Stuck In The Box (book series)

Stuck In The Box is a young adult, historical, sci-fi, thriller and mystery written by teenage author Zoe Tria (under her pen-name, Zoeinnit until Back To Normal), first published via Wattpad on 16 August 2022. The book, set in 1984 and later 1985 revolves around fictionalised versions of a variety of 80s musicians and pop stars as mentally-challenged, homosexual and chronically ill teenagers. The book also addresses homophobia, mental health, racism and problems present-day teenagers face.

Synopsis
A group of 16 to 18-year-olds deal with not only their mental health issues but also their sexualities being LGBTQ+ in the 80s and other problems teens face along with their psychic alien-related powers. The group is known as the Wild Boys consists of Curt Smith, Roland Orzabal, George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley, Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher, Alan Wilder, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Tayor, Chris Hamill, Jim Kerr, Paul Young, Bono, Kate Bush, Jon Bongiovi, Bryan Adams, Richard Marx and Maddy Ciccone (as of the Christmas Special). They were soon joined by Marc Almond, Kim Wilde, Tony Hadley, Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr, Steve Askew, Jez Strode, Nick Beggs, Stu Neale, Steve Norman, John Keeble, Martin Kemp. Gary Kemp, Vicki Peterson, Debbi Peterson, Michael Steele, Susanna Hoffs and Nik Kershaw (as of Save The Brother). The series is split into 3 phases, Phase 1 set in 1984, Phase 2 set in 1985 and Phase 3 set in 1986.

Characters

 * Curt Smith: a mentally-challenged 17-year-old suffering from ADHD and OCD who is one of the leaders of the Wild Boys. He suffers from pulmonary fibrosis and is partially deaf. He is dating Roland. He is the bassist of his friend group. Along with Roland, he transferred from Bath to Essex. Whenever he overuses his powers, his nose bleeds. He is loosely based on Curt Smith and speaks in a West Country accent.
 * Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana (born Raul Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana): a mentally-challenged 17-year-old with depression who is of Spanish-Argentinian descent and is one of the main characters. He is dating Curt. Along with Curt, he transferred from Bath to Essex. He is the guitarist of the Wild Boys. He gets overwhelmed and exhausted whenever he overuses his powers. He is loosely based on Roland Orzabal and had a mix of an Essex accent and a West Country accent.
 * George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou): George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou), also known as Yog is a mentally-challenged 17-year-old of Geek-Cypriot descent with depression. He went through substance abuse prior to the events of Stuck In The Box. Despite being younger than Curt by about a day, he is seen as his older brother. He is dating Andrew. Along with Andrew, he transferred from Bushey to Essex. He is the lead vocalist of the Wild Boys. His nose bleeds whenever he overuses his powers. He is loosely based on George Michael and speaks in a standard British accent.
 * Andrew John Ridgeley: a 17-year-old (later 18) of Italian, Egyptian and Scottish descent. He is one of the few characters who isn't mentally challenged. He is dating George. Along with George, he transferred from Bushey to Essex. He is the guitarist of the Wild Boys. He is loosely based on Andrew Ridgeley and speaks in a standard British accent.
 * David 'Dave' Gahan (born David Callcott): a mentally-challenged 16-year-old with depression who is of Malaysian descent. He is a recovering drug addict who had also attempted suicide prior to the events of Stuck In The Box. It is later revealed that he lied about his age and that he was 16, turning 17 (as of Phase 2). He is dating Martin. He is the lead vocalist of the Wild Boys. He is loosely based on Dave Gahan and has an Essex accent.
 * Martin Lee 'Mart' Gore: a mentally-challenged 17-year-old with depression who is of African-American descent. He is a recovering alcohol addict. He is dating Dave. He is the keyboardist of the Wild Boys. He is loosely based on Martin Gore and has a mix of a London accent and an Essex accent.
 * Andrew John 'Fletch' Fletcher: a mentally-challenged 17-year-old with depression. He had a mental breakdown while Martin and Dave were doing drugs. He is dating Alan who eventually joined the group. He is the keyboardist of the Wild Boys. He is loosely based on Andy Fletcher and though being born in the East Midlands, he speaks in an Essex accent.
 * Alan Charles Wilder: is a 17-year-old student. He is dating Fletch. He is the keyboardist of the Wild Boys. He is loosely based on Alan Wilder and speaks in a standard British accent.
 * Simon John Charles Le Bon: a mentally-challenged 17-year-old (later 18) of possible French ancestry with depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. He is a recovering sex addict, due to him questioning his sexuality. He is dating Nick after realising he's gay, Nick also joined the Wild Boys. He transferred from Birmingham to Essex. He is the lead vocalist of the Wild Boys. He is the oldest out of the Wild Boys. He is loosely based on Simon Le Bon and speaks in a London accent with a slight Brummie accent. He suffers from haemophilia and his blood cannot clot because of it.
 * Nicholas James 'Nicky' Bates: a 16-year-old former member of the bullies and is now a member of the Wild Boys. He is dating Simon and he also joined the Wild Boys. He transferred from Birmingham to Essex. He is the keyboardist of the Wild Boys. When he overused his powers, he developed Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome due to paroxysmal tachycardia and had to be on oxygen due to him lacking oxygen, later due to his severely chronic asthma. He is loosely based on Nick Rhodes and speaks in a Brummie accent.
 * Nigel John Taylor (born Elijah Yohanan Taylor): a 17-year-old new member of the Wild Boys and is of Jewish, Sicilian and Greek descent. He is currently dating Jim. He transferred from Birmingham to Essex. He was also mentally-challenged like many of the members of the Wild Boys, suffering from OCD and depression. He went through alcohol and substance abuse but had remained sober though he relapsed and attempted suicide. He suffers from asthma and heart defects and is suffering from pulmonary fibrosis after attempting suicide. He is the bassist of the Wild Boys. He is loosely based on John Taylor with some influences from Sting and speaks in a Brummie accent. He also suffers from asthma and heart defects.
 * Roger Andrew Hernandez Taylor (born Rodrigo Andreas Hernandez Taylor): a 17-year-old new member of the Wild Boys and is of Mexican descent. He is bisexual and dating Chris. He transferred from Birmingham to Essex. He also became the Wild Boys' official drummer after having Phil do the drums and eventually Chris doing so. He suffers from a mitochondrial disorder which resulted in him with another power, being on oxygen due to blood clots and being temporarily paralysed. He is loosely based on Roger Taylor with some influences from Johnny Depp and Phil Collins and speaks in a Brummie accent.
 * Andrew Arthur 'Andy' Taylor: a 16-year-old (later 17) new member of the Wild Boys. He is bisexual and dating Martin and platonically dating Richard. He transferred from Newcastle and then Birmingham to Essex. He suffers from gastroparesis after being on sedatives while having stomach flu. While supposedly dead from AIDS, it turns out he was in a coma and Dr Richards faked his death. He is loosely based on Andy Taylor and speaks in a Geordie accent mixed with a slight Brummie accent.
 * Christopher 'Chris' Hamill: a 17-year-old (later 18) who was formerly part of the bullies. After realising that he's gay and sympathised with the Wild Boys, he broke off his friendship with the bullies and joined the main characters. He is now a newly added member. He speaks in a Northern British accent and is loosely based on Limahl.
 * James 'Jim' Kerr: a 17-year-old who joined the Wild Boys and is of Scots-Irish descent. He is bisexual and dating John. He is loosely based on Jim Kerr and speaks in a Glaswegian accent.
 * Paul Antony Young: an 18-year-old (later 19) of who became a newly-added member of the Wild Boys. He is bisexual and dating Marc. He is loosely based on Paul Young. He adopted Richard being of legal age. Unlike his teammates who were born with alien DNA, he intentionally injected it and gained powers.
 * Peter Mark Sinclair 'Marc' Almond: an 18-year-old of who became a newly-added member of the Wild Boys. He is gay and dating Paul. He is loosely based on Marc Almond and speaks in a Leeds accent. He also adopted Richard being of legal age.
 * Paul David 'Bono' Hewson: a 17-year-old of who became a newly-added member of the Wild Boys. He is gay and is dating Larry. He is loosely based on Bono and speaks in an Irish accent. Unlike his teammates who were born with alien DNA, he was injected by it as a baby due to the gene mutation he was born with. He also had an open heart surgery after an aortic aneurysm and is suffering from POTS needing to be on oxygen whenever he sleeps.
 * David Howell 'Edge' Evans: a British-born Irish 17-year-old who is of Welsh descent. Although hesitant to learn that he is gay due to his Protestant faith, he then grew to accept it and date Adam upon learning that the majority of the Wild Boys were Catholic while Curt was Protestant and Andy and Bryan were Anglican. He is also the first Wild Boy to be of Welsh descent. He is loosely based on The Edge and speaks in a Welsh accent with a slight Irish accent.
 * Adam Charles Clayton: a British-born Irish 17-year-old (later 18). He is childhood friends with Edge along with Bono and Larry prior to the four of them moving to Essex. Being mentally-challenged, he also battled addiction and coincidentally was in the same therapy group as the Wild Boys. He is dating Edge. He is loosely based on Adam Clayton and speaks in a standard British accent with a slight Irish accent.
 * Laurence Joseph 'Larry' Mullen Jr: is an Irish 17-year-old. He previously had surgery on his back and his knee. He also suffers from cystic fibrosis and needed oxygen 24/7. He is gay and dating Bono. He is loosely based on Larry Mullen Jr and speaks in a thick Irish accent and can speak Irish Gaelic.
 * Nicholas 'Nick' Beggs: a British 17-year-old student. He was previously a bully and had tensions with Chris but made up. He is gay and dating Stu. He is loosely based on Nick Beggs and speaks in a standard British accent.
 * Stuart Croxford 'Stu' Neale: a British 17-year-old student of Jewish descent. He was previously a bully and had tensions with Chris but made up. He is gay and dating Nick. He is loosely based on Stuart Neale and speaks in a standard British accent.
 * Jeremy 'Jez' Strode: a British 19-year-old student. He was previously a bully and had tensions with Chris but made up. He is gay and dating Steve (Askew). He shares the same birthday as Paul. He is loosely based on Jez Strode and speaks in a standard British accent.
 * Steven 'Steve' Askew: a British 19-year-old student. He was previously a bully and had tensions with Chris but made up. He is gay and dating Jez. He is loosely based on Steve Askew and speaks in a standard British accent.