Book Review: Straight by Seth King

There’s something on my mind and today its a book review for one of the best books I have ever read, and I read a lot.

In November 2016 I read a book, and it changed me in ways I cannot begin to describe. The book was Straight and the author is Seth King.

I found Seth (and a few other remarkable writers) after joining the Romance and Erotica Author Fraternity, or The Frat Boys, a Facebook group of male romance and/or erotic writers.  I planned on working my way through the all authors work. The first book of Seth’s I read was Hopeless Romantic and if I’m honest I chose to start there because it was the cheapest of Seth’s books on Amazon AU that day. Seth’s work was unknown to me and I hadn’t read a male romance author at that point (that has changed since that day) so i was playing it safe. My Amazon review for Hopeless Romantic was short and sweet and I gave it 4 stars.

This was my introduction to Seth King and I really enjoyed this book. Seth draws you in and makes you feel Graham’s pain and love for Olivia. Nice quick read.

But back to Straight……………..

Seth posted an excerpt from Straight in The Frat Boys group and from the moment I read that excerpt I knew I was going to love this book.

 

Before it was released I read a post from Seth that he was receiving hate and threats following the reveal of Straight’s cover, and he asked us to change our profile pictures to his book cover. I gladly obliged and it is still my profile picture to this day, that’s how much I loved this book.

 

 

Many people will shy away from this book because it is a love story between two men, but I think that is what makes this even more special. It shows that love is love and it doesn’t matter if your eyes are blue, green or brown, if you hair is black, blonde, blue or red, if the person you love is male or female, you fall in love with the person, who they are inside their skin, that is all that matters.

So I say to those; give it a try, if you don’t like it so be it, but until you have read stories like this you have no right to say you don’t like them.

 

This is my review as posted on Amazon and Goodreads on 1^st December 2016. It took me two days to write the review I was left with such a turmoil of emotion. It was certainly one hell of a book hangover.  I gave it five stars, but I would have given it many more if I could.

Best book I’ve read in a long time. If I could give it 10 stars I would

When I read the first excerpt of this book I knew I was going to love it.

Straight by Seth King isn’t just a love story, it is so so so much more than that. It is also a story of self-discovery for Henry Morgan, a ‘straight’ guy, after a chance meeting on a bus with the openly gay Ty Stanton.

Henry and Ty face a myriad of challenges as their love develops throughout the book. Told from Henry’s point of view, Henry questions everything he believes himself to be, everything he thought was true about himself and his life, and it’s not all smooth sailing. Seth King’s brilliance made me feel every step of Henry’s struggles, his doubts, his fears, his anxieties, his love for Ty and his encounters with intolerance and homophobia.

And while Henry is on his discovery Seth is taking the reader on a journey of discovery about the struggles of the LGBTQ community, the homophobia they face on a regular basis, and if they are open minded they probably learned a lot about themselves too. As Seth points out through Ty and Henry, I can’t fully comprehend the struggle unless I’ve walked in their shoes, but it doesn’t mean I have to accept the intolerance and ignorance of others, and I won’t.

Once I started reading I could not stop until I was done. And when I turned the page and saw Authors note at the top of the next, I was disappointed I was at the end, because Seth left me wanting more of Henry and Ty, so much so that I started reading it all over again.

I read most of the book with my stomach in my mouth. As I write this the following morning I still feel the butterflies. It has left me with such strong emotions that I can’t even put them into words. Only a remarkable writer can do that, and even though this is only my second Seth book, I have to say I believe he is a remarkable writer. The authors note at the end was also moving and I think shows just how much of himself Seth put into this book.

I applaud Seth for writing this book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good love story because after all Love is Love. We can’t help who we fall in love with. And I certainly fell in love with Henry and Ty.

 

This book cemented Seth King as one of my all-time favourite authors, and I quickly set about reading his other books. I am still working my way through them because he keeps releasing new books, and when I see a new Seth King book I have to have it.

I actively promote Seth’s books whenever and wherever I can, so stay tuned for much more about Seth King’s books in upcoming reviews.

I cannot recommend a book more highly. I strongly believe everyone should read this book. Get your copy now;

Amazon US

Amazon AU

If you read Straight, or have read it already, leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

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