If This Gets Out

12.15.2021 Update:

This is so good omg. makes me want to scream “Fuck Simon Cowell” at the top of my lungs but this book is totally not inspired by that man and a certain boyband he may or may not have formed on the XFactor on July 23rd, 2010...

Alexa play One Direction

Prereview:

I may or may not have a tattoo that may or may not reference two songs that people may or may not associate with a certain conspiracy theory about a popular boyband and two of it's members that may or may not be the first thing people think of when they read the synopsis of this book

but anyways I am 100% the target audience for this book so I need it asap please and thank you

but I got the tattoos because I like those songs, not because of other reasons implied

I don't know if this book was based off of One Direction/Larry fanfiction but I think it has too many similarities to not be somewhat based on them. Two members of a boyband begin a relationship with each other but their management team forces them to keep their sexualities and relationship a secret?? Yeah.

The romance was not the greatest. The main characters were very one-dimensional. I often couldn't tell who's chapter I was reading. Just kind of blah overall. The side characters were more interesting.

[MY RATING] 5/10

DID NOT FINISH AT 62%

- i wanted a fun, quick, BL story to read and this sounded like fun! however, the more i read it, the more i felt like this was more of a fanfiction of one direction for some reason rather than an actual gay story.
- it was nice but the more i read it the more i decided that i disliked how the romances and the story was progressing.. it started to get draggy and boring and overall i would recommend this only people who loved shipping one direction together LMAO

leaving similarities to a certain worldwide famous boy band aside, i really enjoyed reading this book and it was a good read to start off my year.

but i do have to say that it was a slow start for me, personally. i couldn't get into it for some reason and i had to put it down after the first 100 or so pages. it was a bummer because i was so excited to read it but as soon as i picked it up again i finished the rest of the book in one sitting. i don't know if my mood affected how i got into it in the first place but what matters is that i got hooked on it the second time around.
the plot is quite unique i would say, as in i would expect to see it in fanfiction and i have seen it in fanfiction before but it hits different when it comes in the form of a source material.
so we have a boy band that's at the peak of their career and things are just getting better from here. throw in a controlling management, an international tour, a boy forced into the closet ever since he was 16, some (il)legal drinking and you have the perfect recipe for chaos.
what i liked about the characters is how real they felt. now, granted, we don't know much about who celebrities really are underneath their public persona but i felt like the authors did a good job portraying the members of the band as individuals, teeangers who just want to be themselves but also as rising stars who are under surveillance at all times. i like that they have flaws and they admit to them. i love how our main characters, zach and ruben, both get to challenge their inner demons and admit that there are issues they both struggle with and are willing to work towards fixing them.
zach's coming out journey was beautiful and heartbreaking and inspiring all at once. i also loved having ruben being so confident in his sexuality and already out in the story, it was a nice touch. sure, coming out plots are inspiring and the representation is needed as well but already established queer characters are just as needed.
i love how this was more than just about their relationship, though. sure, that played a huge part and the lgbtq+ topic was one of the reasons i picked up this book in the first place, but it also addressed how controlling and cruel the industry can be. all the things the boys and the people involved had to go through should definitely be eye opening and if not for changing anything, at least it's important for them to be acknowledged.
i have to admit, i feel like the last straw for their rebellion being their relationship and them not being allowed to come out felt a tiny bit flat after angel ALMOST DIED. i feel like that should have been a wake up call, not just the beginning of the end. but i do understand why they did it this way and it still made me emotional.
i appreciate how nothing was rushed and the things didn't all get resolved over night, as i really loved the pace throughout the whole novel, but it still ended on a nice, positive and hopeful note that left me with a smile on my face.

*4.5
Sophie Gonzales is one of my favorite authors, so when I saw that she was coming out with a new book about a boy band, I was so excited! If This Gets Out read a lot like fan fiction to me in the beginning (it's probably because I read a lot of boy band fan fiction when I was younger) and it definitely wasn't a bad thing. Although it did effect my rating. Overall this was such a cute, fun, and quick read, and I really enjoyed it!
I would recommend picking it up once it comes out in December, especially if you enjoy reading fan fiction!




Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with aE-arc copy in exchange for my honest review

 I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Tw: homophobia, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, toxic relationships, emotional abuse

I love both Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich so I was suuuper excited to get my hands on this one!

If This Gets Out is a beautiful story about two members of the most famous boy-band who fall in love, discover themselves and take down the music industry, one song at a time.

I loved all the characters, they were very well-written and I could feel the friendship that bonded them. I especially appreciated the fact that being queer wasn't an issue for any of them and they weren't weirded out by people shipping them.

Sophie and Cale both write beautifully and I hope this is just the first of many more collaborations in the future!

I highly recommend this to any YA lover and to those who love a story about discovering themselves and finding love in the most unexpected places.