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Openly Straight cover art

Openly Straight

By: Bill Konigsberg
Narrated by: Pete Cross
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Summary

Rafe is a normal teenager from Colorado. He's been out since 8th grade, accepted by his peers & championed by his progressive parents. And while that's important, all Rafe really wants is to be a regular guy. To have his sexuality be a part of who he is, but not the headline, every single time. So when Rafe 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 breaking down and realizes his own labels aren't well-concealed. And most of all, he falls in love with Ben...who doesn't even know that love is possible.

©2015 Bill Konigsberg (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic reviews

"From the first, Pete Cross's narration describes the high spirits of Rafe and his family.... The humor continues outwardly throughout the book, but Cross undercuts it with Rafe's uncomfortable inner feelings.... Cross's delivery reflects how Rafe wrestles with honesty, hides truths in a romantic relationship, and finally faces the painful path to becoming his real self." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about Openly Straight

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Extraordinarily frustrating and tedious.

This books becomes a privileged gay guy in an all boys school lying to everyone around him because he doesn't enjoy people bringing up his sexuality all the time. That as a premise isn't all that bad but 16 chapters in and still nothing of note has happened (other than him hugging a guy he clearly likes yet continues to lie to). Words cannot describe just how irritating the main character continues to be, its exhausting. Constantly moaning about having a supportive family and pretending that he isn't looking for a boyfriend before entirely abandoning that theory to say the only reason he ever came out was to get one. WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS BOOK THE FIRST 16 CHAPTERS ARE SO TEDIOUS. I genuinely feel like I am trapped in a mildly boring and frustrating dream where I zone out and suddenly come back in to focus to only think "huh he is still lying and the story hasn't progressed. Boy I sure am glad i'm still listening to this!". I have enjoyed other Konigsberg books, but god he really dropped the ball on this one.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Warning. Listening in public made lead to being LookedAt!

This isn’t every modern gay experience by a long shot, but it doesn’t claim to be and thankfully there is now a lot more LGBT*Q+ stories and characters to offer more nuance.
However, this is clever, funny, sad and eventually authentic.
I laughed out loud several times while listening, and had to wipe away a tear or two too.
Great dialogue, worth your time.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Anticlimactic

Beautifully written but the story is lacking in fulfilment it leaves you hopeful that the characters will find the happy ever after/conclusion, there are many beautiful open ended stories I just don’t feel this one belongs in that category, I have this book in hardback and audible and to be honest it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this. Better than I had hoped for....

Loved this. Better than I had hoped for. The narrator does a great job, too.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Yazzzz

Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yazzzzz Yesssss Yesssss Yezzzzz Yeeeeet Yasssss Yusssss Yisssss

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyed it

Here are my 15 words. Why can’t we just rate without having to explain? :-D

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I need a hug...

Amazing story. As a bisexual guy who has had issues with labels in the past I really resonated with Rafe. I began the story completely understanding why he decided with “stand in the doorway” but as the story moved on and the narrative was flushed out I began to see the flaws in the logic.

Finally, when Rafe was actively lying to Ben in order to maintain this persona I finally realised how bad of a decision it was. The ending was the worse case scenario for there relationship and it was a lesson in not shutting out who you really are as it may just blow up in your face.

I may have needed a hug after this book, but that doesn’t mean it’s not amazing!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing book, read in a very nice manner

I just finished this audiobook and I as blown away by it. The story is great, the buildup is very good and I really like how there's a kind of 'meta'-level with Rafe's writing assignments. I 'binge-listened' this book, it was really addictive. Highly recommended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

stunningly good

One of those books that you feel immensely grateful to have come across, whatever your age. I'm truly envious that modern youth have access to such a rich and expanding genre of which this book is a leading example. The audio performance was outstanding.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Spectacular

There was parts to laugh at and parts to cry at. An emotional, charming but most of all relatable story. Highly recommended!

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