Score: 4.5/5 Bookmarks

Steam Level: 🍆🍆

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio for gifting me If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich.

I just loved this book, and by the end I had such an incredible attachment to all of the characters. Did it make me cry? Maybe. Did it make my heart swell? Absolutely.

Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are both 18 and members of Saturday, a super-popular boy band. Ruben and Zach have always been friends, but when they go on tour through Europe their friendship starts to grow into something else. They’re under a huge amount of stress, especially with how young they are. Plus their management team doesn’t seem to have their best interests at heart, at all, despite what they keep telling them. Things start to go pretty sideways and actually get extremely dangerous at one point. There are untreated mental health issues, substance abuse, manipulation and more. These guys do not have it easy. At least they have each other, no matter what.

I know this is a work of fiction but I’m willing to bet that it’s based on some true experiences or situations and that a lot of young performers may find themselves in similar situations. Despite all the hardships this was a beautifully told story with wonderful characters and if you haven’t read it yet you absolutely should.

I switched been the eBook and the audiobook for this one, and loved both. The audio is performed by Ramon de Ocampo and comes in at just under 13 hours. You might recognize his voice from Red, White and Royal Blue!

You can download the audio right away by clicking here, or get yourself a physical copy via the button below.

Synopsis:

Eighteen-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two members of the boy-band Saturday, one of the biggest acts in America. Along with their bandmates, Angel Phan and Jon Braxton, the four are teen heartbreakers in front of the cameras and best friends backstage. But privately, cracks are starting to form: their once-easy rapport is straining under the pressures of fame, and Ruben confides in Zach that he’s feeling smothered by management’s pressure to stay in the closet.

On a whirlwind tour through Europe, with both an unrelenting schedule and minimal supervision, Ruben and Zach come to rely on each other more and more, and their already close friendship evolves into a romance. But when they decide they’re ready to tell their fans and live freely, Zach and Ruben start to truly realize that they will never have the support of their management. How can they hold tight to each other when the whole world seems to want to come between them?