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Kiss & Tell
Kiss & Tell is a total rush! Perfectly sweet and swoon worthy. I loved every page! - Julie Murphy, New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin'
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 drummer for 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.
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 drummer for 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.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published March 22, 2022
174 people are currently reading
23684 people want to read
About the author
Adib Khorram
12 books1,880 followersADIB KHORRAM is the author of DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY, which earned the William C. Morris Debut Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature, and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor, as well as a multitude of other honors and accolades. His followup, DARIUS THE GREAT DESERVES BETTER, received three starred reviews, was an Indie Bestseller, and received a Stonewall Honor. His debut picture book, SEVEN SPECIAL SOMETHINGS: A NOWRUZ STORY was released in 2021. When he isn’t writing, you can find him learning to do a Lutz jump, practicing his handstands, or steeping a cup of oolong. He lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where people don’t usually talk about themselves in the third person. You can find him on Twitter (@adibkhorram), Instagram (@adibkhorram), or on the web at adibkhorram.com.
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June 5, 2024
if a member from One Direction dated a member from 5SOS
February 9, 2023
Kiss & Tell has been on my TBR since before it even had a cover. I cannot express enough how excited I was to finally read this. I was counting down the days in March and got it as soon as it dropped. There are very few books that directly appeal to me, but I am not ashamed to admit that one about a gay boy in a band certainly does. My expectations were high and I ended up really enjoying it.
There was something I found really special about this novel. It was something I've had conversations with my best friend about for years. I've always wanted a queer book with sex-positivity. I've had a few problems with how some books have depicted or talked about gay sex in the past. Sometimes it can feel like it is being written through a heternormative gaze. The reality is that queer people experience all kinds of sex, in many different ways. I've read the same sex scenes over and over again. I've watched characters discuss gay sex between men countless times, and it all just blurs together. I have never even seen douching be alluded to before, so I was taken by surprise when Kiss & Tell openly discussed it. There are so many things that need to be discussed in queer novels, especially in the new adult to adult bands. We do not talk enough about bottom-shaming, about the homophobia in the queer community, or about the pressure to be masculine. I loved how this novel started to talk about the fact that there is no shame in enjoying being penetrated. Heternormative society continues to perpetuate the idea that bottoms are inferior, or somehow more queer, than tops, and it is so sickeningly wrapped up in misogyny. I've lost count of how many times I've been asked if I'm the 'woman' or the 'man'. I really liked that by the end of the novel, Hunter stopped feeling ashamed and rejected those ideas. I honestly think there was room for more discussion on this, but I hope that Kiss & Tell leads to more novels talking about these issues.
Something I really appreciated was the exploration of how a person's queerness can be dissected in the public eye. Hunter had to navigate pressure from his management and fans to be the 'perfect, clean gay'. This is not something exclusive to famous queer people. All of us have felt pressure to conform. To modulate our queerness to suit the world's heteronormativity. Some of us have deepened our voices, changed the way we dress, altered our walks and body language. Others have avoided certain words and phrases to not be associated with queer culture. It can be so exhausting. At a certain point, you hit a wall where you cannot conceal yourself anymore, if only to protect your mental health. I think Kiss & Tell did a good job of exploring this, and it was interesting to see how Hunter continued to feel pressure to conceal his identity even after coming out.
Was it the most nuanced and detailed exploration of these issues? No. Was it a brilliant start? Absolutely yes.
I really liked how the author explored the physical safety of expressing queerness. The way the hands of the fans reached for Hunter, touched him inappropriately, manhandled, and essentially abused him, was incredibly haunting at times. I also appreciated how the novel alludes to the fact that the lines of consent are openly blurred in nightclubs. It is hard to describe what it is like to enter a new space as a queer person. It can be so never-wracking, to not know the tolerance of the people or understand just how queer you are allowed to be. A lot of people will never understand what it is like to look up the laws of countries you want to travel to or read the experiences of those who have lived in the place you are moving to. To put it plainly, it is hard to be reminded of being fearful of expressing your queerness in public, to hold someone's hand, or wear something you love. Yet, these are such important discussions, and the novel did a nice job of quietly addressing them. I wish there had been more directness at times, and think the format of including interviews and transcripts was an excellent place for deepening this exploration.
There were a few things I did not enjoy, that really stopped me loving this. I didn't like how Hunter's feelings were dismissed by those around him, especially when those same people were constantly encouraging him to speak up. Whenever he would confess his feelings, certain characters would respond by calling him selfish and unaware. Nobody should be dismissed, or have their feelings downplayed because someone else is hurting. When somebody comes to you for help, listen to what they have to say. Everyone's feelings are valid.
Some of the characters were terribly unlikeable. I didn't care for either of the love interests, which was a shame because I came to this novel expecting a really wonderful romance. I felt like a lot of the relationships were toxic, which is fine if it's done well. I honestly wish Hunter had been single the entire novel, and that it had focused more on the incredibly important topics the author spoke about. I'm going back and forth on the rating, but I'll leave it at three.
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There was something I found really special about this novel. It was something I've had conversations with my best friend about for years. I've always wanted a queer book with sex-positivity. I've had a few problems with how some books have depicted or talked about gay sex in the past. Sometimes it can feel like it is being written through a heternormative gaze. The reality is that queer people experience all kinds of sex, in many different ways. I've read the same sex scenes over and over again. I've watched characters discuss gay sex between men countless times, and it all just blurs together. I have never even seen douching be alluded to before, so I was taken by surprise when Kiss & Tell openly discussed it. There are so many things that need to be discussed in queer novels, especially in the new adult to adult bands. We do not talk enough about bottom-shaming, about the homophobia in the queer community, or about the pressure to be masculine. I loved how this novel started to talk about the fact that there is no shame in enjoying being penetrated. Heternormative society continues to perpetuate the idea that bottoms are inferior, or somehow more queer, than tops, and it is so sickeningly wrapped up in misogyny. I've lost count of how many times I've been asked if I'm the 'woman' or the 'man'. I really liked that by the end of the novel, Hunter stopped feeling ashamed and rejected those ideas. I honestly think there was room for more discussion on this, but I hope that Kiss & Tell leads to more novels talking about these issues.
Something I really appreciated was the exploration of how a person's queerness can be dissected in the public eye. Hunter had to navigate pressure from his management and fans to be the 'perfect, clean gay'. This is not something exclusive to famous queer people. All of us have felt pressure to conform. To modulate our queerness to suit the world's heteronormativity. Some of us have deepened our voices, changed the way we dress, altered our walks and body language. Others have avoided certain words and phrases to not be associated with queer culture. It can be so exhausting. At a certain point, you hit a wall where you cannot conceal yourself anymore, if only to protect your mental health. I think Kiss & Tell did a good job of exploring this, and it was interesting to see how Hunter continued to feel pressure to conceal his identity even after coming out.
Was it the most nuanced and detailed exploration of these issues? No. Was it a brilliant start? Absolutely yes.
I really liked how the author explored the physical safety of expressing queerness. The way the hands of the fans reached for Hunter, touched him inappropriately, manhandled, and essentially abused him, was incredibly haunting at times. I also appreciated how the novel alludes to the fact that the lines of consent are openly blurred in nightclubs. It is hard to describe what it is like to enter a new space as a queer person. It can be so never-wracking, to not know the tolerance of the people or understand just how queer you are allowed to be. A lot of people will never understand what it is like to look up the laws of countries you want to travel to or read the experiences of those who have lived in the place you are moving to. To put it plainly, it is hard to be reminded of being fearful of expressing your queerness in public, to hold someone's hand, or wear something you love. Yet, these are such important discussions, and the novel did a nice job of quietly addressing them. I wish there had been more directness at times, and think the format of including interviews and transcripts was an excellent place for deepening this exploration.
There were a few things I did not enjoy, that really stopped me loving this. I didn't like how Hunter's feelings were dismissed by those around him, especially when those same people were constantly encouraging him to speak up. Whenever he would confess his feelings, certain characters would respond by calling him selfish and unaware. Nobody should be dismissed, or have their feelings downplayed because someone else is hurting. When somebody comes to you for help, listen to what they have to say. Everyone's feelings are valid.
Some of the characters were terribly unlikeable. I didn't care for either of the love interests, which was a shame because I came to this novel expecting a really wonderful romance. I felt like a lot of the relationships were toxic, which is fine if it's done well. I honestly wish Hunter had been single the entire novel, and that it had focused more on the incredibly important topics the author spoke about. I'm going back and forth on the rating, but I'll leave it at three.
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March 22, 2022
This is not Darius, I repeat: this is not Darius. Not because Darius is better but because Kiss and Tell is different!
It’s impossible to compare the books. While Darius is like a rippling stream, Kiss and Tell is like a thundering waterfall. Both are beautiful, though. Darius is soft and quiet, Kiss and Tell is hyperactive and loud, almost hysterical. This is partly because of the writing, short, blunt sentences, and partly because of the structure, chapters interspersed with news flashes, posts on social media, texts, emails, etc.
The energetic writing fitted my own excitement when I started reading this story (I was nervous, wouldn’t I finish it too soon? And what if I wouldn’t like it?). And even more importantly, it fitted Hunter’s life, the tour he was on with Kiss and Tell, being a famous person, and having so many interferences with his love life, from the press, the fans, The Label, everyone.
Sometimes, the Darius books' vulnerability and quietness suddenly came to the surface, especially in the second part of the story. In the Aiden mess, the songwriting, and Hunter's feelings for Kaivan. And throughout the story, Hunter is forced into a certain definition of what a gay guy should be like. And he doesn’t know how to explain to others what it feels like to be put in a box. I believe this is the most important message of the story: we always try to label people instead of just loving each other for who we are.
I doubted my rating. I don’t think the story is perfect, and if I’m honest, logically, this should be no more than a four-star read. The structure can feel messy, and the side characters could be more fleshed out. But … although I’ve never liked boy bands, books about boy bands seem to crawl under my skin lately. I just like them very, very much! And I love Adib’s writing. That’s why I decided to round my rating up and give Kiss and Tell five beautiful stars.
I received an ARC from Dial Books (Penguin Publishing Group) and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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It’s impossible to compare the books. While Darius is like a rippling stream, Kiss and Tell is like a thundering waterfall. Both are beautiful, though. Darius is soft and quiet, Kiss and Tell is hyperactive and loud, almost hysterical. This is partly because of the writing, short, blunt sentences, and partly because of the structure, chapters interspersed with news flashes, posts on social media, texts, emails, etc.
The energetic writing fitted my own excitement when I started reading this story (I was nervous, wouldn’t I finish it too soon? And what if I wouldn’t like it?). And even more importantly, it fitted Hunter’s life, the tour he was on with Kiss and Tell, being a famous person, and having so many interferences with his love life, from the press, the fans, The Label, everyone.
Sometimes, the Darius books' vulnerability and quietness suddenly came to the surface, especially in the second part of the story. In the Aiden mess, the songwriting, and Hunter's feelings for Kaivan. And throughout the story, Hunter is forced into a certain definition of what a gay guy should be like. And he doesn’t know how to explain to others what it feels like to be put in a box. I believe this is the most important message of the story: we always try to label people instead of just loving each other for who we are.
I doubted my rating. I don’t think the story is perfect, and if I’m honest, logically, this should be no more than a four-star read. The structure can feel messy, and the side characters could be more fleshed out. But … although I’ve never liked boy bands, books about boy bands seem to crawl under my skin lately. I just like them very, very much! And I love Adib’s writing. That’s why I decided to round my rating up and give Kiss and Tell five beautiful stars.
I received an ARC from Dial Books (Penguin Publishing Group) and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
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June 17, 2023
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”Everyone acts like they knew what our relationship was like. They didn’t see our fights. They didn’t see the way Aidan got jealous when I was on tour, the way he texted me every time a tabloid wrote something about me, about him, about us.”
I honestly don’t even know where to start with this review because I had such high hopes for “Kiss & Tell” and probably expected too much. I dunno if this is just a “me thing” or if it’s a valid reaction but as always I can only write about what I felt and thought while I read the book so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I suppose it’s fair to say that people who are part of a very active fandom might not enjoy this story as much as people who only experience the hype through the media, because I read this book as a buddy read with my bestie and we’re both part of a fandom. We had many discussions about this book and for us a lot of the things that happened in this story just didn’t feel realistic or didn’t add up. As always this is just my subjective opinion but I’m going to back it up with facts so please bear with me and make yourself comfortable, because this is going to be a long in-depth review. *lol*
”It’s not the heartbreak that’s hard, it’s the attention. It’s having people think that who I am on stage is the same as who I am at home. Who I am in bed.”
First things first, the things and topics I really enjoyed while reading “Kiss & Tell”. I absolutely loved the newspaper articles, interviews, documentary video transcripts; set lists etc. we got in between the chapters. This added so much to the story and made it feel more realistic. I mean the band was famous and had millions of fans so online forums where the fans discuss the newest band gossip, interview excerpts and advertisements for the concerts, etc. are all things that are basically daily business. It was a nice touch to have those things in between the chapters and it definitely helped to feel even more immersed in the story.
”No one at The Label has ever said it to my face, but they’ve made it clear in lots of subtle ways that I’m supposed to stay as twinkish as possible. Which sucks, because I’ve always been too stocky to achieve the true twink look. Years of hockey have given me a big butt and muscular thighs, and though I’ve slimmed down a bit since my hockey days, I’m still thicker than they want me to be.”
Another thing I really liked was how the influence of the label was portrayed. Hunter and his band mates had to do so many things they didn’t really want to do but because they were expected of them they just had to deal with it and move on. For instance Hunter had to take part in cooking shows because as a gay boy everyone had that image of him standing in the kitchen. Which is bullshit and I was glad that this was addressed and that the band’s manager tried her best to fight those stereotypes. There were a lot of stereotypes in this book in general and throughout the entire story you could really see how much they hurt Hunter and what they did to him. The fact that the label even expected Hunter to cater to them and wanted him to be more twinkish, more feminine, less good at skating because everyone knew he was a bottom and apparently they aren’t good at skating even though Hunter played as a pro before his knee injury,…. I could go on and on. Throughout the entire book I could literally feel how torn Hunter felt about playing this role and that all those little things added up to an entire pile that threatened to suffocate him.
”And then I think about the shelter kids, and how happy they all were, despite what they’ve been through. And here I am, whining about writer’s block and a breakup. I try really hard not to cry in front of them, but I want to. They’re my age, and they’ve been kicked out of their homes; and here I am, safe and secure, whining about writer’s block.”
Yet despite everything Hunter still wanted to do some good with his fame and tried to change the world for the better. Unfortunately his means were pretty limited by the label and I think because he was so young he didn’t know how to fight back and make a real change. And yes, you already called it, “Kiss & Tell” is some sort of coming-of-age story as well because after all the things Hunter experiences in this book he realizes who he truly is and what he wants from life. Truth be told, I think this story is more about Hunter finding himself than about the romance we were promised in the blurb. I personally was no huge fan of the romance because I didn’t like Aidan (Hunter’s ex) nor Kaivan his new love interest. If you ask me both of those boys were extremely toxic and I just couldn’t ship them with Hunter.
”Cymbals crash in my chest. I want to check him against the windows. I want to cry.
I want to be mean to Aidan. I want to make him hurt the way he hurt me.
I want him to stop hurting. I want us both to stop.
I don’t know what I want.”
The things Aidan did and how he betrayed Hunter’s trust?! It was extremely painful and I hurt with Hunt when everything blew up in the press. I mean that boy was 17 and suddenly his sex life was all over the internet. The things people said about him were so hurtful and it’s no wonder he tried to hide from the world. To deal with something like this at such a young age must have been more than just horrible. Also I was so angry on Hunters behalf because of all those fans constantly trying to find out if Aidan and him had sex and sticking their noses in things that weren’t their business. And once they found out the truth they started to slut-shame him. Like it’s okay that he’s gay but please he should never have any sex. Urgh! I’ve heard this from straight people so often it makes me sick to my stomach. Either you accept LGBTQIA+ people entirely or you don’t. Hypocrites. We’re not here to please your idea of a “clean queer”. Still, I think it was important this topic was addressed and given some room, because it happens way too often and Adib Khorram did a very good job at showing how much thoughts like this can affect young queer people.
”I don’t want people only to know me as Iranian, or as gay. I’m a whole person. I want to make music that brings people together. Good music, you know? Stuff that’ll stand the test of time. Not this manufactured crap, like all these boy bands where you can’t even tell which one is singing. It’s plug and play.”
Okay and now let’s address the elephant in the room and the many not so good things about this book. Unfortunately there were plenty and one of my biggest issues was actually Hunter’s love interest Kaivan Parvani. I could not ship him with Hunter, because of all the bad things he said about boybands and the countless assumptions he made. I know the author obviously tried to give him a redemption arc but for me it didn’t work and it felt like too little too late, if you get what I mean? I don’t want to spoil all too much about this topic, but for the people who read the book or want to risk knowing beforehand I’ll just write this down in the spoiler section so that you’ll be able to understand why I just couldn’t with Kaivan:
Kaivan was such a red flag for me so I absolutely couldn’t ship him with Hunter. Quite honestly after everything that happened with Aidan, Hunter deserved so much better than him. I think I would have been okay with Hunter being alone for a while and in my opinion this definitely would have been a more realistic approach and a better ending than the one we actually got. Also speaking of Kaivan, he’s part of a band too and he has two brothers named Kamran and Karim who are ALMOST NEVER mentioned on page. I think the only thing I know is that one of them has a beard?! I found it very unbelievable that Kaivan is in a band with his two brothers but that we barely get to see them throughout the entire story. Which brings me right to the next part that was highly unrealistic and caused me quite a headache.
We have the “absent parents” again and I hate that so much. I mean all the band members are minors, yet they are allowed to go on tour with their label and literally not a single one of their parents can take off from work and accompany them during their tour?! I’ve met the “Editors” when I was about 20 or so and back then all the members of the band were about 25 – 30. They still had their parents with them and I had a really nice chat with them at 3 a.m in the morning. So, not a single one of their parents showing up for their tour felt very unrealistic. They could have taken turns at least. Also and this is a real issue here: Hunter’s mom didn’t even visit him! You’re telling me that your son’s sex life was all over the internet and that wasn’t enough reason for you to jump into the next plane and to check on him?! If this would have been my kid I would have been there faster than Speedy Gonzales! A voicemail just doesn’t cut it.
”A delightful mosaic of ethnicities (with Vietnamese-, Brazilian-, and Indian-Canadian members) and an out gay member (Hunter Drake) make the band feel refreshingly representative of Canada today.”
And this brings me right to the next issue I had with the story: The band members. We’re supposed to believe that Hunter is on tour with them and that they are around each other 24/7 yet they all don’t know what’s going on with each other?! Hunter must have been the most oblivious person ever not to notice that his band members had to deal with racist slurs and insults. I wasn’t 24/7 with my band members but damn I knew about literally everything that was going on in their lives! If you’re in a band the members are your found family and even if they don’t talk about the things that hurt them you freaking notice!!! If you spend so much time together, you’re bound to! Seriously! Hunter must have had eye-patches on both eyes and headphones not to notice anything. Also there was this article of all the band members being so diverse but we didn’t get any of that. I actually had to look up one of the newspaper articles at the beginning of the book to find their surnames: Ashton Nightingale, Ethan Nguyen, Ian Souza, Owen Jogia & Hunter Drake. All the other band members just appeared occasionally and every single one of them was one-dimensional. I know that Ethan got racist shit for being with his girlfriend, I know that Ashton is Hunters best friend and I know that Ian?! I think it was Ian who wrote songs with Hunter or was it Owen?! See my problem?!! I can’t even remember who wrote songs with Hunter because it was only mentioned briefly in the book and that was it.
”My face feels painted on, and I’ve been powdered to within an inch of my life, but the worst part is my wardrobe. I’m in a white cable-knit sweater with a literal rainbow across the chest.
It’s heinous, and it’s not me, but what’s the point in fighting it anymore. In being the real me. No one wants the real Hunter Drake anyway.”
Well, I think that’s also the main issue I had with the book. It was superficial and never dug any deeper. A newspaper article explains that the band is diverse and that every band member has a different cultural background, but nothing is ever explored. Only if it helps to show that the other band members have to deal with bad things too, like for instance the short conversation Hunter and Ethan had about racism. Or the problem with labels wanting their stars to have a certain image and forcing them into roles they don’t want to play. The topic is addressed, sure, but at the end, we get a half-assed solution. I mean am I really expected to believe that the people who discussed the way Hunter was supposed to kiss Kaivan in public (with less tongue btw.) and planned every little detail will actually just accept that Hunter will do whatever he wants in the future?! Am I really to believe that what he did at the ending of the book won’t have any repercussions for the band? He got such a huge shit storm for what happened with Aidan and now all his fans will be accepting and the label won’t try to do any damage control?! Are you kidding me?! And even more unrealistic, am I honestly expected to believe that Hunter’s half-assed apology will actually make his fans less angry?! He was basically like: “I know I messed up. I’m sorry. Won’t happen again.” Sure, and now everything is going to be okay and we’ll all just move on. If any idol would do this in times like these, they’d be cancelled. But we don’t get to see anything of the aftermath because the author apparently decided that this wasn’t interesting enough. Am I salty? Yes, yes I am. Because this book had so much potential! There were so many important topics that were addressed but never truly explored and I think that’s so damn sad! Of course I know you can’t tackle everything in a 300+ pages book, but if you address topics like that you have to go through with them. Maybe it would have helped to focus on just three issues and to deal with them properly?! I dunno, but the way it was done here there was just too much lost potential for me.
”Kaivan’s pulled away from me, and I move to stay with him, shoulder to shoulder, because there’s so many of them and they’re all looking at me, crying out for me. Wanting wanting wanting. A hand runs through my hair, pulls hard enough to pluck and a few strands, and someone screams in triumph. “
Same goes for Hunter’s mental health. I mean the way he felt whenever he stepped into a huge crowd and what it did to him that everyone just wanted a piece of him, but was unwilling to see him for who he truly was. The topic of mental health is obviously broached but nothing is done with it. It just stands there and is. Another chance missed to actually tackle an important topic. With all the things Hunter had to deal with and did you’d think he’d at least get some therapy but nope, the book ends on a seemingly positive note and for me that just wasn’t enough. It’s like throwing about a gazillion of problems at someone and then driving off into the sunset. So I stand by it, I really would have liked it if Adib Khorram would have focused only on about 2-3 issues, but given them room to be explored, challenged, addressed and tackled properly. Maybe that makes me a bean counter because this book was clearly written for entertainment but then again if it’s really just for entertainment why raise so many important issues?
“And you’re my best friend too. After what happened with hockey, I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of your new dream. So maybe I didn’t always tell you when things were hard for me. But it’s not because things weren’t hard. It’s because I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t all in. Because I am, for as long as you want.”
The only two things that felt truly real and made me emotional were the talk Aidan and Hunter had when they met after that horrible incident and Hunter’s and Ashton’s friendship. At least they seemed to be closer than Hunter was to the other band members. All told, I’m very sad I can only give this book 3 stars because I honestly thought I’d love it. I absolutely adored “Darius the Great is Not Okay” and I really wish the author had been as careful and sensitive with “Kiss & Tell” as well. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and the book and the topics that were addressed only seemed to stay on the surface. I guess for now I’ll leave it at that and hope that my next book by the author will be a winner again. *fingers crossed*
________________
Soooo… I have a lot of thoughts on this one.
It wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be yet at the same time it still kinda delivered.
I’ve to think hard about what I’m going to write about this story.
Full RTC soon! Because as you all know I’m nothing but thorough. *lol*
P.S: YAY! I finished this in May so I can count it to my Wrap Up! XD
___________________
I’ve been dying to read this book ever since I discovered it last year and I can’t wait to dive into it!
I mean this has everything! Literally EVERYTHING, I love in my books:
- A boyband
- Fandoms and music
- The troubles of being a public figure
- Heartbreak and a secret love affair
- An m/m relationship
- And a great cover! I mean look at that gorgeous cover!! <333
Anyway! My bestie, the Yoongi to my V, and I decided to read the hell out of this in May and that’s exactly what we’re gonna do! ;-P
Wish us luck that this will be as amazing as we hope it will be. *lol*
May the boyband and fandom force be with us. XD
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”Everyone acts like they knew what our relationship was like. They didn’t see our fights. They didn’t see the way Aidan got jealous when I was on tour, the way he texted me every time a tabloid wrote something about me, about him, about us.”
I honestly don’t even know where to start with this review because I had such high hopes for “Kiss & Tell” and probably expected too much. I dunno if this is just a “me thing” or if it’s a valid reaction but as always I can only write about what I felt and thought while I read the book so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I suppose it’s fair to say that people who are part of a very active fandom might not enjoy this story as much as people who only experience the hype through the media, because I read this book as a buddy read with my bestie and we’re both part of a fandom. We had many discussions about this book and for us a lot of the things that happened in this story just didn’t feel realistic or didn’t add up. As always this is just my subjective opinion but I’m going to back it up with facts so please bear with me and make yourself comfortable, because this is going to be a long in-depth review. *lol*
”It’s not the heartbreak that’s hard, it’s the attention. It’s having people think that who I am on stage is the same as who I am at home. Who I am in bed.”
First things first, the things and topics I really enjoyed while reading “Kiss & Tell”. I absolutely loved the newspaper articles, interviews, documentary video transcripts; set lists etc. we got in between the chapters. This added so much to the story and made it feel more realistic. I mean the band was famous and had millions of fans so online forums where the fans discuss the newest band gossip, interview excerpts and advertisements for the concerts, etc. are all things that are basically daily business. It was a nice touch to have those things in between the chapters and it definitely helped to feel even more immersed in the story.
”No one at The Label has ever said it to my face, but they’ve made it clear in lots of subtle ways that I’m supposed to stay as twinkish as possible. Which sucks, because I’ve always been too stocky to achieve the true twink look. Years of hockey have given me a big butt and muscular thighs, and though I’ve slimmed down a bit since my hockey days, I’m still thicker than they want me to be.”
Another thing I really liked was how the influence of the label was portrayed. Hunter and his band mates had to do so many things they didn’t really want to do but because they were expected of them they just had to deal with it and move on. For instance Hunter had to take part in cooking shows because as a gay boy everyone had that image of him standing in the kitchen. Which is bullshit and I was glad that this was addressed and that the band’s manager tried her best to fight those stereotypes. There were a lot of stereotypes in this book in general and throughout the entire story you could really see how much they hurt Hunter and what they did to him. The fact that the label even expected Hunter to cater to them and wanted him to be more twinkish, more feminine, less good at skating because everyone knew he was a bottom and apparently they aren’t good at skating even though Hunter played as a pro before his knee injury,…. I could go on and on. Throughout the entire book I could literally feel how torn Hunter felt about playing this role and that all those little things added up to an entire pile that threatened to suffocate him.
”And then I think about the shelter kids, and how happy they all were, despite what they’ve been through. And here I am, whining about writer’s block and a breakup. I try really hard not to cry in front of them, but I want to. They’re my age, and they’ve been kicked out of their homes; and here I am, safe and secure, whining about writer’s block.”
Yet despite everything Hunter still wanted to do some good with his fame and tried to change the world for the better. Unfortunately his means were pretty limited by the label and I think because he was so young he didn’t know how to fight back and make a real change. And yes, you already called it, “Kiss & Tell” is some sort of coming-of-age story as well because after all the things Hunter experiences in this book he realizes who he truly is and what he wants from life. Truth be told, I think this story is more about Hunter finding himself than about the romance we were promised in the blurb. I personally was no huge fan of the romance because I didn’t like Aidan (Hunter’s ex) nor Kaivan his new love interest. If you ask me both of those boys were extremely toxic and I just couldn’t ship them with Hunter.
”Cymbals crash in my chest. I want to check him against the windows. I want to cry.
I want to be mean to Aidan. I want to make him hurt the way he hurt me.
I want him to stop hurting. I want us both to stop.
I don’t know what I want.”
The things Aidan did and how he betrayed Hunter’s trust?! It was extremely painful and I hurt with Hunt when everything blew up in the press. I mean that boy was 17 and suddenly his sex life was all over the internet. The things people said about him were so hurtful and it’s no wonder he tried to hide from the world. To deal with something like this at such a young age must have been more than just horrible. Also I was so angry on Hunters behalf because of all those fans constantly trying to find out if Aidan and him had sex and sticking their noses in things that weren’t their business. And once they found out the truth they started to slut-shame him. Like it’s okay that he’s gay but please he should never have any sex. Urgh! I’ve heard this from straight people so often it makes me sick to my stomach. Either you accept LGBTQIA+ people entirely or you don’t. Hypocrites. We’re not here to please your idea of a “clean queer”. Still, I think it was important this topic was addressed and given some room, because it happens way too often and Adib Khorram did a very good job at showing how much thoughts like this can affect young queer people.
”I don’t want people only to know me as Iranian, or as gay. I’m a whole person. I want to make music that brings people together. Good music, you know? Stuff that’ll stand the test of time. Not this manufactured crap, like all these boy bands where you can’t even tell which one is singing. It’s plug and play.”
Okay and now let’s address the elephant in the room and the many not so good things about this book. Unfortunately there were plenty and one of my biggest issues was actually Hunter’s love interest Kaivan Parvani. I could not ship him with Hunter, because of all the bad things he said about boybands and the countless assumptions he made. I know the author obviously tried to give him a redemption arc but for me it didn’t work and it felt like too little too late, if you get what I mean? I don’t want to spoil all too much about this topic, but for the people who read the book or want to risk knowing beforehand I’ll just write this down in the spoiler section so that you’ll be able to understand why I just couldn’t with Kaivan:
Kaivan was such a red flag for me so I absolutely couldn’t ship him with Hunter. Quite honestly after everything that happened with Aidan, Hunter deserved so much better than him. I think I would have been okay with Hunter being alone for a while and in my opinion this definitely would have been a more realistic approach and a better ending than the one we actually got. Also speaking of Kaivan, he’s part of a band too and he has two brothers named Kamran and Karim who are ALMOST NEVER mentioned on page. I think the only thing I know is that one of them has a beard?! I found it very unbelievable that Kaivan is in a band with his two brothers but that we barely get to see them throughout the entire story. Which brings me right to the next part that was highly unrealistic and caused me quite a headache.
We have the “absent parents” again and I hate that so much. I mean all the band members are minors, yet they are allowed to go on tour with their label and literally not a single one of their parents can take off from work and accompany them during their tour?! I’ve met the “Editors” when I was about 20 or so and back then all the members of the band were about 25 – 30. They still had their parents with them and I had a really nice chat with them at 3 a.m in the morning. So, not a single one of their parents showing up for their tour felt very unrealistic. They could have taken turns at least. Also and this is a real issue here: Hunter’s mom didn’t even visit him! You’re telling me that your son’s sex life was all over the internet and that wasn’t enough reason for you to jump into the next plane and to check on him?! If this would have been my kid I would have been there faster than Speedy Gonzales! A voicemail just doesn’t cut it.
”A delightful mosaic of ethnicities (with Vietnamese-, Brazilian-, and Indian-Canadian members) and an out gay member (Hunter Drake) make the band feel refreshingly representative of Canada today.”
And this brings me right to the next issue I had with the story: The band members. We’re supposed to believe that Hunter is on tour with them and that they are around each other 24/7 yet they all don’t know what’s going on with each other?! Hunter must have been the most oblivious person ever not to notice that his band members had to deal with racist slurs and insults. I wasn’t 24/7 with my band members but damn I knew about literally everything that was going on in their lives! If you’re in a band the members are your found family and even if they don’t talk about the things that hurt them you freaking notice!!! If you spend so much time together, you’re bound to! Seriously! Hunter must have had eye-patches on both eyes and headphones not to notice anything. Also there was this article of all the band members being so diverse but we didn’t get any of that. I actually had to look up one of the newspaper articles at the beginning of the book to find their surnames: Ashton Nightingale, Ethan Nguyen, Ian Souza, Owen Jogia & Hunter Drake. All the other band members just appeared occasionally and every single one of them was one-dimensional. I know that Ethan got racist shit for being with his girlfriend, I know that Ashton is Hunters best friend and I know that Ian?! I think it was Ian who wrote songs with Hunter or was it Owen?! See my problem?!! I can’t even remember who wrote songs with Hunter because it was only mentioned briefly in the book and that was it.
”My face feels painted on, and I’ve been powdered to within an inch of my life, but the worst part is my wardrobe. I’m in a white cable-knit sweater with a literal rainbow across the chest.
It’s heinous, and it’s not me, but what’s the point in fighting it anymore. In being the real me. No one wants the real Hunter Drake anyway.”
Well, I think that’s also the main issue I had with the book. It was superficial and never dug any deeper. A newspaper article explains that the band is diverse and that every band member has a different cultural background, but nothing is ever explored. Only if it helps to show that the other band members have to deal with bad things too, like for instance the short conversation Hunter and Ethan had about racism. Or the problem with labels wanting their stars to have a certain image and forcing them into roles they don’t want to play. The topic is addressed, sure, but at the end, we get a half-assed solution. I mean am I really expected to believe that the people who discussed the way Hunter was supposed to kiss Kaivan in public (with less tongue btw.) and planned every little detail will actually just accept that Hunter will do whatever he wants in the future?! Am I really to believe that what he did at the ending of the book won’t have any repercussions for the band? He got such a huge shit storm for what happened with Aidan and now all his fans will be accepting and the label won’t try to do any damage control?! Are you kidding me?! And even more unrealistic, am I honestly expected to believe that Hunter’s half-assed apology will actually make his fans less angry?! He was basically like: “I know I messed up. I’m sorry. Won’t happen again.” Sure, and now everything is going to be okay and we’ll all just move on. If any idol would do this in times like these, they’d be cancelled. But we don’t get to see anything of the aftermath because the author apparently decided that this wasn’t interesting enough. Am I salty? Yes, yes I am. Because this book had so much potential! There were so many important topics that were addressed but never truly explored and I think that’s so damn sad! Of course I know you can’t tackle everything in a 300+ pages book, but if you address topics like that you have to go through with them. Maybe it would have helped to focus on just three issues and to deal with them properly?! I dunno, but the way it was done here there was just too much lost potential for me.
”Kaivan’s pulled away from me, and I move to stay with him, shoulder to shoulder, because there’s so many of them and they’re all looking at me, crying out for me. Wanting wanting wanting. A hand runs through my hair, pulls hard enough to pluck and a few strands, and someone screams in triumph. “
Same goes for Hunter’s mental health. I mean the way he felt whenever he stepped into a huge crowd and what it did to him that everyone just wanted a piece of him, but was unwilling to see him for who he truly was. The topic of mental health is obviously broached but nothing is done with it. It just stands there and is. Another chance missed to actually tackle an important topic. With all the things Hunter had to deal with and did you’d think he’d at least get some therapy but nope, the book ends on a seemingly positive note and for me that just wasn’t enough. It’s like throwing about a gazillion of problems at someone and then driving off into the sunset. So I stand by it, I really would have liked it if Adib Khorram would have focused only on about 2-3 issues, but given them room to be explored, challenged, addressed and tackled properly. Maybe that makes me a bean counter because this book was clearly written for entertainment but then again if it’s really just for entertainment why raise so many important issues?
“And you’re my best friend too. After what happened with hockey, I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of your new dream. So maybe I didn’t always tell you when things were hard for me. But it’s not because things weren’t hard. It’s because I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t all in. Because I am, for as long as you want.”
The only two things that felt truly real and made me emotional were the talk Aidan and Hunter had when they met after that horrible incident and Hunter’s and Ashton’s friendship. At least they seemed to be closer than Hunter was to the other band members. All told, I’m very sad I can only give this book 3 stars because I honestly thought I’d love it. I absolutely adored “Darius the Great is Not Okay” and I really wish the author had been as careful and sensitive with “Kiss & Tell” as well. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and the book and the topics that were addressed only seemed to stay on the surface. I guess for now I’ll leave it at that and hope that my next book by the author will be a winner again. *fingers crossed*
________________
Soooo… I have a lot of thoughts on this one.
It wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be yet at the same time it still kinda delivered.
I’ve to think hard about what I’m going to write about this story.
Full RTC soon! Because as you all know I’m nothing but thorough. *lol*
P.S: YAY! I finished this in May so I can count it to my Wrap Up! XD
___________________
I’ve been dying to read this book ever since I discovered it last year and I can’t wait to dive into it!
I mean this has everything! Literally EVERYTHING, I love in my books:
- A boyband
- Fandoms and music
- The troubles of being a public figure
- Heartbreak and a secret love affair
- An m/m relationship
- And a great cover! I mean look at that gorgeous cover!! <333
Anyway! My bestie, the Yoongi to my V, and I decided to read the hell out of this in May and that’s exactly what we’re gonna do! ;-P
Wish us luck that this will be as amazing as we hope it will be. *lol*
May the boyband and fandom force be with us. XD
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January 4, 2022
3.5ish stars
I really like the themes explored in this book especially with respect to boy bands and cultural shifts, which is one of the reasons this book doesn't work well as a romance.
What I liked most was the personal growth. Hunter's realizations throughout the book feel very realistic like Adib has put a lot of thought into fleshing him out. I liked that there wasn't any brushing off of fans shipping them and it brought in great reflections on the way media treats queer people in general. We see how difficult it is for Hunter and Kaivan as they are put in the box of "good gay boy" and "asian singer" and we see how this affects them deeply.
We see how sanitization of queerness occurs, how queer people are put into categories of safe and pure and how that really reflects in the way these characters think about themselves and their relationships with other people.
The main characters are all very believable and they feel very realistic, but the side characters don't feel very fleshed out. It felt like they were present for teaching moments at time. Hunter's band mates are present to be supportive and then make him realize his selfishness, and they fit into archetypes and serve a purpose to the narrative.
This is also one of those times in ya contemporary romance that I feel that the romantic arc wasn't necessary here, the main character is self centered and while that is absolutely understandable as his anxieties are very true, it also meant that the ending didn't feel earned. I didn't see any chemistry between the leads and there was a lot of hurt feelings that were resolved too quickly for a neat resolution. It's a question of why are they together when there's more hurt than happy times.
Anyways I recommend this book since overall I enjoyed how the points were put forth and I hope other's will enjoy more than I did
Thank you to the publisher and edelweiss for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.
I really like the themes explored in this book especially with respect to boy bands and cultural shifts, which is one of the reasons this book doesn't work well as a romance.
What I liked most was the personal growth. Hunter's realizations throughout the book feel very realistic like Adib has put a lot of thought into fleshing him out. I liked that there wasn't any brushing off of fans shipping them and it brought in great reflections on the way media treats queer people in general. We see how difficult it is for Hunter and Kaivan as they are put in the box of "good gay boy" and "asian singer" and we see how this affects them deeply.
We see how sanitization of queerness occurs, how queer people are put into categories of safe and pure and how that really reflects in the way these characters think about themselves and their relationships with other people.
The main characters are all very believable and they feel very realistic, but the side characters don't feel very fleshed out. It felt like they were present for teaching moments at time. Hunter's band mates are present to be supportive and then make him realize his selfishness, and they fit into archetypes and serve a purpose to the narrative.
This is also one of those times in ya contemporary romance that I feel that the romantic arc wasn't necessary here, the main character is self centered and while that is absolutely understandable as his anxieties are very true, it also meant that the ending didn't feel earned. I didn't see any chemistry between the leads and there was a lot of hurt feelings that were resolved too quickly for a neat resolution. It's a question of why are they together when there's more hurt than happy times.
Anyways I recommend this book since overall I enjoyed how the points were put forth and I hope other's will enjoy more than I did
Thank you to the publisher and edelweiss for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion in any way.
June 20, 2022
THERE’S A VIETNAMESE-CANADIAN BOY IN THIS I REPEAT A VIET-CANADIAN CHARACTER AAAAH
Update Read:
It's easy to focus on how messy and imperfect people are, but the next generation is already making their voices heard and that's just the loud ones. There are the quiet ones too, who are making powerful statements just by living, just by existing, just by surviving in this system that wants to tear them down.
4.5⭐️ At first sight, this book might seem quite simple but I was actually so so surprised by how much I enjoyed it as it tackles on some very important matters. There’s also something about books about boy band that I just adore! Worth mentioning that I didn’t expect to tear up but I did. I truly felt for Hunter. Overall this was super cute!
Boy band, poutine, a spin on the fake dating trope, little bits of hockey, diversity, the cost of fame, the pressure of being a queer celebrity, parasocial relationships! It has it all. I only wish that the relationships between the bandmates were further developed.
Update Read:
It's easy to focus on how messy and imperfect people are, but the next generation is already making their voices heard and that's just the loud ones. There are the quiet ones too, who are making powerful statements just by living, just by existing, just by surviving in this system that wants to tear them down.
4.5⭐️ At first sight, this book might seem quite simple but I was actually so so surprised by how much I enjoyed it as it tackles on some very important matters. There’s also something about books about boy band that I just adore! Worth mentioning that I didn’t expect to tear up but I did. I truly felt for Hunter. Overall this was super cute!
Boy band, poutine, a spin on the fake dating trope, little bits of hockey, diversity, the cost of fame, the pressure of being a queer celebrity, parasocial relationships! It has it all. I only wish that the relationships between the bandmates were further developed.
August 18, 2021
Having the hardest time rating this because I hold grudges like nobody's business and this book literally TELLS you to hold a grudge against certain characters for most of the book and then forgive them in like two seconds flat toward the end and I'm way too cold-hearted for that 🤷🏽♀️
December 21, 2022
No. With how much I loved the author's previous two books, this one didn't work for me. I love boybands and I support the lgbtqiap community, but this book fell flat and will remain as something I do not need to remember.
The characters lack the it thing for me. They seem more distant than the many side characters. The plot is so familiar. It all seems like the book has been written in a hurry just to write a book to follow the boyband trend. It's fine as long as the writing brings me joy. But this one isn't the one.
The characters lack the it thing for me. They seem more distant than the many side characters. The plot is so familiar. It all seems like the book has been written in a hurry just to write a book to follow the boyband trend. It's fine as long as the writing brings me joy. But this one isn't the one.
April 21, 2022
4 Stars
Adib Khorram’s voice in queer YA fiction is top tier and not to be missed. His writing is effortless; his diverse characters and their stories are always engaging, thought-provoking and relevant.
In his third novel, Khorram explores themes dealing with queer love and the dreaded fame monster, as seventeen-year-old boy-band member, Hunter, the only gay guy of the group, deals with his first major break-up and second potential love, all while trying to find his place and purpose in a world where his image, his actions, and every detail of his personal life are dictated and vehemently judged by his record label and his global audience.
This story deals with some heavy stuff and it’s more on the adult side of the YA scale, with racism, homophobia, sex positivity/sex shaming and a slew of other themes prevalent and digested throughout. I appreciated the depth of the story and the characters, all while enjoying the fanatic boy-band setting and the lives of the guys front and centre.
The romance isn’t super strong, but that didn’t truly bother me. Where a deeper love story was maybe lacking, between Hunter and Iranian-American support-act member Kaivan, the story held greater strength in its exploration of social issues, like racial equality, LGBTQIA rights and the impact social media is having on everyone.
The writing style worked a treat for me too, chopping and changing between Hunter's narrative and news articles, social media trends, and the general fan-girl buzz, good and bad, surrounding Hunter and his fellow Kiss and Tell members. Some readers may struggle with this style of writing, but I found it helped the fluency of the story a great deal and kept things interesting.
Although this didn’t give me the same depths of emotion and adoration I felt for Darius (from Darius the Great Is Not Okay and its sequel), Hunter’s coming-of-age-in-the-spotlight story was still an excellent addition to Khorram’s memorable works.
I can't wait to get my hands on his next story, whatever that may be.
Adib Khorram’s voice in queer YA fiction is top tier and not to be missed. His writing is effortless; his diverse characters and their stories are always engaging, thought-provoking and relevant.
In his third novel, Khorram explores themes dealing with queer love and the dreaded fame monster, as seventeen-year-old boy-band member, Hunter, the only gay guy of the group, deals with his first major break-up and second potential love, all while trying to find his place and purpose in a world where his image, his actions, and every detail of his personal life are dictated and vehemently judged by his record label and his global audience.
This story deals with some heavy stuff and it’s more on the adult side of the YA scale, with racism, homophobia, sex positivity/sex shaming and a slew of other themes prevalent and digested throughout. I appreciated the depth of the story and the characters, all while enjoying the fanatic boy-band setting and the lives of the guys front and centre.
The romance isn’t super strong, but that didn’t truly bother me. Where a deeper love story was maybe lacking, between Hunter and Iranian-American support-act member Kaivan, the story held greater strength in its exploration of social issues, like racial equality, LGBTQIA rights and the impact social media is having on everyone.
The writing style worked a treat for me too, chopping and changing between Hunter's narrative and news articles, social media trends, and the general fan-girl buzz, good and bad, surrounding Hunter and his fellow Kiss and Tell members. Some readers may struggle with this style of writing, but I found it helped the fluency of the story a great deal and kept things interesting.
Although this didn’t give me the same depths of emotion and adoration I felt for Darius (from Darius the Great Is Not Okay and its sequel), Hunter’s coming-of-age-in-the-spotlight story was still an excellent addition to Khorram’s memorable works.
I can't wait to get my hands on his next story, whatever that may be.
March 23, 2022
boy bands. and another one. and another one. AND AH NOTHER ONE
July 7, 2022
This book was a mess. The premise is full of potential: A young gay boy in the public eye tries to deal with how perceptions of queerness impact him. However, none of it meshes together in a way that makes much sense, and the end seems oddly out of place.
The story opens with Hunter having broken up with his ex, his best friend's/bandmate's brother. What follows is a handful of scenes that set the story well: him being the "safe" gay boy, doing brunch segments, being told he's an inspiration, and being treated like a doll rather than a human being. Then the story quickly moves out of control.
There's not a ton going on, but it manages to be messy as all get out. Aiden, the ex, publicly accuses Hunter of cheating, calls him a slut, and tells people he's a bottom, and suddenly, this 17-year-old boy is being lambasted by adults for not being the perfect safe gay boy anymore. Even queer media gets on the bandwagon, accusing him of hiding behind shame and disgrace. Again, he's a kid. Aiden was the only person he ever slept with, and he's still figuring out his desires.
Now, I know record labels in real life don't necessarily take care of their own, but the only real suggestions made are "dress Hunter more stereotypically femme-bottom-gay" and "have him fake date his opening act." And that is wild to me. No suggestion that Hunter should publicly rebuke him (although we later get his reasoning why he doesn't), no suggestion that Aiden should publicly apologize, what with his brother being a bandmate of Hunter's and their mom the band's manager, no suggestion that it's inappropriate for adults to insinuate themselves in the sex life of a teenage boy. There's very little public commentary on Aiden's accusations at all. It's not like it's a handful of articles or Twitter accounts (although those can certainly reach far); it's everywhere. I can't imagine a PR team wouldn't be all over that. There's also almost no support for Hunter from adults like his mother. "It's not your fault" is all well and good, but seriously, everyone just lets him say he's fine, even though they really should be talking to him and protecting him.
Anyway, we get a relationship between Hunter and Kaivan. It's cute but shallow and one-dimensional, much like every character and relationship in this book. I straight up don't remember the names of anyone in the band but Ashton, Aiden's brother. The band is interchangeable and meaningless to the story. I think we interacted with the security guard more. I don't know if it's intentional, to further insinuate what's stated at the end: that Hunter is selfish and doesn't care about what his bandmates are going through, but none of it works. The band, with the exception of Ashton, are so barely there they could've been cut out with zero harm to the story, and that makes it an utter failure on the author's part (and frankly, the editors' and publishers' parts too). There are also several characters too many; many of them have little or nothing to do with the story but are still introduced, like the 'dragivist' and the country singer.
Kaivan is a messy character too but not in a three-dimensional human way, just in a poorly written way. The mixed-media pages in-between chapters show him being dismissive of Kiss & Tell as a band, something that I very much doubt would be allowed by their label (uncreatively named The Label), especially as PAR-K is the opening act for them. Amazingly, Kaivan either feels comfortable bashing the band they're opening for or the label is comfortable hiring an opening act that publicly bashed the main band; not sure of the sequence of events. (His brothers are nicer but we barely see them; they are just more characters).
Then we get to the crashing end in which Hunter lashes out because he's been traumatized and suddenly, we're supposed to care about the racism affecting his bandmates (who we've barely seen) and Kaivan (to be fair, racism is brought up earlier on his part). I... don't know where this came from. Yes, racism is bad. Yes, a very white Hunter might not realize how bad it is for his bandmates. Yes, it's awful what people say and do. Yes, it's awful Hunter never asked. But none of this has to do with his queerness OR Aiden's betrayal of his trust OR the public's backlash to him having sex or his lashing out due to trauma. It's not like Hunter hasn't acknowledged racism exists; he mentions the racist depictions involved in their first attempt at a music video which was thankfully scrapped. Sure, he's guilty of white privilege, and he's old enough to do better, but what does this have to do with his queerness?
To make it worse, there's not a whole lot of discussion on intersectionality here. What about Kaivan, being a gay person of color? (There's a mention in their fight towards the end, but Kaivan accuses Hunter of having a nicer room because he's white and I tried to find out if we were told his non-white bandmates got smaller rooms. I would've thought PAR-K got smaller rooms because, you know, they're the newbies and not the main talent. I don't think we're told Kiss & Tell's non-white members got smaller rooms, but I don't remember.)
My point here is that this isn't the trauma Olympics. You don't get bonus points for coming out ahead in trauma. Hunter can have white privilege and be the victim of homophobia. One does not negate the other. But his trauma is completely ignored in favor of making sure he knows racism is bad, even though none of the main characters' races have much to do with anything until the end. I'm serious. All of the people of color either: A) serve Hunter's story; B) are minor characters with little impact on the plot that could be excised without a single change to the story; or C) could have their ethnicities removed without doing much damage to the story. They are, for the most part, non-entities until the story decides to remember they exist. Again, this might've been intentional but it frankly just feels like the author remembered they needed a conflict. Given how late it happens in the story, you could tell me it was tacked on during the last round of edits and I'd believe you. There's no space for reflection; we jump to forgiveness and the end too quickly.
Again, I want to reiterate: It's important to talk about racism, white privilege, and intersectionality. But this book wasn't saying what it thinks it was saying because the characters of color have so little to do within it.
To create a better story, the focus could've been on Kaivan, dealing with being both a person of color and gay in the public eye. Or, and I think I would've preferred this, the story could've been about the entire Kiss & Tell band and their struggles with the limelight, the fetishization and packaging of fantasies that erase who they are, and the daily realities of homophobia and racism in the public eye as it pertained to them. As it is, this story is about a gay boy who's treated badly by people and receives little help but doesn't he know other people are treated badly too?
Ultimately, this was a very shallow book touching on important topics but forgetting to give them space, nuance, and time. (And it could have! A ton of the book was filler, to be honest. A more streamlined narrative could've worked.)
The story opens with Hunter having broken up with his ex, his best friend's/bandmate's brother. What follows is a handful of scenes that set the story well: him being the "safe" gay boy, doing brunch segments, being told he's an inspiration, and being treated like a doll rather than a human being. Then the story quickly moves out of control.
There's not a ton going on, but it manages to be messy as all get out. Aiden, the ex, publicly accuses Hunter of cheating, calls him a slut, and tells people he's a bottom, and suddenly, this 17-year-old boy is being lambasted by adults for not being the perfect safe gay boy anymore. Even queer media gets on the bandwagon, accusing him of hiding behind shame and disgrace. Again, he's a kid. Aiden was the only person he ever slept with, and he's still figuring out his desires.
Now, I know record labels in real life don't necessarily take care of their own, but the only real suggestions made are "dress Hunter more stereotypically femme-bottom-gay" and "have him fake date his opening act." And that is wild to me. No suggestion that Hunter should publicly rebuke him (although we later get his reasoning why he doesn't), no suggestion that Aiden should publicly apologize, what with his brother being a bandmate of Hunter's and their mom the band's manager, no suggestion that it's inappropriate for adults to insinuate themselves in the sex life of a teenage boy. There's very little public commentary on Aiden's accusations at all. It's not like it's a handful of articles or Twitter accounts (although those can certainly reach far); it's everywhere. I can't imagine a PR team wouldn't be all over that. There's also almost no support for Hunter from adults like his mother. "It's not your fault" is all well and good, but seriously, everyone just lets him say he's fine, even though they really should be talking to him and protecting him.
Anyway, we get a relationship between Hunter and Kaivan. It's cute but shallow and one-dimensional, much like every character and relationship in this book. I straight up don't remember the names of anyone in the band but Ashton, Aiden's brother. The band is interchangeable and meaningless to the story. I think we interacted with the security guard more. I don't know if it's intentional, to further insinuate what's stated at the end: that Hunter is selfish and doesn't care about what his bandmates are going through, but none of it works. The band, with the exception of Ashton, are so barely there they could've been cut out with zero harm to the story, and that makes it an utter failure on the author's part (and frankly, the editors' and publishers' parts too). There are also several characters too many; many of them have little or nothing to do with the story but are still introduced, like the 'dragivist' and the country singer.
Kaivan is a messy character too but not in a three-dimensional human way, just in a poorly written way. The mixed-media pages in-between chapters show him being dismissive of Kiss & Tell as a band, something that I very much doubt would be allowed by their label (uncreatively named The Label), especially as PAR-K is the opening act for them. Amazingly, Kaivan either feels comfortable bashing the band they're opening for or the label is comfortable hiring an opening act that publicly bashed the main band; not sure of the sequence of events. (His brothers are nicer but we barely see them; they are just more characters).
Then we get to the crashing end in which Hunter lashes out because he's been traumatized and suddenly, we're supposed to care about the racism affecting his bandmates (who we've barely seen) and Kaivan (to be fair, racism is brought up earlier on his part). I... don't know where this came from. Yes, racism is bad. Yes, a very white Hunter might not realize how bad it is for his bandmates. Yes, it's awful what people say and do. Yes, it's awful Hunter never asked. But none of this has to do with his queerness OR Aiden's betrayal of his trust OR the public's backlash to him having sex or his lashing out due to trauma. It's not like Hunter hasn't acknowledged racism exists; he mentions the racist depictions involved in their first attempt at a music video which was thankfully scrapped. Sure, he's guilty of white privilege, and he's old enough to do better, but what does this have to do with his queerness?
To make it worse, there's not a whole lot of discussion on intersectionality here. What about Kaivan, being a gay person of color? (There's a mention in their fight towards the end, but Kaivan accuses Hunter of having a nicer room because he's white and I tried to find out if we were told his non-white bandmates got smaller rooms. I would've thought PAR-K got smaller rooms because, you know, they're the newbies and not the main talent. I don't think we're told Kiss & Tell's non-white members got smaller rooms, but I don't remember.)
My point here is that this isn't the trauma Olympics. You don't get bonus points for coming out ahead in trauma. Hunter can have white privilege and be the victim of homophobia. One does not negate the other. But his trauma is completely ignored in favor of making sure he knows racism is bad, even though none of the main characters' races have much to do with anything until the end. I'm serious. All of the people of color either: A) serve Hunter's story; B) are minor characters with little impact on the plot that could be excised without a single change to the story; or C) could have their ethnicities removed without doing much damage to the story. They are, for the most part, non-entities until the story decides to remember they exist. Again, this might've been intentional but it frankly just feels like the author remembered they needed a conflict. Given how late it happens in the story, you could tell me it was tacked on during the last round of edits and I'd believe you. There's no space for reflection; we jump to forgiveness and the end too quickly.
Again, I want to reiterate: It's important to talk about racism, white privilege, and intersectionality. But this book wasn't saying what it thinks it was saying because the characters of color have so little to do within it.
To create a better story, the focus could've been on Kaivan, dealing with being both a person of color and gay in the public eye. Or, and I think I would've preferred this, the story could've been about the entire Kiss & Tell band and their struggles with the limelight, the fetishization and packaging of fantasies that erase who they are, and the daily realities of homophobia and racism in the public eye as it pertained to them. As it is, this story is about a gay boy who's treated badly by people and receives little help but doesn't he know other people are treated badly too?
Ultimately, this was a very shallow book touching on important topics but forgetting to give them space, nuance, and time. (And it could have! A ton of the book was filler, to be honest. A more streamlined narrative could've worked.)
April 9, 2022
“it’s easy to focus on how messy and imperfect people are, but the next generation is already making their voices heard…and that’s just the loud ones. there are the quiet ones too, who are making powerful statements just by living, just by existing, just by surviving in this system that wants to tear them down. still they rise.”
✼ thank you to penguin random house for sending me an arc of kiss & tell in exchange for an honest review.
kiss & tell follows hunter, an openly gay boy band star as he and his best friends/bandmates embark on their first major north american tour. fresh off a painful and public breakup, hunter finds himself under immense scrutiny from all ends - their label who wants to shape hunter into a palatable queer person to boost sales, & the public who expect him to be the perfect queer role model.
stories about the cost of fame are my achilles heel. there’s something about it that makes my chest physically ache every single time.
this book has a lot to it. there’s the way privilege and marginalization overlap. there’s the heightened standards that queer folk are held to, especially those in the spotlight. how the industry picks you apart into digestible pieces, disregarding inconvenient parts of the narrative, molding it, reshaping you into something more acceptable.
there’s the relinquish of control that accompanies fame. who are you truly, when others treat you like a doll? when rules are set and you don’t even have a say in how you dress, let alone express yourself. the way everyone thinks they know you, but do you know you?
the mixed media format is executed so well here and its just. so zestful !! with short energetic chapters interspersed with social media posts, texts, gossip columns and emails (perfect for this adhd brain tbh!). it’s so immersive and you can’t help but get riled up and feel frustrated both for, and with, these kids.
it may be instinctive to compare this to the darius books, and while this has similarly quiet and vulnerable moments, its also very different. adib khorram’s range !! but throughout, adib excels at creating such wonderfully flawed and multi-faceted mcs, and i’m so very happy to read anything that he writes ever.
February 3, 2023
It’s always the books that seem cheesy and lighthearted that pack the biggest punch. Kiss and Tell is about so much more than boybands and young love, it’s also about the harm in forcing people to conform to a stereotype of their identity, especially in the entertainment industry.
I should’ve expected another great read from the author of Darius the Great is Not Okay (one of my favourite YA novels), because Kiss and Tell was definitely that. While feeling extremely different in tone, with more straightforward and to-the-point dialogue, I grew to love Hunter and his flaws all the same as Darius. The overarching theme of finding you despite what outsiders try to make you be was executed beautifully.
A few of the side characters felt a bit two-dimensional, though the main storyline involving Hunter’s drama with Aiden and his growing feelings for Kaivan were enough for me to look past that. Despite each of their mistakes, I sympathized with the boys and their burden of having to conform to a specific ‘type of gay’ that their managers deemed safe enough for public image. Hunter fighting to express his true self despite what people want him to be was so meaningful, and says a lot for teenagers out there that struggle to be true to who they really are. Another great book!
I should’ve expected another great read from the author of Darius the Great is Not Okay (one of my favourite YA novels), because Kiss and Tell was definitely that. While feeling extremely different in tone, with more straightforward and to-the-point dialogue, I grew to love Hunter and his flaws all the same as Darius. The overarching theme of finding you despite what outsiders try to make you be was executed beautifully.
A few of the side characters felt a bit two-dimensional, though the main storyline involving Hunter’s drama with Aiden and his growing feelings for Kaivan were enough for me to look past that. Despite each of their mistakes, I sympathized with the boys and their burden of having to conform to a specific ‘type of gay’ that their managers deemed safe enough for public image. Hunter fighting to express his true self despite what people want him to be was so meaningful, and says a lot for teenagers out there that struggle to be true to who they really are. Another great book!
February 22, 2022
As someone who loved Darius the Great Is Not Okay, I was really excited for this book and its boy band concept. At first, I found the story compelling, but partway through, I had issues with the flat characters, forced messages, and constant Canadian stereotypes. Unfortunately, this one is not for me.
I think my main issue with Kiss and Tell is the lack of character development. Hunter is in a band with four other members—members who are also marginalized and face their own struggles—but these other characters barely make an appearance. This is something I’m *maybe* willing to overlook if the main character is complex enough, but I found Hunter self-centred and one-dimensional. Because the characters are flat, the romance also falls flat, and I was a little confused by what the author was going for as Kaivan and Hunter basically start dating because their label suggests it. One of the articles in the book calls this out as a publicity stunt, which is probably meant to counter actuality, but I never felt like this was disproved since Kaivan and Hunter have no connection.
This book does tackle many relevant social issues, especially concerning what it is like to be queer in the public eye, but I found that it comes across as preachy at many points. This was a major issue for me with the articles and emails between each chapter, since they often give takes that directly oppose what is actually going on, which quickly becomes repetitive. What really frustrated me is the way certain characters, such as a queer country musician, only exist to make a point. Callum is just a means for the author to critique the way queerness is only deemed acceptable in certain (clean) forms—which is an important point—but this felt forced to me and took away from the powerful messaging at the core of the story.
As a Canadian, I also want to comment on the representation of Canada and Canadian culture in this book. I was really disappointed to see it reduced to stereotypes as we are presented with a hit song called “Poutine,” toque-wearing hockey players, a “sexy Mounties” themed music video, and quotes like “What the maple-flavoured fuck?” After so much of this, I wasn’t convinced that it was purely ironic, and I expected better from a book that directly deals with the harm of stereotypes as Hunter struggles to live up to the expectations of being “the perfect queer kid.”
While this one was a miss for me, I still appreciate the thoughtful messages and the diversity throughout the story. I can tell by the many positive reviews that it will resonate with many, and I still look forward to more of Adib Khorram’s work in the future.
I think my main issue with Kiss and Tell is the lack of character development. Hunter is in a band with four other members—members who are also marginalized and face their own struggles—but these other characters barely make an appearance. This is something I’m *maybe* willing to overlook if the main character is complex enough, but I found Hunter self-centred and one-dimensional. Because the characters are flat, the romance also falls flat, and I was a little confused by what the author was going for as Kaivan and Hunter basically start dating because their label suggests it. One of the articles in the book calls this out as a publicity stunt, which is probably meant to counter actuality, but I never felt like this was disproved since Kaivan and Hunter have no connection.
This book does tackle many relevant social issues, especially concerning what it is like to be queer in the public eye, but I found that it comes across as preachy at many points. This was a major issue for me with the articles and emails between each chapter, since they often give takes that directly oppose what is actually going on, which quickly becomes repetitive. What really frustrated me is the way certain characters, such as a queer country musician, only exist to make a point. Callum is just a means for the author to critique the way queerness is only deemed acceptable in certain (clean) forms—which is an important point—but this felt forced to me and took away from the powerful messaging at the core of the story.
As a Canadian, I also want to comment on the representation of Canada and Canadian culture in this book. I was really disappointed to see it reduced to stereotypes as we are presented with a hit song called “Poutine,” toque-wearing hockey players, a “sexy Mounties” themed music video, and quotes like “What the maple-flavoured fuck?” After so much of this, I wasn’t convinced that it was purely ironic, and I expected better from a book that directly deals with the harm of stereotypes as Hunter struggles to live up to the expectations of being “the perfect queer kid.”
While this one was a miss for me, I still appreciate the thoughtful messages and the diversity throughout the story. I can tell by the many positive reviews that it will resonate with many, and I still look forward to more of Adib Khorram’s work in the future.
Want to read
April 17, 2021im not obsessed with boybands. im really not.
July 2, 2022
i really don’t feel like reading about white main characters learning about racism in 2022
June 2, 2022
what can i say? this book gave me serotonin.
written in short chapters sandwiched between social media posts and articles, kiss & tell is a multimedia experience following boyband member hunter drake and his band, kiss & tell, on their north american tour.
hunter is fresh out of a breakup - with his band member’s twin brother, nonetheless - and he’s facing a PR nightmare when his ex leaks intimate sexts between the two of them. his management’s solution? a fake dating ploy between him and kaivan, a member of their opening act. hunter is constantly in a give and take relationship between his individuality and his public persona. he’s gay, and he’s out, and that comes with a number of expectations. the world wants him to look a certain way, act a certain way, speak a certain way, and participate in every single morning show’s “brunch” segment. he’s reluctant to part with any more pieces of himself, but what if there’s some real feelings between him and kaivan?
i’m a sucker for books that explore the perils of fame for the famous, and khorram explored this issue exceeding well. it definitely made me question my own perceptions of celebrities, the way that i treat them, and the expectations i hold for them. in what’s essentially a feel-good book about a pop band, khorram also works in relevant issues and real conversations, addressing homophobia and racism, as well as straight and white privilege concerning these topics. it’s also sex-positive, and addresses the hypocrisy of queer people being held to higher standards in this respect. my only complaint would be the lack of character development between the other band members. they all sort of faded together to me, but i loved the book so much that i decided to rate it five stars anyways. why not? i would definitely recommend reading it. happy pride!
written in short chapters sandwiched between social media posts and articles, kiss & tell is a multimedia experience following boyband member hunter drake and his band, kiss & tell, on their north american tour.
hunter is fresh out of a breakup - with his band member’s twin brother, nonetheless - and he’s facing a PR nightmare when his ex leaks intimate sexts between the two of them. his management’s solution? a fake dating ploy between him and kaivan, a member of their opening act. hunter is constantly in a give and take relationship between his individuality and his public persona. he’s gay, and he’s out, and that comes with a number of expectations. the world wants him to look a certain way, act a certain way, speak a certain way, and participate in every single morning show’s “brunch” segment. he’s reluctant to part with any more pieces of himself, but what if there’s some real feelings between him and kaivan?
i’m a sucker for books that explore the perils of fame for the famous, and khorram explored this issue exceeding well. it definitely made me question my own perceptions of celebrities, the way that i treat them, and the expectations i hold for them. in what’s essentially a feel-good book about a pop band, khorram also works in relevant issues and real conversations, addressing homophobia and racism, as well as straight and white privilege concerning these topics. it’s also sex-positive, and addresses the hypocrisy of queer people being held to higher standards in this respect. my only complaint would be the lack of character development between the other band members. they all sort of faded together to me, but i loved the book so much that i decided to rate it five stars anyways. why not? i would definitely recommend reading it. happy pride!
April 25, 2025
4,5 stars. Not exactly a romance book, but there’s kissing and a romantic interest and mentions of d!ck pics, so it’s not all about being queer in a popular boy band. But most of it is. It’s about surviving when the whole world knows your private story, including the fact you are gay and a bottom. It’s about surviving judgement and not being able to be yourself. About how a label has the power to create your image, to mess with your private life and all because it sells.
I felt sad for Hunter, who went through it all. How he lost himself along the way just doing what he loved to do and being good at it.
I kept wondering about Kaivan, about what he really felt, what he wanted from Hunter. Maybe I secretly hoped Hunter and Aiden would kiss and make up!
There’s a lot of inclusivity in this book and chapeau for that! In these days it feels important to be as inclusive as possible in books young people are going to read. It should be something natural, not even something to point out and shout out about. But unfortunately that’s still how the world works right now.
I have to admit I haven’t read Darius the great and maybe it’s better that I haven’t. Many readers were disappointed by this book because they expected another Darius, and from what I understood, this is very different. Maybe because of that, I was able to dive into this without expectations and just appreciate this author’s great writing skills.
I loved how this story included notes from (fake) media, chats between management and label, excerpts from interviews and magazines, because all of these showed exactly the pressure Hunter was under, and how he was manoeuvred into a role model rather than being allowed to just be himself.
All in all, this was an enjoyable, highly entertaining read and I will certainly check out more by this author.
I felt sad for Hunter, who went through it all. How he lost himself along the way just doing what he loved to do and being good at it.
I kept wondering about Kaivan, about what he really felt, what he wanted from Hunter. Maybe I secretly hoped Hunter and Aiden would kiss and make up!
There’s a lot of inclusivity in this book and chapeau for that! In these days it feels important to be as inclusive as possible in books young people are going to read. It should be something natural, not even something to point out and shout out about. But unfortunately that’s still how the world works right now.
I have to admit I haven’t read Darius the great and maybe it’s better that I haven’t. Many readers were disappointed by this book because they expected another Darius, and from what I understood, this is very different. Maybe because of that, I was able to dive into this without expectations and just appreciate this author’s great writing skills.
I loved how this story included notes from (fake) media, chats between management and label, excerpts from interviews and magazines, because all of these showed exactly the pressure Hunter was under, and how he was manoeuvred into a role model rather than being allowed to just be himself.
All in all, this was an enjoyable, highly entertaining read and I will certainly check out more by this author.
August 23, 2025
this book confirms that I would love anything written by Adib Khorram, even his shopping list
March 21, 2022
DRC provided by Dial Books via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.
Representation: gay white protagonist of Scottish descent, gay Iranian secondary character, Vietnamese secondary character, Brazilian secondary character, Gujarati Indian secondary character, non-binary Black tertiary character, gay white tertiary character.
Content Warning: online harassment, homophobia, mentions of parental death, fetishisation, mentions of vomiting, doxing, sex negativity, racism, mentions of bullying, sexual harassment, alcohol, homophobic slur.
Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram is a zestful contemporary novel focusing on the gay member of a Canadian boy band, the way his life is scrutinised in relation to his love life and his sexuality, how the latter is sanitised to appeal to the mainstream and how selfishness and egocentrism can impact our empathy and can blind us to whoever surround us and their problems.
Hunter was a great hockey player until an unfortunate accident destroyed his dream. He did not expect though that an impromptu music video with his best friends on the subject of poutine would go viral and start his career as a singer and song-writer. He did not anticipate either how being part of Kiss & Tell as a gay boy would have been curated to please societal standards of how queer people should be seen when they are as public as Hunter is.
Who knows me on a deeper level, knows Darius the Great Is Not Okay is one of my absolute favourite books ever (in the top five of my personal ranking, if not even top three), but as a friend said in her review Kiss & Tell is not Darius. They are like two intersecting lines who run on different trajectories, but still have a point of convergence.
In my opinion, Adib Khorram is a master of character creation and that is why I think that his character-driven narrations are pure emotional excellency. In all his works, he crafts such compelling protagonists, secondary and tertiary characters, and Kiss & Tell is no exception.
Perhaps, I am too attached to Darius to have an entirely unbiased opinion because while I really liked Adib’s newest book, I did not fall head over heels for it and upon reflecting on the reason for a long time (I finished this book last month), I opine the book should have been longer. There is this pre-conceived notion that young adult contemporary novels need to stay within a certain length and I hate that belief. So many books would have benefited from being extended beyond their current finishing point.
That is basically the only negative feedback I can give this book as I very much liked the rest, in particular how well Adib juggled the decentring of white queerness as the only dimension of social vulnerability (showing how Hunter in his misguided selfishness overlooks his surroundings and the bigger picture, focusing on his problems and those alone, while willingly and unwillingly ignoring his bandmates’ feelings about the public reaction to their success and the racism filling the industry); the critique of sex negativity and the discussion around the demonization of queer sex and the way white patriarchal cisheteronormativity “cleans” queer public personas; and, of course, the underlying theme of mental health which permeates Khorram’s novels, both predominantly in Darius and subordinately here, and which I hope will always remain a recurrent topic.
Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram is still a hit out of the park for me (despite my rating) and I whole-heartedly recommend it. Reading experiences are a rather subjective matter, but I hope you will give this book a chance, and read Darius’ novels as well, as Adib is really an excellent writer.
Representation: gay white protagonist of Scottish descent, gay Iranian secondary character, Vietnamese secondary character, Brazilian secondary character, Gujarati Indian secondary character, non-binary Black tertiary character, gay white tertiary character.
Content Warning: online harassment, homophobia, mentions of parental death, fetishisation, mentions of vomiting, doxing, sex negativity, racism, mentions of bullying, sexual harassment, alcohol, homophobic slur.
Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram is a zestful contemporary novel focusing on the gay member of a Canadian boy band, the way his life is scrutinised in relation to his love life and his sexuality, how the latter is sanitised to appeal to the mainstream and how selfishness and egocentrism can impact our empathy and can blind us to whoever surround us and their problems.
Hunter was a great hockey player until an unfortunate accident destroyed his dream. He did not expect though that an impromptu music video with his best friends on the subject of poutine would go viral and start his career as a singer and song-writer. He did not anticipate either how being part of Kiss & Tell as a gay boy would have been curated to please societal standards of how queer people should be seen when they are as public as Hunter is.
Who knows me on a deeper level, knows Darius the Great Is Not Okay is one of my absolute favourite books ever (in the top five of my personal ranking, if not even top three), but as a friend said in her review Kiss & Tell is not Darius. They are like two intersecting lines who run on different trajectories, but still have a point of convergence.
In my opinion, Adib Khorram is a master of character creation and that is why I think that his character-driven narrations are pure emotional excellency. In all his works, he crafts such compelling protagonists, secondary and tertiary characters, and Kiss & Tell is no exception.
Perhaps, I am too attached to Darius to have an entirely unbiased opinion because while I really liked Adib’s newest book, I did not fall head over heels for it and upon reflecting on the reason for a long time (I finished this book last month), I opine the book should have been longer. There is this pre-conceived notion that young adult contemporary novels need to stay within a certain length and I hate that belief. So many books would have benefited from being extended beyond their current finishing point.
That is basically the only negative feedback I can give this book as I very much liked the rest, in particular how well Adib juggled the decentring of white queerness as the only dimension of social vulnerability (showing how Hunter in his misguided selfishness overlooks his surroundings and the bigger picture, focusing on his problems and those alone, while willingly and unwillingly ignoring his bandmates’ feelings about the public reaction to their success and the racism filling the industry); the critique of sex negativity and the discussion around the demonization of queer sex and the way white patriarchal cisheteronormativity “cleans” queer public personas; and, of course, the underlying theme of mental health which permeates Khorram’s novels, both predominantly in Darius and subordinately here, and which I hope will always remain a recurrent topic.
Kiss & Tell by Adib Khorram is still a hit out of the park for me (despite my rating) and I whole-heartedly recommend it. Reading experiences are a rather subjective matter, but I hope you will give this book a chance, and read Darius’ novels as well, as Adib is really an excellent writer.
May 8, 2022
the way this book transported me back to my one direction years so vividly
the inclusion of tweets, blog posts, interview transcripts, and fanfic dispersed throughout made the reading experience more fun and ~interactive, and i liked that aspect a lot!
kiss & tell touches on a lot of themes of queer identity, intersectionality, pressures of fame (specifically for out celebrities to be spokespersons for the whole queer community), and ultimately i think it was a job well done
the romance was sweet, while a bit insta-lovey for my taste, and the supporting characters were so much fun to read about - i wish there was more time spent developing the friendships hunter has with each of his band mates since we only really get, like, one important scene each with the four other boys yet they’re clearly such a big presence in the mc’s life
overall a fast and fun read, but it doesn’t pack as much of a punch
p.s. i’m an ethan nguyen stan, my mischievous son
the inclusion of tweets, blog posts, interview transcripts, and fanfic dispersed throughout made the reading experience more fun and ~interactive, and i liked that aspect a lot!
kiss & tell touches on a lot of themes of queer identity, intersectionality, pressures of fame (specifically for out celebrities to be spokespersons for the whole queer community), and ultimately i think it was a job well done
the romance was sweet, while a bit insta-lovey for my taste, and the supporting characters were so much fun to read about - i wish there was more time spent developing the friendships hunter has with each of his band mates since we only really get, like, one important scene each with the four other boys yet they’re clearly such a big presence in the mc’s life
overall a fast and fun read, but it doesn’t pack as much of a punch
p.s. i’m an ethan nguyen stan, my mischievous son
June 20, 2022
I absolutely inhaled this book! Readers should know that it’s totally different than Darius - excellent but just a different kind of book. Also, yes it’s YA, but very mature YA due to the sexual content. I’m all for sex positive YA and this brings up so many important issues in that space, but teachers/librarians should know this is a probably a high school YA story rather than middle school. Main character is 17 but it reads much more like a college or new adult story. I’m so excited for what the author writes next because between this story and Darius, it’s quite apparent the range he can write is vast 😍
Also, to be clear ~ I would let MY children read this at any age, including my 10.5 year old. However I have come to sadly accept that society and I have different feelings about age and books, so I make age recommendations here based on what I have experienced in schools over the past 15 years.
Also, to be clear ~ I would let MY children read this at any age, including my 10.5 year old. However I have come to sadly accept that society and I have different feelings about age and books, so I make age recommendations here based on what I have experienced in schools over the past 15 years.
December 28, 2021
I reserve the right to come back after release and change this... I think that there were a lot of interesting conversations that can be had from the content in this book... As for the plot? I'm gonna think on that until I need to get a full review up in March.
March 21, 2022
4.5 Stars
CWs: experiences of homophobia and some homophobic/sexual slurs; references to racism; descriptions of online harassment and some sexual harassment; mentions of parental death; brief mentions of fatphobia, graphic sports injury, and vomit; instances of underage drinking; and some mild sexual content
On the surface, Kiss & Tell promises a simple and straightforward story about a queer boy bander trying to navigate the spotlight, but in true Adib Khorram fashion, it's also so much more! While this is a very different story from Adib's previous books, it has that same level of thoughtfulness and heart at its center.
On the one hand, this is a super fun, fast-paced story about a mega-popular boy band blazing across North America on one of their biggest tours, but it's also asking a lot of deeper questions about the cisheteronormativity of the boy band market and what it means to be "visibly queer" online and on stage.
As a white cis gay boy, Hunter definitely holds a lot of privilege, and the fact that he's able to be out as a gay man with his label and have it be a non-issue is definitely part of that. However, he's still having to deal with people dehumanizing him and reducing him to nothing more than just a label, and he also finds himself being continuously forced into this "token gay boy" box. Whether it's the way he's told to dress, the kinds of press junkets he's allowed to do, or the content he's allowed to post, every aspect of his expression is carefully controlled by the people around him. There's a compelling contradiction between Hunter having an immense platform that comes with an incredible amount of power and also not having a lot of freedom to choose for himself as a result.
I really appreciate how this story makes the reader think about who boy bands are marketed towards and why. Generally speaking, the majority of boy bands are marketed towards younger audiences, and primarily cishet audiences, and they occupy a very strange liminal space where they're expected to be "wholesome" and "virginal" but also attractive and suggestive enough to be "desirable" to their audience. By those standards, Hunter already finds himself at a disadvantage of sorts, because his target audience (young cishet girls) can't romantically project themselves onto him. So his label feels that he has to make up for that quote-unquote "deficit" by really leaning into the stereotypical "twink" styles and mannerisms and molding himself into this perfect, wholesome queer role model for young people.
That dilemma further opens up the question of what it even means to *be* a role model, and how that concept in itself can be even more limiting in some ways. Especially as a queer boy, Hunter finds his every action to be put under a microscope, and he finds it harder to make himself seem "perfect" and "wholesome" when he's constantly being confronted by the misconception that sexuality and queerness is solely about the act of sex, when it's not. When his toxic ex drunkenly releases screenshots of Hunter's private conversations, that onslaught of commentary becomes even more pressing.
I truly appreciate how Adib Khorram has crafted a sex positive story about a young queer man who's constantly being forced to grapple with the conception that he's either "not gay enough" or "too gay." Especially in a world where queer men are often seen as hypersexual, which is then seen as "shameful" (even though there's nothing inherently bad or wrong about sex), this story makes a powerful statement about embracing those parts of yourself that are deemed "imperfect" and being unafraid to to claim all those messy sides of yourself that don't neatly fit into any box. Being openly queer as a public figure is often a matter of Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't. Every action you take is extrapolated and interpreted as a representation of the entire queer community at large when it shouldn't be, and Hunter having to fight against that feels incredibly realistic.
On a lighter note, I also enjoy how this story puts a different spin on the "fake dating" trope. While Hunter and Kaivan are technically dating for real and by their own choice, it still feels like a front at times since the label is intentionally playing it up for press. So you kind of get the best of both worlds, where you get to see this very soft, genuine romantic connection unfold over the course of the story, but there's also your typical "fake dating shenanigans" with all these public-facing dates put on for the fans.
Another highlight is the way the story makes use of multi-media interludes between chapters, where you get to see the snippets from various press junkets or interviews, transcripts from Kiss & Tell's documentary, as well as excerpts of blog posts and think pieces. I love the way those pieces of media are able to indirectly build out the "world" of the story and reveal more about the characters from an outside perspective, and it's even interesting to see how the events of the story are being spun by the press for online consumption. It was also nice to have media inserts that were not just interviews, because those added to the larger commentary of how being a queer boy bander complicates the cisheteronormative narrative popularized in the mainstream.
There were two tiny things that kept this from being a five-star book, for me personally. The first is that I wish Hunter's bandmates were a little bit more prominent in the story. Besides Hunter, the rest of Kiss & Tell is made up of more ethnically diverse pop stars—who are Vietnamese-, Brazilian-, and Indian-Canadian—and I wish we could have more directly seen the kinds of pressures that *they* face. There's a small discussion of that towards the end, when Hunter's bandmates sort of call him out for assuming that his queerness is a "bigger burden" than the racism they face online, but I think getting to see those experiences or discussions play out would have made that land even better.
My second tiny note is that I found myself wanting a bit more from the romantic relationship between Hunter and Kaivan. Throughout the story, it's made clear that Kaivan has somewhat of a superiority complex when it comes to the success of boy bands versus the success of traditional bands, some of which is definitely warranted when you consider the vast disparity between them. However, that leads him to saying some controversial things in his interviews where he openly questions the talent-level, creativity, and integrity of boy banders. When that eventually comes to light, it ends up feeling somewhat glossed over. I think there were more conversations to be had between Hunter and Kaivan to meaningfully reconcile those differences in order for me to feel fully on board with their relationship by the end. Even so, overall I did enjoy the romantic element.
As always, I remain absolutely floored by Adib Khorram's ability to craft a deeply meaningful and thoughtful story that's also able to balance humor, romance, and fun. As I said up top, even though this seems like a simple story on the surface, it proves to be so much more and offers the reader a foothold to better grasp deeper questions about societal expectations and self-expression. As with all of Adib's books, I enjoyed this so much, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what he writes next. No matter what it is, I will definitely be reading it!
CWs: experiences of homophobia and some homophobic/sexual slurs; references to racism; descriptions of online harassment and some sexual harassment; mentions of parental death; brief mentions of fatphobia, graphic sports injury, and vomit; instances of underage drinking; and some mild sexual content
On the surface, Kiss & Tell promises a simple and straightforward story about a queer boy bander trying to navigate the spotlight, but in true Adib Khorram fashion, it's also so much more! While this is a very different story from Adib's previous books, it has that same level of thoughtfulness and heart at its center.
On the one hand, this is a super fun, fast-paced story about a mega-popular boy band blazing across North America on one of their biggest tours, but it's also asking a lot of deeper questions about the cisheteronormativity of the boy band market and what it means to be "visibly queer" online and on stage.
As a white cis gay boy, Hunter definitely holds a lot of privilege, and the fact that he's able to be out as a gay man with his label and have it be a non-issue is definitely part of that. However, he's still having to deal with people dehumanizing him and reducing him to nothing more than just a label, and he also finds himself being continuously forced into this "token gay boy" box. Whether it's the way he's told to dress, the kinds of press junkets he's allowed to do, or the content he's allowed to post, every aspect of his expression is carefully controlled by the people around him. There's a compelling contradiction between Hunter having an immense platform that comes with an incredible amount of power and also not having a lot of freedom to choose for himself as a result.
I really appreciate how this story makes the reader think about who boy bands are marketed towards and why. Generally speaking, the majority of boy bands are marketed towards younger audiences, and primarily cishet audiences, and they occupy a very strange liminal space where they're expected to be "wholesome" and "virginal" but also attractive and suggestive enough to be "desirable" to their audience. By those standards, Hunter already finds himself at a disadvantage of sorts, because his target audience (young cishet girls) can't romantically project themselves onto him. So his label feels that he has to make up for that quote-unquote "deficit" by really leaning into the stereotypical "twink" styles and mannerisms and molding himself into this perfect, wholesome queer role model for young people.
That dilemma further opens up the question of what it even means to *be* a role model, and how that concept in itself can be even more limiting in some ways. Especially as a queer boy, Hunter finds his every action to be put under a microscope, and he finds it harder to make himself seem "perfect" and "wholesome" when he's constantly being confronted by the misconception that sexuality and queerness is solely about the act of sex, when it's not. When his toxic ex drunkenly releases screenshots of Hunter's private conversations, that onslaught of commentary becomes even more pressing.
I truly appreciate how Adib Khorram has crafted a sex positive story about a young queer man who's constantly being forced to grapple with the conception that he's either "not gay enough" or "too gay." Especially in a world where queer men are often seen as hypersexual, which is then seen as "shameful" (even though there's nothing inherently bad or wrong about sex), this story makes a powerful statement about embracing those parts of yourself that are deemed "imperfect" and being unafraid to to claim all those messy sides of yourself that don't neatly fit into any box. Being openly queer as a public figure is often a matter of Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't. Every action you take is extrapolated and interpreted as a representation of the entire queer community at large when it shouldn't be, and Hunter having to fight against that feels incredibly realistic.
On a lighter note, I also enjoy how this story puts a different spin on the "fake dating" trope. While Hunter and Kaivan are technically dating for real and by their own choice, it still feels like a front at times since the label is intentionally playing it up for press. So you kind of get the best of both worlds, where you get to see this very soft, genuine romantic connection unfold over the course of the story, but there's also your typical "fake dating shenanigans" with all these public-facing dates put on for the fans.
Another highlight is the way the story makes use of multi-media interludes between chapters, where you get to see the snippets from various press junkets or interviews, transcripts from Kiss & Tell's documentary, as well as excerpts of blog posts and think pieces. I love the way those pieces of media are able to indirectly build out the "world" of the story and reveal more about the characters from an outside perspective, and it's even interesting to see how the events of the story are being spun by the press for online consumption. It was also nice to have media inserts that were not just interviews, because those added to the larger commentary of how being a queer boy bander complicates the cisheteronormative narrative popularized in the mainstream.
There were two tiny things that kept this from being a five-star book, for me personally. The first is that I wish Hunter's bandmates were a little bit more prominent in the story. Besides Hunter, the rest of Kiss & Tell is made up of more ethnically diverse pop stars—who are Vietnamese-, Brazilian-, and Indian-Canadian—and I wish we could have more directly seen the kinds of pressures that *they* face. There's a small discussion of that towards the end, when Hunter's bandmates sort of call him out for assuming that his queerness is a "bigger burden" than the racism they face online, but I think getting to see those experiences or discussions play out would have made that land even better.
My second tiny note is that I found myself wanting a bit more from the romantic relationship between Hunter and Kaivan. Throughout the story, it's made clear that Kaivan has somewhat of a superiority complex when it comes to the success of boy bands versus the success of traditional bands, some of which is definitely warranted when you consider the vast disparity between them. However, that leads him to saying some controversial things in his interviews where he openly questions the talent-level, creativity, and integrity of boy banders. When that eventually comes to light, it ends up feeling somewhat glossed over. I think there were more conversations to be had between Hunter and Kaivan to meaningfully reconcile those differences in order for me to feel fully on board with their relationship by the end. Even so, overall I did enjoy the romantic element.
As always, I remain absolutely floored by Adib Khorram's ability to craft a deeply meaningful and thoughtful story that's also able to balance humor, romance, and fun. As I said up top, even though this seems like a simple story on the surface, it proves to be so much more and offers the reader a foothold to better grasp deeper questions about societal expectations and self-expression. As with all of Adib's books, I enjoyed this so much, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what he writes next. No matter what it is, I will definitely be reading it!
March 4, 2022
Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
4.5/5
This was really great! I feel like it could've been longer to really explore some of the discussions presented. Kiss & Tell follows the incredibly popular boy band "Kiss & Tell" and Hunter Drake, the only gay member in the band. Hunter has been an icon for queer youth everywhere, but after his breakup with his boyfriend and texts are leaked, his image is put into question. Hunter never wanted to be the Label's perfect queer kid, but navigating the line between keeping the Label appeased and being himself is hard enough without thousands of fans and parents talking about his actions like they know him.
Then there's Kaivan, the drummer of PAR-K, the opener for Kiss & Tell on their North American tour. Hunter and Kaivan start a flirty friendship when Kaivan comes out to him. Hunter thinks this could develop into something romantic, but when the Label gets involved, Hunter doesn't know what to do.
This was such a great story about the pressure of being in the spotlight and how that affects people. Hunter is a white cis gay boy and he has a lot of privilege. It was very interesting to see all the things he dealt with and how he centers himself. Three members of Kiss & Tell are BIPOC, but when Hunter finally talks to them, he realizes that he's not the only one dealing with stereotypes and microaggressions. Hunter is a bit selfish and closed off in the beginning of this, but we see him start to come out of his shell and begin to listen. I wish this book was longer so we could've seen more action from Hunter as he comes to all these realizations.
I do wish Hunter had taken a bigger role in educating himself. Maybe it's because he's Canadian, but I think it stems more from being white. But Hunter is constantly educated by the people of color in his life and I can't imagine how tiring that was for them. I do like that by the end he's finally more receptive to what their saying and how racism is different from queermisia, but is still just as damaging.
I did like Hunter's character. He's only a teenager and he doesn't have everything figured out. Plus with private texts leaked by his ex, he's dealing with a lot. His image and reputation are in question and Hunter doesn't know how to navigate this, especially as a gay boy. The Label wants him to become more of a femme/twink persona even though that's not him. He spends a lot of time internally debating how to navigate this and what he should do.
I really enjoyed Hunter and Kaivan's friendship/relationship. Kaivan was so cute and I wanted more of him. The past interviews with him definitely made me worried. I liked how he did eventually talk to Hunter about all of it. There was so much interesting presence about heteronormativity, and toxic masculinity. We do get some discussions of it and I was glad for that. I would've loved more, but ultimately, I really enjoyed this book.
Last thing I'll say is that this cover is RUDE and screams pansexual vibes and then there was no pan characters and I was sad. Oh well :(
Rep: white Canadian gay cis male MC, Iranian-American gay cis male side character, white Canadian gay cis male side character, white Canadian cishet male side character, Vietnamese-Canadian cishet male side character, Brazilian-Canadian cishet male side character, Indian-Canadian cishet male side character, Black queer nonbinary drag monarch side character, white American gay cis male side character, various queer & BIPOC side characters briefly mentioned.
CWs: Body shaming, slut shaming, homophobia/homomisia, racism, sexual harassment. Moderate: alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, sexual assault, outing, consensual sexual content, grief, past death of parent. Minor: Car accident.
4.5/5
This was really great! I feel like it could've been longer to really explore some of the discussions presented. Kiss & Tell follows the incredibly popular boy band "Kiss & Tell" and Hunter Drake, the only gay member in the band. Hunter has been an icon for queer youth everywhere, but after his breakup with his boyfriend and texts are leaked, his image is put into question. Hunter never wanted to be the Label's perfect queer kid, but navigating the line between keeping the Label appeased and being himself is hard enough without thousands of fans and parents talking about his actions like they know him.
Then there's Kaivan, the drummer of PAR-K, the opener for Kiss & Tell on their North American tour. Hunter and Kaivan start a flirty friendship when Kaivan comes out to him. Hunter thinks this could develop into something romantic, but when the Label gets involved, Hunter doesn't know what to do.
This was such a great story about the pressure of being in the spotlight and how that affects people. Hunter is a white cis gay boy and he has a lot of privilege. It was very interesting to see all the things he dealt with and how he centers himself. Three members of Kiss & Tell are BIPOC, but when Hunter finally talks to them, he realizes that he's not the only one dealing with stereotypes and microaggressions. Hunter is a bit selfish and closed off in the beginning of this, but we see him start to come out of his shell and begin to listen. I wish this book was longer so we could've seen more action from Hunter as he comes to all these realizations.
I do wish Hunter had taken a bigger role in educating himself. Maybe it's because he's Canadian, but I think it stems more from being white. But Hunter is constantly educated by the people of color in his life and I can't imagine how tiring that was for them. I do like that by the end he's finally more receptive to what their saying and how racism is different from queermisia, but is still just as damaging.
I did like Hunter's character. He's only a teenager and he doesn't have everything figured out. Plus with private texts leaked by his ex, he's dealing with a lot. His image and reputation are in question and Hunter doesn't know how to navigate this, especially as a gay boy. The Label wants him to become more of a femme/twink persona even though that's not him. He spends a lot of time internally debating how to navigate this and what he should do.
I really enjoyed Hunter and Kaivan's friendship/relationship. Kaivan was so cute and I wanted more of him. The past interviews with him definitely made me worried. I liked how he did eventually talk to Hunter about all of it. There was so much interesting presence about heteronormativity, and toxic masculinity. We do get some discussions of it and I was glad for that. I would've loved more, but ultimately, I really enjoyed this book.
Last thing I'll say is that this cover is RUDE and screams pansexual vibes and then there was no pan characters and I was sad. Oh well :(
Rep: white Canadian gay cis male MC, Iranian-American gay cis male side character, white Canadian gay cis male side character, white Canadian cishet male side character, Vietnamese-Canadian cishet male side character, Brazilian-Canadian cishet male side character, Indian-Canadian cishet male side character, Black queer nonbinary drag monarch side character, white American gay cis male side character, various queer & BIPOC side characters briefly mentioned.
CWs: Body shaming, slut shaming, homophobia/homomisia, racism, sexual harassment. Moderate: alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, sexual assault, outing, consensual sexual content, grief, past death of parent. Minor: Car accident.
June 3, 2022
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Oooo I loved this. This was my first book from Adib Khorram (although I own Darius the Great Is Not Okay and Darius the Great Deserves Better). Kiss & Tell follows a Canadian boy band on their North American tour. One of the members, Hunter Drake, has broken up with his boyfriend and is thrust into the spotlight when his ex-boyfriend leaks their sexts.
I don't know what I was expecting with this book. I thought it might be a little like If This Gets Out but they were completely different and I loved that.
Hunter was dealing with so much, and honestly, I still feel so bad for him. The pressure from The Label, his friends, the public, his fans, and his love interests... Everything was just piling on top of him until he snapped. Honestly, everyone got off easy imo. I did like how Hunter took what his friends were saying to heart; but I felt as though they still kind of brushed him off. Idk, I think it's just me, but I would've dropped the lot of them and went to live my best life with Masha Patriarki tbh.
I DO NOT like Kaivan. I just think there wasn't enough done to redeem him for me. I was suspicious of his motives the whole book and honestly, still sus. Also don't like Aidan either. I'm #TeamHunter. You do you, boo. Love yourself first. <3
Oooo I loved this. This was my first book from Adib Khorram (although I own Darius the Great Is Not Okay and Darius the Great Deserves Better). Kiss & Tell follows a Canadian boy band on their North American tour. One of the members, Hunter Drake, has broken up with his boyfriend and is thrust into the spotlight when his ex-boyfriend leaks their sexts.
I don't know what I was expecting with this book. I thought it might be a little like If This Gets Out but they were completely different and I loved that.
Hunter was dealing with so much, and honestly, I still feel so bad for him. The pressure from The Label, his friends, the public, his fans, and his love interests... Everything was just piling on top of him until he snapped. Honestly, everyone got off easy imo. I did like how Hunter took what his friends were saying to heart; but I felt as though they still kind of brushed him off. Idk, I think it's just me, but I would've dropped the lot of them and went to live my best life with Masha Patriarki tbh.
I DO NOT like Kaivan. I just think there wasn't enough done to redeem him for me. I was suspicious of his motives the whole book and honestly, still sus. Also don't like Aidan either. I'm #TeamHunter. You do you, boo. Love yourself first. <3
May 12, 2022
C/W:
Kiss & Tell was a captivating character-driven story that swept me up from the very beginning. The story is told from Hunter's perspective with online news articles and emails from people who work for Kiss & Tell or The Label interspersed between chapters. I really liked how the inclusion of other formats added new information that changed how I viewed the characters -- such as the question about whether Hunter and Kaivan were using their platforms the "right" way to advance queer causes.
All of the characters were wonderfully three-dimensional, which I've come to expect from all of Khorram's books. Even the characters I thought I couldn't relate to ended up winning me over by the end. Even if I didn't like the choices they made, I could understand and empathize with why they made them. The character conflicts -- both internal and interpersonal -- are rich and compelling. I was deeply invested in whether things would work out between Hunter and Kaivan as well as whether Hunter would learn how to tell his bandmates he was struggling.
One of my favorite things about Kiss & Tell was that it was both an ode to fandom and boy bands but also a critical look at these topics. As a One Direction fan, I definitely noticed some nods to 1D songs in Kiss & Tell's set lists. I'm sure there are even more boy band easter eggs that I missed the first time around.
Kiss & Tell was a great book on so many levels. I look forward to reading it and can't wait to see what Khorram writes next.
Kiss & Tell was a captivating character-driven story that swept me up from the very beginning. The story is told from Hunter's perspective with online news articles and emails from people who work for Kiss & Tell or The Label interspersed between chapters. I really liked how the inclusion of other formats added new information that changed how I viewed the characters -- such as the question about whether Hunter and Kaivan were using their platforms the "right" way to advance queer causes.
All of the characters were wonderfully three-dimensional, which I've come to expect from all of Khorram's books. Even the characters I thought I couldn't relate to ended up winning me over by the end. Even if I didn't like the choices they made, I could understand and empathize with why they made them. The character conflicts -- both internal and interpersonal -- are rich and compelling. I was deeply invested in whether things would work out between Hunter and Kaivan as well as whether Hunter would learn how to tell his bandmates he was struggling.
One of my favorite things about Kiss & Tell was that it was both an ode to fandom and boy bands but also a critical look at these topics. As a One Direction fan, I definitely noticed some nods to 1D songs in Kiss & Tell's set lists. I'm sure there are even more boy band easter eggs that I missed the first time around.
Kiss & Tell was a great book on so many levels. I look forward to reading it and can't wait to see what Khorram writes next.
March 21, 2022
I’m not sure I’m the target audience for a young adult book about a Canadian both band, but I did enjoy the story and I’m glad I found it. I did struggle through the cliche boy band esque things (like the 17 year old gay member who bragged about his great “hockey butt” about a million times), but underneath that were some really good themes about finding yourself and what it is to be queer or a person of color. I thought the main character Hunter was like able, but I struggled to be even as forgiving as he was. I did like the backstage look at the reactions to the trending gossip columns and I liked the mixed media that was included to help tell the story. It was hard to read about Hunter’s struggle with The Label wanting him to be more of their version of what kind of gay he was and I was glad to see his character developed as the story went on. Overall I gave this a 3.5 but I rounded up for excellent representation.
April 13, 2022
This was such an interesting look at what it might be like to be a queer member of a super popular boy band. I enjoyed how the book was commenting on the ways that media and members of the public treat queer celebrities. From either over sexualizing them, acting as if their relationships are somehow more explicit than straight relationships, putting the burden of having to represent an entire community on them, to stereotyping or saying that they’re the “wrong” type of queer person.
I thought that the little interstitials that were media stories, tweets, interviews from other stars, and opinion pieces from within this world really helped to contextualize what Hunter was going through and explore more of the world of the story.
My biggest complaint about the book is that I don’t think that the other band members were as fleshed out as they could’ve been. I enjoyed the aspect of the story where Hunter has to realize that he hasn’t been paying attention to the ways in which his bandmates were also facing bigotry and discrimination. It played an important part in his journey throughout the plot. However I wanted to feel more connected with the other band members and learn more about their stories. I had a pretty hard time remembering who was who and keeping them straight in my mind.
But overall I really enjoyed this book and how it looked at queer celebrities and the ways they’re treated in the spotlight.
I thought that the little interstitials that were media stories, tweets, interviews from other stars, and opinion pieces from within this world really helped to contextualize what Hunter was going through and explore more of the world of the story.
My biggest complaint about the book is that I don’t think that the other band members were as fleshed out as they could’ve been. I enjoyed the aspect of the story where Hunter has to realize that he hasn’t been paying attention to the ways in which his bandmates were also facing bigotry and discrimination. It played an important part in his journey throughout the plot. However I wanted to feel more connected with the other band members and learn more about their stories. I had a pretty hard time remembering who was who and keeping them straight in my mind.
But overall I really enjoyed this book and how it looked at queer celebrities and the ways they’re treated in the spotlight.
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