If This Gets Out

I laughed out loud and shed some tears throughout this book by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich. But honestly, this book was NOT what I was expecting. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. But I am so glad it is the book that it is. It was just the diversity I needed without being controversial. I feel like in most things, you can’t have one without the other and Gonzales and Dietrich delivered here!
The beginning is a little slow but next thing you know, you’re 80% finished with the book and so much JUICE is happening and you’re wondering how you got this far without noticing and you don’t want it to end. The book itself is about a queer couple in a boy band. Yep, they did that. Everyone always associates the two without anything to back it up. Gonzales and Dietrich gave, what I feel, a probably very accurate description on the goings on when you are young, queer, and famous.
The book touches on coming out, dealing with homophobic people, drug use and your basic adolescent challenges. You meet Ruben, Zach, Angel and Jon as Saturday! They are all four best friends and have been since summer camp days, where they were initially discovered. The band lands a European tour, and I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Europe brings out all the secrets. And that’s just what happens here. The boys no longer want to feel trapped and caged by their management team but also know that they have no choice but to abide by their rules. Until…. They don’t. And it’s all downhill from there. Or is it uphill? I guess that depends on who you’re rooting for.
The book was truly one of diversity and I’m glad I got my hands on it. I hope to see more of Saturday in the future. These authors did an excellent job writing together.

Its THE boyband. Zach , Ruben, Jon and Angel who together form Saturdays. They are the best singers, dancers , performers. A trend and a brand, beautiful to the public but what is happening behind the scene stay behind the scene... Their managers and publicist will make sure of that.
Ruben- openely gay only to his family, management and boyband friends cause of course it will be a nightmare for the band's brand and their agency image if it get out...-well, he have a little crush on zach.
As they go on their first europe tour things are getting tense between the boys. From list of the more handsome to interview's drama, they have to get their shit together and fix their problems. By doing it, things are said and done and maybe some feelings are mutual after all.

As the start is fluffy and get into the romance building of the two main character, the continuity get deeper and stronger with dramas. It's no secret, the music industry is hard and cruel. Focusing on beauty, money and selling but behind that is a person, an artist, with a personality that they delete to make something sellable and trendy. Less on what they want and need or their own arts choices. A prison, suffocating in their dream job.
It's no chock that even now there is still hashtags like justice for fifth harmony, little mix and one direction. That they felt miserable and didn't have a lot to say on their choices. ( Like i really love some unreleased song of fifth harmony that never was on the albums, listen to "no filter" on YouTube 🥰).
And in this story, to shut them up about who they are and who they love. And im sure its happening in real life too to LGBTQ+ artists.

If you didn't have the chance to get it, pre-order it now, out in December 2021. Let's show the music industry we cheer artists being gay.

in if this gets out we follow the story of the band saturday, consisting of zach, ruben, angel and jon. the plot is pretty straightforward: zach and ruben fall in love with each other. their management doesn't think it's a good idea for them to come out. but there's more to it. there's the boys exploring their identities, figuring out how to be themselves, who they want to be, while being pushed into the spotlight as members of one of the biggest boybands in the world.

as someone who spent most of her teenage years as part of (boy)band fandoms and has read quite some fan fiction, this sounded like an ideal book for me. so i was incredibly excited to get my hands on this arc!

and i liked it. it felt like coming home in a way, everything was familiar, the tropes, the situations. but to be frank, i didn't love it. i think my expectations were too high. while i had fun in the beginning and i loved the ending, in the middle i didn't really feel like continuing. i just wasn't invested enough. well, here's some rambly thoughts:

what i liked: i think there's some very important conversations happening in this book about the music industry and exploitation. how artists, especially queer ones, are treated and forced to hide who they really are is something most of us are aware of, but i think in general this isn't spoken about enough. we like to pretend that these people we get presented by the media are happy, and healthy, and don't need protection. but some of them aren't, and most of them do.
i liked the story, i liked angel's humor. i also enjoyed the romance, which was very sweet, if maybe a bit rushed.

what i didn't like: when you read actual fanfiction, you know the characters. you don't need set up or characterisation because they're already familiar. but this isn't actually fanfiction, this is about a fictional band the reader doesn't know before starting the book. and considering that, i felt this was somehow lacking. till the end i was struggling to tell the povs apart, for me angel and jon were both more memorable than the protagonists zach and ruben (i have to say tho, i was also pretty slow with reading this and took lots of breaks, since there's a lot of other things going on, so that might be the main problem here - but that also goes to show that i wasn't that invested, or else i would have picked it up more).
besides that, outside of the band there were very little established characters. most of their team and management were nothing but a name on the page, totally interchangable, and none of the boys had any friends back home or any contacts besides their parents, their bandmates and some superficial acquaintances with other famous people.
i'm a character-driven reader, and if none of the characters sticks out to me, a book will have a hard time keeping me interested.

however, i think most of my problems were more me-problems than book-problems. this is a fun, queer ya story (be aware though that it also deals with some more serious topics like drug abuse), and i'd definitely recommend it if the blurb sounds interesting to you.

An absolutely wonderful and joyous book that charters the murky waters of finding love while rising to international stardom. The novel is at its' strongest when it covers questions of how to be true to oneself when forced to present a pre-ordained picture to the public. Who are we really when all the labels that are assigned to us are wiped clean? Are we strong enough to fight for what is most important to us? Be it another person or simply living as our authentic selves. Two members of a boyband find out.

I don't want to start off too strong but I literally cannot say enough amazing things about this book. I have no criticism of this book at all. This book was everything I never knew I wanted it to be. Bravo Sophie and Cale...

So lets start at the beginning... there is a boy band and this story is about them. Specifically this story is about Zach and Ruben within the group who's deep friendship forms into a romance. Ruben has wanted to come out as gay to their fans but management has always found a reason that this little fact needs to be said at the right time, but it seems that time never comes. The amazing thing about this story is that there are depths to the other band members too and the challenges they face. They all feel so real and raw with emotion. I am rooting for them every step of the way, even when some of them are not particularly nice to the others. Trying to overcome all odds to just be able to be themselves was a joy to read.

The pace of the story was perfect. I never found myself getting bored in some chapters. There was enough going on all the time that it kept my interest and I found myself staying up way too late reading just so I could know what was going to happen next. There are moments when I may have even gasped out loud, in bed, at midnight, to just myself.

I don't know how anyone will be able to wait until December to read this book. Find a way... pre order this now!

Would I recommend this book?
- A million times yes to literally anyone who will listen to me speak.

I try to give these authors a fair shot. I read Gonzales and I've liked her work but Dietrich, man oh man.. I could not.

This felt more like a fanfic than an actual published book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for approving my request for a digital arc in exchange for an honest review. (spoilers ahead)

If This Gets Out is about openly gay (to everyone but the public) Ruben Montez and 100% straight (or is he?) Zach Knight. The book is told from Zach and Ruben's point of view so we get to know what is going on in both of their head's and how they feel. They are best friends and bandmates and have been since they (and Angel and Jon) went to a music camp together around two years before the start of the book and decided to perform together. Jon's dad, Geoff, decided to discover them and thus their band Saturday was born.

If you read the description and you're thinking what I think you're thinking...no! This is not a published Larry fan fiction!

When the book starts, Saturday just finished their last show of the American leg of their tour and are about to start the European leg. One night in Europe, Angel throws a party in his room, everyone gets drunk, Zach offers a drunk girl and her friends his room, and crashes with Ruben in his room. While in his bed, Zach kisses Ruben but Ruben pulls away because he thinks Zach doesn't mean it and isn't thinking straight (no pun intended). The next morning, Zach asks for space to process it.

Zach starts questioning his sexuality and remembers that he did have crushes on guys when he was younger, but would always distance himself from them and repress his feelings. He comes to the conclusion that he's bi.

The romance between Ruben and Zach is great and I loved reading about it. It's also super healthy, they communicate their feelings and issues with each other, especially by the end after they went through their character development.

This book isn't just about their romance though, it also deals with exploitation and how controlling things can be in the music industry. Each member of the band was given a persona that they are dressed as by their team and have to act as in interviews and when performing at concerts. Angel even develops a drug problem because of how trapped he feels by their management.

Their management is also very against Ruben and Zach coming out, under the guise that they're doing it for their sake. Ruben has been dealing with this for the past two years, ever since the band was formed, but their manager, Geoff, kept making excuses about why he should put it off. When Zach enters the picture and they start coming up with more excuses, Ruben realizes that they're never going to let them come out. Zach and Ruben decide to do it publicly at a concert without telling their management. Their fans are super supportive, their management is not. After seeing the positive response from fans, Geoff comes back and says he wants to work things out with them and the band declines. The book ends with the band on the way to a meeting with another management company.

There are a lot of great things about this book that I enjoyed, like jokes that the characters told, and I can't include them all in this review. I really enjoyed it and you should definitely read it once it comes out on December 7 of this year.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a super quick and fun read, which is made even more impressive because I didn't read the synopsis. So, going into this, I had no idea it was about a boy band. Or that I was about to be sucked into a world of music, drama, and controlling management.

My favorite thing about this was definitely the friendships between the different members of the band. They were such great friends, and the dynamic was so interesting. I'm still curious about what's going on between Jon and Angel, as I feel Anjon might have some substance...

I also loved the relationship between Zach and Ruben. They were so sweet together, and I loved how they were there for each other throughout every hiccup. Although their relationship was the driving cause for drama in this, the drama never felt unnecessary.

One of my only complaints here was that the ending felt unresolved. From Ruben's emotionally abusive mother, to Angel's growing addiction problem, I wanted resolution. I wanted to see them started on the right path, not just the relationship between Zach and Ruben succeeding. It felt like several of these issues were glossed over, which was disappointing.

Although I wasn't super happy with the ending, I loved the rest of this! It was the perfect cute summer read, and I definitely see myself rereading it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Sophie Gonzales, and Cale Dietrich for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was cute, and fans of books like Red, White and Royal Blue (or other LGBT+ YA or NA romances) will enjoy this. Some of the writing didn't flow between chapters (likely because each author wrote the chapters from one characters' POV), but overall, the story was fun. This was a sweet romance between a gay character and a bisexual character who spends the book discovering his sexuality, and examines the consequences of media figures being out of the closet. I can only imagine what it's actually like behind the scenes, but it gives an inside look at the business behind celebrity, as well as finding the balance between being a team player/a figurehead, and being true to yourself.

There were parts of this book I really enjoyed. I loved the banter and relationships between all of the band members and I especially loved Angel. He has got a lot of charisma and something crazy going on in his head.

Zach and Ruben together were pretty entertaining. My problem was that the book is SO repetitive. It seems like every chapter all that's being talked about is how their relationship can't come out and how management doesn't want them talking about it, etc. etc. It's basically force fed to us with a shovel the entire time. That ultimately ruined this book for me. It made me want to scream WE GET IT! STOP GOING ON AND ON AND JUST GET TO THE STORY. Because the parts of the book that weren't talking about it were actually good.

I admit I didn't like the lack of steam either. Everything was pretty fade to black, which isn't really my thing.

Overall, this book didn't wow me. I liked the concept, just not so much the execution.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have to begin by saying this book is what my inner boyband fan girl has been craving for YEARS! Saturday is such an amazing group to follow throughout this story and gave me so many feels from my fan girl days in 2013. If you liked Red, White and Royally Blue by Casey McQuinston, I can almost assure you you will be attached to this book as well.

In this story we follow Ruben and Zach on their journey and love story. I can’t help but love both of their characters so much and have grown so attached to their stories. The same goes for Angel and Jon. They are such a fun group of characters and so easy to love.

I feel like the pacing of the story was great even though the end felt a little rushed to me it still had me on the edge of my seat screaming at my ereader. It kept me engaged throughout and for the lovers of drama out there I assure you that you will get your share in this story.

My only grievance is I will have to wait so long to share my love of this book with every single person I know so we can cry over Zuben together. In all I DEFINITELY recommend you add this book to your wishlist!

*3.5/5 stars*

If you knew me, you’d know I’m obsessed with Sophie Gonzalez based on how much I talk about “Only Mostly Devastated” and “Perfect on Paper”, so (even though I haven’t read anything by Cale Dietrich) this was obviously one of my most anticipated books of the entire year. My expectations were set pretty high, and even though it didn’t live all the way up to them, this book was still a great read that I think is definitely an easy recommendation.
We follow the band Saturday, comprised of Jon, Angel, Zach, and Ruben, who all met at a music camp and were then signed by Chorus Records, a company owned by Jon’s father, Geoff. Ruben is gay, and has never been allowed to come out publicly, despite voicing many times his hope to. Zach and Ruben are best friends, and Ruben has always had an unrequited crush on Zach until one night that changes their entire relationship. As their friendship becomes something more, it becomes apparent to them they’ll always have to hide who they are from the world and their fans. Tensions are running high on the European leg of their tour, and it’s not just Zach and Ruben taking the brunt of it.
I thought the writing of this book was great, as I’ve come to expect with Sophie Gonzalez, and am glad to see in Cale’s writing as well! Sophie is one of the queens of diverse YA romance to me, and I’m definitely now planning to pick up more of Dietrich’s books in the future. The topics covered in this book felt very important. Ranging from addiction, coming out, and the general issues that come with bands in the music industry. The pacing of the book was just right to me, it stayed fast paced enough that you didn’t get bored, but also made the touring feel realistic in its timeline. The biggest downfall for me in this book was the lack of development for our relationship, and the (what felt unrealistic) turnout for the big ending. I just felt like we didn’t have enough background in Ruben and Zach’s relationship before it developed to understand where their romantic feelings came from, but that didn’t mean I didn’t like them together! When it comes to the ending, I obviously don’t want to give spoilers, but after our big event at the end of the book, there are resolutions that happen that (maybe since I don’t fully understand the music industry, but I don’t think so) just felt too unrealistic for me to get behind. I really liked and appreciated what happened for the band but I just couldn’t make it feel believable. That being said, I would still really recommend this book! It has good writing, a cute romance, a TON of drama that kept me on the edge of my seat, and great diversity!

Super sweet book that will appeal to so many readers. I loved the genuine love and care the characters had for one another. Issues of substance abuse and homophobia are handled with grace and compassion.

4.5 stars

This may be a surprise, but I am a huge One Direction fan. Reading this brought me back to the days of 'stanning' and staying up to watch the guys and wondering if there were any secret relationships and I loved it! It also felt very realistic when it showed the boys hiding who they really are and being on an insane schedule. Boy bands are seen as a money making machine so they're pushed to their limits and very restricted in what they can do or say and I felt like this book really nailed it.

Ruben and Zach are great characters with their own personalities and goals and switching between their points of view was great. I really felt like I was able to understand how they were feeling and what they wanted. They had some bumps in getting together, but Ruben really cares for Zach and tries to protect him and Zach just wants Ruben to be happy.

I felt like the ending was a bit incomplete. It's a bit open ended and we don't find out for sure what way the band is going. I also wanted a scene where Ruben confronts his mom about how horrible she is to him, but nothing came of that. Another chapter or an epilogue would be appreciated. Since this is the ARC, I can't be sure if there will be changes or not so I'll have to check out the final copy!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the copy.

I DEVOURED this story in one sitting! I love the queer rep in this story, and Ruben and Zach have my heart. The doubt, the yearning, the secrets, juxtaposed against their very public life as boy band stars... LOVE the premise (boy band members! falling in love!) and the supporting cast--their bandmates and family--were great, too. I also like how music, songs, and lyrics play a major role in the story, especially at the end. Incredibly sweet. Five stars! I’m a huge fan, Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich!

This was a great read. I couldn't put it down and read it in a day. The characters were well developed (and endearing). There were parts that had me laughing and others really sucked me in to the action. This is not quite a spoiler but one of the things I really liked was that the third act conflict was really well done - it felt like a real and valid and proportionate conflict - which can be hard to find.

IF THIS GETS OUT is the perfect book for anyone who loves boy bands, who is an avid fan, and who loves to ship.

After reading the blurb I expected the book to be a fluffy rom-com, and was surprised by how much more the novel had to offer. Especially when it came to the workings between management and band, and singers and parents. And the more emotional topics gave the novel a realistic and authentic vibe.

I really enjoyed the boy band aspect of it all. It was so easy to fall in love with the members of the band. The dynamic between the band members was heart warming, and enjoyable. They reminded me of every boy band I ever crushed on as a teenager. But the book also made me think and wonder how much freedom these kids have when it comes to their contract and management.

As with every boy band I ever cared about I had a favourite, same with the four main characters, mine was Ruben. And as always some of the drama became irritating the longer it dragged out. But overall the book was enjoyable, with solid writing, an interesting plot, and great representation.

4.5 stars rounded down!

Overall, enjoyed this so much. It really took a look into the pop band life and what a huge management company can do to ruin the people they're representing, all in the name of image, image, image.

All four main characters - Ruben, Zach, Jon, and Angel - were well fleshed out and full dimensional characters. They're in a huge boy band named "Saturday", possibly the biggest boy band in America, and they're all 18 year old now, a few years into their band fame. And tiring out on how Chorus, their management team, manages them.

Ruben and Zach are our main characters and main romance. All 4 of the boys met at this music camp when they were 15, and when they performed together at the end of the camp, Jon's father, Geoff, who is a huge music producer, decided to form their band and make them stars. And that is where Ruben and Zach meet.

Ruben knows he's gay, has been wanting to come out since he was 16, but has been silenced over and over and over again by Chorus. For the past year or so, he's been having feelings for Zach, but doesn't want to ruin their friendship by saying or doing anything, because for all he knows, Zach is straight.

But it turns out, Zach has been doing a lot of denying, because he is definitely also into girls. But he's had small crushes forming on guys before, but has stamped them down and pushed them away before they can fully form, so he can go on thinking he's straight. Whether conscious or not, he does it.

But Zach, more and more, since he can't push Ruben away or run from him, is starting to get feelings for a boy again, only these are stronger than ever before, and eventually he can't ignore his feelings anymore.

But once these two finally kiss, Zach does have a sort of freak out. It pushes him to really realize that he's bisexual, and wants to be with Ruben. But let's just say, there's some drama before that happens.

But once they do get together, they're fairly solid for the rest of the book. It's just Chorus they have to do real with.

I did give .5 stars off for this and rounded down mostly because of two reasons. Once these two did get together, I didn't feel like enough time was dedicated to their romance. We got scenes, of course, but I felt like the main focus shifted from them and their romance to them dealing with Chorus who wanted to hide their romance and their sexualities.

Which is a big deal, and I still enjoyed this book as I was reading them starting to stand up for themselves, but I feel like a little bit of the romance that was so good in the first half got a little lost in all the drama about Chorus. I just wish there had been a better balance between the two.

Also, the ending felt slightly too abrupt, in my opinion. Unless the ending is solidly wrapped up and it feels like the couple has their HFN or HEA has been all squared away and every issue resolved with that, endings without epilogues never feel quite complete, and always a tad abrupt.

Now don't get me wrong, these two have a solid HFN, maybe even stretching to a HEA - but they are 18 years old, so I'm cautious to think of it as a HEA - but it felt like there were a few plot threads left hanging a bit, and I wasn't expecting the very end to have been the end. Also just an epilogue with seeing these two settled into their HFN is always a plus. I think epilogues, for most stories, but especially romances, are authors friends and they should use them as often as they can.

It just would have been nice to get epilogue, or if not that, then just one more chapter to really see these two, and the whole band, settled into their happier life. It cut off too early, imo.

But other than those two frustrations, I loved this, and highly recommend it. It is YA, so all sex scenes are fade to black, but that's fine as it's a YA and I expect that from a YA novel. But in case you were wondering about that, just letting you know. So, very little steam - we get kisses and making out, but that's as far as we really get to see - but it is abundant in the romance department (for the first half, before we unfortunately get less of it. But it is still there in the second half, just less.)

So overall, two thumbs up from me, and if you're into YA, band stories with two members falling in love, and all the drama that comes with being a famous boy band, then this is definitely for you and you should check it out.

Actual Rating: 4.5 Stars

TW: Car Accident, alcholism, queerphobia, self-harm, drug use, hospitalizaiton, abuse parents

Rep: Gay Spanish American MC (Ruben), Bi MC (Zach), biracial Black promiant character, queer side characters, Vietnamese promiant character

Disclaimer: I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion whatsoever. 

Once you've learned shame, it settles into your skin like a tattoo. You can cover it up but you can't scrub off the sense of inadequacy.

If This Gets Out is one of my most anticipated releases this year and in December. Sophie Gonzales has been on my 'I must read' author ever since Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper that talked about a lot of personal issues I don't see a lot in books. This time, If This Gets Out by one of my favorite authors and an author I have never heard of, but I'll certainly be checking out his work when I get the chance. 

This book came into my life when I needed it the most. I'm so glad that it is coming out later this year, because this book is so meaningful for me. There are a lot of topics that are talked about, and there is even a questioning character in this book and I'm still getting soft over this book. 

If This Gets Out follows a boy band, Saturday, that consists of Ruben, Zach, Angel, and Jon. They are wildly popular and Ruben grows tired of the constant pressure from their management and keeping in the closet for reasons such as Russia, and parents. During Saturday's Europe tour, Ruben and Zach grow close together until they want to come out to their fans. The only problem is, their management will never let them. 

This book is probably one of the cutest things I have read. Trust me, when I say you'll be smiling for the entire book because this book is that cute and adorable. It's also a good thing I read this before I got my teeth out or else I'll constantly be in pain while grinning like an idiot.  I had a grin on my face the whole way through because there are just certain scenes especially the ending that made me feel warm and bubby from reading it. It's also a great book for just wanting to read something quick, because I FLEW through this. 

This book is a great quick read especially since it talks heavily about questioning oneself, toxic parenting and how a management team can be toxic and be controlling. 

There's a discussion about toxic parenting and how hard it is in cutting them out. I'm a victim of the abuse, and toxic parenting and the damage that does to you, is therapy's worth. Seeing, Ruben deal with his mom's parenting had mirror my own in a similar manner. They could always say I love you, but toxic parenting will always criticize you on your work and you will never feel like you could live up to their expectations. 

I think the main difference between mine and Ruben's is the fact that mine is nice to everyone when around people, but behind doors, it's a different story. Ruben's mom is just plain terrible all around and really reminds me of my grandpa's wife who's a downright bitch to everyone. 

It also talks about the boundaries and how hard it is in setting your boundaries up when it comes to toxic parenting. It's such a hard feeling because you feel like you have to drop everything and listen to everything the parent says because they will kill if you dare to do anything about. Boundaries are so hard, but seeing Ruben try and make in difference and try and cut his mom out is so meaningful. While I'm certainly not in a position where I can't do so, I'm trying to set my boundaries on not letting people walk all over me until I'm in a position where I could cut off my family. 

The questioning rep was so meaningful and really touched my heart that there was actually a main character who was questioning his sexuality. I don't see those type of things in Fiction often, and many times books its always a 'one size fit all' situation. The main characters especially in YA, always have them to where they know their romantic and sexuality and frankly, as someone who has questioned everything about theirself-there's simply not enough books. 

It's incredibly isolating as a reader because it makes it seem like we have to figure it out. We have to know who we are because there's not enough books that feature questioning. Anyways, I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself about my feelings on that-but there are certain books where the emotions and living as a queer person is super positive. It's not something that I don't think a cishet writer can write about especially the issues about questioning. In Zach's case of questioning whether he was queer or he was straight. 

Gonzales and Dietrich captured those feelings perfectly and it was actually a super important thing in If This Gets Out. It's also probably one of my favorite things in this book because the questioning rep was just perfection and captured my feelings when I questioned everything. 

This book also touched upon how difficult it is in coming out especially if your famous. It's been touched upon heavily about the difficulties in coming out especially as a queer artist. Ruben wanted to come out to the world as gay, but the management team always gave him the excuses about "Russia" (queerphobic country), and "the parents".

As everyone knows, artists are not treated well in the industry and it shown how it could make someone lose it and spiral into suicide. The deceptions of mental health was also important and the way that was explored through Angel. It was so interesting to see how fame can mess someone up really quickly. 

If This Gets Out is a YA RomCom that features an M/M relationship. Romance in books are always a fifty fifty for me. I usually hate them, but this book made me fall in love with it. There are healthy deceptions of relationships in this book and shockingly both Ruben and Zach have chemistry together.

*Thank you NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.*

In If This Gets Out, Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich tell the story of Ruben and Zach- two members of the world-famous boy band Saturday. Ruben is feeling suffocated by his management’s insistence on him hiding that he is gay. Zach dreams of one day recording and performing his own music. During an overseas tour, Zach and Ruben become even closer, and soon a romance begins. When they decide they are ready to announce their relationship to the public (with their bandmates’ blessing), they soon realize that their management has no intention of allowing this. Will Zach, Ruben, and Saturday be able to find and live their happily ever after?

I want to start this by saying I was a bit wary about the plot of this. As someone who absolutely LOVES boy bands, I thought it sounded fun. But as someone who lived through all of the One Direction shipping nonsense, I wasn’t too sure. Yeah, it may seem fun to analyze band members' relationships and all that, but it can be so damaging to assume they are in romantic relationships with each other. It can negatively affect their real-life, true friendships. It can also be damaging to make assumptions about a person's sexuality. As fans, it's important to respect their privacy and not make assumptions. Now, back to the book.

I thought it was a fun read. It really examines the struggles artists go through, especially in regards to image. It’s heartbreaking to think about how these people (especially teens) are forced to fit into certain molds and hide their true selves, all in an attempt to achieve their dreams. This book handles that really well for each member of Saturday. Aside from just their relationship, Ruben just wants to live out and proud and Zach wants to write and perform his own music. Angel feels stifled in his role in the band and begins a downward spiral, while Jon is struggling to please his father, who also happens to be their record label’s manager. This was the heart of this book. Especially because while the main focus was on Zach and Ruben’s romance, it also focused on all the members and their relationships with each other. And each character felt real.

Overall, I really liked this book. It was fun, sweet, and had a lot of heart. The characters were written well and their stories felt authentic. Now I’m going to go listen to some Backstreet Boys and BTS.