4.5 Stars

Ruben + Zach

They're both part of the famous boy band SATURDAY.
The four boys all met in a rock camp as kids and Jon's dad manages them. And that's their biggest problem - they're so completey managed that their own lives and personalities, their own hopes and wishes don't matter anything anymore.
Ruben is never allowed to mention that he's gay!
But what when suddenly - on their first European tour - his best friend and band mate Zach seems interested in him? His straight buddy Zach!!

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN...

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Well. I liked this.
I'm a huge rock star romance fan. This wasn't really a rock star thing, but almost. We're on tour, there are fans and shows and media and hotels and tiredness et cetera.
I really liked that part. And the romance part too. Poor Zach doesn't really know what's happening with him and he doesn't want to hurt his friend by starting something, when in the end it could've been just a phase for him. Ruben's been hurt enough.
Adorable.
I hate the management. Ugh. Those horrible people - what they do to those boys! And the mom! What's her problem? Is she bipolar or just a psychopath?

I wasn't 100% sure of the writing. There were some weird parts here and there - I had to read some things twice to get what it was supposed to mean. I think part of that is because the authors are Australian and it shows in a few little expressions.
And the font - that's probably just a blogger thing - the real book will be better. But Zach's POV was printed in a very tiny font.

I also didn't love the missing sexy parts. I get that it's for younger readers, but they're all 18 in the book - so a little bit more wouldn't have hurt. It's not even a fade to black thing - most times it's a fade to three days later in another country completely new scene thing. 😏

But still - it was a cute music romance with all the problems that come with being gay, with finding out you're bi and all that while being the female fans' dream boys in a boy band. Plus some addiction problems and depression and faith questions for the other two boys. And all the horrible management drama that's so typical with kids who are way too young when they start that life.
It was a lot for this one book - which I had hoped would be a much sweeter and sexier and more adorable rock star romance. Maybe the other two could get their own book? Will they? And it also just ended - it wasn't an open end, but it could've gone on for much longer! I wanted to know so much more! Maybe a few pages about Jon and Angel could've been cut and used for their books, and we could've gotten a bit more about Zach and Ruben. BUT - it was totally okay the way it was! I make it sound as if this was a really bad book - it wasn't at all! I really loved reading this. Ruben and Zach are adorable and the other two are great too...
And if the other two won't get their own book, I still want a sequel for the guys!
I also wouldn't mind seeing this on Netflix one day! ☺

► IF THIS GETS OUT was a sweet + adorable + funny + musicy + drama-y young/new adult boy band love story. Run to your nearest amazon for your own Ruben + Zach - they'll be sold out in no time!

I’ve had this book as an ARC from NetGalley for months and never got around to reading it. I kept 1) requesting more books from them, 2) requesting physical and e-books from the library and 3) buying more physical books to own! Basically I was setting myself up for failure from the very beginning.

The book is set to hit shelves on December 7 of this year so with that date less than three months away, I knew it was time to get to it. This story follows two members of a boy band, Zach and Ruben, and their bandmates Angel and Jon, as they navigate the complexities of being teenagers under immense pressure to perform in more ways than one alongside everything else that comes with just being a teenager.

Ruben is gay and Zach is just starting to figure out his identity at the start of the book but the tension between the two is palpable. Once they get together, there’s even more roadblocks in their way and when their international tour gets to Europe, that’s when things start to go south. Not just for Zach and Ruben, but for pretty much everyone in the group.

I think this was a super cute but real queer YA love story. We follow Zach on his journey to figuring out what his sexuality actually is and having to deal with coming out for the first time over and over again. We see how the management group reacts and begins to pressure him (in a way he doesn’t realize is pressuring at first) to stay in the closet the way they’d been doing to Ruben for the past two years.

In the notes at the end of the book, the authors wrote about how they wanted this book to speak to the pressures queer people face in entertainment. How they’re expected to put on these personas and not be their authentic selves. Even without the note from them, I knew that’s what they were going for. The book got me thinking about how strategically-placed every celebrity is and how, to this day, few still get to live in their entire truth.

Aside from that, the book doesn’t shy away from getting into the nitty gritty of the pressures that are put on people in the spotlight, especially young ones. They are expected to look a certain way and act a certain way, even if that is the complete opposite of who they actually are. Everything is a marketing ploy to make money. It really makes you think about the celebrities you follow and how much of their persona is real or conjured by marketing groups.

There are so many layers to this book. I could spend hours getting into them. All in all, I quite enjoyed it. I thought it was a cute queer YA romance. It was real and didn’t sugarcoat anything. I give it 4 stars.

4.5 stars

Such an intriguing story - so many different layers!
On the surface, it's a love story.
On a deeper level, it's an expose' of the music business and the damage that is done to young celebrities. Also, Ruben's mother is everything wrong with stage mothers. I wanted to wring her neck so many times!
Personally, I would classify it as New Adult. Some scenes were pretty intense and I think it is more suited to older teens.
The ending was a bit ambiguous but hopeful. However, I would have liked a little more closure.
I especially liked that two authors wrote alternating PoVs. Made it more realistic.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

"At the crux of it, everyone wants the world to see them as they are. The truth isn't the problem. The problem is that the world doesn't always make the truth safe for us to share"
If this gets out is a book about the damage of entertainment industry cause to young artists, two boys finding love despite manipulating and greedy people.
First of all, i find Zach and Ruben the most relate characters ever. On one side we have Ruben, you're very talented theater kid, but pictured as the most plain and likeble person on the band. Raised by a abusive mom, he's very perceptive of people's intention, what turns out his most treasure and worst talent. Zach, on the other hand is a people pleaser. Painted as a sexy harry styles (i mean, the long hair??? common!), is a and underestimated songwriter, who loves alt music and is a sweetheart. We also have Jon, who's the band's manager son, very reserve but caring, and Angel, or as i prefer the live of the party .
This book navegates not only Zach's and Ruben's journey but also the consequences in body and mind when the people who sohuld be responsable and caring about your well being only care about the money and fame.
Heads up to some TW such as: anxiety attack, homophobia, suicide mention, eating disorder .
Sophie and Cale managed to do an excellent job at portait the frustration, fear (70% mark is just gonna come and hit you like a trainwreck), anxiety and euphoria from the main couple and they journey, as a couple and teammates) to find out who they really are, put boudaries on harmeful relationships and communicate better.

I wanted to read this book because I love Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich. And I was so grateful for the opportunity to get to read and review it. I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. But I did really enjoy it. I usually avoid boy band or celebrity singer type of books but I’m so pleased that I gave it a chance. I had a lot of feelings, most of which were good. And I needed a book like this. It also helped with my reading slump a bit.

A good fun read, just what we need for the end of summer. If you enjoy fun romances, this is for you!

This was a surprisingly tough read. While the premise of this book is like something straight out of a fanfiction (and no, it doesn't closely resemble any real-life bands that I know of; the characters are totally original) it's less about the shipping and more about the intense pressure the main characters are under, with having to hide their relationship being just one aspect of this. It was done really well, to the extent that I could physically feel the stress the main characters were going through, but this unfortunately had a negative impact on my reading experience. I wish we'd had some more lighthearted moments to break up the heaviness, to let Ruben and Zach's relationship breathe and give us more of a chance to see how and why they fell for each other. The characters were compelling, each of the four band members were pretty unique, but again I wish we could have seen more development from them instead of spending so much time focused on how restricted they were.

The strongest part for me was definitely the ending, I found myself eagerly racing through the last 15% or so because I was desperate to see where things went, which definitely helped uplift my mood after feeling burnt out halfway through. Overall, this was a good read, just not quite the trope-y fluffiness I was expecting when I first picked it up

If This Gets Out is the story of a teenage boy band, told in alternating chapters by two of the four boys. Ruben has been out to his friends and family for years, but the pressure to be attractive to female fans - and to please the band’s demanding management company - has kept him from publicly being open about his sexuality. He’s also had a crush on bandmate Zach for years, but since Zach’s straight, he’s kept that hidden, too. When Zach and Ruben kiss, Zach realizes he likes it - and maybe he isn’t straight after all. Maybe things will work between them, but their management is committed to making sure no one else knows they’re in a relationship. Meanwhile, the entire band is feeling suffocated by the way they’re locked in their hotel on tour and not allowed to make decisions about their hair, clothing, music, or anything else.

This book had a slow start; it dragged a bit during the first 50 pages or so. After that, though, the story picked up and I found myself getting really into it. The romance between Ruben and Zach was very sweet. The difficulties they faced were set up naturally by the story rather than being forced for the sake of drama. The relationship was very believable.

More so than the romance itself, I was pulled in by the depiction of these four teenagers who had been swept into the music industry without much ability to decide what they wanted for themselves. The boys all love music and being in a band together, but their creative freedom has been completely stifled. They’re also forced to listen to everything the management company decides; even their public personalities are dictated to them, and they’re threatened with punishment if they stray from that. Concerned that they’ll lose the band entirely, they listen to their manager - who also happens to be the father of one of the band members, making everything more complicated. Considering how many teens are in the music industry, this book helps point out how poorly some of them are being treated and the reasons why they may lash out or turn to drugs to help them feel more in control of their lives. While this isn’t the case for every young person in music, this sort of treatment definitely exists and is largely ignored by the public. This book did a great job of making me care about the characters and their relationships while also considering the heavier topics brought up in the story.

I liked this story about a boy band where 2 members fall in love and have to hide it. It was kind of sad, not just for them, but for all the ways the each of the bandmates were treated by management. Things got pretty bad there, it was toxic. But the band all cared about each other, so it's good they had some sort of support.

As far as the love story goes, Ruben has always known he likes boys, but had to keep quiet. Zach is just figuring things out and also has some personal growth going on besides that. They're really genuine and caring toward each other, and the love scenes are fade to black, which is actually more fitting in this story. In the end, it was a good sweet story and if anything ever happened for the other members, I'd want to read about it.

**Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review**
If you have ever shipped two members of a band, particularly members of the same gender, this is a MUST READ! This book was seriously EVERYTHING and my best friend is SO jealous that I got an advanced copy of this book (After reading it, I told her not to worry, I would be buying her a copy—it was THAT GOOD)!!! This book has all the sexy tropes you crave in a YA romance—best friends to lovers, forbidden love, LGBTQ+ rep., and so much more. I still can’t stop ridint the high from this book.
It also covers some heavy topics as well. Since the story is about an all male successful boy band, there’s a plethora of band/label power dynamics, emotional abuse, drug abuse, and a peek into the darker side of the music industry.
But outweighing all of that is the close friendships. Between the bandmates and between our two main MCs, Ruben and Zach. Their closeness was so endearing and though sometimes there were miscommunications and they struggled to put their true heart’s emotions into words, they worked it out because they were friends first and foremost.
This was one of my most highly anticipated books on my list this year and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I hope everyone reads it and falls in love with it as well.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'm absolutely OBSESSED with this book!!!!!! I went in expecting a cute hidden romance between two members of a boyband and their struggles having to hide their identity in the name of show biz. It provided that and also so much more!! The story follows 2 alternating POVs of Zach and Rueben, who are 2 of the 4 members of the boyband "Saturday". Their band is managed by "Chorus" which is led by the father of one of the band members, Jon. As the story progresses, the characters begin to feel the weight of the band's management controlling how their identities are displayed to the world to create a certain image of who they are. Things become complicated as Zach and Rueben begin to fall for each other and have to chose whether or not outing themselves to the world and being true to themselves is worth risking the success of the band.

This book tackles so many complex issues, including substance addiction, burnout, toxicity in the music industry, family expectations and exploring your identity and how to come out. Zach and Rueben's relationship is so beautiful and so real. They both struggle with issues in the personal lives and work through their weaknesses together. They grow and learn to communicate and it was just so refreshing to see such a healthy relationship represented in a YA book. It was the perfect amount of cuteness, spice, plot and insanely well developed characters. You really are rooting for all 4 of the band members the whole time. You don't have to be a One Direction fan to become obsessed with this book, but it definitely played a part in how much I enjoyed it seeing the overlying themes. This is totally one of my new favourite books. My only negative comment would be that I felt like the book ended quite abruptly. Overall a 5/5 star read!

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the ARC.

If you have ever read and loved any sort of band fan fiction, you must pick up this book.

I loved the way the authors touched upon how negatively the lime light can really impact someone’s life. I loved that it wasn’t just all about the glamorous life of a celebrity, but rather focused on the harsh reality of having to keep up appearances and please PR people.

I loved the characters of the band. I wish there was more information on Jon because I feel like the other characters were so big that he got lost in the background of the story.

There were some points that were brought up at the beginning and then dropped completely, like the one characters growing obsession with working out and dieting.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this read and thought there was a lot of great commentary around fame. I thought the love story was brought in with perfect pacing and I like that the characters grew from their relationship rather than remaining static in their journey!

Ruben, Zach, Angel and Jon are the four members of the pop band Saturday. Known throughout the world, they work day in day out to appear just as the record company wants them to, despite this not matching their personalities or being anything like who they truly are. Ruben, especially, has been told over and over to stand back, not show off and to stay in the closet "until the time is right." lol
Anyway, things get even more complicated when Zach kisses Ruben kind of out of the blue, and neither he nor Zach knows how to deal with it.

Where to start........ These 4 boys are my children and I will protect them at all costs. I am not kidding, do not cross them. Or there will be hell to pay.
I honestly fell in love with these boys, the were layered and flawed and just so compelling in every way.
The story itself also drew me in from the start and I could not stop reading. It both felt like a warm hug but also was truly maddening, infuriating. What my boys have been put through, I cannot begin to describe. I really just felt every single feeling ever and I loved it all so so so much. This is without a doubt a book I will be reading over and over again. After all, I do love a fictional band, and over all, a queer fictional band and Sophie Gonzales has yet to let me down. I've now read 3 of her books and loved them all.

I received an arc of this book through NetGalley.
I really wanted to like this book, but everything about it fell flat. The characters are barely developed, the plot is confusing at best, and the resolution is non-existant. Both authors did that thing where the characters aren't described for at least fifty pages, which always makes me irrationally angry. The two MC, Reuben and Zack, seem to fall for each other completely out of convenience. There is no chemistry at all. Jon and Angel had more chemistry than them, which is incredibly funny in context. I hope the version that comes out in December is better than this.

If This Gets Out was a fun lighthearted book that dealt with some dark issues like addiction, psychological abuse and homophobia without losing its humorous spark. I think my only problem was this book was how the quality of it fluctuated a lot. I think it's almost impossible to avoid this when you have two authors working together but I felt the difference in quality more with this one. It's overall an entertaining and cute book, I'm just not sure I will remember it in a few months.

If This Gets Out was so lovely. I’ve read books by both Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich before, so I had high hopes for this book going into it. I loved the alternating point of view between Ruben and Zach and think that, especially for books featuring teenagers, this is a fantastic way to feel like you are getting the whole story and to have a better understanding of each of the characters (I think its hard enough having to understand your own emotions as a teenager, let alone figuring out how to communicate them to someone else). There was a messiness to the telling of their story that felt very true to young love, which was amplified through the boy band setting and the stressors that come with this. While this definitely fits into its YA romance genre (bordering on new adult — the main characters are ~17/18), it also includes commentary on media, PR, fandom, and what being under a constant spotlight does to the psyche.

or boy band fans. Or haters. For fans secretly hoping for a love story between two bandmates. Or just fans of queer love stories.

I loved Only Mostly Devastated. I didn’t know what to think of The Friend Scheme. Perfect on Paper was nice. And If This Gets Out? It’s so good! On the surface, the story feels like a light and fluffy read, following a boy band on their tour through Europe, where two band members fall in love with each other. It could be just an in-between. A sweet rom-com. A beach read. A cheesy YA. But it’s not. There’s so much going on between the lines, and If This Gets Out tackles so many important topics.

I never liked boy bands. The smooth, too perfect faces. The polished, clean music. The hysterical fans. Archetypes like the bad boy, the boy next door etc. Having to be mass-appealing. The entourage. Until one of the band members suddenly falls off their pedestal. Hard ...

And that’s just what this story is about. Everything in the lives of Ruben, Zack, Jon and Angel is arranged. How they should look, what music they should sing, which moves they should make, what they should say. And coming out to the outside world is not an option.

So, even though he’s out, Ruben is hiding that he’s gay. And when Zack starts doubting his sexuality, he’s got no one to talk to. And when the two of them end up together, nobody outside their bubble can know.

This story is not only about two queer boys in a boy band. It’s also about the band itself, the pressure from their management and record company, even from some parents. Living in hotel rooms day after day, not having free time—like ever, being told what to wear—not their choice, being monitored—continuously, the tabloids making things up—or not. Pressure, pressure and more pressure. And let’s face it, they’re still just eighteen-year-olds.

Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzales did a wonderful job showing us the world of boy bands and in general the exploit in the music industry. Is it weird that cracks start to form in nearly all boy bands, including Saturday? Eating disorders, feeling suffocated, drug and alcohol abuse, anger issues, extreme fatigue. It’s almost inevitable that one of them falls off their pedestal in the end, right?

Like I said above, I loved the book and I really, really hope Cale Dietrich and Sophie Gonzales will collaborate in a second book. Because I think they bring out the best in each other!

4 stars for this queer romance that gave me all the One Direction vibes!

Ruben and Zach are both in an insanely popular boy band called Saturday. Everything they do, say and wear is decided for all the band members by their management company. Ruben has known he's gay for years but management always says it's never the right time for him to come out to their fans. Zach has been questioning his sexuality and when sparks fly between the pair things get tense. Saturday is about to begin their European tour and it's a crazy tour. Zach and Ruben disclose their relationship to the rest of the band and their management company but are told they need to keep it a secret. They spend the book figuring out who they are and how they want to present the band to the world.

I really enjoyed this! If you were ever a fan of any boy band then this will resonate with you for sure. After reading this I've decided I'd never want to be famous but reading about a super famous boy band was a lot of fun. Zach and Ruben have a sweet relationship that I liked and felt them being teens was realistically portrayed. The side line characters consisting of the rest of the band, management team and their family members added to the plot really well. There were several sub plots in addition to the main plot line of Zach and Ruben's relationship that fit into the story well. I enjoyed this overall and felt it was lighthearted while still tackling heavy themes like sexuality and drug abuse.

If you've enjoyed other LGBTQ romances then you need to pick this one up!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Didn't really get into this book. The dual povs didn't have enough to set them apart in my mind and it really just dragged too much

"If This Gets Out explores how one can start to lose their sense of self when they're forced into a role they never chose, and the many ways a person can be trapped by those who abuse their power over them."

The premise had me immediately. When I found it on netgalley I was so happy. Ruben and Zach are 2 members of a boy band. Ruben is gay but he is not out because obviously the record label does not want him out. Zach is straight but after they kiss he starts to reexamine his life. Is he bi? He is confused and Ruben is confused. Meanwhile another member of the band has a drug problem. There is so much going on. Of course the record label controls every aspect of their life. This book probably does a really good job of what it is like to be in a boy band. Everyone controlling every part of your life.

"The problem is that the world doesn't always make the truth safe for us to share."