Hunter Drake is an openly gay teenage member of Kiss & Tell, a boy band. He has recently gone through a breakup and, while his band is on tour, his ex-boyfriend leaks a bunch of intimate private texts about their relationship and sex life. This is painful and humiliating for Hunter and causes a PR crisis for The Label, which represents his band. During the tour, Hunter starts dating Kaivan, a member of Kiss & Tell's opening band comprised of three Iranian American brothers.
The story is told from Hunter's point of view, but interspersed throughout are articles, tweets, interviews with other characters, documentary script, and emails between the band's manager and the record label. This literary device enhanced character development and plot, provided perspective and shed light on how awful the music label was in trying to curate Hunter's image and manipulate his relationship with Kaivan.
Hunter faces unique challenges in being the only gay member of the band. He gets sent harassing, homophobic messages and his dating life is scrutinized far more than that of his band mates. At first Hunter is somewhat selfish and can only see his own problems. As the story progresses, he realizes that Kaivan and some of the Kiss & Tell members deal with racism, stereotypes and microaggressions. Hunter grows throughout the story as he learns to recognize that, while he faces homophobia, he also experiences white privilege. He learns to reach out to, and be honest with, those who are there to support him when he needs help, instead of bottling up emotion and subsequently lashing out.
With three BIPOC members, the diverse rep in Kiss & Tell was great, but I wish we had seen more of their histories, lives and perspectives. These characters were unfortunately underdeveloped. Overall, I really enjoyed Kiss & Tell, even though I am not the target audience for the the book (or the band!). The writing was fast paced and energetic and the story was fun while also addressing some serious issues.
The story is told from Hunter's point of view, but interspersed throughout are articles, tweets, interviews with other characters, documentary script, and emails between the band's manager and the record label. This literary device enhanced character development and plot, provided perspective and shed light on how awful the music label was in trying to curate Hunter's image and manipulate his relationship with Kaivan.
Hunter faces unique challenges in being the only gay member of the band. He gets sent harassing, homophobic messages and his dating life is scrutinized far more than that of his band mates. At first Hunter is somewhat selfish and can only see his own problems. As the story progresses, he realizes that Kaivan and some of the Kiss & Tell members deal with racism, stereotypes and microaggressions. Hunter grows throughout the story as he learns to recognize that, while he faces homophobia, he also experiences white privilege. He learns to reach out to, and be honest with, those who are there to support him when he needs help, instead of bottling up emotion and subsequently lashing out.
With three BIPOC members, the diverse rep in Kiss & Tell was great, but I wish we had seen more of their histories, lives and perspectives. These characters were unfortunately underdeveloped. Overall, I really enjoyed Kiss & Tell, even though I am not the target audience for the the book (or the band!). The writing was fast paced and energetic and the story was fun while also addressing some serious issues.