a second chance romance that tugs at your heart I particularly loved Steph’s story, realising and accepting their sexuality and confronting how stifling it felt for Moonlight Overthrow to be referred to as a ‘girl-band’. The story doesn’t just mention or refer to their queerness but celebrates queer identity and the feeling of being seen and adored. Four of them felt to authentic and lovely to read about.

They were all out and they were all proud about who they were. Here’s 5 reasons why I had a fun time reading it: delightful queer diversityĬeleste and Eva are lesbians, Gina is bisexual and Steph identifies as non-binary and pansexual.

And well, It Goes Like This is truly a gleeful debut you guys should give a try to. Agent: Jessica Errera, Jane Rotrosen Agency.I was very much looking forward to this after reading the premise, a queer teen pop band reuniting for a concert? The complicated feelings, misunderstandings and longing to follow had me shaking and the cover absolutely drew me in. Debut author Moreland switches between the bandmates though their voices feel undifferentiated at times, she also uses interview transcripts, social media posts, and breathless fan reports to create a funny, romantic, and moving picture of four young musicians trying to figure out their complicated personal and professional desires amid media scrutiny.

And then there’s Eva and Celeste’s unfinished story. It’s difficult, though: hurt feelings need to be worked out, Steph prioritizes their family over the group, and the band’s not used to performing together anymore. There’s no reunion in the works, despite online rumors about the topic, but after their hometown is hit by massive storms, the band agrees to do a benefit concert. Gina, the band’s sole person of color, is a successful actor and Steph, who now identifies as nonbinary, is back home in Duluth. Celeste’s a star solo act in New York Eva, who was blindsided by the simultaneous endings of the band and her romance with Celeste, is in college, writing music and running an anonymous Tumblr account about the group from L.A. Now, a year and a half after the band’s breakup, they’re barely in touch. Garnering two Grammys and countless fans, Moonlight Overthrow was the perfect musical combination of four queer friends, all former middle school classmates-until it wasn’t.

It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland