then blasted through the last 3/4ths of it today. Not a perfect book by any means, but I enjoyed myself a lot, and I will be using the "freckles itching/burning" line for the rest of my life! 

Last but not least: BE GAY DO CRIME!!!!!

 (hide spoiler)]

it tackles tough topics all whilst in stardom, amazing

faith hurren

I really enjoyed how this book was sort of a queer anthem in a sense. I loved the band vibes and how it kind of reminded me of Big Time Rush from when I was younger. So I liked that. I didn't like Hunter's ex (sorry can't remember his name at the moment) because he was a mean person. The drama was great though! I liked the audiobook that I checked out from the library to listen to. The abundance of voices really brought the story to life. I loved the tour vibes and being on the road. The integrated song lyrics, interviews, documentary dialogue really helped even more bring the story to life in my mind. I gave it a four star because I thought the beginning was kind of long and a bit boring and uninteresting to me but, I thought it set up the rest of the book really well. The chemistry between the guys in the band was impeccable and amazing. I loved the romance and all. The journey was amazing!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Kiss & Tell

Author: Adib Khorram

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Gay MC, M/m romance, Gay characters, Black character, Iranian American gay character, Iranian American characters, Brazilian character, Indian character, Vietnamese character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, romance, LGBT, boy band, music

Publication Date: March 22, 2022

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Age Relevance: 15+ (Language, Sexual content, Homophobia, Death threats, Alcohol consumption, Panic attack, Gore, Romance, Racism, Attempted Sexual Assault)

Explanation of Above: There is cursing in the book. The book discusses sexual content such as masturbation and sexting. There is homophobia and racism shown in the book and mentioned. There are death threats mentioned in the book. There is alcohol consumption mentioned and I am unsure if this is underage. There is a panic attach shown in the book. The gore in the book is vomiting but it is a very brief scene. There is a brief scene where an older person who is an adult attempts to have sex with our MC who is a minor. There is romance in the book as well.

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Pages: 384

Synopsis: Hunter never expected to be a boy band star, but, well, here he is. He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend–leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all–and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens.

But Hunter isn’t really sure what being the perfect queer kid even means. Does it mean dressing up in whatever The Label tells him to wear for photo shoots and pretending never to have sex? (Unfortunately, yes.) Does it mean finding community among the queer kids at the meet-and-greets after K&T’s shows? (Fortunately, yes.) Does it include a new relationship with Kaivan, the star of the band opening for K&T on tour? (He hopes so.) But when The Label finds out about Hunter and Kaivan, it spells trouble—for their relationship, for the perfect gay boy Hunter plays for the cameras, and, most importantly, for Hunter himself.

Review: I really liked this book! It was a fun read with the fake dating trope used and it reminded me of If This Gets Out. The book utilized the mixed media format and I loved seeing the blend of what people were saying about the MC and what the MC was saying. The mixed media format also adds a level of panic in how the MC is receiving criticism for his every move. The book did very well discussing intersectionality in the queer community. While our MC faces criticism and certainly deals with homophobia, a separate character who is Iranian American and queer also faces that backlash plus racism. The book did well to discuss that and to make the MC, who is white, understand it as well. The book has great character development and world building. The book is also well paced and very well written.

The only issue I had with the book is that I would have liked for the mixed media format to be better designed artistically to better separate it from the rest of the book.

Verdict: I highly recommend this one! Loved it so much!


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Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram

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Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram