This is a really lovely, thoughtful queer coming of age story, centering imperfect teens in an imperfect world. I really enjoyed this fun take on boy bands and queer love stories.
This book stars Hunter Drake, an openly gay boy band member, who has recently broken up with his bandmate's twin brother and one of his friends. Breaking up with someone in those circumstances are complicated enough to begin with, but it gets even more complicated when some of his old private texts with his ex are leaked to the public. Hunter has to deal with not just being a queer icon now, but also a PR disaster. This alone could be a standalone novel — how a teen deals with the pitfalls of not just stardom, but the pressure of representing a queer community in and the pressures that entails. On top of that, Hunter is starting a new romance with the member of his band’s opening act on tour, Kaivan.
Overall, I really loved this book and the thoughtful ways it examines coming of age, boy band culture, fandoms and how those two things intersect with the commodification of identity, and how even idolized figures (literally pop icons in this case) have plenty of problems. If there’s one shortcoming for me, it’s that I really wanted to see more of the romance and to have Kaivan’s story fleshed out as fully as Hunter’s. While the romance itself is lovely, it does feel a bit lopsided at times, with this being Hunter’s story.
This book stars Hunter Drake, an openly gay boy band member, who has recently broken up with his bandmate's twin brother and one of his friends. Breaking up with someone in those circumstances are complicated enough to begin with, but it gets even more complicated when some of his old private texts with his ex are leaked to the public. Hunter has to deal with not just being a queer icon now, but also a PR disaster. This alone could be a standalone novel — how a teen deals with the pitfalls of not just stardom, but the pressure of representing a queer community in and the pressures that entails. On top of that, Hunter is starting a new romance with the member of his band’s opening act on tour, Kaivan.
Overall, I really loved this book and the thoughtful ways it examines coming of age, boy band culture, fandoms and how those two things intersect with the commodification of identity, and how even idolized figures (literally pop icons in this case) have plenty of problems. If there’s one shortcoming for me, it’s that I really wanted to see more of the romance and to have Kaivan’s story fleshed out as fully as Hunter’s. While the romance itself is lovely, it does feel a bit lopsided at times, with this being Hunter’s story.