Overall rating: 3.5/5 stars
Before we dive into this book review, let’s read the blurb!
Jasper Reid is everything his fans of The Obsolete want him to be. Whether it’s for the dance-y pop songs he writes, his flirty and mischievous onstage persona, or the masterful way he plays along with the fans’ ships, he’s the perfect performer. On the verge of turning twenty-one, in what’s expected to be the next boyband phenomenon, his life could not get any better.
Until he meets Ryan, an irresistibly attractive dancer, who is added out of the blue to their vocal band. Jasper is quick to call bullshit on the manager’s reason for this addition, but even quicker to accidentally flirt with their new member.
This close to the band a success, Jasper’s pissed to be training this dancing liability. Between Jasper’s outspoken nature and Ryan’s anxiety, tensions rise. When a plan to improve Ryan’s confidence backfires, putting the spotlight on something Jasper’s been ignoring all his life’s truths come to light.
Can Jasper let himself get swept up in his own real-life convoluted, fanfic love story while protecting Ryan from the negatives of fame, uncovering the real reason their manager added him, and saving the band? or will a photo scandal throw everything out in favor of some satisfyingly petty revenge?
I initially bought this book without even reading the blurb - mostly because the author is a Twitter mutual, and I wanted to support her. My opinion of the book will not be biased to my friendship with the author.
I feel like this story has a nice mixture of character and plot driven characteristics.
Each character in the story had their own unique personality. Clearly, we are rooting for Jasper and Ryan, along with the rest of the members of The Obsolete. We get the villain of the story - the manager, Chris - and he’s a much-hated character. We see character growth for all the members of the band. The author did such an amazing job with character development throughout the whole book.
Also, Jasper instantly stole my heart. He is sassy, mischievous, a badass. There is not much to hate about him. I love him and will protect him from every bad energy that goes his way.
As for the plots, they mostly consist of revealing the toxic manager to the world, exploring Jasper’s sexuality, and the development of Jasper and Ryan’s relationship. The book’s main focus was the manager and all the others were subplots. Each situation connected to all the plots and tied everything together beautifully.
However, I have some issues with the book that made me give it a lower rating.
I feel the story moved too fast. I was expecting the book to be a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance, but it was rather quick. There was not enough build-up between the two. I wanted to see more bickering between them.
There were also some situations that were left up in the air. Jasper’s family are super religious, and I imagined they heard about him coming out or seen the photo of him kissing another man circling around the internet. The readers don’t get to see his family, but they were mentioned a few times.
We also have the situation with Chris and Ryan’s mother that was fishy, and it seemed to remain unanswered.
My main question about that situation were: why did this happen?
I also want to know more about the other members of the band. We get to explore Jasper, Ryan, and a tiny bit of Blake, but I want to know more about him, Luke, and Simon! It seemed like Jasper didn’t really know Luke and Simon either, since some of their private life was revealed and he was shocked.
This book is going to be part of a series, so I am hoping to get those situations answered and to learn more about the other members of the band in book two. I seriously cannot wait to read book two!
To end this review, I have to say my favorite part of the book is the demisexual representation. This is the first book I’ve ever read with demisexual representation and I am so happy it was this book. The author did a fantastic job showing what it means to be demisexual. If you’re looking for a book to read with demisexual representation, this is the one, hands down!
Overall, I rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. Rated down to 3 stars on Goodreads.
Book 2: Rising Stars is NOW out: Rising Stars (Do You Ship Us, #2) by Claire Rosalind | Goodreads
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