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Unexpected
Tyler walks invisibly through the halls of Grady High School. He doesn't have much interest in changing his popularity status, instead choosing to devote his time to the one place he feels most comfortable. Drama Club.
But all that changes one night at a party that he never intended to go to. And after an incident with Kale Greenwood, the insanely popular baseball player, both boys have to deal with the aftermath, with unexpected results.
With Kale leading the way, Tyler might just learn there is more than his quiet, invisible life.
But all that changes one night at a party that he never intended to go to. And after an incident with Kale Greenwood, the insanely popular baseball player, both boys have to deal with the aftermath, with unexpected results.
With Kale leading the way, Tyler might just learn there is more than his quiet, invisible life.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 26, 2015
7 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 27, 2017
The title of this book definitely fits. I was pleasantly surprised. This book IS NOT A ROMANCE in the traditional sense. The two MC's are not and don't ever become lovers. This is a story about an unexpected friendship that ends up being the best thing that ever happened to both boys.
Tyler is a drama nerd and a forgettable face in his high school. He is not popular and really has no friends outside of the drama club. Kale is the best looking, most popular, captain of the baseball team, and all around awesome dude extraordinaire. Kale has a secret though, he's gay and in love with Tyler. One night at a party Kale finds the courage to tell Tyler how he feels and kisses him thinking Tyler is gay. Things don't go well and the boys part with the understanding that the event stays between them. Someone however outs Kale because they overheard the conversation and now Tyler's world has fallen apart. He gets kicked off the baseball team, his beard breaks up with him, all his friends turn on him and he has become the laughing stock of the school. The bigotry in this book is probably as realistic as it gets, it's brutal. What happens after that changes both their lives. Tyler and Kale cling to each other. Tyler offers Kale unconditional friendship and has him join drama club. The two change each other for the better and Kale finds real friends amongst a crowd of misfits. Kale brings out the fighter in Tyler and helps Tyler find his voice, Tyler shows Kale that there are good people left in the world and that people can sometimes surprise you. There is a small HFN/HEA in the end for them with Tyler finally getting the girl he's always wanted and through their friendship Kale meets a love of his own. Very good book and I'm giving it 4 stars because it's well written and for a genre I don't usually read I enjoyed this book immensely. (Side note: Kale has awesome parents.)
Tyler is a drama nerd and a forgettable face in his high school. He is not popular and really has no friends outside of the drama club. Kale is the best looking, most popular, captain of the baseball team, and all around awesome dude extraordinaire. Kale has a secret though, he's gay and in love with Tyler. One night at a party Kale finds the courage to tell Tyler how he feels and kisses him thinking Tyler is gay. Things don't go well and the boys part with the understanding that the event stays between them. Someone however outs Kale because they overheard the conversation and now Tyler's world has fallen apart. He gets kicked off the baseball team, his beard breaks up with him, all his friends turn on him and he has become the laughing stock of the school. The bigotry in this book is probably as realistic as it gets, it's brutal. What happens after that changes both their lives. Tyler and Kale cling to each other. Tyler offers Kale unconditional friendship and has him join drama club. The two change each other for the better and Kale finds real friends amongst a crowd of misfits. Kale brings out the fighter in Tyler and helps Tyler find his voice, Tyler shows Kale that there are good people left in the world and that people can sometimes surprise you. There is a small HFN/HEA in the end for them with Tyler finally getting the girl he's always wanted and through their friendship Kale meets a love of his own. Very good book and I'm giving it 4 stars because it's well written and for a genre I don't usually read I enjoyed this book immensely. (Side note: Kale has awesome parents.)
October 30, 2016
I liked this book a lot, some things made me a little uncomfortable, but I liked it a lot because Tyler, the main character, his inner monologue was so real. It was not PC–he wasn’t particularly rude or grossly offensive, but his thoughts are what people think, unfiltered. He is not gay, but after a terrible incident and against the sanctity of his efforts to hide in plain sight, he becomes friends with Kale, a guy that is gay. It’s interesting. How they first interacted, the aftermath of that, and the friendship that they built. There’s also Tyler’s personal experience and his exposure to things outside his norm, as witnessed by himself. The thoughts in his head while all of these things are going on, while his life is changing–some of the things that he says out of his mouth…it’s just all very real. I get it, completely. It doesn’t seem made up or too perfect–not scripted. I think the best word to describe it is: organic. And I really loved being there with him as he went through all of those emotions and trials and as he learned how to be himself outside of his head and learned how to be a friend.
I can relate with where he was in his head. I mean, I don’t think all the same things that he did, but I get how it is for him. I also can relate to how he acted. And with that, it all comes together in way like, if you were able to watch someone–him as a real person–and also see what was going on inside their head this story would be the perfect representation of that. You see all these things going on in his past and present, how they come together to make the person he is inside his head and how that translates to his outside persona. You get to see how they clash and meld with each other to continue to create the him of that day and the next and so on. It makes all the changes that he goes through throughout the story make sense. So Tyler, as a character, is so good. I think Kale as well as the secondary characters are good too, but since Tyler is our vehicle for the story, I can’t help but gush about him. He is a very rich, full of life, extremely well-written character.
Tyler prefers to blend into the background, so going to a school dance or its traditional after party, tastelessly called Aftershock, is really low on his list of high school achievements. Yet, he’s in charge of set design for the drama club, and they’re hosting the dance this year, so he’s got no choice but to be there. Fair enough, but the after party is out, right? Wrong. His friend and fellow drama club member, Jensen, convinces him to go. He gets there and is soon abandoned so that Jensen can stalk the girl of his dreams. He finds a bench and tries to do what he does best: fade away. It was sort of working until a classmate stumbles drunkenly over and sits across from him. And then another one, Kale, comes over as well, though he’s quite sober. Not too long after, as Aftershock tradition would have it, the cops come and everyone scatters.
It seems like it would be his saving grace, but as Kale pulls him farther and farther into the woods to escape capture, Tylers’s no longer sure what’s going on, why he came in the first place, and why he’s still running. And then they stop. Thinking they’re safe, they sit, Kale starts to talk and Tyler is a little weirded out by how much it seems that Kale has been paying attention to him, particularly because he thought he was invisible. After a bit, Kale kisses him and he lets it happen (the reason why he let it happen was kind of sad but sweet). The kiss is followed by Kale’s confession, but much to Kale’s heartbreak, Tyler confesses that he’s not gay. And that’s kind of a problem because no one knows that Kale is. And I have to tell you, what we see of Kale in those moments–shock, realization, and resignation–through Tyler’s eyes…it’s heartbreaking. But it gets worse before it gets better.
This is not a Gay-for-You story.
While Kale really just needed a friend to lean on as his high school life was turned upside down, Tyler needed someone to push him to step outside himself for once just to see, just to prove that he wouldn’t come apart at the seams without being able to be sown back together. Also, their journey didn’t happen in a silo; they had their families to deal with, friends or not friends to sort out, all the things that existed before the confession still going, and their futures. Going from those world-ending, soul-crushing moments to friendship was an awkward and life changing struggle for both Tyler and Kale, but I don’t think either of them would have fared as well without the other.
Unexpected is the perfect title for this story, because it truly was. I so wish that there was a continuation because I would love to see more of what happened at the end.
Most of what I’ve written above seems rather solemn, but this book had me laughing and laughing and laughing to the point where I had to catch my breath, where I could not go on reading because I just could not stop laughing. Eventually, I did sober up a bit, but it felt good to laugh like that even though I’m always afraid of stories that take me to such heights–particularly at the beginning–because I know there’s always going to be something heavy and hurtful to bring me down along the way. But those are my favorite kinds of stories.
I can relate with where he was in his head. I mean, I don’t think all the same things that he did, but I get how it is for him. I also can relate to how he acted. And with that, it all comes together in way like, if you were able to watch someone–him as a real person–and also see what was going on inside their head this story would be the perfect representation of that. You see all these things going on in his past and present, how they come together to make the person he is inside his head and how that translates to his outside persona. You get to see how they clash and meld with each other to continue to create the him of that day and the next and so on. It makes all the changes that he goes through throughout the story make sense. So Tyler, as a character, is so good. I think Kale as well as the secondary characters are good too, but since Tyler is our vehicle for the story, I can’t help but gush about him. He is a very rich, full of life, extremely well-written character.
Tyler prefers to blend into the background, so going to a school dance or its traditional after party, tastelessly called Aftershock, is really low on his list of high school achievements. Yet, he’s in charge of set design for the drama club, and they’re hosting the dance this year, so he’s got no choice but to be there. Fair enough, but the after party is out, right? Wrong. His friend and fellow drama club member, Jensen, convinces him to go. He gets there and is soon abandoned so that Jensen can stalk the girl of his dreams. He finds a bench and tries to do what he does best: fade away. It was sort of working until a classmate stumbles drunkenly over and sits across from him. And then another one, Kale, comes over as well, though he’s quite sober. Not too long after, as Aftershock tradition would have it, the cops come and everyone scatters.
It seems like it would be his saving grace, but as Kale pulls him farther and farther into the woods to escape capture, Tylers’s no longer sure what’s going on, why he came in the first place, and why he’s still running. And then they stop. Thinking they’re safe, they sit, Kale starts to talk and Tyler is a little weirded out by how much it seems that Kale has been paying attention to him, particularly because he thought he was invisible. After a bit, Kale kisses him and he lets it happen (the reason why he let it happen was kind of sad but sweet). The kiss is followed by Kale’s confession, but much to Kale’s heartbreak, Tyler confesses that he’s not gay. And that’s kind of a problem because no one knows that Kale is. And I have to tell you, what we see of Kale in those moments–shock, realization, and resignation–through Tyler’s eyes…it’s heartbreaking. But it gets worse before it gets better.
This is not a Gay-for-You story.
While Kale really just needed a friend to lean on as his high school life was turned upside down, Tyler needed someone to push him to step outside himself for once just to see, just to prove that he wouldn’t come apart at the seams without being able to be sown back together. Also, their journey didn’t happen in a silo; they had their families to deal with, friends or not friends to sort out, all the things that existed before the confession still going, and their futures. Going from those world-ending, soul-crushing moments to friendship was an awkward and life changing struggle for both Tyler and Kale, but I don’t think either of them would have fared as well without the other.
Unexpected is the perfect title for this story, because it truly was. I so wish that there was a continuation because I would love to see more of what happened at the end.
Most of what I’ve written above seems rather solemn, but this book had me laughing and laughing and laughing to the point where I had to catch my breath, where I could not go on reading because I just could not stop laughing. Eventually, I did sober up a bit, but it felt good to laugh like that even though I’m always afraid of stories that take me to such heights–particularly at the beginning–because I know there’s always going to be something heavy and hurtful to bring me down along the way. But those are my favorite kinds of stories.
December 17, 2017
This one I really, really liked. I liked the characters, I liked the way it played out. Very good read.
March 11, 2017
I really enjoyed the writing in this book,
but it was not what I was expecting at all.
I kept waiting, expecting it to happen however it never did.
I was disappointed but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment the story gave me.
but it was not what I was expecting at all.
I kept waiting, expecting it to happen however it never did.
I was disappointed but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment the story gave me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2016
This is a very, shall we say, unexpected tale of coming of age among teen boys. The protagonist is straight, his unexpected eventual best friend is gay, unexpectedly. And the plot unfolds in unexpected manners. It's a wonderful tale of growing up senior year of high school, culminating of course (expectedly this time) at Prom. A warming tale full of love. I heartily recommend Unexpected.
September 14, 2015
I recall a news story a while back about a kid who took his gay best friend to the prom. This seems to be an imagination of how that might come about.
The narrator Tyler considers himself a social misfit and his home life has issues. However, in the course of the story, we follow his development in the face of high school social awfulness. He discovers talent as a member of the drama club, comes to terms with his divorced mother’s dating, tells off his four-years-absent father who shows up out of the blue, and befriends the closeted baseball star who’s been crushing on him and gets outed. An awful lot of LGBTQ fiction for young adults is about gay kids who find each other. This is about a straight kid who discovers that he’s courageous and wise for his age.
The narrator Tyler considers himself a social misfit and his home life has issues. However, in the course of the story, we follow his development in the face of high school social awfulness. He discovers talent as a member of the drama club, comes to terms with his divorced mother’s dating, tells off his four-years-absent father who shows up out of the blue, and befriends the closeted baseball star who’s been crushing on him and gets outed. An awful lot of LGBTQ fiction for young adults is about gay kids who find each other. This is about a straight kid who discovers that he’s courageous and wise for his age.
August 4, 2015
I stumbled upon this book and found it to be different from what I expected (imagine that!). Tyler is an interesting character who just wants to blend in. However, all of that changes after a late night encounter in the woods. I really enjoyed where the story went from there. There were many problems and obstacles the MCs had to overcome. Nevertheless, they get to know each other and step out of their comfort zones. Each provided support for the other when it was necessary. Overall, definitely a good short read!
June 26, 2016
Such a sweet story
This was absolutely adorable. Tyler and Kale made the sweetest best friends I think I've ever read. This is not a romance. This is a coming of age story about two teenage boys. One happens to be straight and the other gay and they form an amazing bond. I could've continued reading their story for hours and hours more, but the ending is very satisfying. I normally stick to strictly romance, but I am so happy I decided to give this one a try because this is a story that will stay with me forever. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
This was absolutely adorable. Tyler and Kale made the sweetest best friends I think I've ever read. This is not a romance. This is a coming of age story about two teenage boys. One happens to be straight and the other gay and they form an amazing bond. I could've continued reading their story for hours and hours more, but the ending is very satisfying. I normally stick to strictly romance, but I am so happy I decided to give this one a try because this is a story that will stay with me forever. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
May 18, 2016
I liked this book a lot. It was pretty funny but tackled some serious issues in high school today, although I am hoping the attitudes are better now or at least in larger towns. Tyler was hilarious and I loved how he and Kale got to be such good friends after they got to know each other. I was kind of bummed, rooting for them to get together in the end, it was still pretty good.
November 12, 2015
Great story with a lot of laughs. This time it's not the skinny nerd wanting the handsome jock but the other way around. It was the perfect feel good story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews