If you loved

Books like Openly straight

A funny, heartfelt exploration of what happens when the desire to shed labels accidentally means shedding your true self. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Openly straight.

warm
angsty
collegiate
hopeful

01
Almost Perfect
Brian Katcher
A messy, emotionally turbulent exploration of teenage heartbreak, prejudice, and the rocky road to genuine understanding.
Shares:
- angsty
- earnest
02
Rainbow boys
Alex Sanchez
A candid, big-hearted exploration of the terrifying and exhilarating threshold between hiding who you are and stepping into the light.
Shares:
- angsty
- earnest
03
Geography Club
Brent Hartinger · 2003
A funny, heartfelt exploration of the secret lives of queer teenagers navigating the treacherous social terrain of high school.
Shares:
- warm
- hopeful
- wry
- earnest
04
More happy than not
Adam Silvera
A heartbreaking, speculative exploration of whether erasing our deepest pains is worth losing the truth of who we are.
Shares:
- earnest
- authentic identity
05
The Vast Fields of Ordinary
Nick Burd · 2009
A sun-drenched, bittersweet exploration of the messy, heartbreaking summer between high school and whatever comes next.
Shares:
- wry
- earnest
06
Only mostly devastated
Sophie Gonzales
A queer reimagining of a classic summer-nights romance that balances laugh-out-loud banter with the tender ache of real-world grief.
Shares:
- angsty
- hopeful
- wry
- earnest
07
This Book is Gay
James Dawson
A witty, warm, and radically candid handbook for navigating the messy, joyful realities of queer identity.
Shares:
- warm
08
Boy Meets Boy
David Levithan · 2006
A joyful, utopian queer rom-com that feels like a warm hug and a confetti cannon going off at the same time.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
09
Two Boys Kissing
David Levithan
A tender, generation-spanning embrace that connects the ghosts of the past to the defiant joy of the present.
Shares:
- hopeful
- earnest
10
The inexplicable logic of my life
Benjamin Alire Saenz
A tender, tear-soaked exploration of the fierce, unconditional love that binds families together through life's most painful transitions.
Shares:
- warm
- earnest
11
At the Edge of the Universe
Shaun David Hutchinson
A surreal, heart-wrenching exploration of grief and first love, set against the backdrop of a slowly vanishing universe.
Shares:
- earnest
12
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
John Green and David Levithan
A chaotic, big-hearted collision of teenage angst and theatrical joy that celebrates the messy reality of finding your people.
Shares:
- angsty
- wry
- earnest

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