A great YA LGBTQ story about finding and fighting to be yourself
I feel like I should confess that I come into this story with a deep love for Khorram's Darius The Great duology, so I'm biased towards liking it and predisposed to nitpick every little detail.
Khorram continues to write characters that I deeply connect with despite having nothing in common besides being human and the past experience of being a teenager. Hunter and the people around him read like believable people that are living through an incredible experience to the best of their ability. Hunter is an endearing character that I immediately felt protective of and wanted to see happy. The things he has to go through just because he's out as gay while being in a massively popular boy band feel like all too real possibilities and shine a light on microaggressions that don't always get called out.
The plot feels somewhat familiar, with many of the important plot points being obvious way before they happened. However, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and seeing how Hunter's story developed enough that I'm giving that a slight pass. I would have liked to see him interact more with the other members of the group as it's constantly mentioned that they're all best friends, especially as it's also mentioned that they constantly face racist microaggressions that mirror the kinds of things Hunter faces.
Overall, it's a solid YA entry that puts the character's development at the forefront and brings up topics that keep you thinking even after the story is over. Not exactly on par with the Darius books, but solid writing all the way.
Khorram continues to write characters that I deeply connect with despite having nothing in common besides being human and the past experience of being a teenager. Hunter and the people around him read like believable people that are living through an incredible experience to the best of their ability. Hunter is an endearing character that I immediately felt protective of and wanted to see happy. The things he has to go through just because he's out as gay while being in a massively popular boy band feel like all too real possibilities and shine a light on microaggressions that don't always get called out.
The plot feels somewhat familiar, with many of the important plot points being obvious way before they happened. However, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and seeing how Hunter's story developed enough that I'm giving that a slight pass. I would have liked to see him interact more with the other members of the group as it's constantly mentioned that they're all best friends, especially as it's also mentioned that they constantly face racist microaggressions that mirror the kinds of things Hunter faces.
Overall, it's a solid YA entry that puts the character's development at the forefront and brings up topics that keep you thinking even after the story is over. Not exactly on par with the Darius books, but solid writing all the way.