Better than Expected

I'm a straight social worker and always looking for material to help me understand the LGBT world. This encapsulated the impact of labels and the dilemma of honesty. It captures the longing for connection with others and with self.

Narration does an amazing job of bringing the story to life.

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Did not like the ending - loved the book

I loved this book and the very much coming of age feel it had.
I laughed, cried for frustrated and felt emotions going in all directions.
Definitely a book for any teens/adults who feel like they might want to find themselves or that they fall into the “different” category. Great for teens as the swearing is not excessive the sexual conversations/references are not explicit I feel.

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I wish I listened to this sooner.

First, let me start with this, I am come from a completely bias opinion, I freaking loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the story, the storytelling was amazing, I never thought I could love something some much, and this, this brought me joy I haven't felt in a long time, and I am so happy I took the leap and got this book, because it was amazing. If the description sounds good to you, and you're checking reviews you decide if you should check it out. Do it, and I hope that this will be just as amazing as it was for you, as it was for me.

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2 people found this helpful

Wonderful book

This book really made me think. There are so many books similar to this one, but yet so different. This book truly was so amazing, once I started, I didn’t want to stop. It taught me a lot of important lessons and made me understand more about the lgbtq+ community. It also taught me some very important literature knowledge, like what speed writing is. All and all this book was fantastic. The storyline, the characters, just everything about it was amazing. Highly recommend.

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Cute and funny (mostly)

The good:

This book cracked me up a lot, not gonna lie. The characters are (for the most part) fleshed out and interesting, and I especially liked the roommate character and his friend. The MC (Rafe) is a dorky idiot, but in a good way.

There’s a neat meta thing where Rafe is actually writing part of the novel in the story, and he gets some interesting feedback that made me want to pause and think.

Overall it’s an entertaining, easy listen.

(Also the narrator does a GREAT job with the different character voices... there’s even a moment with an accent that sounds exactly like how it’s described.)


The bad:

The premise is a little far-fetched, it’s hard to believe that this kid buys into his own excuses so hard it takes him months to figure out what he did wrong. However, to be fair, I enjoyed the way in which he does reach his final conclusion.

(sorry, I go on a rant now)
So, this book has weirdly problematic moments that kind of came out of nowhere. There’s a character that’s presented as “some guy Rafe just doesn’t get along with” and later we find out, on a seemingly unrelated note, that this guy is more “outwardly gay,” like the way he dresses and talks... and the subtext suggests that this is a bad thing. This character is presented as super annoying, and Rafe (who can easily pass as a straight jock) doesn’t learn anything from his own prejudice. The other obviously gay character is presented as a total weirdo and an outcast, though thankfully Rafe is friends with him.
There are also some tone-deaf pro-animal cruelty comments (I found the phrase “a live pig” ironic when used to refer to a pig roast...)
Oh, and the R-word is dropped for seemingly no reason other than “realism” I guess, and is never addressed.
I know I’m probably nit-picking, but in a book that wants to be super progressive, these moments gave me whiplash.


tl;dr cute book sometimes problematic but makes up for it with humour, one thumb up :)

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