This love story was a refreshing change of a m|m love story. It wasn't cheesy and the characters were well rounded, and by the end of it I wanted them to pop out of the page.

so good and kind of refreshing! there are not many books about boy bands these days so this was definitely SO good! the found family between all the members and the hilarious moments gosh my heart!

A very fun read that I'm still thinking about a long time later! This is going to be huge! A must read for fans of boybands, and fans of prevailing love!

This book was LOVELY and exactly what I needed this week. Going in, I had the expectation that it would be a light and fluffy romance - and yes, the romance is lovely, and there is definitely some fluff (not a bad thing!) But this is not a romance book as such, in that the romance isn't the main plot of the story and there are a lot of other things going on - including some heavy themes in the form of homophobia, toxic family relationships, emotional abuse and others.

Reuben and Zach are both well-rounded, lovable characters, and I loved their friendship with Angel and Jon (the other two members of the band). As a bisexual woman who only really identified the number of crushes I'd had on girls over the years once I was an adult, I really related to Zach's journey in particular. At the beginning, the book took me back to my teenage fandom years, then the creeping sense of just how wrong things are in the boys' world is well done, and by the end I was looking back in a whole new light. I definitely feel like I understand a little better why so many "teen" bands have members leave, or break up altogether, now!

What starts out as a too real story about how young people in the entertainment industry are taken advantage of ends in a story of love, friendship, and hope for better futures. This book is a love letter to fans of boybands, fanfictions, and friends-to-lover romances that any reader will devour quickly. Some subjects may be mature for younger teens (CW drinking, drug usage, mistreatment of teens from trusted adults), but will make a fine addition to our YA collection.

Super adorable, If This Gets Out is sweet without being saccharine and just a fun, smart read about two (famous) boys realizing their feelings for each other. There's definitely demand for this book, especially among fans of the former One Direction as well as a fair number of Kpop fans--and I expect my teen readers (and adult!) will be clamoring to read this!

This book has been on my "To Read Upon Its Release" TBR list after reading a summary and seeing a cover photo via Instagram, and so the moment I saw this galley available on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to request an early copy because everything about this story intrigued me so much. Besides, as a massive boy band fan, I was super excited about this concept and a behind-the-scenes look at what that recording and touring lifestyle is really like.

Here, 18-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two of the four members of the hit boy band, Saturday, which is one of the biggest acts in America. Onstage, the four boys are teen heartbreakers, and offstage they are just four normal best friends. However, cracks are starting to form under the pressures of fame. Ruben even confides in Zach that he's feeling smothered by their management's pressure to stay in the closet. During a whirlwind European trip, while dealing with a busy schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach rely on each other more and more as their close friendship soon evolves into romance. Though the guys decide they are ready to tell their fans and live freely, they realize that their management will never support the plan. They question how to hold on tight to what they have when the entire world seemingly wants to come between them.

I would describe this book as "Red, White & Royal Blue" meets One Direction, which means it's pretty darn close to perfect for my interests. Co-authors Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich, who are masters of their craft, have created such a compelling narrative that's chock full of engaging language that draws me in from the very first page. Told in dual point-of-view, readers have the chance to get inside the mindsets of both leading men, who are equally vulnerable and authentic. Plus, Zach+Ruben as a couple are 1000% precious and adorable, and I ship them. Facts are facts. It's a fun read that takes place BTS of their European tour. I'd categorize this book more as New Adult than a true-form Young Adult because there's a tad bit of *spicy* content here, which I was totally on board with. It's a quick read, and both the characters and the book are so darn cute. This novel is completely, wholeheartedly, precious and squeal-worthy. It was so difficult to put down this book because I just needed to know what would happen next.

This book may be deemed as a fun boy-band romance, but it is so much more than that.

If This Gets Out covers the precarious lifestyle that comes with being part of the music industry - especially while being queer like the main two characters. I was truly engrossed in reading the experiences the band was forced through and undoubtedly rooted for them. It was incredibly eye-opening to view the industry from the producer's angle rather than from the consumer's (like myself). I also enjoyed the depiction of their fans and the exploration of social media and the impacts it can create.

I feel like this book is notably character-driven. And, I wholeheartedly ADORED the characters. Each one of the main four resonated with me in some way. Their group dynamics were hilarious, and I genuinely enjoyed reading many of the scenes. This book also covers the personal struggles the characters were battling and how the overlap of their jobs affects them. The romance between the two mains, of course, is a significant part of the book. I couldn't help but occasionally feel giddy and warm inside seeing Zach and Ruben's relationship grow, and they had so many adorable moments.

In spite of everything I personally appreciated, I ended up rating it a three-star for several reasons. The main one being that I largely rate books based on my own personal enjoyment. The pacing unfortunately felt too slow for me, and I honestly felt like I was slogging through the whole thing. I also didn't end up enjoying the romance as much I had anticipated and felt mostly indifferent about it the entire time. There were also too many mundane points in which I felt underwhelmed and bored reading through. Most of the book felt like merely jumping from one interview or meet-and-greet to the next. Like several reviewers have mentioned, I feel like I would have liked this more if I was a fan of a modern-day boy band. I mean, the only boy band I seriously like is The Beatles, but I seriously doubt that counts in this context. :p

All in all, I believe If This Gets Out is not only an important read but a relevant one too. However, I felt largely conflicted about it and ended up not enjoying it as much I had liked to.

I received a copy of If This Gets Out through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If This Gets Put by Sophie Gonzalez and Cale Dietrich follows a very popular boy band and their struggles on the road and with a relationship amongst the group. Rueben and Zach, two friends and band members, find themselves struggling to deal with management and public image when their simple friendship starts to turn into something more. As this is happening we see the struggles of the rest of the band members, Angel and Jon, and just how little freedom these boys have within their band.

I knew I wanted to read this book when I saw the description, growing up I always had a thing for boy bands and this gave me a fun look at what could have been going on inside each of those real life bands. When you are a fan in the outside, you don’t think about the potential struggles on the inside and this book did a good job at showing what could very well have been happening. This was a really well written YA romance and I love the characters and their stories. I would definitely recommend this book to any boy band fan or anyone looking for a good YA romance read.

Sophie Gonzales has been one of my fave authors for long. I was so stoked about reading a other book - my expectations were met and OH BOI THIS BOOK, Just all the feels, all the smiles and all the cries. The perfect coming of age and finding yourself book — incouding every damn emotion you can feel while rooting for the MCs, Ruben is my abs fave!

Queer boy band romance?!! I'm in!

While I was born in the 80's, I grew up in the 90's/early 2000's, so I was definitely right in the beginning of the boy band craze. 'NSync>BSB. Not sorry. ANYWAYS, this is the story of Saturday, a very famous boy band consisting of four members. The chapters go back and forth between two of them which are the two characters who have a romance with each other.

The story focuses on Ruben and Zach, who both struggle within their band and not being allowed to express themselves they way they want to since they management is so strict about every little thing they do.

Things I loved:

This is a great queer story for young people. It involves standing up for yourself and being honest with yourself and the world about who you are.

I liked the relationships the bandmates had with each other.

There are distinct personalities within the band and they all support each other.

The dynamics between the two main characters and the relationships they had with their mothers.

Queer love. It needs to be celebrated more, especially involving young people.

Overcoming the obstacles involving drug use and the band's super controlling management.


Things I did not love:

It was incredibly predictable.

The writing style is very amateur.

I wished there had been a bit more humor/connection to today's teenagers.

Overall, I am glad I read this book. I do think it will be good for many young people, both queer and not. I can see it being especially popular with the creative and artistic type of people who are music lovers. I look forward to more queer novels from Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich.

Thank you to Net Galley, Sophie Gonzales, Cale Dietrich and Wednesday Books for the ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis in two Sentences:
An extremely popular boy band that is taking the world by storm. Two members fall in love but are forced by the music label to hide their relationship and who they are for fear of ruining the image of the band.

My Thoughts:
This is written by dual authors Sophie Gonzales and Cale Detrich who are both known for queer representation in their books. This one does not disappoint. It beautifully illustrates the struggle someone may have with their sexual identity and coming out. The story also addresses the pressure many young artists deal with being thrust into the spotlight at such a young age.

This story reminded me of teen years and my obsession with boy bands. I couldn't help but think of my teenage room covered in Backstreet Boys posters and me rocking out to their music. While I never attended a concert I definitely would have been one of those screaming fans if I did.

I really enjoyed the alternate points of views between two of the main characters as each author took a character. I am not usually a big fan of co-authors because it can be difficult to pull off but Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich created a masterpiece. I highly recommend this one.

I heard about this one from a coworker and as soon as she said it was about a romance within a boy band, I knew I had to read it. I have previously read similar types of stories (non-published, years ago...yes I am talking about That) so this felt nostalgic, but still very refreshing.

The four members of the boy band were truly their own, unique characters; by the time I finished (in one day) I felt like I genuinely knew them, which is probably the most important aspect of a book to me. I went in expecting just a romance story, but was happily surprised about how it dealt with the music industry, stifling management, and the ups and downfalls of young fame as well.

My only critique is that it was difficult, especially in the beginning, to keep track of the many different characters, particularly the various manager, crew members, and security. However, that certainly did not take away from the core characters and their stories, and I will definitely recommend my bookstore to purchase this one!

I'm such a fan of Sophie Gonzales, but I hadn't read anything by Cale Dietrich before. This author duo is the perfect amount of heartfelt and sweet and I can't wait to see what they write in the future. I went into this book expecting a fun rom-com about the music industry and secret relationships but the story ended up being lot more serious, addressing themes like drug abuse and exploitation of young musicians.

I adored Ruben and Zach (and Angel!!) throughout the entire book. Their relationship felt so real and Angel was the perfect amount of comic relief. I loved his dialogue, his relationship to Ruben and Zach, and this strong portrayal of male friendship. While I expected the book to be most about Zach and Ruben's relationship and coming to terms with their sexualities, the content had much more to do with the confines the music industry places on young performers to live up to impossible standards.

This book was such a delight and definitely delivers on the heartwarming, rom-com pitch.

E-ARC received as part of street team
oh gosh!! where do i even start with this book,, it’s a wild ride to read in the most enjoyable way possible. it’s one of the most refreshing and original books i’ve read all year with such a realistic focus on relationships and working yourself out. i can’t recommend everyone to read this enough when it comes out in December!!

THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR THE EARLY ARC OF THIS BOOK💕💕

This book was amazing. I had high expectations for it and it definitely fulfilled them. It was a book that had me interested from the beginning and carried that through the last page. I loved seeing how similar yet different Zach and Rueben were.

In this book Zach and Reuben are part of a boy band called Saturday, and their management team is controlling their every move, so they decide to take matters into their own hands. I love how connected I became with the characters (i will be needing a whole separate book on Anjon pretty please) and it was overall a really good book. Highly recommend!

Full Review Here: http://www.millennialbeautysisters.com/if-this-gets-out-book-review/

I LOVED these characters. They were all so human and beautiful and just going THROUGH IT. I really enjoyed how the authors were able to take something so far out there (for most of us at least...pop star dreams shall remain only that for me...but alas) and make it super relatable.

I also thoroughly enjoyed all the representation. So much going on here with mental health, self identity, sexuality, addiction, religion, ethnicity, this book really had it all and I loved it. Gah. I almost can't wait for December for more people to be buzzing about this one.

Lots of laugh out loud funny moments but some really tearful introspective moments too. I actually literally laughed until I cried and then cried until I could laugh again. Love the alternating points of view and thought it all worked well for telling the story as a whole. Zach and Ruben process the world so differently and it was amazing to be seeing the story through their different perspectives. Would 10/10 read another book / continuation from Angel and Jon's POV's as well.

Definitely one of my favorite YA romances of the year so much stands out about this one. Truly can't wait to see this one burning up Bookstagram and BookTok later this year!

This is a fast paced novel that I would encourage high school students to read that are looking for a LGBTQ+ romance novel. The characters were relatable, despite being successful rockstars and musicians. The sub plot of another band mate struggling with addiction was important for high schools students to learn to address. The character’s showed how difficult dealing with feeling burned out is, which is relatable for busy high school students. Suitable for ages 16+.

Ok. Um. Wow. First off I want to say that I am absolutely BLOWN AWAY??????? I mean, I was hoping for greatness and boy did it deliver.

If I were reviewing vibes alone, it would be a 5/5. I mean, let’s be real I’m here for the vibes and the vibes only. I devoured this book in one day and felt emotionally wrecked after finishing it. Happiness, internal screaming, external screaming, crying, more screaming, and then after it all a general feeling of satisfaction. And then came the overwelming urge to reread it. Something about this book is so addictive, I never wanted it to end.

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I would have loved a bit more resolution. The ending wasn’t necessarily sudden by any means, but I could have used a bit more to wrap things up.

Building on to that, I would have liked for a couple of more fluffy moments. Given the circumstances, sure, get why it isn’t there. But I could have gone for a bit more high notes within the story. I think it could have upped the stakes of the relationship a touch more and made readers more invested. But then again, I was ridiculously invested either way sooo

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And lastly, but most certainly not least, the exploration of abuse within the music industry was really well done. Honestly, it is the foundation that holds the whole book together. Don’t let the gorgeous cover and promises of romance in the synopsis fool you, liquid emotion will be seeping out of your eye sockets by the end.

The whole plotline with the management conflict was handled with great depth. Seeing all the members of the band --- but especially Zach and Ruben --- grapple with their situation was truly heartbreaking. It was kind of like a new before seen, behind the scenes, exposed sort of energy to it that made the whole book really special.

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4.5 Y'all. This is a must read. Dual pov, the perfect balance of heartbreaking and hilarious, all while keeping you craving more of these loveable idiots. You know that you need it in your life.

This is one of the smartest, most entertaining, wittiest books I’ve read in a long time! Zach and Ruben are two members of the world’s biggest boyband, Saturday. Ruben’s been in love with Zach for a long time, but Zach’s straight and doesn’t reciprocate. When Zach kisses Ruben one night, everything changes.

One of my favorite things about this book is that it trusts the readers. A lot of the story is told subtlely, without the usual “and this is what’s happening and why” scenes that most YA books opt for. For this reason, I think of this book as almost new adult, along with the topics covered and the steamier feel.

Take Ruben, a character who knows he is gay. Talented and confident, he’s also the child of a narcissistic mother who he’s terrified to cross, and a father who doesn’t stick up for him. Paralleling Ruben’s relationship with his emotionally abusive mother, is his relationship with the band’s management team, mostly the head figure, Geoff. As a child who’s spent his life being controlled and emotionally abused, he has no skills to stand up to management when they tell him to be smaller, and plainer, and not share himself with the world. Throughout the story, he goes on a journey to start to learn how to insist upon his own agency—both with his parents, and with management. Without greater spoilers than that, I will say that as someone with an NPD parent, I thought the rep here was immaculate, and saw a lot of myself in Ruben’s dissonance: he knows who he is, but he’s especially vulnerable to abuse because he’s never been allowed to advocate for himself over an authority figure’s wishes.

The inverse of Ruben is Zach. If Ruben knows exactly who he is from the start, Zach’s issue is that he isn’t sure who he is, from his sexuality to his personality. Left by his father at a young age, he’s internalized the idea that he is only worth as much as he can give to others, so he spends his time trying to appease everyone around him. This, again, is subtlely conveyed through Zach’s action and dialogue. He’s often the last to speak, waiting to see what the rest of the room thinks and wants, before jumping in. It’s only as he starts to realize that this approach is costing him his own happiness (he wants to be a writer, loves different sort of music, realizes he is bisexual: all things that will “upset” those around him) that he goes through a transformation. The anxiety rep was wonderfully relatable here, and it’s easy as a reader to bond to Zach and want to bundle him up.
The relationship between Zach and Ruben is something beautiful to watch. As Ruben, confident in just who he is, helps Zach realize who HE is, and Zach, caring and patient, gives Ruben the reassurance that he will still be safe and loved if he pushes back against the rules placed on him. True soulmates that I can actually picture being together in the long run.

The two main side characters, Angel and Jon, are unbelievably thoroughly crafted! Most books, side characters are relegated to existing to help out the MCs, but these two have well-defined personalities, their own issues, their own arcs. Jon, Ruben’s friend prior to the band forming, is the biracial son of the band’s manager, is kind, reserved, a total worry-wort and sometimes a buzzkill, very religious and morally driven. He struggles between his relationship with his dad, who he’s afraid to stand up to, and with the rest of the band. Also, his dad has picked him to be the leader of the band, which goes hand-in-hand with sexualizing him, which the religious Jon is very uncomfortable with. This leads to some wonderful and subtle commentary about the sexualization of Black bodies, and how Black children are seen as adults (his own dad submits a shirtless photo of him to a world’s sexiest men magazine).

Then, Angel, who is far and above my favorite character, is loud, crass, always joking, and fun. If Jon is over-sexualized, Angel is stripped of his sexuality, as the management frames him as the boy-next-door role despite being the most attractive group member, and a huge ladies man in another example of management’s racism. This has devastating consequences for Angel, who lashes out after years of being minimized and stripped of his identity and name, which leads to one of the most powerful scenes in the whole book (IYKYK).

Finally, with the ending approaching, I was nervous we were going to get a bubblegum happy ending where everything was resolved. In real life, a lot of the things happening in the book happen to real celebrities (Taylor Swift, Kesha, Britney Spears, Lance Bass to name some), and I wasn’t sure how the book would handle this without minimizing the real struggles of real people who are struggling to get their happy endings years later. I needn’t have worried though! Without spoiling things, the book gives you just enough information to clearly know what is going to happen over the next year, without rushing the resolution. My only qualm here would be that I would’ve loved an epilogue so we could check in with the boys a year or two later. We didn’t get that, which makes me think / hope maybe there’s an unannounced sequel? This would make a lot of sense, because the book works well as is, but there's a lot of room for further resolution / drama.

Obviously I heartily recommend this story.