If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich: A Hard Hitting Contemporary
What: If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich
Who: Hodder Children’s Books
When: December 14th 2021
How: A copy of this novel was provided by Hachette Australia for review.
One of the world’s biggest boy bands. A secret love. What happens if the world finds out? A queer YA boy band romance from Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich, perfect for fans of Only Mostly Devastated and What If It’s Us.
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?
At first glance, If This Gets Out looks like it’ll be a sweet romance between two boys that are in a boy band together. And while there are definitely sweet moments between Zach and Ruben, I don’t think I’d strictly say that If This Gets Out is a sweet book, mainly because it tackles quite a few serious topics within its pages.
One of those topics is Zach coming to the realisation that he’s queer. He has to push through a lot of the biphobia that he’s internalised over the years, especially regarding the “it’s a phase” sentiment that society pushes. He also has to figure out if his emotional friendship-based feelings for Ruben are clouding his judgement around their potential relationship. It was really quite sad and painful to read about Zach going through these things, especially because he didn’t really have anyone else to talk to. He didn’t feel he could talk it through with Ruben because Ruben was the cause of him questioning his sexuality. I was really glad when he realised Ruben would be there for him regardless of the outcome of his questioning his sexuality, and sought advice and solace from his friend.
Another topic covered is the invasion of privacy that boys in bands (and other celebrities) face from their fans. Even though their fans may believe they’re doing it from a place of love and admiration more often than not it just ends up being toxic, and painful for the celebrities involved. We can admire someone and be a fan without making them feel unsafe or uncomfortable, and I think it’s a really important message for anyone reading this book to see.
If This Gets Out also tackles substance abuse, parental abuse, and abuse of power from this who are older than the people they work with and wield more power both professionally and personally. These topics were never brushed over or dismissed, and I think it really shone a light on the kinds of pressure that boys (or anyone, really) face in these kinds of situations, and how they react and cope with said pressures. It’s actually quite sad to think and know there are queer folk out there who have been forced into keeping their queerness a secret by their superiors.
Honestly, I could go on about all the things that Gonzales and Dietrich were able to shine a light on in If This Gets Out but then you’d be looking at a 1000+ word review, and I also want readers to discover these things on their own, as well. All in all, if you’re looking for a hard-hitting contemporary that also has its sweet, romantic moments then If This Gets Out might just be the book for you.
© 2022, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.
trigger warning emotional abuse from a parent, queerphobia, racism, internalised biphobia, disordered eating, body shaming, car accident, drug abuse, absent parent, fetishisation
Great review, Chiara! Honestly I thought it was a sweet story too because of the comp and the cover, but I think the author themselves and some reviewers said that it’s not a light book. I’m glad that despite it being different from what you expected, you still liked it :)