Straight Boy

By: Jay Bell

Narrated by: Kirt Graves

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

I love him. And I’m pretty sure he loves me back...even though he’s straight. 

When I first met Carter King, I knew he was something special. I imagined us being together, and we are, but only as friends. Best friends! I’m trying to be cool with that, even though I know he has secrets, and there have definitely been mixed signals. I don’t want a crush to ruin what we already have. Then again, if there’s any chance that we can be together, it’s worth the risk, because Carter could be the love of my life. Or he might be the boy who breaks my heart. 

Straight Boy is Jay Bell’s emotional successor to his critically acclaimed Something Like... series. This full-length novel tells a story of friendship and love while skating the blurry line that often divides the two.

©2018 Jay Bell (P)2019 Jay Bell

✫✫ 4 Stars ✫✫

This book was a bit of a slow starter but I think that was because I had specific expectations. I ended up loving it. It was what I would describe as YA Thriller with a side of MM. I loved the main character Andrew even if he was a little cliche. He was fun and loving and the kind of friend we would all be so lucky to have. For me this story was about friendship more than love and it left me feeling happy. The ending was perfect and had me cheering!

The narration was perfect. Kirt Graves was a new narrator for me and I WILL be looking for more books narrated by him!

**Spoilers**

Don't be misled by the title or synopsis, the story is EXTREMELY promising and encouraging of a relationship between the main protagonist and his 'straight friend'... and then takes a COMPLETELY different direction and expects you to just.. get over it.. near the end of the book. I wish someone had warned me so I'm doing it now for someone else. DO NOT read this hoping for a 'straight to gay' romance, that's not what happens. The main character ends up with someone else and we're expected to fall for him near the ending of the book.

Just bought the book on Amazon and finished it 12 hours later straight.

This review will certainly contain 💢spoilers. So if you are planning to buy the book, please don’t read❗️

Just bought the book on Amazon and finished it 12 hours later straight.

I almost didn’t tho to be honest, because it was so difficult to listen to at some point.

Not because it was not well written, but because It forced me to relive the most painful period of my life.

I’m everything Andrew is described as...a Potterhead openly gay teen who was in love with his straight bff.

Through out my university life I only was interested in one guy whom unfortunately was my straight best friend. We started out as bros bonded by our favorite games, musics, books, and movies. but as my feeling developed beyond friendship, I confronted him. And the straight bff happened to love me enough to experiment with me for my sake. We only dated a few months secretly. But it was long enough for him to give in to his true self. He confronted me with “I wish I could be gay for you” phrase and oh my fucking fragile heart...

We continued to be good friends, tho I never stop loving him.
Later He begged me to help him get with one of my girls whom is now his current girl friend. Yeah... those were some dark time. I literally had to get him ready for dates.

4 years later after we graduated, we are still good friends now but we rarely talk. I have moved on, and it doesn’t hurt all the time anymore. But somehow I can never forget him. And certainly reading this novel doesn’t help. Haha 😂

The scene in the hotel room where they were on their way back from Arizona just haunted me like the ghost of my past. My heart kept breaking for Andrew.

It is very well written on the author part for portraying emotions through words and combining romance, comedy and drama all together. Also the narrator did an amazing job and brought the characters to life.

The only suggestion I have for the writer was that the relationship of Andrew and Jackson felt a bit shallow at least to me. I wasn’t really feeling it, and found myself not rooting for them ever.

Maybe it was because 3/4 of the book concerns with Andrew trying to get with Carter. then when he started to realize that he had no chance with Carter, he then got with Jackson whom we knew almost nothing about. In addition I find it difficult for readers to fantasize about Jackson appearances, since he wasn’t really talked much about. Not to mention that Andrew seemed to have little to no interest in Jackson until he kissed him that night in the car. So... this part felt a little forced for me.

However I do recommend this book to anyone and everyone. At some point we all have faced with some unrequited love. So if you’re planning to read this, get ready to sob. Cheers

Did we hear the same book?

I could not get over how cheesy and unrealistic this book was. It almost feels offensive towards the gay community. No body acts/talks like that....

phenomenal

honestly one of the best finds on Audible. I was expecting a cheesy gay guy story and in chapter one that's what it seems like. but this author takes a very worn-out motif and turns it into what I can only describe as a phenomenal book. it is heartwarming, heart wrenching, and everything in between that you could want for a coming of age story. it is a definite recommend for anyone and everyone.

Wonderful story

Great book, some parts I might of saw coming and others took me by surprise overall the story is great and very interesting

Love Jay Bells work

Felt a little disappointed at the end but here's hopping for a second one or something else from this

Beautiful

Sensual, exciting, thrilling and still close to the heart. i absolutley love it. Wish it didnt end

Fantastic slow burn story with fantastic narration

So burnt out on the typical M/M books....what a freaking delight this book turned out to be. Absolutrly EVERYTHING was about the story. Loved this so much. Narrator could not have been better...already knew that from TJ books. This book is a must have! Jay Bell is never fluff. Feelings...uggg!

Favorite

Favorite in the series. Excellent, hand ringer. Kirt Graves’ narration made the story double intense. Highly recommended!

Sweet Young Gay Fiction

At first I wasn't sure about this. But as the story unfolded and friendships developed, I was hooked and read it in three days.

Another good book by Jay Bell

This is not exactly a romance according to me but knowing Jay Bell books, was a good thing to read. Did it twice. We meet Carter and Andrew, not exactly a couple. Then we will see a troublemaker Bobby character and Jackson, who I really enjoyed in this book. Why do Andrew and Carter meet in Chicago? How do they meet the rest of their friends? Who was Renzo and why he was important to Carter? Olivia and Vicky had the same secret but didn't want to tell anyone. We go through teenage bad kind of parties, cold Chicago winter and bad friends circle and we'll have one or I think two trips to Arizona. We'll see how love can blind us and what we can do because of love. You should read this as it shows nobody is perfect and how many mistakes in life we take. Two boys, one gay, one straight...can they be together? How many things do they share with each other? Read it to find out.

An emotional rollercoaster

I absolutely loved this book. Everything had subverted my expectations. TEARS WERE SHED. Jay Bell is my new favourite author. HANDS DOWN. And the narrating by Kirt Graves was sublime. These two really gave their all when it came to this book. To anyone reading this review, I highly recommend Straight Boy.

Compelling listen

So many twists and turns in this book. Amazingly read that kept me gripped like I just had to know what happened after each turn.

Powerful and moving story

Straight Boy is a coming of age story about Andrew, who has recently moved to Chicago from Albuquerque for senior year of high school.

The story charts his making friends, and enemies, his hunt for love, and his seemingly straight best friend.

The characters are complex and compelling, and the story balances emption and adventure to keep you interested. I couldn't help become deeply pinvested in Andrew, and felt his heartache and fears over his relationship with Carter. I may have ugly cried. A few times.

This is my first book by this author, and will not be my last! It is not my first book by this narrator, and yet again, Kirt gives a stellar performance, heaping on the emotion, and capturing the teen angst. It will take some time to recover.

A full experience

I’ll be honest, this book is a little shaky at the beginning. There’s a lot of teen drama and pubescent romance in the first few chapters, but the story really rounds out by the end and finishes with some tension and a good message. Would recommend.

Loved it!

After reading several good books, but with disappointing conclusions, lately. This one was a great book, and also left me feeling content.
Also, without spoiling it, it's much more than just a story about a gay boy who has a straight crush. There's some serious issues going on too, which was a pleasant surprise.
I really enjoyed this one. I highly recommend a listen.
The narrator also does an excellent job reading it.

It’s good

A good story and is quite relatable to me as a young gay man but the story does feel a bit disjointed between the first and second halves

Still a good novel though

Enjoyable, with some great moments

it does feel a bit like two separate stories just squashed together at times though.