2.75 ( )

Openly gay Canadian redhead Hunter Drake was a youth hockey star until an injury put an end to that possibility. Then, Hunter and his friends wrote and recorded a song called "Poutine," which went viral, and now they're two years into being a famous boy band called Kiss & Tell; they're on tour with an opening band called PAR-K, three Iranian-American brothers from Ohio, one of whom, Kaivan, recently came out as gay. Hunter and Kaivan feel a mutual attraction and begin dating, which their record company (hilariously called The Label) supports in the wake of Hunter's breakup with Aidan Nightingale, twin brother of K&T member Ashton Nightingale. But when Aiden makes his and Hunter's sexts public, everything becomes more stressful and complicated, and Hunter feels the need to carry everything on his own - despite the fact that other band members are also dealing with the problems of living their lives in public (other K&T members are Brazilian-, Indian-, and Vietnamese-Canadian, and experience constant racism in person and on social media).

Hunter narrates in first person, present tense, but blog posts, news articles, emails, and more help tell the story. A fun, thoughtful, queer-positive read.

Quotes

"Maybe you're feeling forced into a role that's not right for you." (Ian to Hunter, 126)

I'm so tired of everyone thinking they know everything about me. (159)

"What they think is their business. What you do is yours." (Masha to Hunter, 213)

"We stopped being people and became this idea instead." (Hunter to interviewer, 221)

"I'll tell you what doesn't work: conforming." (Masha to interviewer, 225)

I hate it when people ask if I'm okay. It's like they're poking at the cracks in my walls. If they'd just leave me alone, I'd be fine. (300)

"No, it's not your fault. But you benefit from it all, don't you?" (Kaivan to Hunter, 312) ( )

Hunter was a hockey player but when he sustained a career ending injury, he turned to music. Joining his four best friends, they become the hottest boy band out there, Kiss & Tell. However, fame comes with it’s issues: Hunter may be queer, but the Label expect him to be more flamboyant, not his true self; his dating life is always judged, not his contribution to the band. When scathing texts between Hunter and his ex Aidan come to light, he needs to do what the Label says in order to save his reputation. He begins to date Kaivan, the drummer for their opening band, PAR-K. Again, the Label gets in the way of their budding relationship and all the craziness begins. Hunter begins to question the relationship, his part in the band, everything. The stress begins to take a toll on him & his band mates. Until he has a very public meltdown. Is the fame worth not being your authentic self.

I really enjoyed this book. Not a fan of either boyfriend for Hunter. The relationships between the band mates was what I would have liked more of a focus on. The reader does get a taste of what the others go through: racism, homophobia, the stress of writing the next big hit. Told from the perspective of Hunter, along with interview transcripts and news articles, this is a book for those who want to see the behind the scenes ( )

teen fiction - 17 y.o. ginger-Canadian leader of boy band "Kiss & Tell" meets 17 y.o. Iranian-American drummer from the headlining band, from award-winning Iranian-American queer author.

"Hunter Drake & Aidan Nightingale CALL IT QUITS"

"Hunter Drake Rebounds with PAR-K Drummer Kaivan Parvani"

"Kissed & Told: Hunter Drake's Sexts Posted Online by Spurned Ex"

"Kiss & Tell's Ian Souza Rates Cheese Bread Recipes"

The headlines tell it all--well, maybe not that last one. This is a spin-off of the K-pop themed novels starting to hit the shelves lately, and as such is a light, quick rom-com that also deals with homophobic and racist Internet trolling, as well as an overreaching, manipulative record label company that puts inordinate pressures on its performers. I love that the author was so intentional about placing nonbinary characters within the cast and helping to normalize various nonbinary pronouns. ( )

So first of all, the characters. I don't know how to feel about Aidan. I want to hate him, but I feel like there's some sort of trauma from his mom favoring Ashton. I think the reason he was so toxic to Hunter was because it felt like his mom was putting him second all over again, but with Hunter. Is that a weird comparison?

Anyways, Hunter tripping up with race, and discrimination and whatnot is very relatable. Everything is kind of like a minefield. Like there's no right thing to say, if that makes sense. Also, the people at The Label are complete tools. Making him dress like what their idea of a gay guy looks like. It kinda made me wanna punch something.

+ I've never had poutine, but that's changing tonight.

Plus, I said it once and I'll say it again. THAT COVER IS SO FREAKING CUTE. Even cuter in person, you should buy it. You know. For research purposes. ( )