With one foot in the closet

A solid 4 star read.

My thanks to NetGalley for my ARC.

Rafe came out to his very accepting parents at a young age. His mom even threw him a party! He was never bullied in his liberal Colorado school and he enjoyed an active social life that included his best friend Claire Olivia. Sounds ideal in a world of bullied teens and tragic stories. Rafe however, is tired of being looked at by everyone as "the gay guy" and not just Rafe who happens to be gay. So he devises a plan to transfer to an elite all boys prep school in Massachusetts and live as one of the guys. He won't tell anyone he's gay, but he won't tell anyone he's straight. Or at least that is the plan. He just wants to be accepted without the label and he insists he is not going back in the closet. Or course best laid plans don't always go accordingly, and there is no pun in that statement. Especially when Rafe develops feelings for Ben, a straight (or is he bi?) student at Nattuck. 

I will admit this book made me a bit angry when I first began to get into Rafe's story. Rafe himself is extremely self centered and his oblivious, "no big deal" attitude towards hiding a key part of who he was in order to impress some real jerks grated on me. But then, that was the point wasn't it? I got Rafe's initial motivation. He was never bullied, but everyone made assumptions about him according to the fact that he was openly gay. For instance, teachers would direct specific civil right questions towards Rafe in hopes of getting a "gay perspective". Straight guys would randomly ask him if they would be considered attractive. This is the sort of naive but well intentioned dialogue I'm sure even the best of us have tripped into when dealing with a friend who is different. For Rafe, it was distracting from who he was other than gay.

So, Rafe goes to Nattuck and claims he won't comment on his sexuality one was or the other. Except he tells the guys that Claire Olivia is his girlfriend. When asked directly, he doesn't come out to his roommate's gay best friend Tobias (who has had his share of bullying at the hands of some of Rafe's jock friends) and he certainly isn't honest with Ben when the two begin to skirt the lines between friendship and a relationship. So yeah, Rafe IS actually back in the closet and very dishonest, which makes his entire "experiment" feel like a vanity project at times.

I felt so embarrassed for Ben, who was just figuring our where he stood on attraction. He really felt that Rafe was experiencing the same thing with him at the same time, and it made me very angry at the protagonist. Rafe didn't lie to Ben in order to seduce him, but Ben was missing the entirety of Rafe's story...while Ben himself was sweetly candid at all times. Also, Rafe didn't bully anyone persee, but there was at least one time when I felt like he was a bystander. Of course as time goes on, this all changes.

The thing is, Rafe is called out for his selfishness. Claire Olivia sees it. His parents see it. Rafe himself eventually realizes that his dishonesty not only hurt the people he loved but himself. I liked that, because I wanted to reach through the pages and hit him myself at a few points. 

Openly Straight cracks the door open for a bunch of questions that are not often brought up in everyday dialog let alone a YA novel. What is attraction? Can you fall in love with a person without the stigma of sexuality? Why are western guys so uncomfortable around other guys while other cultures past and present celebrated close masculine relationships. In fact, I really wish the book went a little more into the idea of omni/pan sexuality as there is a need to understand that you don't always find yourself attracted to who you think. I was impressed that the idea of male bisexuality was brought up at all. I can't say that I recall any book which touches upon that idea.

Most importantly, Openly Straight discusses love. Not just love in a relationship, but love between friends and family. Early on in the book I had to skip to the end in order to decide if I could handle all the anger I was feeling towards Rafe's behavior. What I read was honest and well thought out. Like in "If you could be mine" another LGBT themed book I had reviewed, there were no easy answers, but I expect they were honest. And in the end that is the lesson Rafe learned for his heartbreak. Be who you are. Be honest about it. If you can accept that person and you have the support of those you love, you are already well on your way

The Dirk Lloyd strikes again!

3.5 Stars

While I was amused but not blown away by the first book, I noticed the sequel to Jamie Thompson (cough) I mean DIRK LLOYD's junior novel, "Dark Lord, The Early Years" was available on Net Galley. I decided it could be a fun light read for my upcoming trip to Scotland. 

I was still not blown away by the book, but I don't think that is the point in this series. In fact I would have to say, this book hit it's stride with me where the first one missed the dance. 

The book recaps briefly what we learned in the first. The Dark Lord (think Sauron or Voldemort) or the Darklands was stripped of his powers and send to our world in the body of a twelve year old human boy. Still with some (very weakened) powers in tact, the Dark Lord was renamed "Dirk Lloyd" and sent to live as a foster son with the Purejoie family who were thought the best fit for an emotionally disturbed and delusional child. 

The story picks up where the last one left off. Sooz, Dirk's goth friend (NOT girlfriend!) was sent back to the Darklands in Dirk's place when the ritual to send him home was meant to transport only the one who wore the ring of power. Dirk had given it to Sooz in the first book only to have her make a copy to give to Dirk when he wanted it back. With the ring on her hand Sooz is confused to be Dirk's betrothed. Her gentle but dark personality charms the Dark Lord's minions. This is including Gargon, Dirk's most loyal creature, the head of the goblins and even Rufino who is a Paladin under the rule of Hasburdan (think Gandalf). 

You see, while Sooz insists on repainting Dirk's Iron tower black (Hasburdan had it painted pink in the Dark Lord's exile) she also introduces a five day work week and other amenities of our developed world that the evil Dark Lord would have never approved. Sadly for Sooz, Hasburdan still considers her evil and pledges to attack. 

Meanwhile, in our world, Dirk and his foster brother Christopher desperately try to find the means to contact Sooz and bring her home. There is some real hilarity that comes from this venture and it is different from the humor in the first book. In fact there are quite a few things that worked in this book that were absent in the first. 

While the first had a fun "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" written by Sauron thing going for it, I found myself at a real distance from the characters. Sure, Sooz was kind of sweet, but I didn't really give two figs about Chris or even the protagonist, Dirk. The unlikable hero niche that made Greg Heffley's antics so popular didn't really click for me in Dirk's case because he is more aware of his bad qualities than Greg. 

This book managed to actually make me care about Dirk, which surprised me. It also broke from the diary format which was a good breather and added some moderate depth to Dirk's motivation. Chris was still a little stiff, but I felt a definite shift in the way I felt about him. 

With a few laugh out loud moments throughout, I can say for sure that I hope the Dark Lord will reign for another volume or two.

Mwa hahahahaha!!!!!!!