This is very much not the type of book I am normally interested in (rom-com style, boyband related, just not my thing). but this was very well written and I was surprised by how much I liked it!

I mostly enjoyed this book! I found the prose style a little difficult to get through, and the overall plot following the boyband fell a little flat for me, but I found the characters relatable and sympathizable! I would definitely pick up another Gonzales book in the future!

Overall a fun romp, and an enjoyable nod to one direction fanfiction, this was a pretty quick read. Some of the plot felt a bit far fetched, and many of the characters fell very flat, i would have liked to see more depth and nuance there. Cute at times, but not particularly well written, or a strong addition to the queer rom com cannon.

Zach Knight, Ruben Montez, Angel Phan, and Jon Braxton make up the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest rising musical acts in America. Their image suggests they're heartbreakers onstage and on screen and best friends behind the scenes. But even a carefully crafted image can begin to fall when management wants to take control of every aspect of your life. Angel is starting to turn to other means of control, Jon is feeling less like his father (head of management)'s son and more like a marketing tool, Zach is becoming more certain each and every day that while he's a part of Saturday he'll never be able to come out as gay, and Ruben is struggling to figure out his feelings when a drunken kiss with his best friend and bandmate Zach sparks something new. A whirlwind trip through Europe allows the boys to become the stars they've always dreamed of, but tensions rising over jealousy, secrecy, unresolved emotions may lead Saturday into deep waters where they're no longer able to navigate on their own. Will the band (and Zach and Ruben's relationship) survive the tour and what comes next?

I have struggled to just sit down and finish this book ever since an ARC copy dropped on my NetGalley. Around release there was some undeserved criticism surrounding the book and its similarities to a real-life band, which the authors have repeatedly stated they have not based the book on, so I wanted to wait until I was in a good space to read, rate, and review the book as to not give it an unfair review to add on. I ended up listening to the audiobook while diamond painting and I'm so glad I finally got through and gave the whole book a chance. It's told in dual POV (Zach and Ruben's in first person) and while I would've maybe liked a dual narration to help highlight the change in perspective, I found that each character was distinct enough in their own way that I didn't have trouble keeping track. I appreciated how this book does not shy away from the negativity of the music industry, and how young people who become extremely famous extremely fast can sometimes be placed under management that will not always have their best interests as individuals at heart, only their interests as performers or money-makers. And how easy it is for them to turn a blind eye to substance abuse issues until they become impossible to ignore. I loved Zach and Ruben and how they brought out each other's strengths. I found it especially impactful when they are telling management about their relationship and while Ruben is buying the excuse of "not going public until they're ready," Zach knows that as long as they are making albums and selling out shows they'll always be forced into the closet. I wish we could've gotten more insight into Jon's thoughts, as the producer's son it had to be incredibly tough knowing that his career as a whole will always be more important to his dad than him as a person. Overall, the balance between sweet and serious moments made me want to keep listening, so I would highly recommend picking up If This Gets Out if you've been interested.

This book was nicely written and a fun read. Although it wasn’t my favorite from the two authors, and not nearly as memorable, it was fun nonetheless. I enjoyed learning about the characters as their relationships with each other and everyone else progressed, and the storyline was cute and intriguing.

I really liked the concept of the book and was super excited to read it. The LGBTQ+ representation is wonderful and I'm always up for diversity! However, to be honest while I liked the premise and getting all the behind the scenes of a boy band, it was hard for me to push through and finish this book. It didn't keep my interest as much as I wanted it to. I guess I'm just not the intended audience, but I'm sure fans of music and ya contemporary will enjoy it! Thank you so much to Netgalley for the e-arc.

Be still, my boyband-loving heart. What an absolutely spectacular time. I enjoyed everything about this.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I expected to like it but was not expecting to love it! Quite some time after finishing it, I still find myself thinking of these characters quite frequently. I am so glad I picked this one up and so grateful to Netgalley for the gifted e-copy! I don’t know that this is something I’d have picked up if I hadn’t stumbled across it on Netgalley.

I really liked this one and the audio pairing was great! Boy band and gay rep was phenomenal, totally the gen z/wattpad lover in me was thrilled!

Highly recommend anything by sophie gonzales

What a fun concept! Sophie Gonzales has become an auto-read author for me, and this book was more of the same. This felt like a love letter to fangirls (and fanboys) and I appreciated it. Well done, Sophie and Cale!

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I expected this book to be my favourite read of 2022. Everyone was hyping it up for me and not to mention it features boybands, LGBTQ+ relationships and Europe. What wasn't there to love? I wanted so desperately to love this book and when I didn't (at least to the extent I expected), I felt a tad bit disappointed. I guess this only proves I shouldn't hold too high expectations.

Let's start off with the things I liked though, I liked how this book shone a light on the restraints of the music industry and the pressure to remain closeted as a queer artist. This was handled really well along with the pressure to fit in with the image PR teams and management want you to uphold and the struggles of trying to play that part. You could see this struggle play out with all the characters from the mains to the sides but in particular with Angel and Ruben who felt frustrated by fame and tried alleviating the stresses in different ways.

The other thing I really liked was the relationships between all the characters and how they bantered on with one another. You could see the mateship between them and how they were really there for one another. My favourite characters had to be Angel and Zach though. Angel because of his boisterous personality and Zach because of his calmness and his love for rock music.

Now for the things I felt could've been improved. Considering this book was set in Europe, I wanted to get more atmosphere and more setting. I understood why this was, but it did create a jump of sorts with the pacing. One minute we were in London and the next, Paris with seemingly no transition in between. Maybe this could've been rectified if only a few tour stops were mentioned instead of multiple like there were in this book?

Aside from that and how I wanted a bit more emotional connection between Zach and Ruben than physical, I thought this book was good but the pacing did let it down at times.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.1 STARS

I have fallen in love with Sophie Gonzales’s writing so I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of this book, which was co-written with Cale Dietrich. I went in somewhat uninformed, and I am not sure if I would have read it when I did if I’d read content warnings in advance. Even so, this was well written and very memorable, and the plot was largely heavy but ultimately uplifting.

Zac and Ruben are two members of a four-person boy band called Saturday. With Angel and Jon, the group has been close friends for a long time and they are maintaining a grueling schedule on their first international tour. Ruben has known he was gay for years but their management company has kept him in the closet. Zac starts to realize that he might also like guys, and Ruben and Zac eventually start a secret relationship with each other. Angel has addiction troubles, and Jon is the son of their manager. The story generally takes place when tension within the group is high and increasing, from the grueling schedule of the tour and the way each of them cope with the requisite expectations.

I am generally a romance reader. I am a firm believer that the genre can represent a wide range of stories, and I would not exclude this book from the definition. I loved the ending of this book on multiple levels, I was just not prepared for the angst that dominated the story for me. Angel's plotline aside, I was very worried that the characters or their relationship would be outed (not by them and not planned), which didn’t happen.

Content notes: drug addiction/abuse, reckless behavior, a character gets hit by a car on page, gaslighting

Throughout June, GeekMom celebrates Pride Month with lots of LGBTQ content. Follow the Pride Month tag to find all the content in one space (including LGBTQ content from previous years) and keep checking back for more throughout the month. Today’s book review is If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich.

Please Note: This post contains affiliate links.
Trigger Warnings: Homophobia/biphobia, drug abuse, toxic relationship (parent/child), alcoholism, addiction, emotional abuse, confinement, forced outing.

At one time or another, I imagine that most have us (at least those of us who identify as female) have gone through the phase of being obsessed with a boyband. It may have been Backstreet Boys or Boyzone, perhaps Duran Duran or the Bay City Rollers (or even The Beatles). Younger readers might be experiencing it now with BTS, or recently with One Direction. Whoever it was—or is—we can all identify with watching a highly polished group of pretty faces singing and dancing on stage while hordes of screaming teenage fans watch on.

If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich is a YA romance told from the alternating perspectives of Ruben and Zach, two teenage members of the globally popular boyband Saturday along with their friends Jon and Angel. The band is managed and produced by Chorus, an agency obsessed with making the boys as popular (and profitable) as possible and so every element of their lives is controlled, from the clothes they wear to their haircuts, what they are allowed to discuss in interviews, and where they are allowed to go.

For Ruben, this has also meant hiding his sexuality. Chorus worries that letting him come out as gay will push away fans who will no longer be able to picture him as the “perfect boyfriend” as well as alienating conservative parents and even whole countries. However, the band is struggling under the pressure their fame has brought them as they embark upon their first tour of Europe. Angel is experimenting with dangerous substances, Jon is struggling to reconcile his Catholic faith with the leering bad boy image Chorus has foisted upon him, and so Ruben and Zach end up relying on one another more and more, causing their friendship to blossom into a romance.

Pushed to reveal their new relationship to Chorus, Ruben and Zach soon find themselves being pulled apart, no longer allowed to perform beside one another or even sit beside one another in interviews lest anyone catch a glimpse of the truth. Quickly, the boys realize that Chorus will never allow them to be themselves, but with everything threatening to fall apart, will they be able to stay together?

If This Gets Out was a fantastic yet frustrating book that I raced through in just a few days. Ruben and Zach were both great characters with unique voices who I was able to identify with almost instantly, and the rest of their band were also given well-rounded personalities so it was easy to recognize each of them and I never found myself getting mixed up about who was who. While they were both in the same situation, Ruben and Zach’s identities gave them both a different perspective. Ruben has known he is gay for years and is frustrated at being constantly silenced and forced to keep his true self hidden. Zach, on the other hand, has only just realized he might be bisexual and feels pressured into revealing such personal details to his bandmates and management too quickly. These conflicting viewpoints keep the tension building throughout the book as the cracks begin to deepen within the band.

I also very much appreciated the ending. While the key event of the finale is obvious almost right from the start, I loved that the book didn’t end on it. Instead, there are repercussions to be dealt with: financial, legal, social, and personal. I suppose this could be seen as discouraging, but I felt it came across as realistic without negating the positive side of what happened.

GeekMom received a copy of this title for review purposes.

I have pretty mixed thoughts on this one, if I'm being honest. As a die hard Directioner, I was DESPERATE to read this book, but when I finally got my hands on it, it didn't quite match up with what I was hoping it would be. While I *loved* the dynamic between all the boys and the (mostly?) realistic seeming portrayal of what it can be like behind the scenes to be in a hugely popular boyband, this book just felt way, WAY too long. Even though I was totally absorbed in the relationship between Ruben and Zach, because this book has such a heavy tone, it really ended up feeling like a slog through a lot of the middle and I am so bummed about it. With all that being said, I do definitely still recommend this book (especially to my fellow boyband fans!). I just recommend going into it minding the content warnings beforehand.

CW: homophobia, underage drinking, drug use, verbally abusive parents/authority figures

If This Gets Out

This was so much fun!! I read 350/400 pages yesterday, and quickly finished it this morning. We follow Ruben and Zach who are two of four members of the boyband Saturday. Ruben is gay and is crushing on Zach. Zach thinks he’s straight until one drunken night when he kisses Ruben.

This deals with the darker side of being famous, and being controlled by your label, and the different ways the boys dealt with it. I loved the friendship between the four of them, and also really loved the romance. This was so hard to put down and I’m so glad I read this one.

*2.5 stars*

Look, I haven't read these authors before, but is If This Gets Out just straight up published fan fiction? I'm not a huge fan-fic reader, but even I got some mega Larry vibes...

If This Gets Out was a book I have very mixed feeling about, fan-fic dubious origins aside. I always enjoy a sexuality discovery story, but famous people books don't often work for me (too much of a distraction) and the fade to black scenes (*wails*)... but there was also something nice about the story, especially if you don't mind extra teenage angst.

Warning: this review may be mostly rambling thoughts.

I know record companies are like the true devils a lot of the time, but I found it extremely odd how Jon's dad was the "bad guy" but also married to Jon's mom who was conveniently clueless about his restrictions? That plotline was badly mishandled. Why even make the head honcho Jon's dad? It made the plot very muddy, IMO.

On the topic of families, I sort of enjoyed the toxic parents of Reuben as I feel like that's scary realistic for a lot of people. It made the story feel a bit different than a lot of "bad parent" stories. Not all parents are overtly bad, but the subtle cuts kill. However, I found Zach's personality and plotlines to be much more underwhelming. Angel was entertaining in a messy way.

Romance verdict? Cute-ish. I honestly wanted a bit more, but I dug them and felt entertained, though the damn fade-to-black scenes irritated me. I prefer either no sex on page, just don't even discuss, or the full thing, baby. The tease and then fade away was not my scene.

Overall, an entertaining read that felt very fan-fiction-ish. I was expecting something different, but I think the story will please YA readers.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

A fast, delightful, engrossing read. I couldn't put this one down because I just absolutely had to know what came next. Two young men and their boyband bandmates finding themselves, their identities and navigating hollywood trying to control their entire lives.

I really enjoyed this book. I am not a huge YA reader but Ruben and Zach stole my heart. I definitely recommend this!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for giving me this eARC to review.

I will say that I read this a while ago but my review seemed to never go through so I am having to give this review trying to remember a lot of what happened but I do remember how I felt about the book.

I love Sophie and Cale's writing but it was while reading this book that I realised that books to do with rockstars/bands are just not for me.

*Arc provided by Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.*

If you've ever read a single fan fiction about a ship for a boy band this book is made for you. If This Gets Out follows the band Saturday, a group of 4 boys who met at summer camp that made it big. As the band itself struggles with the pressures of fame and their ever decreasing freedom, band members Ruben and Zach struggle with their changing relationship.

The nice thing about this book is while it's about Ruben and Zach's relationship it's also a cautionary tale about how if you aren't careful your dreams can become nightmares. The struggles each member of Saturday go through are things that anyone coming up in the music industry would probably be faced with. To go from being relatively unknown to having every moment of your day planned out with no control of even your free time. The dynamic of Ruben and his mother who is so critical of him he doesn't know how to establish and maintain boundaries. It's one of those books that tells a story within a story.