Book Review|Openly Straight

Hey everyone! It’s Thursday and that means it’s so close to the weekend! If you are still in school, I sure hope you’re getting a vacation soon! It’s time for another book review 🙂 Today I am reviewing Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg.

Title: Openly Straight

Author: Bill Konigsberg

# of pages: 320

Genre: LGBTQ

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Goodreads Rating: 4/5 stars

Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Amazon Summary:

“Rafe is a normal teenager from Boulder, Colorado. He plays soccer. He’s won skiing prizes. He likes to write.
And, oh yeah, he’s gay. He’s been out since 8th grade, and he isn’t teased, and he goes to other high schools and talks about tolerance and stuff. And while that’s important, all Rafe really wants is to just be a regular guy. Not that GAY guy. To have it be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time.
So when he transfers to an all-boys’ boarding school in New England, he decides to keep his sexuality a secret — not so much going back in the closet as starting over with a clean slate. But then he sees a classmate break down. He meets a teacher who challenges him to write his story. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben . . . who doesn’t even know that love is possible.
This witty, smart, coming-out-again story will appeal to gay and straight kids alike as they watch Rafe navigate feeling different, fitting in, and what it means to be himself.”

Critic Reviews (Credit Given):

“Konigsberg’s lovely novel invites us to walk with Rafe through his season of assumed identity and his costly emergence into honesty. It’s beautiful. It’s a story of salvation.” – THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW”

“Lambda Literary Award-winner Konigsberg has written an exceptionally intelligent, thought-provoking, coming-of-age novel about the labels people apply to us and that we, perversely, apply to ourselves. . . . Openly Straight is altogether one of the best gay-themed novels of the last ten years.” — BOOKLIST, starred review

“For a thought-provoking, creative, twenty-first-century take on the coming-out story, look no further.” — THE HORN BOOK MAGAZINE

My Thoughts:

This was such a great book! This book definitely showed me the struggles of coming out and being “the gay kid” (no offense at all to anyone that is gay). At first I thought Rafe was a bit weird for “going back into the closet” as the story progressed, I realized he had made a smart choice. He was making friends, accepted, and he plays football with the jocks. All is well until he falls in love with his best friend Ben. Ben is straight supposeably. Let’s just say that quite a bit happens surrounding Rafe and Ben. Rafe’s friend Toby is gay so that and other things make Rafe want to confess to his peers. He stays in the closet for quite sometime. He confesses to his teacher who makes him write stories about being gay. Does Rafe come out again? Does Rafe and Ben’s relationship rise or fall? Read Openly Straight to find out! All I’m going to say is that I’m glad it’s the first book. That means there will probably be a sequel!!

(excited/freaking out face)

That’s a wrap! Kudos to those of you who stayed till the end. Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If you haven’t read this book, did this review get you interested? Let me know!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more book reviews!

~Makayla the Bookworm 😀