Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4.5/5

This was really great! I feel like it could've been longer to really explore some of the discussions presented. Kiss & Tell follows the incredibly popular boy band "Kiss & Tell" and Hunter Drake, the only gay member in the band. Hunter has been an icon for queer youth everywhere, but after his breakup with his boyfriend and texts are leaked, his image is put into question. Hunter never wanted to be the Label's perfect queer kid, but navigating the line between keeping the Label appeased and being himself is hard enough without thousands of fans and parents talking about his actions like they know him.

Then there's Kaivan, the drummer of PAR-K, the opener for Kiss & Tell on their North American tour. Hunter and Kaivan start a flirty friendship when Kaivan comes out to him. Hunter thinks this could develop into something romantic, but when the Label gets involved, Hunter doesn't know what to do.

This was such a great story about the pressure of being in the spotlight and how that affects people. Hunter is a white cis gay boy and he has a lot of privilege. It was very interesting to see all the things he dealt with and how he centers himself. Three members of Kiss & Tell are BIPOC, but when Hunter finally talks to them, he realizes that he's not the only one dealing with stereotypes and microaggressions. Hunter is a bit selfish and closed off in the beginning of this, but we see him start to come out of his shell and begin to listen. I wish this book was longer so we could've seen more action from Hunter as he comes to all these realizations.

I do wish Hunter had taken a bigger role in educating himself. Maybe it's because he's Canadian, but I think it stems more from being white. But Hunter is constantly educated by the people of color in his life and I can't imagine how tiring that was for them. I do like that by the end he's finally more receptive to what their saying and how racism is different from queermisia, but is still just as damaging.

I did like Hunter's character. He's only a teenager and he doesn't have everything figured out. Plus with private texts leaked by his ex, he's dealing with a lot. His image and reputation are in question and Hunter doesn't know how to navigate this, especially as a gay boy. The Label wants him to become more of a femme/twink persona even though that's not him. He spends a lot of time internally debating how to navigate this and what he should do.

I really enjoyed Hunter and Kaivan's friendship/relationship. Kaivan was so cute and I wanted more of him. The past interviews with him definitely made me worried. I liked how he did eventually talk to Hunter about all of it. There was so much interesting presence about heteronormativity, and toxic masculinity. We do get some discussions of it and I was glad for that. I would've loved more, but ultimately, I really enjoyed this book.

Last thing I'll say is that this cover is RUDE and screams pansexual vibes and then there was no pan characters and I was sad. Oh well :(

Rep: white Canadian gay cis male MC, Iranian-American gay cis male side character, white Canadian gay cis male side character, white Canadian cishet male side character, Vietnamese-Canadian cishet male side character, Brazilian-Canadian cishet male side character, Indian-Canadian cishet male side character, Black queer nonbinary drag monarch side character, white American gay cis male side character, various queer & BIPOC side characters briefly mentioned.

CWs: Body shaming, slut shaming, homophobia/homomisia, racism, sexual harassment. Moderate: alcohol consumption, sexual harassment, sexual assault, outing, consensual sexual content, grief, past death of parent. Minor: Car accident.

Absolutely brilliant. This timely, well rounded novel tackles fame, coming out, and racism in a perfectly paced novel. I loved how this character spun many plates expertly without dropping one of them. It's an instant favorite!

I have many opinions about this book and so here is a brief synopsis of some of the issues that I had with this book:

1. There was no plot. This book was entirely character driven (I guess) even though there was hardly any character development.
2. The main character, Hunter, is annoying and whiny and made it very hard for me to feel connected to any aspect of this story.
3. While I appreciate that the story was written using mixed media, I thought that the countless magazine articles were unnecessary and only took me even further away from the book.
4. This is a personal one, but Khorram insulted my home state, rude.
5. Khorram places huge emphasis on the fact that Hunter is 17, and yet he takes the romantic scenes a little far in my opinion for a young adult book. Also, Hunter almost hooks up with a 25 year old? Just thought it was weird
6. This is the one I have the biggest issue with, mainly because I feel like I don’t really have a right to speak on it, but it seems like every other page was just Hunter talking about being gay. I appreciated the diversity in this book and love the inclusion in the band itself, but if I counted the amount of times that the word gay itself appeared in this book, it would be insane. I just wish that Khorram would have talked about these issues in a more nuanced way that wasn’t so direct.

Um so yeah fast read and interesting concept, but just poor execution.

1.5 stars

thank you so much prh teens for this arc!! i love love LOVE boy bands stories! i used to be a big directioner and am a fan of kpop lmao so band stories are right up my alley. i fell in love with the members of the band in this book and found myself rooting for almost everyone. i really enjoyed this book and read it pretty quickly too! thank you again!

**Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen/Dial Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changes my rating**

Back in August, I picked up a Penguin sampler solely for Kiss & Tell. Anyone who knows me even a little knows that Darius the Great is Not Okay is one of two books I claim as my all time favorites. So I read the first three chapters and I was...disappointed. Hunter was different than I expected. I thought he came across a little naïve and like he didn't pay attention due to a flippant comment he made about a music video they filmed. I fully intended to read this...eventually, but it wasn't top of my TBR.

I am SO sorry I ever doubted you, Adib Khorram. I will read a receipt this man writes from now on.

Once again, Khorram has written in such a heartfelt and gripping way. I NEVER books in a day but this is the second of his last two that I've absolutely devoured. I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened next. I grew to really love Hunter, despite the naïveté that could be due to his age and relative lack of life experience. He isn't perfect and makes many mistakes along the way, but he's striving to do his best, which makes him human and a better character overall than the one who is never wrong or who makes one big mistake. His growth over the story was wonderfully done.

The story is about Hunter, a member of the band Kiss & Tell, who is openly gay and has recently broken up with his first boyfriend. After his ex leaks explicit messages online, it's decided Hunter needs an image "rebrand". This involves changing his style and "fake" dating the opener's drummer, Kaivan. Hunter and Kaivan genuinely like each other, though, so they agree to go on public dates but give a real relationship a shot. Throughout the book, Hunter struggles with self-confidence, being considered a "queer icon" and whether or not he's doing enough for the LGBT+ community, feeling like he's the singled out in the band for additional criticism and scrutiny because of his sexuality, feeling like he isn't contributing to their music enough due to writer's block, and struggling with trauma from the backlash of his "scandal", among other things. Additionally, Khorram uses Kaivan's character to discuss the racism he faces on top of being gay and intersectionality discussions, as well as relationships when one partner is considerably more famous than the other and whether pop is "real music" compared to musicians that play their own instruments. There are so many great points brought up between Hunter and Kaivan's character that are fleshed out so beautifully and really made me think about our relationship with celebrities, the unfair criticisms we hurl at them because we *feel* like we know them when we don't, and the way we, as a culture, consume not only the art, but the artist and feel entitled to do so.

It never felt like it was too many issues being tackled or like they weren't discussed thoroughly. The writing is just gorgeously done. It was also creatively done, using a mix of prose, blog posts, social media posts, journal articles, interviews, documentary clips, lyrics, and other mixed media to get across the story. I loved that creativity and felt it added to the story by including outsiders opinions and how that may or may not influence what is happening with Hunter and Kaivan or Hunter and his bandmates.

There's a quote from Jane Austen's Emma that's often quoted: "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about you more." I have nothing but good things to say about this book and Khorram's writing as a whole, honestly. The characters are fully rounded and flawed. The issues brought up are thoroughly discussed. And the fact that I love his writing so thoroughly makes it difficult for me to write anything objectively critical. If I only influence you to pick up one author, I hope you will consider making it Adib Khorram. His work is so meaningful and so beautifully done.

It's obviously another 5 stars for me. Go preorder it. Borrow it from your library or a friend. But read it.

3.5 stars
This was a really entertaining novel following Hunter, a boyband member, as he navigates love, heartbreak, fame, and more. This book is full of diversity and commentary on social expectations and acceptance, which I appreciated. Hunter was an endearing main character; he has his share of challenges with his public image and fame, and he handles them in a realistic way. His and Kaivan’s romantic relationship worked really well on the page, but I wish we’d had more time with the band mates too! I also liked the news articles and tweets and other media that was added after every chapter. I just found the middle to drag, we were going on dates and touring, which is expected and I enjoyed the dialogue during those times, but it just seemed repetitive. If you like to read about fame and music, I recommend this one!

Five Canadian boys come together to form one of the world's biggest bands, Kiss & Tell, after a video of their first song "Poutine" goes viral. Now as they head off on the tour of their second album, Hunter Drake, the only opening gay member of the band, has to deal with heartbreak after his first major breakup and the repercussions that come with it. Will Hunter find a way back to who he authentically is, or will he crack under the pressure of the world watching his every move?

This story is very much authentically raw in its portrayal of marginalized communities within the public eye and the impacts on those marginalized and it really leaves an impact with you long after you finish. There were a few parts with Hunter being handled in ways he didn't approve of by fans that was so painful to read and I was convinced I couldn't get through it. Other parts included some hate speech even unsolicited pictures, and it really goes to show the brutal reality of being a member of a marginalized community while also being very much in the public eye.

There were a few really important discussions highlighted over the timeline of the main discourse of the story, that being how you can authentically be yourself when there are so many societal expectations pushed on you? The label that the boys play for (which is literally called The Label, could have had a better name) kept trying to force Hunter to be more feminine in his attire, or even present himself in an entirely different light just so the label and the band wouldn't go under. All the while, people from the LGBTQ+ community in various articles express concern that Hunter isn't owning his queerness, although he donates seats for each show to LGBTQ+ shelters. It really emphasizes double standards, and we even see that in Kaivan's story as a recently out gay with Iranian-American heritage. I can't speak to the accuracy of that representation as I am not of this ethnicity, but it was a really good discussion to be had.

Furthermore, Khorram isn't afraid to put it bluntly that white people don't need to be saviors for people of color or even attempt to fight their battles for them. POCs face much more difficult struggles that white people can't even comprehend, and it's up to them to figure out how they can be a good ally while also not stepping on their toes. It was wrapped up a bit too nicely at the end, but I'll get to that later.

The characters are messy, but they also work really well throughout the story when it comes to the overall plot. Hunter is definitely working through a lot, and at times has a tendency to focus on himself and shut out the rest of his friends and even his ex. While he was not the cleanest character I've read, I still really liked him through his struggles and his passions. It highlighted the best and worst parts of him, and that's why I liked him so much. I do wish we saw some more of the other band members, however, since a lot of the time is focused on Hunter's "relationship" with Kaivan and Hunter dealing with all the things the world expects of him.

Some things I was a bit iffy on while reading. First, the ending was too neat, as in it ended on a high note but absolutely no clue as to what happened after the end of the last chapter. We know the epilogue is them still on tour, but that's it. There's no clue as to what The Label (I'm sorry it's such a dumb name) is doing to make up for what they've done, or the band, or what happens between Hunter and his love interest. Yeah it circles back to the very beginning, but give us a better idea of the outcome of the story.

Next, some conversations about self-pleasure were had, primarily through Hunter's perspective, but it was kind of just forced at the beginning and not really talked about since? For me, it could have been a discussion on positive reinforcement and normalization of masturbation but read as another typical teenage boy needing to get off. I know it adds to Hunter's messy character, but it was uncomfortable for me to read.

Despite its flaws, Kiss & Tell is a fast-paced and beautiful story that my former One Direction fan self fell in love with. It's brutal and honest and passionate and absolutely addicting.

I received a copy of this story as an e-ARC from NetGalley and Penguin Teen. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was really excited to read this book, but it ended up being extremely disappointing. It felt like the author was desperately trying to include every marginalized identity possible, to make up for the fact that the main character is white. Throughout the story, Hunter does recognize his privilege and work to use it for good, but it still fell flat for me. Much of the diversity felt forced, and if this book was meant to feel inclusive, it had the opposite effect. I did, however, like how honest this book was. None of the characters were perfect, they had baggage to deal with, and often had really honest conversations with each other which made them much more relatable. Overall, there was a lot of potential for this book to be a call out for how society praises white gay men for being the “ideal” queer person but the other parts of the book that fell short prevented the message from landing.

The boy band premise of this book first caught my eye, especially with a gay protagonist. It delved into a lot of interesting topics, about being a boy band member and famous and gay. Kiss & Tell examined the weight of being a gay celebrity in the spotlight.

After a video of Hunter and his friends singing goes viral, they now form the members of the beloved boy band Kiss & Tell, with two successful albums and a current world tour. Hunter himself has gone recently gone through a rough break-up with his bandmate Ashton‘s twin brother Aiden. When Aiden leaks their explicit texts, Hunter is forced to go under a rebranding from The Label. Part of this rebranding entails a relationship with Kaivan, one of the members of Kiss & Tell’s opening act.

This book examined the scrutiny boy band members undergo, twice-over in Hunter’s case, as he is the only gay member of their group. It pointed out how boy band members are expected to be celibate, good role models for the kids, Hunter, especially because of people’s dislike of hearing about LGBTQ+ people’s sex lives and people’s preconceptions about bottoms. After Hunter and Aiden’s texts make headlines, The Label strongly suggests Hunter dress more femme, in line with what people associate with bottoms.

Hunter has to be “a good gay,” something he’s stomached for years but is increasingly becoming more and more uncomfortable with. He also is either fetishized or villified; there are news articles in between chapters, which emphasizes how Hunter is simultaneously a bad role model for having sex and for hiding his sex life. We also get a few fanfiction snippets, which emphasized how people have a complete disregard for celebrities’ lives, even if Hunter and his ex were (and still are) minors.

The romance was cute. Hunter and Kaivan obviously like each other a lot from the very beginning, and their dates and getting to know each other moments were very cute. I also liked how Kaivan calls out Hunter’s privilege. As much as Hunter has to play it safe in the media, he is white and isn’t subject to the scrutiny that his bandmates and Kaivan undergo.

I also liked the characters. As I mentioned, Kaivan proves to be a good support system for Hunter, who is grateful to have a gay person his age on the tour. The other band members of Kiss & Tell—Ethan, Ian, Owen, and Ashton—are also always there for him, even if he refuses to see their support sometimes.

As far as representation, Hunter is gay, as I mentioned. Kaivan is gay and Iranian-American. The other members are Vietnamese-Canadian, Indian-Canadian, and Brazilian-Canadian.

Kiss & Tell was a cute story that also examined the pressures of being gay and famous. I liked the characters, and the romance was cute. If you’re looking for a cute contemporary, you should check out Kiss & Tell!

Ahhh! I absolutely loved it! Thank you for sending me the widget. I especially loved how the main character was out before he and the group formed and became famous. This book is what I needed to see as a teen, that it's ok to be out and that there is no one way to be queer.

I finished reading KISS & TELL in roughly ten hours, which should tell you just how enthralled and in love with this story I was. Adib Khorram, once again, writes a fantastic novel with amazing characters and vital conversations. I cried several times whilst reading this, excitedly screamed my head off, and mourned the fact it ended. I want more books with these characters! This book is going to be so important to so many people and the conversations had will, no doubt, positively impact the young readers this book gets into the hands of. This is worth so much of your time!!

Content Warnings: Racism, slut shaming, fetishization, homophobia, infantilization, outing, sexual harassment, sexual assault, parental death, grief, burnout, alcohol, car accident.

I loved "Darius the Great" and "Darius the Great Deserves Better" and Khorram delivers again with "Kiss & Tell" The narrative style of the book is fun and insightful (and reminded me a little bit of "Daisy Jones and the Six). Khorram does an expert job of bringing to life 2022 teens, even though the lens he chooses his famous ones. Hunter and his bandmates are going through it all, with the added pressure of the spotlight. I don't recall books like this one being widely available when I reading YA as a teen in 2005-2009. This book is incredibly sex positive and broaches on topics I haven't encountered so completely, openly, and factually in YA before. Given this, I would likely recommend this book for older teens and could see it facilitating some great discussions.

After his ex-boyfriend releases some of their extremely private texts, the public shames Hunter for being a sexually active bottom and the record label tries to rebrand him to fit preconceived notions of how feminine a bottom might be. But shoving Hunter into a box proves to be suffocating, and readers watch him slowly reach a boiling point in Kiss and Tell.

There’s a lot going on in Kiss & Tell and most of it is jumbled together, masked by other things, and not really unpacked. For example, it seems like everyone takes issue with Hunter only thinking of himself and his own problems, but they only think that because he doesn’t see their issues—and neither do the readers. Hunter and readers of his story see a lot of injustices with fame and queer identities, but they don’t see the racial injustices that his bandmates face. Racial issues are important, but the way they’re presented here, not being shown to the reader but just told to them in accusations flung against Hunter for not seeing them…Well, it’s like these multiple people (who are supposed to be Hunter’s support system) are calling him selfish for breaking down just because their lives are hard too.

The love interest in Kiss & Tell is also problematic. Kaivan agrees to enter into a real—not fake—relationship with Hunter after the texts are released, but while the attraction is there, the respect is not. Kaivan has always thought boybands were talentless musicians who didn’t even write their own songs and is continuously surprised when Hunter and his group prove to be more. Further, Hunter is repeatedly anxious when their dates get bombarded with fans, but even after the first few times, Kaivan doesn’t see it. It seems like Kaivan’s so caught up in his newfound fame that he doesn’t care to notice his date’s comfort. It’s really a dislikable trait that isn’t addressed in the book at all.

This book had a great premise, but it fell flat because it didn’t unpack the issues it presented. The characters are unlikeable and not one of them seems to understand that their experiences aren’t diminished by the others’. It’s not a competition and everyone can have their own issues.

Kiss & Tell also incorporates a lot of articles and interviews to provide flashbacks of sorts and also uses quite a few back and forth texts. Realizing the copy I read wasn’t a finished one in terms of formatting, I still think the final digital version might prove hard to read with all the nonnarrative content.

This one was not what I was expecting… like, at all. That is not a bad thing, but I would recommend not letting the synopsis set your expectations for this, because it will lead you astray. This book really isn’t centered around romance (more on that in a minute), but rather focused on what it means to be queer in the public eye and how Hunter is managing being shoved into a box of what he “should” be.

Ok. It’s been a minute. The romance, for me, was not the vibe. At first it felt really insta-lovey and then by the end it seemed like the characters lacked a bit of a genuine connection?? Were there cute moments? Oh, absolutely. But then there were other moments where it seemed like the characters just weren’t super compatible. Since it was more of a subplot, it wasn’t a huge deal, but it is still something worth noting.

This is Hunter’s story. He was definitely center stage through it all and I enjoyed getting to know him and watching him interact with the other characters (who probs could have used a bit more development tbh). At times though, I felt like things became a little bit too Hunter-centric. There were so many issues that could have been resolved with communication (and many that were bigger than that), but instead Hunter made it mostly about himself. Like, dude, you are in a band, literally talk to the other bandmates about some of these things.

Kiss & Tell harness a shorter and punchier style with bold humor, short sentences, and lots of emails, news clips and other assorted mixed media sprinkled about. Many of the clips and such did help the story unfold, but a lot of them felt unnecessary and even a bit confusing at times. They most certainly aided the storytelling at certain points, but I would have liked to see it used a bit more sparingly to keep the story going and less chunk-ified.

At the end of the day, even though I have quite a few qualms with the book, I am glad I read it.

4.5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for an arc of this one.

Hunter is the only queer person in his boyband, and he is feeling the effects. After a messy breakup with his ex of 2 years--also a bandmate's twin brother--Hunter's sexts get leaked and his public persona is entirely changed. Hunter has to change everything about who he is for the public to keep the label and the fans happy, but he has had enough.

This book had my entire heart for....almost all of it. I was so immersed and reading this so fast because I loved it so much. Hunter is a great character and I loved watching him grow. A lot of his struggles made me so frustrated because of the way queer people are always treated. But it was all really important stuff.

I also really enjoyed the focus on having queer friends and how different it is when you are with cishet people all the time. I felt that!

The only thing that really frustrated me with this book is that I felt like nothing was resolve regarding the slut-shaming that Hunter went through. There was a little about it but...apologies needed to be made, and they weren't, and I felt like frustrations were redirected and then it was just swept under the rug instead of really been taken account for. So that sucked.

But I loved the rest of it.

Pub Date: March 22, 2022

Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Racism, Body shaming, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual assault

Thank you to Penguin Teen for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'm not much into boy bands, but I've been strangely enjoying the YA boy band book trend as of late! Maybe becuase it's surrounding the problems in the music industry, especially surrounding racism and LGBTQIA+ rights within boy bands.

This one, while I really enjoyed, could be a bit over-sexualized considering how young the characters were (felt a bit strange to read about a 17 yo in that way) If NA were a real, I'd definitely want to see this one there. So, if you're younger or a parent interested in this one for your kid, it is a bit spicy for a YA contemporary, in my opinion. While I think it's important to include sex in YA books, this felt like it was really toeing that NA line.

Overall, though, still enjoyed it! Really important queer rep as well as discussions around privacy, media, and racism in the music industry.

This is such a great book!

It's a departure from his Darius the Great duology but it's still got the great writing and story I would expect from Adib Khorram.

I can't wait to see whatever he does next; I'm definitely going to read it the second I can.

Kiss and Tell was a fast paced queer romcom that addressed issues of homophobia and racism, and it was all together a stunning novel that I read throughout the duration of a 4 hour flight. The characters were realistic, having human reactions to painful situations. The story was consistent and engaging and informative. The only downside of the novel, I found, was the random news clips and stuff that didn't seem to contribute to the story at most points, and held rather dry components.

I was so excited to receive a copy for review of Adib Khorram's latest book, Kiss & Tell. Like everyone with a soul, I am a huge fan of Darius the Great is Not Ok, and its sequel, and I was really excited to see what Khorram would deliver next.

As other reviews have noted, this book is very different from Khorram's others. While Darius is like a slowly simmering cup of tea, Hunter is like a monster energy drink and his energy had me buzzing from page one. But though his character was completely unique from Darius, I still felt as protective of him as I did of Darius. Khorram really has such a deft way of writing characters who are vulnerable, lovable, and flawed in ways that will make you want to hug and protect them.

Some of the writing is in choppy texts and emails which was a little hard to get used to, but it really added to the authenticity of what Khorram is writing. I really appreciated the frank way Khorram writes about sexuality in this book. So often society wants to put LGBTQ people in a box and if they don't perform the way straight, cis people expect, they are seen as deviant and even further marginalized. This book really made me question and examine my own prejudices and privilege.

My only wish is that we got more from the other members of the band--perhaps we'll get their stories in a companion novel? (Please?)

Thank you so much for allowing me to review this book! I am a huge fan of Adib Khorram and his Darius the Great books, so naturally I was excited to read this new book, Kiss & Tell. K&T is about Hunter, who is in a boy band that gained fame after his song about Poutine went viral (I love Poutine, like any good Franco-American, so obviously I loved that part). What made this book really special is that its characters are full of personality and complicated feelings. Hunter, the main character, is gay and out, and his sexuality and relationships are closely scrutinized by the media and all of his fans. He feels immense pressure to perform even when not on stage. You will feel love and empathy for Hunter, as well as desperation for all of the mounting pressure put upon him! You'll fall in love with his friends in the band, and feel frustration at all of the adults in his life who are taking advantage of him and his fame. Hunter just wants to be himself, but doesn't feel like he can, and in the process of finding out how, he will make mistakes and learn some lessons, as well as find out if the new guy in his life is someone he can trust. Please, please, go out and get this book once it is published, or pre-order it so you can have it right away! You won't regret it!!!