AHHHH so good! I really hope this one hits the lists because it deserves to! Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich just never disappoint. From the chemistry to the humour to the heart-wrenching bits, this was just a wonderful read all in all. :)

This book was incredibly enjoyable and with great characters. Loved the concept and the execution was great. Definitely recommending to friends.

The romance between Zach and Ruben was okay, I think I would have liked them as a couple more if their relationship was a slow burn instead of dating within the first 30% of the book. The romance also did not seem like the main focus as the two boys are constantly being kept apart by their management team.

I loved Angel and Jon, the other band members, but I feel like their characters could have been explored so much more. I loved when all four them would banter and we're having fun together, but unfortunately it didn't happen as much as I would've liked it to because the book mostly revolves around how awful they are treated by everyone around them and how little control they have over their lives.

I think this is one of those situations where it's me and not the book, I just thought It was going to be a fluffy read but I ended up being very upset and angry for most of the book and it took me a long time to get past the 50% mark.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for this review copy.

I loved how clear the voices were, and even though both POV's were in first person it was so clear whose side we were reading. A lovely story with strong MC's and an adorable romance. Would definitely read a collab by these authors again!

4.75/5 stars

Wow. This book. This book!!! I'm absolutely obsessed with it. Cale and Sophie did an incredible job crafting their characters - obviously Ruben and Zach are well-rounded, believable, REAL characters, but Angel and Jon stand out in their own way as well, and the side characters also manage to be fleshed out and set apart from each other throughout the book. It's honestly incredible, with such a large cast of characters, how well-defined they each are.

I really loved the love story here, the things the book has to say about the music industry and the way we treat young stars/the things we expect of them/just...the life they live in some cases. And I was furious at so many points because the boys - my boys! - were going through such hard things. I felt like I really knew them and cared about them.

The book made me giggle and smile and also rage against the system and if that's not a sign of a great book I don't know what is!

3.5 stars? It didn’t blow me away, but I enjoyed it and it made me cry multiple times. Recommended for fans of I Was Born for This.

Disliked:

-It alternates POV between Ruben and Zach, and occasionally I lost track of which POV we were in, which to me implies that the character voices aren’t quite distinct enough.
-I wish there was more development of the romance in its early stages, “showing the math” of why these two characters fall for each other. To be fair, it’s very common for me to feel that way about romance novels. I think it’s because I’ve grown accustomed to fanfiction romance, which inherently comes with a lot of character backstory in a way that standalone original fiction can’t. (I do think the romance is better developed in later stages, though.)
-This isn’t inherently bad, but: the premise of this book is obviously inspired by Larry Stylinson tinhats, but I feel like the book doesn’t quite deliver on what a Larry Stylinson fan would want in a book. Not in the sense that it’s not Larry Stylinson enough (I don’t actually know that much about Larry Stylinson), but in the sense that the fun of RPF (and often shipping in general) lies in playing detective, finding clues and interpreting them, collecting data points and telling a story with them. I get that this book is from the band members’ POV and not the fans’, but the band members do often see what the fans are thinking (e.g. on Twitter), so clue-finding from a fan perspective could have been laced in. Again, I don’t see this as an objective flaw — it’s more just that, at least for me, the book evokes an itch that it then chooses not to scratch.

Liked:

-The Twitter/fandom discourse feels very real. Like, if the events of the book happened in real life, the tweets in the book are exactly the things that people on Twitter would say.
-I deeply related to Ruben’s relationship with his mom, and appreciated the portrayal of a parent in that in-between space where you know they love you and would never physically harm you, but also interacting with them often makes you sad and tired.
-The fight scenes (both romantic and platonic) are excellent. Not physical fights, but arguments. I love argument scenes because they’re so full of character work, they’re deeply about who each character is and the pain points in their relationship, and these scenes deliver. They both provide new insight into each character’s personality and fit right in with everything we already knew about the characters.
-The [concert coming out scene (hide spoiler)] is beautiful and made me cry.
-the Mom Squad!
-The nuanced depiction of homophobia, and how it's not always hate crimes or slurs or Bible-thumping; it can come from people who are ostensibly supportive and who maintain plausible deniability.
-I rarely see a white author write an Asian-American character with a personality other than "quiet/studious," so I was happy to see an Asian-American character who's a loud, extroverted party animal! (Obviously, quiet and studious Asian-Americans exist - hi, I'm one of them! - but sometimes it feels like that's the only personality we ever get to have in fiction.)


Rep: POV characters are a gay guy and an initially questioning / eventually bisexual guy. Other major characters include a biracial Black guy and an Asian-American (probably Vietnamese) guy, both straight.

Content notes: Covert homophobia (no slurs, nothing physically violent or overtly hostile), coerced closeting, substance abuse, mental illness, car accident, a scene of coming out to a parent that doesn’t go as well as expected

Netgalley ARC.

I'm so happy I got an ARC of this because this book was amazing... and I wish it was longer. I need more Zach and Ruben in my life.
I love the fact that this book had two POV's, especially since a lot of the drama was easier to understand from both sides because we got to be inside both their minds when things happened.
I highly recommend this book if you're in the need of a good, cute, drama-filled LGBT book.
4.5 stars!

Good book with fun characters! Easy read and good for diversity. I enjoyed the interplay between the characters and that the story was not necessarily about the romance, but there was an underlying story behind that as well. I felt that the characters were unique and relatable to a YA audience.

This is such a fun, romantic, and gut-wrenching book! The romance is one to root for, and the alternating narratives work beautifully. I love the whole cast of characters, and watching them take on the challenges of a constricting music industry is infuriating but, ultimately, uplifting.

First of all, thank you to Wednesday Books for an eARC of If This Gets Out in exchange for an honest review!

What happens when two members of a boy band-one who is gay but not publicly out because of the boy band's image, and who who suddenly realizes he may have always been bi-fall head over heels for each other?

If This Gets Out follows Zach and Ruben, two members of Saturday. Their images are controlled by Chorus, and despite Ruben openly being out for many years, they basically control him and what he does. And one fateful night, Zach finally gives into those feelings he's been supressing for years.

If This Gets Out reminded me a bit of Red White and Royal Blue. Though it's friends to lovers, they spend most of the book sneaking around. It's also actually quite spicy (I'd say even spicier than RWRB) so I'm a bit surprised this is YA rather than NA.

Overall, even though I don't like boy bands, this was so sweet, and a really great read! Can easily see this being turned into a TV show!

A quintessential part of the queer experience is “coming out.” There are so many questions that have to be asked and answered - When? How? How will people react? Is it safe to come out? How will coming out affect my life?

18-year-old Ruben knows he’s gay, but he has an added element that most people don’t have to worry about - he’s in Saturday, an insanely popular boyband about to embark on the European leg of their world tour. Being a part of a wildly successful band means there are more pieces at play - a fanbase of mostly teen girls, scrutiny under the public eye, and a management team that controls basically everything he and his bandmates do. He wants to come out, but management always says it’s not the right time.

Zach, Ruben’s bandmate, wants to be known as a songwriter but management continuously turns down his ideas. Also, he thought he was straight. Ruben too, thinks he’s straight, but? What if he’s not? When Zach begins to question his sexuality, tensions rise between the bandmates that risk the wrath of management along with scorn from fans.

While these two work out whatever is going on between them, their other two bandmates, Jon and Angel, are not without their own problems. Jon struggles with having his dad as the manager of the group and with his management-decided role in the band being the opposite of who he is. Angel, also unhappy with his “role” and desperate to gain some kind of control back in his life, struggles with drugs and alcohol.

Together, they deal with overbearing management, the price of fame, and discovering who they are and what version of themselves they want the world to see - the one chosen for them or who they really are?

Things I liked:
- The plot was really interesting and held my attention the entire time
- I loved how supportive the bandmates were of each other. They fought sometimes, but in the end, they cared deeply about each other's wellbeing and were willing to do anything for their bandmates.
- Zach and Ruben are really sweet together!!

Things I didn’t like:
- The pacing was sometimes a little rushed
- The end was fine, but there was something missing that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Things to know before you read:
- This is a friends to lovers story
- While there are mentions of sex, it is all fade-to-black
- There is drug and alcohol use

Now, to address the elephant in the room: the supposed parallels between this book and a certain British boy band that dominated from the early-mid 2010s. Here’s the thing - if you were a casual fan, or if you don’t know anything about them at all, you’re not gonna notice the similarities. However, if you were a hardcore directioner… it’s hard not to think about the parallels. There were definitely a few moments where I thought to myself, “Hmmm, is this…?” However, whether you know anything about the band or not, the story is still enjoyable.

Overall, If This Gets Out was a fun, quick read and a unique take on a romance. I really enjoyed it!

An amazing book.

The boys of Saturday are on their first European tour and oh boy is it a memorable one.

Zach, Ruben, Jon, and Angel deserve all the happiness in the world. Ruben has to deal with his terrible management team and Zach has to deal with learning about himself, and Jon and Angel, well they've got problems too.

I loved the characters. I basically adopted four teenagers by the end of the book.

I absolutely loved reading "If This Gets Out". This is a love story that could rival some of the best. The characters present themselves to you and you immediately fall in love. While there are trials in tribulations in all relationships, "If This Gets Out" presents this trials in a different form. I would recommend this to an LGBTQIA+ student or a student that is an ally but I would not be able to adapt this into curriculum. You will not regret reading this book!

A book you will not be able to put down--from first word to last, this book is a whirlwind of romance, friendship, and the painful process of learning how to set boundaries. There was just enough angst to keep me guessing as to the plot's next move, but not so much that the main romance became unbelievable. Well-paced and fully developed, even side characters felt palpable and relevant to the main story. A book I will be reading again and again!

I had hugely high hopes for this one. As a massive boyband fan in the 90s, this looked like I could relive some of my youth!
It was a long one, though and contained a lot of waffle and irrelevant scenes that made my eyes gloss over. I am not a big fan of long reads, and when I started this on my kindle, it said 10 hours left to read! I thought this was going to be a cute YA read but I knew my concentration would struggle for the entirety.
It was a fun read, but a slow one and I was a little diappointed to feel uninterested at times.
The characters were good, and I rooted for the lovebirds, but it took a while to get to know them and too long for any real plot development.

I hate when people call gay romance novels cute. It feels infantilizing. It reminds me of the way straight people will stare and point at (especially male) gay couples on the street, and when they’re caught say, “Oh, you’re just so cute.” Like gay people (especially men) are fluffy handbags, statement pieces, not entirely real people.

Also, this book is cute as hell, and it’s only partially due to the romance. I can’t remember the last time I saw a media portrayal of male friendships this open and loving. Usually, when fictional friends say they love each other, it’s a pair of girls who are about to stab each other in the back. There’s no backstabbing in this book. There’s not even a single “no homo.”

The friends are four boys who met and performed together at music camp one summer when they were fifteen: “sensitive, sweet Zach … type A, cautious Jon … wild, hilarious Angel … perfectionist, darkly sarcastic [Ruben].” Though none of the other boys knew it at the time, Jon’s father is the famous pop talent manager Geoff Braxton:

"… if he decides you’re worth it he can make you a global superstar, richer and more famous than you can ever imagine. If you want to be famous, he’s a god."

Geoff watched the boys’ finale performance (complete with “terrible choreography that we crudely put together … by watching YouTube … and altering the moves to fit our ability”) “through calculating eyes” and decided they were worth it.

Three years later, Geoff has carefully shaped the boys into Saturday, a world-famous pop band preparing to leave for their first international tour. He’s given them professional choreography and more money than they know how to spend, but also entirely new personals that they have to maintain both on and offstage.

Angel, who has a model waiting in every country, is the innocent virgin, while Jon, a devout Catholic, struggles against instructions to wear less and less clothing for every show.

I’m not going to say much about Jon in this review because when things happen, he’s usually standing on the sidelines yelling for his friends to put on their helmets, but I want to get it on the record that Jon is 10/10 the best boy. Jon would bring you soup when you’re sick and never forget your birthday. If I ever come into a possession of a human son, I want him to be like Jon.

Zach, the pop punk-loving cinnamon roll, is the bad boy of the group, but his vocals have been polished free of any edge. He longs to write a song for Saturday, but Geoff continually rebuffs his efforts, telling him to think more along the lines of “something that would play … in a mall.” Fuck managers, but I actually can’t hold this against Geoff. All the lyrics Zach shares in the book are comedically bad:

"I bring my pen to the page and write: You’re like a hangover … I put my notebook down, and write down mysterious ways."

"Is there a song in that … you’re hot like water?"

Though his musical theater background makes him the strongest vocalist of the group, Ruben is bland, a blank slate for the projected fantasies of any girl who doesn’t want a virgin, a player, or a bad boy. Which seems like a good marketing strategy, at first. However, Geoff goes beyond just dressing Ruben in neutral-colored sweaters, preventing him from showing off his true singing abilities, and forbidding him from drawing any attention to himself. Geoff is terrified someone will find out Ruben is gay, even though it’s an open secret in the industry and Ruben has been asking to make it public since he was sixteen.

Ruben is the group cynic, which sometimes makes him hard to sympathize with. There’s more than a bit of condescension in the way he thinks about his friends’ hopes that their management company will give them more freedom in the future. None of his friends know Geoff has been keeping him in the closet for years because he hasn’t told them. I often wanted to shake him, but I also found him painfully real and relatable. In addition to a gay teenager who’s way over his head, Ruben was raised by parents who are cruel and controlling, and he’s learned to keep his vulnerabilities hidden.

Though all four boys are privately struggling, they manage to keep it more-or-less together until they leave for the international leg of their big tour.

Then, it quickly becomes clear that Angel’s partying is out of control, and there’s something more than friendship growing between Zach and Ruben. (Poor Jon has very little time to worry about his own problems because he’s somehow gotten stuck with the responsibility for keeping his friends alive and out of trouble.)

Even though I have only ever read one (horrifying) piece of bandfic, I loved this setup for a YA romance novel. It’s full of opportunities for angst and drama beyond the usual miscommunication. And it delivers! This is a book that’s practically dripping in teenage angst, but the authors usually manage to keep it from veering into melodrama by making sure there are actual, clear stakes and plenty of fluff to balance it all out.

One night early in the tour, Zach gives his hotel room to two girls who get too drunk at one of Angel’s parties. Of course he can crash in Ruben’s bed. They’re best friends. It’s not weird, just two bros chillin in the same bed five feet apart cuz they’re not gay.

Then they kiss, and it’s suddenly very gay. (Did you know you’re allowed to describe an erection in YA? Because I did not.)

There are several chapters of angst while Zach tries to figure out if he actually wanted to kiss Ruben (and that would mean about him) or if he just wants to have wanted to kiss Ruben because he doesn’t want to hurt his best friend. Ruben has a tendency to attract guys, both straight and not, looking to date their way into stardom. Zach’s almost more afraid of having used Ruben like all the others than he is of admitting he’s bi. Meanwhile, Ruben is panicking that he somehow forced or manipulated Zach into kissing him, and the media is picking up on the tension between them.

If I sound dismissive, it’s not because I have no sympathy for Zach’s experience. The way the authors describe his dawning realization that he’s always been attracted to people of all genders was similar to my own internal coming out process:

"Is the truth that I don’t get strong crushes on guys the way I get on girls? Or is the truth that whenever those crushes start to poke their heads up I squash them, and ignore them?

"I think of Lee. I think of Eirik. I think of Ruben, and his photo.

"… There’s an explanation here, and maybe … no, it can’t be that. You’d know. You’d know."

However, I do think these chapters are the weakest part of the book. While Zach’s coming out feels honest and meaningful, the conflict between him and Ruben feels unnecessarily cruel and drawn out. It’s like the book comes to an abrupt stop so they can bicker in circles for a while.

I get that they’re teenagers. I do get that, but I don’t get why they have to have the same argument over and over again, or why Ruben apparently has no sympathy for what it’s like to realize you’re not as straight as you’ve always told yourself you were. Does he not know any other queer people?

The plot picks up again when Zach decides he does want to be with Ruben. He comes out to the other members of Saturday, who are so excited and supportive I wanted to cry. He comes out to their management team, who promise they can start “thinking about” announcing the relationship publicly after their Russian tour stop. Angel’s mental health continues to decline.

I have mixed feelings about Angel’s plot. On the one hand, I think it’s important to honestly portray what that kind of fame combined with a complete lack of autonomy does to people. Having it hit a supporting character the hardest makes space for more fluff and tenderness in Ruben’s relationship, which I adored.

On the other hand, I’m uncomfortable with Angel’s addiction and mental illness being used as a plot device to create drama in his friends’ love story, especially when Angel is Asian American and Zach and Ruben are white. I’ve yet to make up my mind about how his arc is resolved mostly offscreen with a single stint in rehab. I guess I’m glad to see YA finally portraying therapy positively, but ehhh …

I did really appreciate the way Angel’s struggles motivated his friends to stand up to their management team, and I liked seeing Angel finally being able to open up about what he was going through once he’d gotten help. Again, this book has so much more emotional vulnerability than stories about boys are usually allowed to have. It’s truly lovely.

Something else you don’t see in many YA books: When things get really bad, most of the boys’ parents step up and fight for them. They form a moms’ club to lead the fight against Saturday’s management. It’s a nice change to the feelings of isolation and helplessness the boys have been dealing with for most of the book, and I appreciated the fact that the boys still maintained their autonomy to drive the conclusion.

Overall, this was a sweet read that nicely balanced tenderness with teenage angst and emotional intimacy with international pop star drama. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to people struggling with addiction, but I think anyone who likes their fanfiction with a lot of fighting and a lot of kissing will enjoy If This Gets Out.

I really enjoyed this book. It lived up to everything I’d hoped it would be. It’s the first I’ve read from either of the authors and I am impressed. The writing is excellent - it kept me turning pages right from the beginning. The characters are well drawn and interesting. I was all in before I was halfway through the first chapter.

Ruben and Zach are members of a popular boy band and the book starts off with a detailed moment-by-moment description of Ruben’s concert performance experience. It actually feels like you’re getting a behind the scenes peek at how giant music industry machinery works.

I loved all four of the band members. They’re funny and smart and like-able but, most importantly, they’re believable as 18 year olds. The book’s POV switches back and forth between Ruben and Zach, but we get to know all four guys who are each dealing with their own struggles. They are the sweetest guys and I really love the relationships they have with one another. The group dynamics are great, even when they’re not exactly getting along.

A lot of the book is about the guys discovering the downsides of fame. It definitely shows the sad reality of what it’s like being a celebrity and living life in a fishbowl. Their record label and management group completely own them, their parents aren’t giving them the support they need, and they’re all dealing with being in that weird gray area that many 18 yr olds find themselves in of wanting to be fully independent but only being partly capable of it.

To complicate matters, Zach and Ruben have started dating. So of course this presents yet another area of their lives where their management has more say in the matter than they do. The marginalization they experience is insidious and disgusting. You can’t help but root for them as they try to gain some semblance of control over their lives and learn just how difficult it can be to stand up for yourself.

Tldr: the book is smart and funny with great characters, a great story, great themes, and excellent writing. The intimate scenes (beyond kissing) are all closed door/FTB. Highly recommend this one, for teens and adults alike. I think the angst and drama is highly relatable for a younger crowd. And the story and writing are strong enough to please an older crowd. I loved it, I’m so glad I requested it. I might have to get this one for my shelf.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the eGalley.

I loved Perfect on Paper and jumped at the opportunity to read If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich. My love for boy bands began back when I was an actual YA, so I had high expectations and this exceeded them.

Saturday is a boy band at the top of the charts and headed into their mega European leg of their worldwide tour when the reader learns that two members are developing a deeper relationship. Told in dual perspective from members Ruben and Zach, you get to dive into their story as well as explore themes that involve the other two members of the band, their parents and really pop/celebrity culture as well.

One thing I really loved is how Ruben pushes Zach to explore his own feelings and wants. As a fellow people pleaser, I did not expect to see myself so much in this bisexual teenage boy, but it felt so authentic.

The book has the young love and character evolution that I really enjoy from YA romance. It also has a really insightful and thoughtful approach to queer relationships that I expect from Wednesday Books. I finished reading this grateful for the perspective it gave me and highly recommend grabbing this!

Thank you to NetGalley, Wednesday Books and St. Martins Press for an advanced copy of this and the opportunity to share my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

18 year old Ruben and Zach are two of the four members in the boy band Saturday. Along with their band mates Angel and Jon they are teen heartthrobs around the globe. For the cameras the foursome are thick as thrives but behind closed doors they are cracking around the edges and management have them on the toughest leash possible.

One wrong move and they are out. Rubin and Zach grow closer as they confide in one about about the pressure to have it all. Quite quickly their friendship evolves into a romance, one management are hesitant to let them declare to the world. They feel the worlds coming between them and both do some soul searching to find if this is really worth risking it all for love.

I’m a huge fan of Sophie’s work and when I saw this was available on NetGalley I knew I needed it in my life. While this did take the lead in my favourites of her books it definitely gave you that same warm and fuzzy feeling at the end.

This book was just incredible. Yes, I expected boyband romance, yes, I expected angst and pining. But damn, it still caught me off guard. Thank you to Wednesday book and Netgalley for the ARC. My review is unbiased