Based on the synopsis, I expected If this Gets Out to be a boyband rom-com involving a secret relationship between members. What I never anticipated was for it to deliver such hard-hitting themes involving exploitation in the music industry. This was such a powerful story, and I have nothing but praise for it.

~★~ What is this book about? ~★~

As a member of the wildly popular boyband Saturday, Ruben has gotten used to his management team controlling every aspect of his life. During Saturday’s European tour, the constant pressure to perform leads Ruben and his fellow bandmate Zach to rely on each other more than ever, to the point where they find themselves involved in a behind the scenes romance. The two eventually agree that they want to be honest with their fans and come out publicly, but their relationship begins to falter when they find out management never intends to give them the green light.

~★~

If This Gets Out exceeded my every expectation; I adored Rhuben, Zach, Jon and Angel with my whole heart. Their friendship—which went through several ups and downs—felt incredibly real. Angel’s sense of humour in particular was definitely a bright spot for me, I couldn’t get enough of it. His playful banter with the rest of the group (especially upon finding out about Ruben and Zach’s relationship) was everything!

The romance developed at an impeccable pace. Zach coming to terms with his sexuality paired with the details of Ruben’s past created the perfect amount of tension and buildup between them. Soon enough, though, I realized that this story is so much more than just a romance. Ruben and Zach are constantly navigating the confines of their company contracts, searching for the wiggle room that allows them to freely express themselves in public. Even moreso, the depiction of Angel’s mental health battle shook me to my core. Nothing ever felt rushed or out of place, and I found myself very pleased with the way the story wrapped up.

I could continue to sing my praises about this book, but I’m too busy smiling about it to write anything more. If This Gets Out definitely delivers its promised heartwarming romance, but in the end leaves you with so much more to love.

I was fortunate enough to receive an e-ARC for this book as it was my most anticipated release of the year. And it sure did not disappoint! I was pulled into this story instantly, and the story between Zach and Ruben was wild from start to finish. The two different writing stories of Gonzales and Dietrich melded so well together, and felt cohesive while still feeling like separate voices. If you love secret romances and friends to lovers, this is the perfect book for you.

There's a part of me that knew immediately that I was going to adore this book; I've read one of both Cale and Sophie's books and loved them, so that plus the fact that I consider myself to be a boyband enthusiast equals one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. I am so happy that this book delivered!

Most importantly, I was excited to see how original Zach, Ruben, Angel and Jon felt. At no point during the book did I find myself making comparisons between them and real members of real boybands, but all four of the boys in Saturday felt so real. And just like any real boyband, their unique characteristics came together to form a cohesive unit, as not only coworkers but as believable best friends. In that same regard, the blossoming relationship between Zach and Ruben also felt completely believable. I particularly enjoyed the dual POVs most in that section of the book, where Zach was working out his own identity while Ruben silently questioned everything he thought he knew about his friendship with Zach.

I've always been the kind of person who was fascinated by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and the things behind the scenes that aren't as glitzy and glamorous. IF THIS GETS OUT portrayed that balance perfectly. I also appreciated the bits toward the end where the power that the fans of Saturday held was showcased in a positive light, as someone who has definitely been in those fans' shoes in the past.

(4.5 stars rounded up!)
If This Gets Out is a story about a boy band and what happens when two of those boys fall in love… but it’s so much more than that.
This is a story about boy band Saturday and their struggle to be true to themselves in the oppressive world of the music industry. Ruben, Zach, Angel, and Jon are at the peak of their careers, but things aren’t at all what they seem on the surface (aka social media). Angel is portrayed to be fun-loving and goofy, when in reality he’s struggling with a lot more under the surface. Jon, moralistic Catholic boy, is forced to be more provocative than he would like in order to be the womanizer of the band. Zach is the bad boy… but only in public. Behind the scenes he’s ever-agreeable to whatever is best for the group. And Ruben. Ruben is gay and extremely talented: two things that Saturday’s management group have made clear are unacceptable. Instead, Ruben is made to be as unassuming as possible, dressed in neutral tones and never allowed to show off his classically-trained vocal range. These characters are fleshed out in such a way that you fall in love with every member, not just the two at the center of the love story.
I will admit, when I first read the synopsis for this book, my head immediately went to one certain prominent boy band and the speculations that their fandom produced of a secret relationship between two of the members. However, it took less than fifty pages of If This Gets Out for my mind to completely separate Saturday and its members from any real-life comparisons. From the beginning, I was instantly hooked. I cannot wait for this book to be released so that the public gets to fall in love with Saturday as much as I have! (And to pick up my own physical copy for my personal library!)

I was excited to read this based on the premise. This is an engaging and engrossing read. I think I read it over two days, as it was hard to put down.

Zach, Ruben, Jon, and Angel are members of the boyband Saturday. The story follows them on tour, as they deal with the fatiguing travel arrangements, the confines of their existence as members of the band, and the restrictive hold management has on them. They've been characterized as archetypes but what lies behind that band persona isn't who they really are. The way the story telling progresses what initially seemed reasonable parameters and safety precautions become increasingly clear as rigid and overly controlling behavior. Every facet of their lives is scripted, choreographed, decided on by others. I think this story manages to accurately portray the inside reality of life as a young celebrity. The dark side of the music industry and road to success were definitely revealed here. The tension of that situation builds as the story progresses.

The story is told in alternating main character POV between Zach and Ruben.

I enjoyed this book. It was paced well as far as the wonderful romance between Zach and Ruben and the progressive reveal of how controlled the lives of all four boys were and how personally constraining it was to each band member in a different way.

The story mainly follows Zach and Ruben and the advent of their relationship, following Zach's dawning realization that he is bisexual and attracted to Ruben, who has been attracted to Zach for awhile. They have their share of miscommunication but they manage to find a way to talk through it eventually and both characters become more three dimensional as the story progresses.

These are flawed characters who do experience personal growth through the story. I think we didn't get quite enough of the personal side of things from Angel and Jon, as this was a Ruben and Zach focused POV novel. I think I would have liked to have Jon and Angel be a bit more fleshed out as characters.

The toxic relationship Ruben had with his mom made my heart ache and I felt it captured that kind of high stress, critical, perfectionist experience quite accurately.

This book deals very directly with homophobia, substance abuse, toxic relationships (management and parental). The complicated issues of identity and coming out were addressed in a sensitive manner.

Ruben and Zach's story is a wonderful queer romance. The deep friendship between the four band members was also a high point in the book--you could tell how much they truly cared for each other.

I was not happy with many of the adults in this book--these kids were struggling and the adults around them were more concerned about the show going on than the situations unfolding for them. The boys had to support each other, because the external supports weren't doing it for them.

I did feel the ending was a bit rushed. It felt like things were still happening when the story ended.

I think the themes of teenagers figuring themselves out, transitioning into adulthood, navigating high stress relationships, and recognizing toxicity in those relationships, were all well addressed in this book, I enjoyed it as an adult but I think teens will find much that resonates. It's a romance yes but it's not all fluff. It deals head on with substance abuse, homophobia, identity, and a host of other issues.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I think its definitely one to read and I strongly recommend it.
My thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

this was way better than i expected. it felt like a realistic portrayal of what being in the music industry is like and how artists, especially queer artists are controlled and abused by their record labels in order to maintain a certain image. it was a sweet romance but also delved into hard hitting topics and i loved it.
tws: drug abuse, parental abuse, homophobia, alcohol

TW: Drug Use

This is about the boy band pop sensation called Saturday. You have Zach the bad boy, Jon the charismatic womanizer, Angel who is the innocent virgin and Ruben who just kind of hangs out in the background. Every member of the group has a role to play and the management team makes sure of it. Saturday is at the very top of their game and all the members are thriving, at least that is how it looks from the outside.

This is told from alternating perspectives of two of the members, Ruben and Zach. Ruben has been forced to be closeted and has had a crush on Zach since forever. Zach has always dated women, until one night left him wondering if he something other than straight.

This book takes us through a secret love affair that is compounded by the pressures of fame. The record label puts tons of pressure on the these boy's image and forces them to make personal sacrifices to uphold that image. To the record label, their image is everything. This also creates mental and emotional turmoil and leads some of the members to make decisions they would not have otherwise made. The book feels so authentic in how it portrays fame and it's pressures. I actually was reminded of how N'Sync and Backstreet Boys alluded to these same pressures they faced growing up in a boy band and this felt like such a reflection of those experiences. I loved how I could completely see this happening in real time.

We are also taken on a journey of Zach becoming more aware of his sexuality and the personal struggle he faced in opening up about it. His character shows a ton of vulnerability not only personally but professionally as he tried to factor everything into a cohesive whole.

Overall, this is everything I could have wanted from this book. At the beginning it did feel like something was missing. To me it lacked a supportive community outside the band members; but, I struggled with this because while a supportive community was the ideal it was not a realistic notion that the record label would put the boy's emotions over business. While I argue with myself over the fact this lacked some tenderness external to the members of the band, I know this was portrayed accurately. This lack of external tenderness at the beginning of the book was more then made up for as the book progressed and I loved this so much.

This book will be released in December 7th of 2021 and I'm so excited to have a physical copy of this book when it comes out.

As a note to potential readers, I would say that this book straddles the line between young adult and new adult. The characters are 18, and while there is no explicit sex or even much cursing, there are lots of more mature topics. I would recommend it for readers 16+.

I will be totally and completely honest: I went into If This Gets Out quite skeptically. The set up to this book is...well, it’s the set up to this book. I was not sure how the “two boys in a boy band fall for each other” thing was going to go over, and I knew it definitely had to be written well for me to think it was good. However, I am quite pleased to say that my expectations were wrong, and I actually really enjoyed this book.

The thing that hooked me was Ruben and Zach’s relationship. At the beginning we had the pining. The butterflies, the cuteness, the gooeyness. And as a romance reader, I obviously loved it. And then once they got together, I really enjoyed their relationship dynamic. The romance is really what got me into the book and held me there until I got invested in the other parts of it.

I think it’s important for any readers going in to understand that while this is undoubtedly a great queer romance, it is also much more than that. If This Gets Out tackles a lot of important topics, most of them involving how getting famous at a young age can detrimentally affect people, and the way the music industry mistreats both young artists who don’t know enough to fight back on their own, and the way it treats queer people.

A theme that is notable from the beginning of the book is the fact that all the boys are forced to repress their true personalities for the sake of marketing. Ruben is forced to keep his gay identity in the closet, Jon is constantly asked to do things he is clearly uncomfortable with, and Angel isn’t allowed to be his true self. Because they are touring without their parents, they are all on their own, and instead being controlled by management. While some readers may not approve of all the boys’ actions, I think it is very noticeable that they are doing the best they can. This is a group of 18-year-olds who, although they know they are being treated unfairly (sometimes even deplorably), they don’t know how to change it. They don’t have the life experience, legal resources, or support necessary to handle the situation that they are in. And while this is fiction (and I by no means keep up with the inner workings of the music industry), I would say that the experiences these characters face are probably not very different from actual young artists in the music industry.

I know others have raised issues on how drugs and drug addiction were handled in the book. And honestly, I don’t know enough about this issue to have an opinion on it. One issue that I do think they handled well was toxic and abusive parenting.

I cannot even count the number of young adult books I have read where the parents exhibit toxic or emotionally abuse behavior throughout the entire thing, and then it’s wrapped up at the end by one parent-child conversation where the parent basically says, “I never wanted to hurt you, I just love you so much, and that’s why I acted in the extremely shitty way that I did.” And then the book acts like this means the parent will be good from here on out. I am quite tired of it, and SO happy that we didn’t get that!

Ruben’s mom constantly criticizes him, and basically acts like he is never good enough for her. And although we do get a moment from her where she gives a stereotypical apology, the book acknowledges that this doesn’t really change much. She still exhibits the same harmful behavior, and we get Ruben contemplating how he wants to deal with the situation, trying to find separation from her without having to cut off his entire family. I just really liked that neither Ruben nor the reader has to forgive his mother for the way she treated him.

But above all, I think my favorite part of this book was the queer representation. For one, I really liked reading about Zach’s identity crisis. I just found it so relatable. As a bisexual person, my own grappling with my identity was very similar to Zach’s. Not the accidentally-kissing-your-best-friend-while-drunk thing, but the looking-back-on-the-constant- repression-of-previous-crushes thing. The feeling when you know deep down that you are queer, but you’re still much too unsure to admit it even to yourself. I also really liked the way coming out was handled. There was a lot of discussion about how coming out is a person’s choice, they shouldn’t ever feel forced into it, it should only be done when they actually want to. I thought it was a really important discussion, that many teens might find helpful. And there was no forced outing! Which is a common trope that I think we all need a break from.

My deepest issue with the book comes from pacing. The pacing wasn’t something I noticed until after I had finished the book. While the first half of the book certainly isn’t slow, upon reflection I believe that it could have been faster, and that would have allowed for a more fleshed-out second half. Either that, or a first half that set us up more for the second half. I would have liked more time with all four of the boys as a group, and there were still some issues that weren’t quite fully addressed (namely, Zach’s potential eating disorder).

Overall, I really enjoyed If This Gets Out. It was a great queer romance that also dealth with many important issues, and I would certainly recommend it if you are interested in either of those things.

3 stars

While i wanted to like this book more, it felt like there was more drama than anything else (WHERE IS THE FLUFF??)

Also I might just be jaded, but like boohoo, you make millions as teenager at the cost of your personal freedom? Like this is still set in a world where people are paychecks away from homelessness and these 4 are complaining because they have to fit stereotypes? They signed up for the industry, I wasn't sure what else they were expecting. In a realistically world, they do this for a few years until the next boy band comes around, and they wane from stardom and then they can have all the personal freedom they want.

I mean it sucks but for a book that claims to be realistic, that's the least they could've showed.

This book was absolutely charming and I am so deeply in love with it. It was a wonderful story of love and triumph.

This was such a great story. The characters moved perfectly together.
(Angel was my boy)
The relationship between Ruben and Zach was well paced, and felt real. Watching how strong Ruben is against Zach's calm nature and wanting everyone to be happy was a great mix.
Jon gave me the mum friend vibe. While Angel was to funny.
This book isn't just all light and fluffy though. It really showed the darker side of the music industry. And the selfishness of higher ups.
Watching the four of them grow to stand up for themselves and each other really made this book.
Sophie and Cale's writing style complemented each other beautiful and I'd hundred percent would read another colab by them.

If This Gets Out was an excellent read on many levels. First of all, I loved the romance between Ruben and Zach, which felt natural and developed at a believable pace as the story progressed. I also appreciated the hard look the book gave to the entertainment industry, focusing on the behind-the-scenes pressures, deceptions and exploitation, rather than the in-front-of-the-camera glamour. That added to the sense of 'realism' about the piece and provided food for thought on matters of celebrities and their fans. From start to finish I was deeply engaged in the story and eager to see how both the romance and the band's future would play out. The only one minor niggle I had was not with the story or the characters but with the formatting. The font changed between chapters as we switched from Ruben to Zach's POV and back. I didn't find this helpful. Instead it was jarring, as my eyes had to adjust to the change each time, which jolted me out of the story. The chapters already noted the name of the POV character as a header, so it would have been clear enough we were changing POV without the font altering as well. But as I said, that gripe is with the formatting only, and it all other respects I really loved this book. As such, I am giving it 4.5 stars, which I would round up to a five, rather than down to a four.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an amazing read. The perspective of the boys was strongly written and felt like a realistic portrayal of the inner thoughts of young musicians in the boy band world. I love the way the tension and romantic between the main characters Ruben and Zach was showcased. It captured the feeling behind being attracted to someone perfectly and it sucked me in as a reader which allowed me to root for them the entire way.

One element I really enjoyed was how Ruben had no shame for who he was along with Zach who later comes into terms with his sexuality rather than wanting to stay hidden which we see represented in countless of stories. If This Gets Out has the perfect amount of angst and romance which not one overshadowing the other. You never want too much angst as reader where you're always waiting for something good to finally happen and you are unable to enjoy the story. On the other hand you don't want things to always be content since it will result in a less than entertaining story that loses you.

I also really enjoyed how the darkness of being in the public eye and the bad hidden side of celebrity culture was given - I believe it really elevated the story and gave it an interesting and real layer.

let's start with the positive things: there's Asian, Black, gay and bi rep. the writing style is fast paced and easy to read. there are two POVs and there weren't hard to differentiate.

it reads like a classic YA contemporary and i'm happy that this queer book will be published, because i do believe that what happens to our mcs is reality for a lot of queer artists and we should be talking about their struggles more.

i also liked that the process of zach questioning his sexuality was shown. this will be helpful for questioning young readers!

however, i do have some criticism. there's a huge lack of female representation in this book, which i'm not used to from other books by sophie gonzales. all female characters are either emotionally abusive and/or don't have an arc.

this also leads us to the fact that the mcs do not have any friends besides their 2 bandmates. a friend could have been an opportunity for an important female character - but no, there's nothing like that. since we already have changing POVs of 2/4 of the important characters, i felt like there was a lack of variety in general.

also, clearly every bandmember is forced to be on an unhealthy diet. especially zach sounds like he has an eating disorder. i would have wished there to be more of a focus on how their eating behaviour is actually harmful and that people can be beautiful without being muscular and/or thin.

thank you netgalley for the ace in exchange for an honest opinion.

I'm obsessed.

Sophie and Cale did such a great job cowriting this. Zach and Ruben are such a great couple to root for and so 3-Dimensional, as are Angel and Jon. (PS Jon deserves the world). This glimpse into boy bands and them having to hide themselves and put on a show/be their brand, is so interesting.

Zuben is so so cute. Zach figuring things out while initially denying that side of himself is relatable. Them working through that, and all their issues with their parents and themselves, while building their relationship flowed so well and felt really special. They're one of my fav book couples.

What happened with Angel sucked, and some of their parents sucked, and while it's hard for me to grasp that reality, I can easily see those things happening in the industry.

I did not want to put this book down. Sophie has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I will read everything of hers. This was my first read of Cale's, and I'll be checking out more of their books.

NetGalley review- two teenagers in a boy band are forced to live in the closet due to the pressures if their management company and deal with the struggles of everything that fame brings. It was a cute read and ends happily ever after. I liked it!

I found this to be an engaging story (I finished reading at 1:00 AM because I just HAD to find out how it ended) with a romance plot that was a good balance of fluff and angst. It touches lightly on a whole bunch of issues but at the heart of it this is a book about having the space to figure out who you are--and having the freedom to share who you are--and I think it does a great job.

Ruben and Zac are members of a world-famous boy band. Along with friends and fellow band-mates Angel and Jon, they embark on their first European tour, where they find their management gives them even less room to be themselves than usual: they must always fit the personae that their management and PR teams have chosen for them, they don't have time for much sight-seeing or downtime, and the stress is definitely getting to them. Zach and Ruben grow closer and eventually begin a physical relationship, but they're not allowed to go public--or even be out--because they're supposed to be available for teenage girls to fantasize about.

One of the things I struggled with was that I just didn't enjoy Zach's chapters. I felt he took too long to figure out what he wanted--which was the whole idea, I get that, but to the point where every chapter for a bit there I just wanted to reach in there and smack him. And then skip to the next chapter because I was tired of him. All of the characters felt underdeveloped, but I guess I was able to connect with Ruben more.

Also some of the adults were a little too horrible to feel believable, but maybe that just shows I'm naive and think too highly of people?

I would definitely recommend this book to fans of YA queer romance, readers of fanfiction, and lovers of boy bands.

This book was BEAUTIFUL. I have to admit, I'm slightly biased towards romcoms which have bands in them so the second I read the premise of this, I knew I would absolutely love this book. And I had guessed right. The writing in this was fantastic and I loved every word. And the band, Saturday had such great dynamics. Jon, Angel, Zach and Ruben are all great characters and their banter in the book was so nice and hilarious. And of course, Zach and Ruben's relationship was so cute and adorable and it just has my heart and soul. I say this about a lot of books, but I always mean it.

If you're looking for a queer romcom with boy bands and cute relationship, then If This Gets Out is the perfect book!

Covering several hard-hitting topics, If This Gets Out was ultimately a book that was immersive and a lot of fun.

I am fangirling over this book and band so much!!! If This Gets Out was everything I want in a story, forbidden romance, angsty days and two adorable characters who I wanted to love and protect with my whole heart!!!