AUTHOR: Sophie Gonzales & Cale Dietrich GENRE: NA Romance PAGES: 416 RELEASED: 7 December 2021 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? A boy band, a secret relationship, and a world tour? Sign me the hell up!
Saturday is the biggest boyband in America, and after a successful American leg of their world tour, they’re about to head overseas for the European leg. Members Angel, Jon, Reuben and Zach haven’t been out of the USA before, so it’s a big exciting adventure, even if they are being kept under tight reigns from their management. No one is feeling the pressure from management more than Reuben, who’s being forced to keep his sexuality out of the public eye, even though he’d love nothing more than to come and be true to himself. As they travel through Europe, Reuben and Zach grow closer and closer, and it’s not long before Zach is questioning his own sexuality. The budding relationship between the pair, along with issues growing for Jon and Angel, is what pushes all four boys to realise just how controlling their management really is, and just how much they’re never going to be allowed to be their true authentic selves. Okay yes, this book has a lot of similarities to a certain boy band and a certain relationship that may or may not have happened, but let’s not dwell on that because it’s a story that deserves to stand on its own without a certain group of toxic fans ripping it to shreds. I ADORED falling down the boy band rabbit hole with Saturday – all four members are such interesting characters, and I only wish we got to see more from Jon and Angel. In saying that, I couldn’t get enough of Reuben and Zach’s perspectives, so maybe we need a whole second book for Jon and Angel’s stories... It was so interesting to see Sophie and Cale tackle the dark side of the entertainment industry – it’s not the glitz and glamour that other books glorifying, so it made for a nice change. As they touch on in the acknowledgements, the issues faced by all four characters, but Reuben and Zach in particular, are experienced by many in the entertainment industry. The only downside I found was that I was left wanting more – just when I was getting excited for the boys to really stick it to their management it was over! Maybe that means there’s potential for a sequel... But even though I was left wanting more, Sophie and Cale did resolve everything really well, but there is definitely potential for more of the story to be told if they want to go down that route (and I really want them to!). If you’ve ever been through a boy band phase, or are still going through it, this is without a doubt a book you NEED in your life – you’ll love every minute of it and be left wishing that Saturday was a real band. |
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