Kiss & Tell

Adib Khorram

Mar 2022 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Pete Cross, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Hannah Choi, Shimali De Silva, Mehr Dudeja, Michael Levi Harris, Huy Nguyen, Eileen Noonan, Lee Osorio, Javier Prusky, André Santana, and Elaine Wang

About this audiobook

"Kiss & Tell is a total rush! Perfectly sweet and swoon worthy. I loved every page!" – Julie Murphy, New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’

 
A smart, sexy YA novel about a boy band star, his first breakup, his first rebound, and what it means to be queer in the public eye, from award-winning author Adib Khorram

Hunter never expected to be a boy band star, but, well, here he is. He and his band Kiss & Tell are on their first major tour of North America, playing arenas all over the United States and Canada (and getting covered by the gossipy press all over North America as well). Hunter is the only gay member of the band, and he just had a very painful breakup with his first boyfriend--leaked sexts, public heartbreak, and all--and now everyone expects him to play the perfect queer role model for teens.

But Hunter isn't really sure what being the perfect queer kid even means. Does it mean dressing up in whatever The Label tells him to wear for photo shoots and pretending never to have sex? (Unfortunately, yes.) Does it mean finding community among the queer kids at the meet-and-greets after K&T's shows? (Fortunately, yes.) Does it include a new relationship with Kaivan, the drummer for the band opening for K&T on tour? (He hopes so.) But when The Label finds out about Hunter and Kaivan, it spells trouble—for their relationship, for the perfect gay boy Hunter plays for the cameras, and, most importantly, for Hunter himself.

Ratings and reviews

I listened to this as an audio book - the only issue with that is the lists of concert locations and dates. It was a very fun read/listen with characters that were believable and engaging. The discussion of race politics & white privilege was handled really well and enhanced the story. There are some elements of the story that didn't resonate with me, but I think would for other folks - so I recommend giving the book a chance. I'll definitely read more books by this author!

Great read. This is a LGBTQ+ story about our main character Hunter Drake who is a member of the band Kiss & Tell. I equally loved the parts about Hunter living authenticly and fully being themselves and also being in the band and learning more about themselves. The diversity in the band is great too. I mainly enjoyed the lgbt love story too and how celebrities and singers also have more complicated lives outside of the thier singing careers. The cover of the book is quite pretty.

I loved it! As a vancouverite living as an expat in the US it felt like home. It was real and captured the LGBT experience of today. Also as a half Iranian I connected with both the main characters in the coupling and got so drawn into the story.

About the author

Adib Khorram lives in Kansas City, Missouri. When he isn't writing, you can probably find him trying to get his hundred-yard freestyle under a minute, learning to do a Lutz jump, or steeping a cup of oolong. His debut novel, Darius the Great Is Not Okay, earned several awards, including the William C. Morris Debut Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. He is also the author of Darius the Great Deserves Better and the picture book Seven Special Somethings: A Nowruz Story.