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cunningempress 's review for:
If This Gets Out
by Sophie Gonzales, Cale Dietrich
Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an ARC.
This sounds so much like fanfiction you can't help but compare it to that.
However the book feels like fanfiction. And not in a good way. I expect a little more from a book than I do from fanfiction. At points this felt a lot like a string of one shots. Fluffy pieces that don't really give anything to the plot other than showing Zach and Ruben get closer to each other. I'd say that roughly the first third of this book sounded like fanfiction. Zach and Ruben were the only characters, the others were just names. Neither of them had anything, though. They had each other and that's it. There were no friends, no family, no one outside of the band. And not even any of their past was introduced, like how they became a band (it's not explained in too much detail) or even how the band got it's name. I think the beginning would've felt more like a book and less like fanfiction if there was a story behind these characters. In fanfiction you already know the characters, in books they're new people and there's really not much to say about who they are. It's not until later in the book there's more. The other band members are introduced to the reader, they hang out. I love that Zach's and Ruben's parents are so large pieces of the story, because whether you like it or not family does mean a lot, especially if you're closeted queer kid in a boy band everyone knows.
The beginning is what I have problems with. The rest of the book? SO GOOD. There's an actual plot! I love how the whole band is looking out for each other, I love how Ruben and Zach both have challenges and they help each other and grow as people. I love that not all of this is a romance. If anyone asks me, I ship Zach and Ruben.
Other things to note:
- What's the audience for this book? At first I thought this would be for young teenagers but there are quite heavy topics here like drug abuse and neglect. As a European I don't really mind, I read this sort of thing when I was that age but Americans?? Maybe I'll just forever be confused about Americans.
- And the cover. As a former art student I think the cover is good, but it could be better.
All in all, this is a pretty good book. If I owned this I might even read it again someday when I wanted to get out of a reading slump and wanted something quick and easy to read.
I finished this at 2.30AM and I cried.
Someone might've heard me say I despise romance but love[b:Red, White & Royal Blue|41150487|Red, White & Royal Blue|Casey McQuiston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566742512l/41150487._SY75_.jpg|61657690]. And this is going to that pile as well.
This sounds so much like fanfiction you can't help but compare it to that.
However the book feels like fanfiction. And not in a good way. I expect a little more from a book than I do from fanfiction. At points this felt a lot like a string of one shots. Fluffy pieces that don't really give anything to the plot other than showing Zach and Ruben get closer to each other. I'd say that roughly the first third of this book sounded like fanfiction. Zach and Ruben were the only characters, the others were just names. Neither of them had anything, though. They had each other and that's it. There were no friends, no family, no one outside of the band. And not even any of their past was introduced, like how they became a band (it's not explained in too much detail) or even how the band got it's name. I think the beginning would've felt more like a book and less like fanfiction if there was a story behind these characters. In fanfiction you already know the characters, in books they're new people and there's really not much to say about who they are. It's not until later in the book there's more. The other band members are introduced to the reader, they hang out. I love that Zach's and Ruben's parents are so large pieces of the story, because whether you like it or not family does mean a lot, especially if you're closeted queer kid in a boy band everyone knows.
The beginning is what I have problems with. The rest of the book? SO GOOD. There's an actual plot! I love how the whole band is looking out for each other, I love how Ruben and Zach both have challenges and they help each other and grow as people. I love that not all of this is a romance. If anyone asks me, I ship Zach and Ruben.
Other things to note:
- What's the audience for this book? At first I thought this would be for young teenagers but there are quite heavy topics here like drug abuse and neglect. As a European I don't really mind, I read this sort of thing when I was that age but Americans?? Maybe I'll just forever be confused about Americans.
- And the cover. As a former art student I think the cover is good, but it could be better.
All in all, this is a pretty good book. If I owned this I might even read it again someday when I wanted to get out of a reading slump and wanted something quick and easy to read.
I finished this at 2.30AM and I cried.
Someone might've heard me say I despise romance but love[b:Red, White & Royal Blue|41150487|Red, White & Royal Blue|Casey McQuiston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566742512l/41150487._SY75_.jpg|61657690]. And this is going to that pile as well.