More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/</p></i>I had a hard time with this book: the story is so narrowly focused as to be almost claustrophobic and none of the characters felt realistic or believable. Our main character spends a good 95% of the book thinking about or obsessing over the love interest - to the point where it felt uncomfortably stalkerish. No other character, milieu, situation, or even plot was allowed to to develop unless it was about the love interest. Talks with best friend - about the love interest. Time at work - about the love interest. At home with dad - about the love interest. I never got an idea of location, character depth or nuance, or even that our main character liked the other one for any reason beyond that he suddenly became attractive now that he was famous.

Story: David works for his father's general contractor business - finishing his days at high school and preparing to apprentice to a carpenter. But what burns him up inside is that the band he started in middle school made it big just after he stepped away from them for a break two years ago. But now, former friend and songwriter Eli is dead of an alcohol overdose and lead singer Chance is in town for the funeral. David must come to terms with his jealousy as well as a developing physical attraction for Chance. Not to mention Chance being an avenue through which David can regain the fame he felt was stolen from him.

I wish more was developed in terms of their three friends. Eli's death is just an excuse to throw Chance and David together again and even scenes of any emotional repercussions from the death are about throwing the boys together. David seems only interested in Chance after he got famous and so feels no different than any of the stalkers or fans that Chance constantly complains about or deals with. Moreover, we're supposed to feel like Chance is interested in David as well but the only impression I got is that Chance just wanted to be with a guy from his past who knew him before he was a rock star - David was convenient but not necessarily a love interest. By the end, there is a bit of David coming to realize his own shortcomings but they don't really address either of the above. Even the ending scene is about David getting his moment of fame.

I think the hard time I had with the book is that it felt almost like a fanfiction for BTS that was reworked into a standalone story. Either that, or a written-by-the numbers story capitalizing on the K-Pop popularity at the moment. None of the characters really felt like they could be actual people. The pop culture references were fun but a bit overwhelming at times (e.g., vibrations will be described as being like the stomping of a kaiju and something thrown at the window of an annoying little sister will be accompanied by the cry of, "For the Fire Nation!"). But mostly, I never liked David, felt Chance was an object of lust and not a person, and the side characters were made up nerd fantasies or rock industry clichés.

The audio version is decent and I had no problem following the narrator. He did a decent job with the different voices and gave the characters a bit of personality even though they felt so completely underwritten. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

This was such a quick and fun read, I loved the characters, the relationship building between David and Chance, and the theme this story conveyed.
I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who wants a quick enemies to lovers trope (with a lot of tough love throughout) with not a lot of angst but enough to keep you rooting for the characters!! The storytelling is beautiful and the descriptions of the music, and singing, and other hobbies are so lyrical, I love every second.
The only thing keeping this at a 4.5 stars for me is that I wished I had seen some more interaction between Chance and David's father. Other than that, this is easily a 5 star book for me!

⭐Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook⭐

MAN I loved this story. It was so easy to digest and I pretty much read it in one session. I just couldn't put it down. I thought there would be a lot more drama surrounding the relationship like there was in a similar book If This Gets Out, but i was pleasantly surprised to see that the two characters actually got to have time for their relationship to build and go out. It was a really down to earth story with low stakes and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was the perfect romance. I loved every moment of this story and I wish there was more this story was a emotional roller coaster in a good way.

5 stars

This is SUCH a swoony queer YA romance, and the narration only adds to the magic, so I recommend the audio version when/where accessible.

David and Chance started on a similar path. Their roads diverged, but when the novel starts, they reconnect, and then they deepen their relationship in even more ways. Both characters were members of the band Darkhearts - along with one other pal - but while Chance's star has risen, David (who chose to leave the band years ago) is finding himself leading a much more typical life and asking a lot of questions about his choices.

There's so much to like about this novel. David is a great m.c., but the secondary characters - especially but not exclusively Chance and Rigley - also make this a compelling read. The discussions about sexuality feel organic, and I particularly enjoyed David's journey with this topic. The romance is sweet, and the internal and external struggles for really all characters help readers buy into them as authentic and worth rooting for throughout the book.

I really enjoyed this read and am already looking forward to recommending it to my students.

I really enjoyed this ya romance - two 17 old guys learning how to be friends again after years apart. Very well done. I loved all the hard topics - addressed with purpose and showing realistic recovery.
The tragic suicide of a founding member of the band Darkhearts, brings Chance home for an extended stay. He reconnects with David - also a founding member who left the band right before they found success.
David struggles with his anger - and resentment, left behind by his friends while they traveled the world and became famous. Chance reaches out - giving David an opportunity to reconnect. Their friendship grows into something more. With all the realities of teenage insights.
This book covers - addiction, recovery, grief, dealing with abonnement; done realistically and with grace.

I really enjoyed the narration.

This book was heartfelt, warm, and constantly entertaining. The book starts off with the enemies to lovers trope but it continues into a story of forgiveness, both for those we care about but also for ourselves.

This book is full of longing and makes the reader keep coming back chapter after chapter to see where the main characters end up. There is a small coming out theme, but thankfully it doesn’t go into “gay for you” or any other angst or internal crisis about not being straight. The characters are just open to their sexuality being somewhere on the spectrum.

This is one of those YA books that may have been intended for a younger audience but besides the few references to the characters being high school age could have been about two band members who were anywhere from teens to late twenties. There is a high level of emotional intelligence throughout the book and the characters have to overcome some real life challenges.

Highly recommend! The narration was also incredibly well done and helped me stay invested and engaged with the book.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the free ARC audiobook.