The Rejected Son

Coming Out #1

by John Green

"The Rejected Son" is book 1 of "The Coming Out Series", a Family Saga about a boy and his struggle to deal with life as a gay man.

Logan is an the only child until his Momma marries George, an industrial mechanic. George also has a son, Tim, who becomes Logan's step-brother. As soon as the wedding is over, the family is relocated and Logan must adapt to a new life with a step-father that hates him because he is gay. After Logan is kicked out of the house, his life takes a turn for the worse as he is forced to prostitute himself to survive.

Genres: Short Stories, M M Romance, Gay, Fiction, LGBT, Contemporary, Romance

58 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 27, 2012

Reviews

[damien · Rating 1 out of 5]

i feel like i just drank battery acid in book form

[Lorena · Rating 1 out of 5]

After downloading this book to my kindle and then reading a few of the reviews from other readers, my expectations were definitely lowered. Since I already had it, I read it anyways.
I am in agreement that this is poorly written and really not that exciting of a read.
At the time of acquiring this book, I too, thought it was by the same John Green who wrote Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars.
Thank God it is not!
Now to get rid of this piece of trash from my kindle!

[Anomaly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope. Nope. Nuh-uh. No.

Things I was willing to roll my eyes at and endure just to see where this went:

* Amateurish writing with a main character who narrates as if still a child while telling his backstory.

* An author who has no clue that industrial mechanics aren't rich, especially when they have to support two adults and two children on their income.

* An author who apparently thinks people poor enough to be trapped in a trailer park have the means and resources to reupholster slightly damaged furniture - which, by the way, on average costs $800 to do but can easily cost multiple thousands. The woman in question was supporting a small child at the time on a very low income, at that!

* The absolute absurdity of a cardboard cutout villain who thinks a ten-year-old and seven-year-old - who are part of the same family, might I add - snuggling on a bed together is "gay" and uses that as a reason to harass the younger of those two children for "being gay" - complete with use of slurs.

Things which I will not tolerate:

* (TW: sexual activity involving extreme minors) A seven-year-old child and his eight-year-old friend partaking in actual sexual activity of the penetrative variety 'because the older one saw his big brother do it once'.

No. Just. No.

How do I keep finding all the utter trash in kindle freebies?

[Nic]

A free short story. Not really for me so I won't be pursuing the series.

[Angel **Book Junkie** · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, after reading the reviews I have to wonder why everyone hated this book. I did not hate it but, I did not love it. I found that the book would have been much better had there been more of a story. There were so many parts of the book that were really to far out there. Such as the moment with the cop. I understand realizing that you are gay but, I think the story liked depth. The reason I gave it 3 stars is because I liked what the story could have been and it was not awful.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I downloaded this freebie, I thought this was by the John Green who wrote the wonderful book The Fault in our Stars. I was so wrong.

[Renato · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion the book relies on one too many clichés found in a lot of gay stories (especially in films) but it does keep you interested and makes you wanna keep reading until you finish it, so it's definitely not the best book but it isn't bad at all.

[susann viktoria falla · Rating 2 out of 5]

så ... dette er ikke av den john green jeg trodde det var lol

[Kaycee · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s been a few days since I’ve started and finished this book.

Unfortunately, as much of a good story as this wanted to be, it really didn’t hit its mark.

Things happened so fast at. Every step, there was barely seven pages on some of the bigger issues and plot points.

This felt like a Wattpad brain dump of an idea that was published instead of fleshed out.

This could be a really well done book, it’s got great issues and a great main character, but the way it’s written doesn’t make me want to reach for the next in the series.

EDIT: to add, I completely forgot about the fucking forest sex scene with an 8 and 7 year old (approximately but no older than 10) anally penetrating each other and peeing in one another was involved in the book. Should have stopped there but I thought it would give the main character some sort of traumatic background to grow over or something…

The only plus side to this book is that it is short and gave me a book to count towards my finished books for the year.

I literally would rate .5 or 0 if I could. It’s so so so unfortunate too. This idea has so much potential!! This author just didn’t flush it out or write it well.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

no. Just No. It was bad, so bad. From editing mistakes to the over all story. "thick as a bottle of asprin"? Seriously? I only stuck with it because it was such a short story, but I won't be reading anything else from this writer.

[Kristine · Rating 1 out of 5]

No, just no! If there were any trigger/content warnings listed then I completely missed them. I would have immediately deleted the book upon seeing there would be sexual activity between children. That is a hard no from me. I don't care if it was experimentation or what it crossed line.

[Kelli Santistevan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.

[Maya Stephani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt so many emotions.

[Haili · Rating 2 out of 5]

Average, nice easy simple novella read to get me out of my minor reading slump after TSOA

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just terrible.

[Michelle Chen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read worse.

[Barry Lillie · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's a germ of an idea for a story here, but I'm not sure if it's a good one or not. An unimaginative stereotyped character has a terrible life with his step-father, comes out and gets thrown out and turns to prostitution... Nothing new in this premise. The text is littered with many inaccuracies, it's really not feasible for the reader to be expected to believe a seven-year old boy has an ejaculation. The incident with the cop could have been copied direct from any trashy porn magazine and Dirk's sudden character change came out of the blue, indicating that the author had nowhere else to go with the relationship, so took the easy way out. Grammar and spelling issues abound, correct usage of the past tense of drag, is dragged not drug which is slang, as is gotten which does not exist, the correct term is got, I did smile at his use of horse rather than hoarse, which made me think Logan had grown a pony's head as he made the telephone call home. It ends with a call from his brother, how he got the number is a mystery that was unexplained and could have easily been done so with a line in the text, the protagonist mentions that he was raped, but this is no where in the book and the ending was abrupt and used as a vehicle for the reader to download the second book. Sadly because it was so badly written, I'd be hard-pressed to waste any more of my time reading what could have been a promising story but wasn't. Maybe the author should invest some time in a creative writing course to hone his immature writing skills.I didn't hate it though, originally I gave it two-stars (somewhere in the book's text the word to is used instead of two) but in reality on reflection had to change it as it was a truly dreadful book.

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good it had a lot of detail and it had a little message in it. This book was about a boy that was first confused but then finally realized his sexuality and accepted it but he knew his "stepfather" WOULD NOT accept him for the way he is. His stepfather George was never a father figure to Logan (main character) he would always abuse him verbally and sometimes physically. Later in high school he finds someone and then trusting her, Logan comes out to his mother and she betrays him by telling George and he kicks Logan out of their home. He goes to his brothers collage and stays for a while but then leaves and starts to sell his body for food and shelter. This book was really good, and I think the message is that even though you go through something tragic there will always be someone to pick you up and help you get your life together.

[Christine Lowe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too Graphic For Me

The short story is easy to read. I felt sad for Logan and his Mom, who married to have someone to take care of her and her son. It was apparent the guy was a brutal jerk. When he found out Logan was gay he pulled Logan out of the apartment and told him not to come back. He was suddenly a young boy without. A place to live. It was predictable from there on.

I'm not a big fan of short stories. When I downloaded the story, I don't remember any warnings about it containing graphic sex scenes. I did see the caveat when the advertisement for the second story popped up. I don't care to read about graphic sex gay or straight so I can only give this story one star.

[Sukriti · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Rejected Son" by John Green explores the poignant journey of self-discovery and acceptance. The protagonist's struggle with his identity, family dynamics, and societal expectations is sensitively portrayed. Green skillfully weaves a narrative that delves into the complexities of coming out, offering insights into the emotional challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals. The characters are authentic and relatable, making the reader empathize with their experiences. The novel strikes a balance between heartwarming moments and realistic hardships, creating a compelling story that resonates with universal themes of love and acceptance. Green's writing style is engaging, making this book a heartfelt exploration of identity and belonging.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rejected Son was the first installment in the Coming Out series written by John Green. John Green introduces us to Logan, a young boy who lives with his mother and they are always happy. Then, Logans mom meets George, the soon to be stepfather. He has a son named Tim who befriends Logan and Aldo becomes his big brother. Tim protects Logan at school until he goes to high school. George kicks Logan out of the house after his mother told him he was gay. Logans mom promised it would be a secret between them but she broke her promise. This book is definitely about acceptance and loving who you are.

[Stephen Byron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Logan who is the rejected son meets his soon to be step-father (George) who seems to be nice at first; but later you find out he is a real homophone as he beliefs Logan to be Gay. Logan has an addition to his family and that is his step-brother (Tim) who turns out to be half descent... Logan finds out by his many adventures that you can not always judge a book by its cover (NEVER). This book was so good I need to read the second book in the series of coming out by John Green

PS- If you read this book you will be very pleased

[Chloe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is very poorly written. It took me less than 10 minutes to read and I have no desire to read the next part. I only bought it because it was free on kindle and I thought it was by the John Green that wrote Looking For Alaska. The plot in this needed to be developed more- it felt like an amateur fanfiction more than anything. The only good thing about this book is that the spelling and grammar is correct.

[Abdelaziz Maldisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the hell! I thought this was a John Green "Looking for Alaska guy" book, at first I thought so, since it featured a gay protagonist( similar to Will Grayson), but then it turned out to be an adult oriented book, and not really a young adult one, so I Googled it and found out that this was penned by another person named John Green, this was a short read (finished it under 10 minutes) but very unrealistic, and admittedly, inappropriate for teenagers.

[Aisling Doyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book was sort of unrealistic. Especially the part with the cop. I read this novel, but I have no desire to read the second part, as the end of the first book really spoiled the second book for me personally. However, I do think it is an accurate account of what happens lots of homosexual individuals(being kicked out of their home by close-minded people).

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and its sequel--and I can't wait for the next one to come out. Wonderfully written and engaging. (Had to admit, though, I wasn't expecting the porn. But then there it was. So, if that's not your thing, be warned.)

[Prismasprinkles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty simple, easy to read. The writing wasn't terrible and some parts really made me feel for the main character, but I also felt he wasn't even a real person. Too phony and stereotypical. It's a nice read if you're bored and have 20 minutes worth of nothingness to fill.

[Gillian Wood · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm glad I didn't pay for this. It's short, littered with spelling errors and not even really a story. It feels like someone summarising their life story. What was a good premise fell far short of it's promise.

[Addicted2M/M · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[romanceandcoffee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*