This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and it com[pletely blew through all my expectations. The story was so heart-warming yet so packed full with emotions of all kinds that I could not put it down and I'm so happy to say that I loved this book.

The star of the show (or rather the book) was by far the cast of characters. Of course, our narrators Ruben and Zach were easy to love despite their flaws, and watching their budding romance unfold was not always easy to read, but so so so worth it in the end. But besides these two, I appreciated how invested the story was and I as a reader were in the lives of the other half of the band, Angel and Jon. They were there every step of the way and even though the focus is mostly on Ruben and Zach, their stories were just as important and they were intertwined so perfectly into the storytelling.

Honestly, I'm only knocking a star off of my review because the plot was kind of messy or sloppy and the pacing was a tiny bit off at times. I felt like at about 150ish pages in, things slowed down a lot and I wished that it hadn't. It felt like we were building up to the peak of Zach and Ruben's relationship but they just kept getting pushed down (sadly), and it messed with the pacing in combination with the storylines of the other characters.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this book and it has definitely given me a hangover because I loved it so much. I would totally recommend this book because it is the perfect book for those who are fans of boybands (myself included) and want to get a behind the scenes look into their lives, including all the ups and downs that come along.

this entire book is so depressing and frustrating. maybe i'm tired of the gimmick because i was a part of the one direction fandom back in 2014, but my feeling of dread was constant throughout.

this book took the story details of gonzalez's writing that i don't tend to enjoy and the "tell don't show" that i've noticed in dietrich's writing.

i wasn't having fun for most of this book, and i think that's super unfortunate. even the cutesy relationship moments felt weird. the relationship happened too quickly and there was far too much emphasis on the management conflict. i would have preferred watching ruben and zach fall in love slowly and then a management conflict at 85% that gets resolved by 92% like the typical young adult romance contemporary structure. i don't think the structure is good per say, but i would have preferred it for this story, i think.

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing my review copy

If This Gets Out reads like fanfiction but in the absolute best way. As a once upon a time One Direction stan, I couldn't give this book any higher praise. I feel like I should restate that this book is not about One Direction or any of it's ships literally at all. But... it could be. And that added a whole other level to the story and my enjoyment of it. Clearly, you don't have to stan 1D or boybands to enjoy ITGO. It's a contemporary coming-of-age story that shows how ridiculous and exhausting the entertainment industry is. Especially, for Queer artists. I've been down enough 1D rabbit holes that there isn't much new to me, personally, but that also means I know how much research Cale and Sophie put into their book. I inhale everything Sophie and Cale write. It speaks volumes that I could clearly tell who wrote what characters. Give this book a chance.

If you enjoyed If This Gets Out I highly recommend Catch My Breath by M.J. O'Shea.


***Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for providing me with a review copy.***

Zach and Ruben are pretty good main characters, their romance is really cute. I really liked how they were always able to communicate and be honest with each other.
Angel and Jon are also interesting. I really enjoyed how Angel’s troubles were handled, and I wished Jon could’ve had a little more space, his side was the least explored. The friendship between the four boys was one of my favorite parts of the book, the scenes where they’re all hanging out are so sweet!
The story criticizes the music industry’s heteronormative mold, stereotypes of masculine behavior and looks, and how artists become products with no control over their own lives, specially with young artists.

I read this book under the recommendation of my students who were all eager for its release and I wanted the opportunity to read it ahead of time so I could request it for the classroom. Although I was excited for the book, it far exceeded my expectations. The romance between Ruben and Zach was so well-paced and I appreciated the different perspectives in coming to terms with their own sexualities. Not only does this give the reader someone to relate to, but also challenges the way one views our societal expectations of celebrities and media management. I felt that the inclusion of Angel's mental health storyline was relatable and a important message for readers of any age. While I anticipated that this would be a fairly typical romance, I left with so much more. I will be recommending this book for my classroom bookshelf and I am considering implementing it in our curriculum as a choice through our smaller group study "fun" reads at the end of the year.

This book was insightful, funny, and brought forth interesting topics that don't seem to get much attention. The characters were amazing and there was a nice amount of suspense and good character development and well-written relationships among the main characters and their family members and people around them as well. While the ending didn't leave everything tied up in a nice little bow, it did make for an interesting read and left it feeling more realistic with an interesting perspective on the way the entertainment industry handles celebrities and their personal lives and choices. A few issues could have been addressed more in-depth, but overall, this book was entertaining and enjoyable.

I don’t know where to start with this review because this book left me with so many feelings, i’m all over the place. This is the story of Ruben and Zach two boys in a boy band where they can’t truly be who they are. I’m guessing this isn’t just fiction, i mean, it sure happens with real bands and musicians and so it was such an eye opener. I’m not big in boy bands but if i knew something like this was going on behind the scenes, oh boy.

The characters, most of them, were such lovable characters and well rounded at that. I loved Ruben and Zach so so much, they were amazing main characters to the story. They made me feel all they were feeling.

The book intertwines the story told by both characters, Ruben and Zach, and i’m supposing each character was written by a different author because they felt so different from each other. It was great. I really enjoyed reading both sides, especially, Zach’s because he was discovering things about himself and changed so much through the book. He was my favorite character for sure.

As for the side stories, i loved that Angel, another boy from the boy nad had his own storyline, and i think it was a good one, only we didn’t get much of it because it was more centred in the romance between Zach and Ruben. But i think Angel story deserves its own place and also, i wish Jon had more relevance to the storyh because i loved him so so much.

The story is pretty simple, two teens falling in love but they can’t say it to the world because they are famous and they could ruin the fame of their band. I cannot think of any story like that or at least any rumours about stuff like that in real life (…. sarcasm).

The story is easy to read and so much fun, even the difficult part sof the story where chorus (the discographic sign they work for) are really mean and harsh to them, it feels so real, like it happens all the time. The authors made a great job at making everything so realistic.

In my opinion this book does a great job at showing the way the indrustry abuses of its power with the artists. It shows how they weren’t even able to enjoy a minute without being prohibited stuff, how these young boys were stripped of who they were and they became what the industry wanted of them to succeed and make money. This shows how corrupt the music industry is.

And i can’t help but think about all those artists who find theirselves in Ruben and Zach’s place most of the time and can’t be themselves. Really a pitty but so well portraited.

I loved this book to pieces, both authors did an amazing job.

I gave the book 4.5 stars because even though i didn’t have enough time to read at times it was all i could think about while reading it.

Really an amazing book.

This was so good and I loved it!! Not only is it a wonderful queer love story but a great commentary on coming out and coming out on your own terms and the music industry. I loved the dual perspective and think it worked really well. I can tell this is going to be a special book for so many and I cannot wait until everyone else gets a chance to read it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. It brought back lots of memories of the boy bands I've grown up being a fan of while also diving into what it can be like for those in the spotlight, especially at a younger age. I think Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich did a fantastic job conveying the story of this fictional boy band and the relationship that develops between two of its members. I feel like there may be comparisons to fanfic with this and I can definitely see that, but it works and the story and characters are great ... well minus the ones that aren't suppose to be. This was just a fun read and I highly recommend checking it out when it comes out in December!

...I couldn't put down this book, and found myself audibly shouting and squealing out loud at the end (along with squarely confronting my boy band fan past.) This might be one of the best LBGTQ+ titles this year!

I was given an early copy of this book to read for an honest review.

This book peaked my interest because I think it would be hard to not draw a parallel between the synopsis and one direction fanfiction. Which I am guilty of reading a lot of back in the day. This book is NOT one direction, but if you were a fan of such fanfiction than I think you would enjoy this novel!

As I said, this book is not modelled after one direction. The boys in the band bare no resemblance and they do well to stand on their own as their own characters. I was a huge fan of the diversity we saw in the band itself. A latinx main character, an asian supporting character (who speaks on the fact that they won't 'allow the asain guy to be seen as sexy') and a mixed race black character as well. Not only that but we see one of our main characters navigate his anxiety and another faces issues of emotional abuse by his parents. There were some aspects of the novel where I wish the conversations would have been deeper but I think that in the end the authors really tried to shed light on what was important. Discussions about personal boundaries with parents, about the importance of boundaries in general. We also see the inclusion of therapy and seeking help when it feels like it's all too much and that's really important.'

I did feel like there could have been more time spent on developing the relationships (not just between Zach and Ruben) but between the band as a whole. They all had such a deep history with each other and I would've liked to see it all explored a little more. Maybe have our two main boys spend time with the others.

Additionally, it was good to see Zach's journey of realizing he was bisexual (and what that means being under their managements control) contrasted against Ruben who knows he’s gay and has been fighting being pushed into the closet for years. We were able to see first hand the harm and the hurt that these boys were going through not being able to proudly be themselves, and it does make you think about all of the awful things celebrities have to go through. I don't envy them sometimes.

In contrast there were certain things about this novel that I didn't enjoy as much. Firstly, having two authors write a novel can be tricky because sometimes their writing can be so different that it doesn't feel cohesive. Personally I became much more attached to one authors writing style and therefore liked the perspective she was writing about better - even though the character wasn't my favourite I liked reading from his POV more because of the authors writing. However, they both did a good job of moving the story along in a good pace and keeping me entertained the whole way through.

Lastly, the plot itself wasn't outrageous or groundbreaking, I was able to guess what was going to happen throughout the whole story. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't entertaining as hell. I was captivated the entire time I was reading. I cared about all of the boys, and their wellbeing to an agonizing degree! It would be hard to not read this book and root for them to get the happy endings that they deserve. This novel gave you many characters to love (Angel my sweet, sweet child) but also many to hate (I'm looking at you GEOFF) and so the thrill of seeing them succeed was gripping! Where it lacked in excitable plot reveals it made up for in exciting interpersonal struggles.

Whenever you can get your hands on this book I recommend you do so! It was a captivating, romantic, fun read and despite some of its short comings I really enjoyed it!

This was so cute! My first read of pride month and it did not let me down. I’m always in the fence about books like this because I knew the story can go one of two ways. Luckily for me, this story when right where I wanted it

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read and review this book. First, Trigger warnings for parental shame, car accidents, LGBTQIA+ 's being forced closeted,miscommunication, underraged drug use, and underage drinking. Did you ever wonder what could have happened if Lance Bass was younger when he came out and dated one of the other band members in the process?? This book is for you. This presents the negative implications of being in a famous boy band that was negatively controlled by their record company especially when it comes to their image. Although at first, I wasn't sure how this book was going to go, I appreciated what was presented such as the act of coming out as a public figure and what is best for yourself vs what is best for your career. There's a ton of friendship feels, relationship feels, and family moments that makes the book deeper than I expected in a good way. Plus I loved all the music pop star education that shows the authors' research in the music industry. My only gripe is that I had was that it took me a little bit more time to get invested in on one of the characters' perspectives (I think I just was getting annoyed at some of his inner thoughts but I am sure this character is perfect for someone else to relate to). Because of these points, I have to give this book a 4 out of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed this book! While I haven't read any books by Cale Dietrich, I have read several by Sophie Gonzales and they are all incredible. This is no exception.

Do you like boy bands, MM romance, and stories about fighting the system? Then you will probably love If This Gets Out as much as I did. I flew through this read and did not want to put it down. The pacing was great, and I enjoyed that the story is split up between the POVs of the two band members who discover their attraction for one another. It was interesting to see how the two of them processed the events of the book in different ways. All four of the band members were actually very well developed characters with important journeys of their own in addition to the adorable romance story-line.

This book tackled a lot of difficult and important topics that I wasn't really expecting. Going into reading this story, I anticipated getting something like a glorified fan fiction story, which I was completely down to read. While there were some elements similar to fan fiction, this book had a weight and gravity to it that made it stand out. It shined a light on the abuses of the music industry and the ridiculous extent to which much of what we see of celebrities is a fabricated, inauthentic version of their lives. The story also highlighted some of the negative side effects of fame, including substance abuse, mental health issues, body image struggles, and the hypersexualization of teenagers. I was particularly disturbed reading the boys' reactions to constantly being touched and photographed because I had never really stopped to think about how objectifying much of fandom culture can truly be.

Unsurprisingly, the queer rep in this story was fantastic. I especially appreciated how the bisexual character was presented. Seeing his thoughts about the struggle of coming to terms with his sexual identity was almost surreal. It was as if they plucked some of them straight from my own head. It is still weird for me when I see this type of representation because for most of my life I never saw anyone like myself (in this regard at least) in the media I consumed. So, it is still a very cathartic experience when I come across it in my reading, and I had that type of experience with this book. I particularly loved that the author took a little time to make connections between the similarities in feelings of the character toward his current romantic partner (a man) and his previous partner (a woman). It was a subtle reminder of the character's bisexuality while also illustrating deeper issues and patterns relevant to the character. This is often something I find is missing in MM romance with a bisexual character; once with the perfect man, the bisexual character is usually that in name only with no references to attractions or feelings about women. So, I really appreciated the way it was handled here.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The romance was adorable, and the authors tackled some heavy, compelling topics with a great cast of characters. I recommend it to anyone but especially those who enjoy MM romance and stories about exploring one's sexual identity. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

3.5 - 4 STARS

I definitely enjoyed this one but it also wasn’t what I was expecting.
Of course I loved all the interactions and cute moments between Zach and Ruben! But it also focuses on a lot more than just romance from the relationships with their parents to the difficulties from being in the music industry to learning to stand up for yourself.

I loved some of the scenes near the end and was constantly rooting for the band. The authors did a great job with the four main characters and it was so heartwarming seeing their friendships.

The romance was a little quick for me and the ending did feel abrupt so I would have really liked another chapter or epilogue.

Overall an fun, easy read with a beautiful message.

<b>Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc.</b>

Rep: Gay and Bisexual main character, Asian side characters.
Trigger Warning: Homophobia, forced closeting, parental abuse/neglect, alcohol, drug abuse, suicide attempt.

We follow two POV in this book which is Ruben and Zach, member of the Saturday boyband alongside with Angel and Jon. To their fans, the four of them are sort of a heartbreaker onstage while backstage a close friends. But truth is, their real persona is far off from their idol self. This book shows us how the pressure of fame really got into our idols on their tour through Europe. Ruben struggle with their agency's reluctance to allow him coming out the closet as gay and he confides to Zach during the tour and it quickly escalates their friendship into romance. Unfortunately when they finally decides tell their fans about their relationship once again their management turn a blind eye.
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I would say that this book really caught me by surprise in the second half of the book cause the story got heavy like real heavy. But i assure you this will not end in tragedy, all of the likeable characters are okay by the end. I, for one, not a big fan of boy/girl bands so i really don`t know much about works behind the scene like with their agency(like how the idols were treated, told to behaves in public, what not to say and so on) thus i can`t vouch on how close to real life the agency in the book treat our boys. All i know is that i HATE THEIR AGENCY WITH PASSION!

Honestly, all four of our boys have distinct personality and i love how i can relate to them. Almost all of the characters feel grey, we have parent that are toxic to their child yet at the same time they can be a loving parent. Sometimes i was frustrated towards a character but i still can't hate them. But there are still characters that i despise with my whole heart. I also kinda wish Angel and Jon POV were included.

Lastly, i would like to rant a little about the epilogue. Disclaimer, i am not saying the ending wass bad but it is just my personal preferences. They gave an open ending like i want a full story on what happens to all of the characters i wish ill upon. I wanna know how our MC life afterward, how things goes with their group, MCs relationship with their parents and all that.

All in all, would totally recommend this for a readers who love boy/girl bands. The writing style is easy to understand for beginner i would say and maybe even introduce to some new vocabulary.

Sophie Gonzalez and Cale Dietrich are the dynamic writing duo I didn't know I needed!!!!!

I absolutely adored If This Gets Out with my entire heart, and was totally shocked by this. I didn't expect such a well written, fan-fiction inspired read. As a hardcore Directioner and lover of other American boybands, I expected to find parallels between the characters and real-life boyband members.

Instead, I grew to love Ruben, Zach, Angel, and Jon for their incredibly unique personalities and their fierce and loving friendship. Sophie and Cale DEFINITELY did their research in terms of how artists feel stifled under their management, but they really let each character flourish under their pen.

The book is told through alternating POVs from Ruben (Sophie's character, born to be a star in his own right from many years of musical theatre training, but is being tied down by management) and Zach (Cale's character, a punk-loving people pleaser who is questioning his sexuality). I love this format, as it really lets you get inside both of their heads and develop a true sense of appreciation for every character.

I will give a content warning for 1. forced coming out (sort of) and 2. some language that depicts disordered eating from Zach. From the full scope of the story, I see why this was included (it is because their management is essentially forcing Zach to be a ripped heartthrob with no autonomy to what he wants to eat), but I wish it was addressed better in the end.

I cannot recommend If This Gets Out more if you love LGBTQIA+ stories, boybands, and characters that will make your heart burst with happiness (and then sadness when you remember that they are not real).

Beautifully written. My heart soared and ached with Zach and Reuben, and this story was such an enjoyment to read. The Author's Note about how the authors wrote the story was also illuminating and fun.

I'm so glad I got the chance to read this now! I already didn't want to wait until next year so when I spotted there was a chance to read it, I jumped at the chance and it was so worth it! It's such a good book!!
I love the characters and the look inside the music industry.
We know how controlled musicians can be but oooh it's still frustrating when you read it.
All the characters are great. I felt like there could have been just a liiiittle more to Jon, like he wasn't quite fully formed but it didn't matter overall. Zach and Ruben were great as leads and the switching back and forth between character and author worked seamlessly. The voices and writing style were unique enough to be two separate entities but close enough that they totally complemented each other.
For the most part, the story was a solid marching pace. I admit it lost me a bit at the midpoint - I put the book down and just didn't pick it up again for ages. but as soon as I did, I got right back into it.
I loved that it built so much stress and tension and yet was very sweet and funny.
Absolutely need to buy a physical copy once it does come out!