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

Book: If This Gets Out

Author: Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: Gay MC, Bisexual anxiety MC, Asian side character, M/m romance

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, romance, LGBT+, boy bands, music books

Publication Date: December 7, 2021

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Recommended Age: 17+ (Language, Sex, Sexual content, Homophobia, Racism, Underage alcohol consumption, Romance, Sexualization, Emotional Abuse, Drug abuse, Drug usage, Violence, Gore)

Explanation of CWs: There is a lot of curse words in the book. There is some sex and sexual content shown in the book with some brief depictions. There is homophobia and racism shown in the book. There are a few scenes that show the kids underage drinking (not considering Europe because it’s legal at 18 over there and all are 18-19 at the time of the book). There is a lot of romance shown, it is friends to lovers. There is some sexualization of the boys shown. There is some emotional abuse shown. Drug abuse is shown as well as some brief mentions of drug usage. There is also one scene in which one of the boys gets injured and is shown bloody.

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Pages: 400

Synopsis: Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.

On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?

Review: I really liked this one overall! I thought that this was a cool book that focused on two members of a boy band and a lot of the things that happened within the band made a lot of small references to other bands/singers like N’Sync, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift. The character development was good, the world building was good, and I really liked how seamless the story flowed with two authors. If you’re a big gossiper or like books that revolve around the goings on of bands, then this will be the book for you!

However, I did think that there were some issues with the book. The beginning is a bit chaotic and it takes a bit to get into the book. The pacing was a bit off in a few places and it slowed way way down than what I thought it needed to. The book is already a little slow to begin with, which makes some of the middle part a little exhausting especially considering that the “will they get together” part only lasted less than 100 pages. I also thought that there were a bit too many plot points that were going on at once.

Verdict: It was good!

I love ya romance and I love boy bands!

The culture of boy bands and their rigorous schedules of training, rehearsals, interviews, shows, hotel rooms in city after city- sounds exhausting.

Being a celebrity sounds fun until you think about all the work they really do in the background. And especially the work to look the way they do, sure they have a team but they still have to do all the workouts and diet.

Each member of the pop boy band Sunday had met at camp and they get along well enough. Ruben who is gay but has to pretend to be straight. Zach who on tour in a close proximity sitch discovers hes bi. Angel the party animal and Jon the son of the head of the music company.  There's more to them than those of course but those are their breaking points at this point in their life, tour, story. 

I love multiple POVs of Ruben and Zach. 

I personally would never mind if a member of a boy band was gay and I hate how that culture would try to hide it and then force narratives for all. I get personas but everyone needs a break. That time of life between teen and adult needs growth and time to explore. This career seems so restrictive to that necessary development. Especially seeing what happens to certain artists. It might be just me but I love a great love story. I don't need a boy to crush on.

I think we as fans should fight for the artists and tell the record companies to give them autonomy and let them be artists. At least let their private life and their persona align.

Free Saturday! I just loved this book! 

Thank you wednesdaybooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

This book is told in a dual perspective – that of Ruben, and Zach, two members of America’s hottest boyband Saturday.

The band is heading overseas to Europe for the next leg of their tour, and while abroad, Zach and Ruben kiss, changing their entire relationship forever.

I enjoyed the development of Zach and Ruben’s relationship – it was the central focus of the book and it was really well written throughout.
I’ve enjoyed both of Sophie’s previous books, but this is the first time I’ve ever read anything from Cale.
They both made their characters have distinct voices while also working well together with the plot of the book.

If you are a fan of fun m/m romances (with coming out themes and topics), I am sure you’ll enjoy this one.

Boy bands have been a cultural phenomenon for generations, inspiring legions of screaming fans who flock into sold-out stadiums hoping to catch a glimpse of the object(s) of their teenage crush. The members of the band usually have prescribed roles— rebel, sporty, etc.—and they embody the “boy next door” approachability.

This book takes us behind the scenes of fictional boy band Saturday, allowing the reader to see what goes on behind the scenes. Specifically, what happens when two members of the group—
Ruben and Zach—develop feelings for each other. This is a slow process, which unfolds over the course of their European tour, and there are a lot of feelings to unpack and process, especially for Zach, who is first discovering his bisexuality. The two boys have to maintain a delicate balance between not acting like they’re fighting with each other and conversely, not appearing to be *too* close to each other. Although fictional, this is not an unrealistic examination of the price of fame, as well as how much work goes into maintaining the illusion of the product the management company is selling. It wasn’t exactly revelatory that the boys in the band are real people, but this book drives that point home.

The narrative is split between the two protagonists. From what I understand, each author took control of one character and wrote from that boy’s perspective. The end result is a cohesive story with two protagonists with noticeably different personalities whose traits remain consistent when switching perspectives.

I was never a superfan of any of my generation’s boy bands, but their influence was so widespread that it’s impossible not to appreciate their music. I’ve read most of both authors’ previous books, and I have been excited about this collaboration ever since hearing about the premise. This book exceeded my expectations, and I would absolutely recommend it to others.


I received a digital ARC of this book from St. Martin’s Press/NetGalley.

Rueben and Zach are in the hottest boy band in the world, Saturday. What started out as a fun collaboration between 4 friends at a summer camp has now exploded into a worldwide phenomenon, leaving Rueben, Zach, and their bandmates Jon and Angel struggling to maintain their sense of self as the music machine they work for forces each of them into fabricated identities that don't always align with who each of them are. For Rueben, this has meant staying in the closet, and while each of the boys have been more or less willing to go along with the status quo, pressures mount as their world tour explodes and Rueben and Zach begin to realize their friendship may be something more.

I was really looking forward to reading If This Gets Out, and I ended up enjoying it a lot, although for different reasons than I thought I would. While Rueben and Zach's relationship was lovely, I was surprised at how much I loved how much all 4 band members featured in this story. It wasn't just that Rueben and Zach needed to fight for the right to be who they are, but all of them did, and seeing how each of them struggled to push back against their frankly abusive employers, especially Angel, was handled really well. That said, I think this made the book feel more serious overall than I was expecting, which isn't a complaint, but might be important to know going in so your expectations are set accordingly. Similarly, please note the following additional content warnings: drug and alcohol use/abuse and parental issues.

If This Gets Out is out now! Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rainbows and Sunshine
December 7, 2021

Wow!! I'm absolutely in love with this book! All I can think about is Zach, Ruben, Angel and Jon!!!!!

This book is for everyone who's every shipped people in a music band! I love rockstar romances in general but this one hits all my buttons, especially because the relationship is within the band. So yes, a queer boyband romance for the win!!!

It has best friends to lovers, strong friendships and a forbidden love setting. Ruben and Zach have wonderful chemistry from the beginning and I loved seeing Zach come to terms with his sexuality. The slow development of their relationship from friends to more was beautiful.

The friendship between the four of them is one of my favourite parts of this book, their jokes and banter and arguments were all the best interactions. Found family at its best.

The book also deals with a lot of topics like substance abuse, emotional abuse and manipulation, pressure of being famous etc. I love how everything was handled and I cannot reccomend this book enough!!!! #Zuben is definitely a new favourite!

P.S: Yes I shipped them in 1D. Yes I also have various ships in kpop now: BTS, Red Velvet, Mamamoo etc. So this book is something very close to my heart now!

*ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

I got an ARC of this book.

I am not really a fan of rich guys and celebrity romances. I just don’t care. I honestly didn’t read the description at all. I say Gonzales was the author and that was all I needed to want it.

There was a large focus on fame and how that impacted every aspect of their lives. It was one of the few celebrity romances that I actually got invested in. It was not all “being a celebrity is amazing” or using that celebrity status in place of a personality. All of the boys had personalities. Though Angela and Jon were a bit more flat. Jon’s only trait was being reserved/religious. Angel’s was being out of control/drug abuse. They felt like they were there just to liven up the story. Jon kept Angel from just throwing everything off the rails and Angel was there to actually give some excitement.

The romance between the boys felt a bit forced. I didn’t see why they were into each other. Zach didn’t have a personality until the end and even then it was forced by Ruben to exist. I was invested, don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t know why they were the couple. I wanted Anjon to be more of a thing.

The story dragged a bit. There was just so much repetition of the theme of coming out, over and over and over again. I loved that the confusion over being bi wasn’t swept under the rug over liking a guy. It wasn’t gay lite. It was its own thing. I loved so much of Zach’s plots with his mom. There was just this level of wholesome and wonderful that I enjoyed. His story could have easily been a kid off to college, instead of a pop star. I think that how simple and relatable his plot was was what kept me invested in the romance. I didn’t care about Ruben as much. There were a few times when I felt for him, but mostly he didn’t land for me.

The last 40% or so felt like it took forever. It just kept doing the same plots over and over again. I wanted something a little more fun. I could have told you from the first chapter how they would come out and how it would go down. It wasn’t a twist or exciting. It was very predictable. I did like that the ending was a bit more open. You don’t know exactly how things are going to pan out, which felt more fulfilling that knowing all the details in this case.

As a members of one of the most popular boy bands on the planet, Rueben Montez and Zach Knight have their entire lives manufactured by their management- from what they wear, to what they sing and even who they can date. Forced to stay in the proverbial closet, Rueben finds himself getting closer and closer to Zach and as the two struggle to define their relationship, they and their band mates Angel Phan and Jon Braxton begin to chafe against the confines of the identities they are being forced into.

I really enjoyed If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzalez and Cale Dietrich. I read Perfect on Paper by Gonzalez earlier this year and it made me even more excited to see what else she wanted to share and this dual pov queer boyband romance was just as wonderful as I anticipated.

A lot of this book is what you might think of when you think about a book about bandmates falling for each other, but I still very much enjoyed the ride. Other than the romance, Zach has a really nice arc about wanting to be a songwriter and I was really compelled by Rueben’s tumultuous relationship with his mother.

I highly recommend this book if you want a fun, thoughtful queer romance to kick off your new year. I would absolutely be first in line to see Saturday perform!

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for letting read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Did not finish book. Stopped at 75%.]

I kept trying to get back into this book just to finish it, because I was 3/4 of the way through. I just really couldn't get over the YAishness of this one, though. Maybe that's to its credit, since all the main characters are teenagers.

But there was also the line-toeing that the plot played with, despite the authors' insistence to the contrary. It felt really entangled in (/it read like it was dog-whistling) some real-world boyband drama, and it thus made me feel a little icky, like I was reading incredibly in-depth invasive fan theories about real people. Again, maybe this is to the authors' credit, but it took me out of the original story.

Maybe I'll try again when it's released in audiobook. I made more notes than I usually do, given that I had an advance copy, and I'd like to see it through eventually.

I thought this book was cute. I wasn't completely blown away by it but it was cute and enjoyable. The beginning was a little clunky in figuring out who everyone was and who they were supposed to be in the boy band.

I'm pretty sure this is fan fiction about a particular very popular boyband from back in 2014. IYKYK. and I'm glad this boy band got a better ending than that one.

It definitely delves into the darker side of the pop music business with record companies controlling every aspect of their music stars lives down to every tiny little detail. That part of the book was the most interesting part of this story for me. While its fiction of course I feel like there is some truth to it. That big record companies find small innocent and eager groups of teen that they can manipulate and control to earn all the money they possibly can for them. The behind the scenes parts were what kept me interested, more so than the romance. Ruben and Zach were cute together but I didn't really feel their connection. I rooted for them in the end but I wish there was more to them.

This book feels geared toward the younger end of the Young Adult category to me but is still a good, fun, cute read.

Book TW: drugs, drinking, homophobia

It's been a while since I read a boy band book. This one tackles a lot of the more uglier side of being famous, and it's definitely eye-opening.

The writing was fast paced, and I definitely ate this one up quickly! It was hard to read at times though, with the homophobia of the band manager and the management in general.

I do appreciate how it this book was not all about the glitz and glammer, and more about the issues surrounding each of the band members, with the homophobia experienced, or alcoholism and partying, not having a voice in songwriting, or just trying to keep the band together.

This is definitely a book that takes the concept of boy bands that little bit deeper.

Rating: 4/5

I’m of the vintage where my formational boy bands were Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. Sure, there were lots of arguments over which band was best and who was the hottest, but it was nothing like the fan culture surrounding boy bands today (especially KPOP!). So I can’t exactly say this sounded up my alley, but I absolutely adored Sophie Gonzales’ Perfect on Paper and the combination of best-friends-to-lovers plus forbidden love tropes peaked my interest. And I’m so glad I took the chance on this because it was an absolute rollercoaster of a ride full of angst, pining and adorableness.

After their latest successful tour of the US, the four members of the boy band Saturday are setting out on a European tour. Jon, Angel, Ruben and Zach met at a performing arts camp and got signed when it turned out that one of the band member’s dad was a record executive. Now at eighteen, while they’re all friends, some are closer than others, and that’s especially true for best friends Ruben and Zach. Their friendship makes the long days of training and publicity bearable, but their burgeoning attraction to each other may wreck not only their relationship, but the whole band.

“Why pick neutral when you have the whole rainbow?”


Ruben has a ridiculous drive to succeed, spurred on by a childhood filled with a mother whose primary form of communication was criticizing her kid for not trying hard enough. Despite that, he’s still quite sweet and a bit starved for affection, though he’s been burned by his past relationships. Zach is a spot of safety for him, though lately it’s been hard for Ruben to hide his attraction to him. It’s pretty much an open secret in the industry that Ruben’s gay, though most of the band thinks that it’s Ruben’s choice, not the label’s mandate, that he stay closeted. After all, part of their boy band appeal is that all of their teenage girl fans can imagine themselves with them. While Ruben’s known he’s gay for a while, Zach has only recently realized he’s attracted to men as well as women. It’s confusing for him, especially when he realizes that the main person he’s crushing on right now is his best friend. Zach’s a go-with-the-flow people pleaser, so initially Ruben’s frustrated trying to figure out what Zach actually wants as opposed to what Zach thinks Ruben wants. But, as in every good couple, they eventually learn how to stand on their own feet with the support of the other.

I liked this book, but, oof, it gave me a ton of anxiety. There’s a lot to worry about, just in terms of Zach and Ruben’s relationships: how to keep it a secret to whether they should keep it a secret to what the label’s reaction will be. Plus, there’s all the hopeless anger over how the band is treated by the label. It doesn’t shy away from all the negatives about the music industry and pre-packaged boy bands in particular. There’s all the pressure of being famous, not to mention the pressure to conform to their label-assigned roles, plus all the other downsides of being pop stars: scheduled to the gills, extremely restrictive diets, being treated like toddlers rather than eighteen year olds. They’ve been forced into characters that don’t fit their personalities, like Angel (who’s even had his name taken away from him) having to be the perfect boy next door while Jon, who’s deeply religious, is constantly instructed to act sexier than he’s comfortable with.

“You never annoy me, you know,” he says, as he presses a kiss to the back of my head. “You don’t need to pretend to be happy if you’re not. You’re perfect just the way you are.”
I close my eyes.
I’m so lucky I have Ruben. Without him, right now . . . I don’t know what I’d do.
I do know I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect this.”


Told from the first-person POVs of Ruben and Zach, each of the characters faces separate issues they have to overcome, from coming out to dealing with toxic family, and their growth, as individuals and as a couple, is phenomenal. They felt like real people learning to take charge of their own lives, going through that transition from childhood to adulthood, and it gave me all the feels. As their relationship changes, they try their best to keep communicating, though that’s hard when neither are entirely sure how to articulate their feelings, not to mention one of them is facing new revelations about their sexuality. They’re truly lovely together, though, and a definite example of two people being stronger together.

While this focuses mainly on Ruben and Zach, there’s plenty about Jon and Angel as well. Given the amount of time they spend on tour, their relationships with their bandmates are as important as those with their parents. Like a family, there’s all the in-jokes and squabbling you’d expect, but it’s clear how much they love and depend on each other. It’s very much them against the world, and I absolutely loved it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to, and I’m adding both authors to my “definitely buy!” list.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I was granted eARC and audio ARC access to If This Gets Out via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the double approval! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

If This Gets Out is a cute and complicated love story for angsty queer teens and teens-at-heart, especially the ones who love cheesy mainstream boy bands. Young band mates finally express their love for one another in the midst of one discovering his own queer identity (the other was already out) but it seems like no one is going to let this happen easily. Parents, band managers, etc., this just can't get out.

This was cute, parts were fun, and the ending made me see what everyone who ARC read it before me was squealing about. This absolutely has and deserves its place on the shelves and if queer teen romance is at the top of your list of genres then you absolutely need to read this one. If you're only marginally interested, though, know that it's long, it's slow, and there are not insignificant sections that just didn't feel relevant to the story. I ended up listening to the audio ARC when I got it, but I see the eBook is well over 400 pages. This story only needed 300.

The narration performance is well done and sounds quite familiar (probably because Audible tells me Ramon de Ocampo also narrates for Casey McQuiston among his 265 titles on the platform.) Normally when I end up knee-deep in a book that isn't paced as fast as I think it should be, the audiobook saves it. I can't honestly comment on whether or not it did for me because unfortunately NetGalley's shelf app was glitching out over the few days that I was trying to listen to this book and I kept having to hit play every 2-8 minutes. I think it's a safe bet, though, knowing what I do about de Ocampo's other work that it would have been a more enjoyable experience had the platform behaved itself. Listeners of the final product shouldn't have that problem and I wish I give better feedback in this regard.

I read this book not knowing what I was getting in for. But I love LGBTQ+ books and books about famous people, especially musicians. So I figured I was in for a good time when I got approved for this book. I got a lot more than I bargained for, and I loved every word of it. This is a book about societal pressure, parental pressure, awful bosses, but also about love, coming out, and dealing with fame in the most down to earth way possible. I loved all of the relationships focused on in this story and I love that it discussed serious topics without taking itself too seriously. 4 stars and I will DEFINITELY read more by these authors!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

CW: drug and alcohol abuse, toxic family relationships

Zach and Ruben are best friends. Along with Angel and Jon, they make up the boy band "Saturday," and they're on tour! Ruben has been feeling pressured to stay in the closet, and close proximity (and a beverage or two) has Zach admit he's feeling something more for his best friend. As a romance forms, they have to face what happens as the world finds out about this very public duo - what happens if this gets out?

Some of the conflict in the beginning of the story was frustrating to read through, but it set the rest of the story up really well. I actually really liked the way this ended, and the coming out stories laced in this book. Definitely a great LGBTQ+ read!

Well-written and very thoughtful, If This Gets Out will surely make any fan of boy bands very happy. It's a complicated story full of angst and real emotions as a foursome called Saturday deals with life on the road while just 18 years old. Each character has a unique personality and clearly has struggles apart from just being a phenomenon the world over.

In the middle of all the crazy that is their lives, two of the members, Zach and Ruben decide they have feelings for one another and have to navigate their secret romance despite their fellow bandmates and management knowing their truth. Their trysts are pretty much fade to black in nature, but you can still sense the longing and the sometimes clumsy nature of being new lovers regardless. Navigating stolen moments while Angel and Jon are also dealing with family issues and the pressures of being famous makes for one very intense read.

I'm not sure I would qualify this story as happy but there are moments where their playful side comes out and they can still be the teenagers they are in spite of what their handlers say. This book really rips the sparkle off of what goes on behind the scenes of not only a world tour but how these young men are treated and how they are told what to say, when to say it and how to act. For most teenagers, this would cause a huge rebellion but these four know what is expected of them and how they want more in the future so they try their hardest to toe the line when needed. This ends up with mixed results.

I will say that overall, I did enjoy the writing style and how it was told in both Zach and Ruben's POVs especially since their relationship was at the center of this story. The little moments of joy are few and far between but the love felt not only from our new lovers but from and for Angel and Jon as well is truly beautiful and I liked getting to know them, warts and all. They are a special group and deserve nothing but the best out of life.

I wouldn't hesitate to read more from this talented writing duo and happily give this book a solid 4 stars!

When I received this book the formatting was off making it so difficult to read. Didn’t matter. I still pushed through because I couldn’t stop reading. Even with all that I still loved this book. It was so well written with compelling characters that I didn’t want it to end. This was a great read that I most definitely recommend everyone read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

This book was just the cutest and I really enjoyed reading it. I loved all the characters and seeing their journey and development throughout the book. I loved seeing how strong their connection was even with their differences. I also loved how this book gave us an insight into the pressures that go on in the music industry as well as the pressure that comes with fame. Overall I really enjoyed this sweet romcom!!

Loved this book. It did feel a bit like a one direction fan fiction but I enjoyed it non the less. I think I would have liked a bit more development towards the end

E-ARC generously provided to me from Wednesday Books through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!

4.5 stars. With nuanced and lovable characters, a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of dark topics, and a heartwarming m|m romance, If This Gets Out is a sleeper hit of a novel that easily earns a spot on my my favorite books of 2021 list.