This hurt me a lot more than I expected it to. Like, I knew it was going to confront the expectations and stereotypes of gay kids and straight kids and the invisible barrier that we ourselves put up between us and what we want. I knew it was going to talk about accepting yourself for who you are and embracing every aspect of yourself, but I wasn't expecting to feel the emotions that I had felt throughout this book.

I don't think I've ever read a book, or at least I haven't read very many books, that focus on the privilege of being able to come out safely and not have to worry about alienation and bullying or anything like that. When you're in a situation like that it does kind of desensitize you to the struggle that a lot of other people go through. You tend to forget that coming out and being open about who you are is a big deal, and that often times it can be a dangerous thing to do.

Rafe had never been in the closet. He had never felt the need to be in the closet. And I'm sure that if he had ever thought, even for a second, that he wouldn't be accepted for who he was by someone he cared about, he wouldn't have felt that way he did about being openly gay. It wasn't even like he was the only gay kid, he was just so involved with himself while simultaneously being worried about everyone else around him that caused him to feel like being gay was the only thing people saw when they looked at him.

Watching Rafe struggle through hiding an important part of who he is, and having help from his favorite teacher to discover why he thought and felt the things he did was amazing. Writing is an amazing outlet and it's an amazing way to sort through your own head. Once your thoughts get down on paper it's easier to see them for what they really are and it's easier to think or talk about them.

The fact that Rafe had used his writing as a way to sort through everything that was going on was an amazing thing to read, especially since writing had been my own outlet for a long time, especially when I felt as if I didn't have anyone to talk to about what I was going through or what I was thinking at times.

This book was an amazing read and I couldn't put it down once I had picked it up. I've had this sitting on my shelf for so long and I'm so mad at myself it took me this long to finally getting around to reading it. I highly recommend this to literally everyone. Please read this book. And please understand what it is actually talking about.