Tuesday 7 December 2021

πŸ’œ IF THIS GETS OUT 🏳‍🌈 Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich πŸ’œ

  ©   Bianca  ✰  Janeane  ✰ 



 • 7 December 2021
• YA / NA M/M Rock-Star (Boyband) Romance
✪✪✪✪
4.5 Stars


"If This Gets Out is an absolute showstopper! Equal parts edgy and adorable, this bright, joyful book has everything I look for in a queer YA romance." - Phil Stamper, bestselling author of The Gravity of Us

One of the world's biggest boy bands. A secret love. What happens if the world finds out? A queer YA boy band romance from Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich, perfect for fans of Only Mostly Devastated and What If It's Us.


Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he's feeling smothered by management's pressure to stay in the closet.

On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they're ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?




Ruben + Zach

They're both part of the famous boy band SATURDAY.
The four boys all met in a rock camp as kids and Jon's dad manages them. And that's their biggest problem - they're so completey managed that their own lives and personalities, their own hopes and wishes don't matter anything anymore.
Ruben is never allowed to mention that he's gay!
But what when suddenly - on their first European tour - his best friend and band mate Zach seems interested in him? His straight buddy Zach!!

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN...


description


Well. I liked this.
I'm a huge rock star romance fan. This wasn't really a rock star thing, but almost. We're on tour, there are fans and shows and media and hotels and tiredness et cetera.
I really liked that part. And the romance part too. Poor Zach doesn't really know what's happening with him and he doesn't want to hurt his friend by starting something, when in the end it could've been just a phase for him. Ruben's been hurt enough.
Adorable.
I hate the management. Ugh. Those horrible people - what they do to those boys! And the mom! What's her problem? Is she bipolar or just a psychopath?

I wasn't 100% sure of the writing. There were some weird parts here and there - I had to read some things twice to get what it was supposed to mean. I think part of that is because the authors are Australian and it shows in a few little expressions.
And the font - that's probably just a blogger thing - the real book will be better. But Zach's POV was printed in a very tiny font.

I also didn't love the missing sexy parts. I get that it's for younger readers, but they're all 18 in the book - so a little bit more wouldn't have hurt. It's not even a fade to black thing - most times it's a fade to three days later in another country completely new scene thing. 😏

But still - it was a cute music romance with all the problems that come with being gay,  with finding out you're bi and all that while being the female fans' dream boys in a boy band. Plus some addiction problems and depression and faith questions for the other two boys. And all the horrible management drama that's so typical with kids who are way too young when they start that life.
It was a lot for this one book - which I had hoped would be a much sweeter and sexier and more adorable rock star romance. Maybe the other two could get their own book? Will they? And it also just ended - it wasn't an open end, but it could've gone on for much longer! I wanted to know so much more! Maybe a few pages about Jon and Angel could've been cut and used for their books, and we could've gotten a bit more about Zach and Ruben. BUT - it was totally okay the way it was! I make it sound as if this was a really bad book - it wasn't at all! I really loved reading this. Ruben and Zach are adorable and the other two are great too... 
And if the other two won't get their own book, I still want a sequel for the guys!
I also wouldn't mind seeing this on Netflix one day! ☺

IF THIS GETS OUT was a sweet + adorable + funny + musicy + drama-y young/new adult boy band love story. Run to your nearest amazon for your own Ruben + Zach - they'll be sold out in no time!


ARC received from Hachette Australia for an honest review

I am obsessed with this book.  This is definitely my favourite Sophie Gonzales book to date, and my first time reading Cale Dietrich.

This was a sweet and lovely and fun and sad look at the machinations of a boy band.  At times I had to remind myself that the characters in this book were only 18, as what they were going through would be hard to do as someone years older than they are.

Ruben and  Zach are 😍😍

I love a best friends to more story, and theirs had the added pressure of management, record companies and public perception on it.

It was heartbreaking as we learn more of the story, and I can say that there were characters that I can say that I detested, loathed in fact and wished they had a permanent itch that they couldn't reach.

I adored all the guys from the band, and love the family that they have made for themselves.

I hope this pair write together again.



 LiNKS TO THE BOOK AND AUTHOR 
 



Cale       Sophie