If This Gets Out

I'm too old to know enough about One Direction or BTS to tell if the MCs of this novel are based on real people. The popular boy band of my 1970s childhood was The Bay City Rollers, and I can't imagine shipping any of their members - or even knowing what “shipping” meant! Fortunately, If This Gets Out is a strong book that doesn't require any knowledge about the bands that are currently trending on Twitter. The romance between Ruben and Zach is swoon-worthy, but the relationships between all four members of Saturday, and the effects of the highly protected and curated life in a manufactured boy band, are arguably even more compelling. Ruben, Zach, Jon, and Angel went from being in a summer camp music group together to being superstars with millions of screaming fans. Every minute of their public life is strictly controlled for optimum impact on popularity and sales. Each boy has a designated persona targeted to a certain type of girl. Ruben has agreed to keep his homosexuality a secret from the public to preserve the band's fantasy image, but one day he hopes he can truly be himself. Meanwhile he is struggling to hide his crush on Zach, his straight BFF. When Saturday embarks on a European tour, the pressures and restrictions increase and the boys start showing signs of stress. Angel's occasional recreational drug use intensifies, and Jon, whose father is their manager, desperately tries to keep him from going overboard. Meanwhile Zach and Ruben's drunken kiss and its confusing aftermath threatens the boys' friendship and the band's cohesion. Even if Zach and Ruben can get past the fear and miscommunication, the fact remains that if their romance is revealed, the band's popularity will likely plummet - and hundreds of people who depend on them, from hairstylists to roadies, will lose their jobs. This book is co-authored by Sophie Gonzales, whose breakthrough novel [b:Only Mostly Devastated 45046743 Only Mostly Devastated Sophie Gonzales https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558716772l/45046743.SY75.jpg 60447162] was a pleasant surprise, and Cale Dietrich, a new-to-me author. Their voices are distinct but their writing styles mesh well, so it reads like Zach and Ruben are definitely different characters living in the same story. There is a little too much predictable lack of communication after the boys first get together, but once things move past that point, the plot becomes much more satisfying as their relationship growth takes place against Angel's increasingly erratic behavior, complex family dynamics, and their manager's deviousness in claiming to accept the boys' relationship while actively sabotaging it. I was less worried about the survival of “Zuben” than the band's, and the resolution to both issues was satisfying in the best possible way. These authors should consider co-authoring another book, as this one hit all of the right notes. ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.