Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

This book was sweet! The dual main characters were interesting and well written. I love stories about bands and tour because it’s so different from daily life. I really enjoyed all of it!

This feels like a book for the millennials out there who all went through a boyband phase. I loved this book's premise and it delivered on it.

I have always loved a Sophie Gonzales story, but paired with Cale Dietrich was even better than I imagined. This is a story I wish I could have read when I was in middle school. The overall flow of the writing and storytelling was top tier and it lended itself nicely to the audio format. The narrator was easy to listen to and depicted the characters nicely. I feel like the only struggle I had came with the quality of the audio - I don't think that was on the authors, but was on the audio player itself.

While this didn't fit my personal tastes, I appreciated the difficult issues it tackled in its writing, including homophobia, addiction, and what constant media exposure can do, especially to youth. It was also very current in reflecting how attitudes towards the LBGTQ+ community are constantly shifting.

This book wasn't for me. I had a hard time connecting with it and it felt more like a spruced up fan-fiction, rather than a published book. I also didn't feel like there was enough character development throughout this book, so the characters ended up feeling flat to me.

Discussed on All the Books (Book Riot podcast). Transcript below.

This is a YA novel about a boy band, told in two perspectives.
Ruben and Zach are both members of Saturday, which is a hugely popular boy band.
They are successful, popular, wealthy--and control very little about their own lives.
Everything about their public-facing personas is crafted by the label, and they can’t do anything that would conflict with their brand.
So their bandmate, Angel, has to appear as the wholesome, cute one, even though he’s actually a class clown hard partying type who’s currently slipping into more and more dangerous behaviour.
Their other bandmate, Jon, is the “sexy” one, despite feeling this seriously conflicts with his faith and what he’s comfortable with.
For Ruben, though, it means being closeted.
He’s been out as gay to his friends and family for years, and it’s an open secret with the media, but he’s not allowed to discuss it publicly.
The label keeps promising it will happen soon, but Ruben’s pretty sure they’ll keep putting it off forever.
In their European tour, Angel’s partying lands them all with even more restrictions, unable to even leave their hotel rooms, and the demanding schedule and lack of freedom has them all on edge.
Luckily, Ruben and Zach have always been very close friends, and they can go to each other for support.
Until one night hanging out with each other in their hotel room turned into something more, though Zach was sure he was straight.
Cue the miscommunication, angst, secrecy, and drama as the media decides they hate each other and the band is falling apart.
I thought this was a fascinating look at what it must be like to be inside of a band like this, where these teenagers are simultaneously much more powerful and have less agency than the average teen.
It looks at how fandom and being famous is a double-edged sword.
Most of the time, the band feels love and support from their fans.
But they also are dangerous, both for their mental health and their physical safety.
They can be swarmed in crowds, including being touched by strangers, and they know they could very easily be injured in these situations.
Ruben especially also feels guilt and anger about not being able to communicate the truth of who they are to their fans that love them.
I appreciated that although this is a romance, it’s not just about their relationship.
We see glimpses of Angel’s and Jon’s struggles--Jon’s dad is their manager, and he often feels like the money comes before their family relationship.
Zach and Ruben also come from very different families.
Ruben was brought up with music, especially musicals, and has been training since he was a small child.
His mother is controlling and critical, forwarding along every negative piece of press about him, and calling just to tear apart any perceived mistake in his performance.
He isn’t sure how to best navigate their relationship, craving those rare moments of support and love.
Zach, on the other hand, has a very loving mother, and comes from a working class background, never getting used to their new wealth. Despite her support, he’s nervous about discussing his possibly bisexuality with her.
The romance itself is angsty, and be prepared to read about internalized homophobia and biphobia, as well as homophobia from the industry.
Also, so much miscommunication--which feels very realistic for their situation, but I did want to shake them.
I can imagine that a certain subsection of 1Direction or similar boy band fans will be obsessed with this book.
I listened to the audiobook, and it was really well done.
Although this is co-written, it flows very well, and I definitely forgot it wasn’t just one author writing the whole book.
If you want an M/M boy band romance with a bit of angst and a lot of rage against homophobic record labels, definitely pick this one up.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! This is a very cinegraphic book, and I could definitely see it working as a film limited series. I loved the cast of characters and their story; it's very coming if age meets boy band.

This book definitely gave me one direction fan-fic vibes, and I'm not completely here for it, but I'm not exactly opposed. It's not my cup of tea, but I did like this book a lot. As someone married to someone who used to be in the music industry, this book hit a lot of points I know well in my real life, and for that fact, I did thoroughly enjoy it. I will be recommending this in the future.

Let’s face it…we’ve been waiting for a book like this!! 🎤🏳️‍🌈❤️ Secret boy band love!!! Friends to lovers!!!

This book follows the band “Saturday,” a four member boy band. Jon, Angel, Ruben, and Zach have been in the spotlight for years and letting management dictate their every move. The duel POV features Ruben and Zach. Both of their voices and personalities are clear to the reader, probably helped a bunch that two separate authors wrote their chapters! Ruben is gay, and has been told for years he could not come out and to “wait for the right time.” Zach and Ruben have always been best friends…and one night changes everything between them! 🥰

I loved the whole band and how different they were. The book had a sweet romance between Zach and Ruben but I loved how they explored the entertainment industry. Zach’s journey figuring out he was bi and coming out was well done! I also enjoyed how sex positive this book was and safe sex was a topic of various conversations. I only dropped a star because I wish the book ending had more! An epilogue could’ve really bumped this to 5 stars.

Solid 4.5 ⭐️read and the narration made this book go up a half star!! Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was adorable!! I loved these characters so much and the story. The audiobook was very well narrated and I connected so much with these characters. I did feel like it was too long and dragged at times but it was still so good!

both thoroughly boring and poorly written. i wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. i have a deep hatred for this book.

Such a swoon worthy read! Loved the narrator but sometimes it was hard to decipher changing of POV. Still fantastic.

I love the boy band aspect since i grew up with boy bands every where. It was the best.
I loved the overall message of this one as well. The medias censorship and how it can alter the music. And the importance of making your own choices. Such a great book.

If I had to sum up my reaction to “If This Gets Out” it would simply be “Holy smokes.”

“If This Gets Out” is the first collaboration book for authors Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich, but you would never guess it based on how well-written and encapsulating this book is.

The book follows a boy band named Saturday which is made up of 4 members; Zach (written by Caleb Dietrich) who wants nothing more than to write music, Reuben (written by Sophie Gonzales) who faces a very critical mother and has been fighting to come out for years with the band’s manager, Jon whose father is their manager, and Angel (real name is Reece) who is painted to be the most wholesome of the 4 but behind the scenes is the worst of them all. The book, while switching between Reuben and Zach’s perspectives, tells the story of a band that is making it big, but sacrificing a lot to do so, and what happens when they reach their breaking points and try to express themselves.

In simple terms, this book is a wild ride. For the first half of the book, nothing insane happens, but it’s just the water getting ready to boil over. The book puts you right into the action with the band getting ready to go on their international leg of their tour, and each member has a lasting impression. You get the sense they have known each other for a while and perhaps have some unresolved tension they need to address—more to come on this later.

As the book progresses, their relationships with each other grow and get plenty messy, which is expected for a group of teenagers who have become international superstars. Each member has a lot they are dealing with, from Angel’s addictions to Jon’s father, they each seem to be having identity issues that are woven well into the book. After stepping away from this book for a while, I can say that the boys’ relationships with each other is one of the main things that stands out in this book the most.

Sophie and Caleb wrote these characters great, but one area that I feel the book lacked a little was the main relationship between Reuben and Zach. I personally loved the band as a whole, and they’re all a mess but compliment each other well. Reuben and Zach though seem to pull away from the group at times and aren’t as aware of what is going on. (Also, they are the two white guys of the group, and to have the other two members of color kind of get the worst of the trauma dump, it feels a little odd.)

Furthermore, Ramon de Ocampo is a phenomenal narrator that breathes life into this great story. Ramon is the narrator of “Red, White & Royal Blue” and I was overly excited to see that he was the narrator for this story. Ramon does a wonderful job narrating the characters and differentiating between each of the characters.

Asides that though, “If This Gets Out” is a thrilling book that will have readers coming back later. It’s a power bomb of a book that hits many of the favorable YA tropes and applies them to the backdrop of a boyband story. If this doesn’t excite you about each of the authors, I’m not sure what will, because this book was abaolsutley great, with very minor exceptions to Zach and Reuben’s stories.

Final rating: 4.5/5 rounded up to 5

Ruben, Zach, Angel, and Jon are members of the highly popular boy band, Saturday. Their every move, every look is controlled by their company. With such restrictions placed on their lives, Jon has become the responsible one, Angel rebellious, and Ruben and Zach somewhere in between. While Ruben and Zach typically go along with their company - Ruben going so far as staying in the closet - when they find themselves falling for one another, they wonder if they can keep going along with what the company says or tell the world about their relationship.

I really wanted to love this book. It has so many of the tropes I usually love - queer friends to lovers, bandmates falling in love. It had a lot of promise and the backdrop of the boy band on tour was a lot of fun. However, there was a lot of the book that felt too over the top. Angel's rebellion, while justified, felt a little forced and unlikely at times. Ruben and Zach's relationship had its ups and downs for me as well. It seemed to move too fast which I explained away because it was friends to lovers and they are eighteen. However, the fast pace hit road blocks several times when Ruben repeatedly badgered Zach about whether he was coming out for the right reasons. Zach had already explained it several times, but Ruben turned the attention back to him, convinced Zach was only coming out to please Ruben. It was probably meant to be a caring gesture, but came off self-centered.

I am glad that I listened to this book versus reading it, because the narrator was fantastic. Ramon de Ocampo read the characters perfectly and captured the drama of the moment. If you take a chance on this friends to lovers, definitely get the audiobook!

I liked this story but the audiobook was so so for me. There was not enough distinction between our two POVs so it was confusing to listen to and remember who was who.

I received an ARC of this audiobook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Omg, why am I so addicted to this super cute, queer rockstar story? I don't even like rockstar stories but I'm suddenly their biggest fans. The story and the characters were just to good not to fall in love with.

Saturday is a band of four friends, but every aspect of their life is created by their producers. They must think, act, and do certain things that fit into the narrative constructed for them. Ruben is gay, but he's not allowed to be out. His management and bandmates know, his parents know, but his fans don't.

Zachary never really had to consider his sexuality until Ruben. After their drunken kiss, Zachary can't quite get Ruben out of his mind and it makes him think about his attraction to him. But he's confused because he doesn't know if he wants it for himself or wants it because Ruben wants it.

I thought this book did a great job at showcasing the need to want to control a narrative and make their own choices. The romance was cute/swoon worthy, and I loved the interaction between the band members. They always had each other's backs, even during the craziness.

Really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by this author.

Absolutely loved this one! Even though I'm a huge boy band fan, I was afraid the boys would read like carbon copies of famous boy band members, and they didn't at all. Their personalities and descriptions were all completely different from any of the recently famous boy bands that I thought they might be compared to.

Fantastic character development, relatable young love and a satisfying ending. Could be very predictable at times but all in all a very enjoyable read. The narration was superb.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for proving me a free audiobook for review.

I won't lie, I almost dnf'd this a couple times about 15% of the way through because it wasn't what I was in the mood for, but I'm so glad I changed my mind because this was such a great book, with a really important storyline. This wasn't just about two members of a boyband falling in love, it was so much more than that. This had a lot of talk about censorship within the media, and how labels can control not only the music you put out, but your lives as well.

This had triggers for homophobia as well as drug and alcohol use and abuse.

DNF @ 39%

I am beyond loathe to DNF this book buuuut... Let's talk about why I'm doing it.

I loved Perfect on Paper, which was my introduction to Sophie Gonzales. Such great rep, important conversations and confrontations from the word go, characters to root for, situations that felt accessible to the average audience, etc etc.

That's what was floating in the back of my mind when I picked up If This Gets Out.

ITGO has, instead of conversations and confrontations, a whole lot of interior monologue. Our boys start to have conversations with each other and then kind of give up halfway through to continue with inner monologue and spiraling - even though the opportunity for communication was right there. Some of that conflict felt kind of forced because the reader knows that they could have just talked it out and they started to but just... Didn't.

The other thing is that we skip all the positive things about their lives? Other than the opening scene, we don't get the infectious positive energy of a stadium full of people cheering and singing along. The only views we get of fans is pretty negative/dismissive (and, honestly, the media does enough of that dismissing of fans of boy bands already; we don't need the boys in the band themselves to do it too). The whole first half of the book is just mired in negative emotions and spiraling thoughts; there's no balance.

(Also would really have liked to have two narrators for the audiobook because I kept getting confused about which almost identical anxious thoughts belonged to which boy)