Kiss  Tell, Adib Khorram
Kiss  Tell, Adib Khorram
List: $23.00 | Sale: $16.10
Club: $11.50

Kiss & Tell

Author: Adib Khorram

Narrator: 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, Elaine Wang

Unabridged: 7 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/22/2022


Synopsis

"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.

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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bryce Rocks on June 05, 2024

if a member from One Direction dated a member from 5SOS......more

Goodreads review by Charlie on February 09, 2023

Kiss & Tell has been on my TBR since before it even had a cover. I cannot express enough how excited I was to finally read this. I was counting down the days in March and got it as soon as it dropped. There are very few books that directly appeal to me, but I am not ashamed to admit that one about a......more

Goodreads review by Marieke on March 22, 2022

This is not Darius, I repeat: this is not Darius. Not because Darius is better but because Kiss and Tell is different! It’s impossible to compare the books. While Darius is like a rippling stream, Kiss and Tell is like a thundering waterfall. Both are beautiful, though. Darius is soft and quiet, Kiss......more

Goodreads review by Virginia Ronan on June 17, 2023

I’m on BookTube now! You can find my channel here! =) ”Everyone acts like they knew what our relationship was like. They didn’t see our fights. They didn’t see the way Aidan got jealous when I was on tour, the way he texted me every time a tabloid wrote something about me, about him, about us.” I hone......more

Goodreads review by Jenny on June 20, 2022

THERE’S A VIETNAMESE-CANADIAN BOY IN THIS I REPEAT A VIET-CANADIAN CHARACTER AAAAH Update Read: It's easy to focus on how messy and imperfect people are, but the next generation is already making their voices heard and that's just the loud ones. There are the quiet ones too, who are making powerful st......more


Quotes

An American Library Association 2023 Rainbow Book
Booklist Editors' Choice 2022
2023 Texas TAYSHAS Reading List Selection
Kirkus Best Book of 2022


★ “Khorram does a terrific job of taking readers inside the world of pop music, especially showing the stress involved in celebrity…[he] handles these dramatic complexities like a master, and readers will be grateful for his skill.” –Booklist, starred review

★“This is a love letter to boy bands…[Adib Khorram] effectively encapsulates the ecosystem of celebrity and fandom—and cultivates a strong, contemporary social message…An absolute bop; Khorram’s best yet.” –Kirkus, starred review 

★ “Khorram deftly makes the story work, calling on readers to empathize with Hunter’s pride and embarrassment, questions about how he should look and be, and maybe even his belated realization that the band’s other members also receive public scrutiny” – Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Readers looking to celebrate their boy-band fandom or add to their boy-meets-boy reading list will revel in everything this novel has to offer… this is a thought-provoking pleasure read that hits all the right notes.” –BCCB, starred review


"Adib has crafted a sparkling, modern fairytale effortlessly woven with yearning, social justice, and sweet but complex friendships bursting with lovely little rays of hope." —David Yoon, New York Times bestselling author of Frankly in Love and Super Fake Love Song

"Adib Khorram’s Kiss & Tell is a hyperpop blast of queerness that examines the perils of finding your identity under the spotlight of fame, and celebrates the transformative power of the artistic process. I loved it." —Abdi Nazemian, author of Stonewall Honor book Like a Love Story

"Perfectly nuanced and deeply relevant, Kiss & Tell is a harmonic blend of humor, romance, and unforgettable voice. An anthemic reminder that queer teens are allowed to exist as themselves, on their own terms. This book deserves a standing ovation.”—Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running with Lions

"For queer readers of every age who’ve been made to feel like nothing but a dirty word, Kiss & Tell is a brilliant takedown of exploitations of queerness and the policing of teens, filled with heartache, hilarity, friends-for-life, and stadium-sized queer joy."—Tessa Gratton, author of Strange Grace

“A pitch-perfect novel about messy loves, big heartbreaks, and defining queerness on your own terms. This one seals it: Adib Khorram couldn't write a book I wouldn't love.” —Leah Johnson, bestselling and Stonewall Honor winning author of You Should See Me in a Crown and Rise to the Sun