Kill the Boy Band

By: Goldy Moldavsky

Narrated by: Barrett Wilbert Weed

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

From debut author Goldy Moldavsky, the story of four superfan friends whose devotion to their favorite boy band has darkly comical and murderous results.

Okay, so just know from the start that it wasn't supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near The Ruperts, our favorite boy band. We didn't mean to kidnap one of the guys. It kind of, sort of happened that way. But now he's tied up in our hotel room. And the worst part of all, it's Rupert P.

All four members of The Ruperts might have the same first name, but they couldn't be more different. And Rupert P. is the biggest flop out of the whole group. We didn't mean to hold hostage a member of The Ruperts, I swear. At least I didn't. We are fans. Okay, superfans who spend all of our free time tweeting about the boys and updating our fan tumblrs. But so what? That's what you do when you love a group so much it hurts. How did it get this far? Who knows. I mean, midterms are coming up. I really do not have time to go to hell.

©2016 Goldy Moldavsky (P)2016 Scholastic Inc.

this is so good!

This is so good! it's definitely about 1d but it's amazing even still. I even caught the 5sos reference.

Barrett is amazing

Barrett was amazing, really made every character sound unique and like I was part of the story.

Entertaining, then sickening

Kill The Boy Band has some good things going for it: it's a great depiction of teenage girls and their friendships. The performance is deadpan and entertaining. The slang is understandable without taking away from the story.

It starts off funny. But the second half of the book is just disturbing and sickening. Weirdly psychotic in its treatment of the boy band at the center of the story. It also contained some harsh ableism (putting down of the mentally ill), sexism, and homophobia. By the end, I just wanted it to be over so I could move on to a different book.

Fun, campy, and so much fun!

KILL THE BOY BAND was actually really, really enjoyable. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book and I think a lot of it was that people didn’t know quite what to expect but this totally met my expectations and I had so much fun reading it! To set the scene for you, picture this book like Teaching Mrs. Tingle meets 2gether meets Drop Dead Gorgeous — satirical, laugh-out-loud funny, and some delightfully dark humor.

This is one of those books where the more I think about it, the more I realize how much I enjoyed it. It’s a book unlike anything I’ve recently been reading and I love books that do a little something different than the rest of the community! The voice felt true and I just loved the dark humor. The satire and poking fun at boy bands was so much fun because it was silly with some hilarious exaggerations (that’s where that 2gether feel comes in) and yet serious in showing how intense being a fangirl can be and how some things get taken way too far. I really enjoyed the mix of silly and serious and how well that shaped the overall story!

I personally think the author did a great job with this book but it also definitely has a specific audience and it will probably bit a big hit or a big miss with a lot of people. I personally was on the hit side and surprisingly, the more time that passes, the more I think about how much I enjoyed it. I just had so much fun listening to this (I bought the audio in an Audible sale) and I ended up being the perfect audience! I was a bit unsure at first and there were some points where it got to be a bit much but I still really enjoyed it overall!

The characters were shallow and for once in a book, I actually kind of liked it? It was part of the point that the book was making. The guys in the band were mostly shallow because not all boy bands were formed with love and happiness and some are just the product of marketing. (Girl bands too.) The fangirls are shallow because the extents to which these fangirls were portrayed is totally shallow, so it made total sense to me! I’m not saying fangirls are shallow, so please don’t take that the wrong way! I simply mean that the book took the more surface level of being a fangirl and magnified it. As an avid reader and big fan of many authors/fandoms/series, I am totally on board with the flailing and following of an artist! The point that this book makes is how far it can be taken and when it gets taken too far how it can become dangerous or make the artist feel uncomfortable. The fan/artist relationship is really interesting and mutually beneficial in so many ways. It also can be a very rocky road if the mutual respect isn’t there and this book crossed that line on both sides. KILL THE BOY BAND took that darker side of fangirling, amped it up a notch, and created a bit of satire out of it. This was also amplified on the boy band side of things too. The Ruperts (the fictional band in the book) are reminiscent of One Direction (who I literally know nothing about except a few of the band members’ names) and also pieces of 90s boy bands like *NSYNC and O-Town, which I’m using a my references here because my older sister was an *NSYNC fangirl and because she was, I was in a way too, so I ended up with a lot of boy band knowledge. I won’t give you a boy band history lesson but I saw a lot of similar things in KILL THE BOY BAND that has happened in real boy bands as far as band drama, members not getting along, some members getting more attention than others, and how each member treats fans, managers, and everyone in between. Everything was exaggerated and satirized but very interesting, especially if you have some previous knowledge or experience as a boy band fangirl!

Long story short, I think I was just the ideal audience for KILL THE BOY BAND! It was dark, funny, and just really enjoyable. I’ve been dealing with a lot of serious things in my personal life and KILL THE BOY BAND was a refreshing and funny read when I needed something a little less serious and a little more removed from reality without being a heavy fantasy book. I think you may need know exactly what you like before reading this one because it may be a hit or miss concept for many people, but if you enjoy dark satire, this could be a really enjoyable read for you!

Drawn by Voice Actor, Hooked By Story

So I was originally drawn to this story because of the narrator, Barrett Wilbert Weed (huge fan, love her work). Little did I know, I'd be so hooked on this murder mystery story that left me itching for my headphones and app each time I had to exit the Audible world. I didn't expect most of the twists and turns that this story took me on. Barrett did an incredible performance portraying the teenagers and their antics. Amazing work, worth the listen.

If I could give this book 10 STARS, I would.

This is a hysterically funny, laugh out loud, ridiculous (yet relatable) story. I never think that I'll re-read a book, but I'm certain I'll re-read this one in the not-too-distant future.

Do yourself a favor and get the Audible version -- the narrator is spectacular.

If you're looking for a teenager here they are

I'm a high school English teacher and I am still blown away by how amazing Moldavsky has captured the American teenage voice. This book is equal parts hysterical and thoughtful, it explores what it means to be a friend and having the guts to stand up for yourself all through...boy bands. I cannot stress how amazing this book was and Weed's reading was spot on perfection. A fantastic read and listen!

YA suspense book

I thought this was going to be a romantic comedy for high school Young Adults. It wasn't! This was more of a mystery that kept you guessing until the end. It's a kidnapping that turns bad. Of course, unrealistic but it kept my attention. Narrator did a great job. If you like YA books. There is mention of one sex scene but it is not detailed. I used my credit but would have really enjoyed it as a sale item.

Great story, great performance

The story was short, but very enjoyable as it was both funny and suspenseful. The narrator absolutely nailed the authors tone. Fantastic overall!

Pretty good, for fanfic

While the story was an interesting idea, it seemed more to me like fanfic than actual fiction. Maybe it was intended that way.

The narration is good, Weed plays the role of teen fangirl very well, but two characters sounded so similar that I had a hard time following their conversations. Her British accent was good, but very generic and thereby ridding the Ruperts of any individuality. Every Brit sounded the same.

It's a fun book for an old fangirl, but nothing too engrossing.

Heathers with Fangirls!

The voice work on this makes it ten times better than it should be. Barrett brings these characters to life and I could NOT stop listening! If you want a crazy and progressively dark insight on the life on some crazy fangirls this is your book. Filled to the brim with pop culture and revelations to keep your head spinning and invested for hours on end. I believe this is a book that works better in audio form. But it's obviously not for everyone...