Straight Expectations - by Calum McSwiggan (Paperback)

About the Book

Seventeen-year-old Max has always been out and proud. But every time he looks around his small school, he sees straight couples everywhere. It's everything he's ever wanted for himself, but there are few queer boys to choose from. When his frustrations get the better of him, he lashes out at his best friend, Dean, and wishes he had what everyone else has. And he wishes they'd never been friends.

Book Synopsis

If you were granted one wish, what would it be?

Seventeen-year-old Max has always been out and proud. But every time he looks around his small school, he sees straight couples everywhere. It's everything he's ever wanted for himself, but there are few queer boys to choose from. When his frustrations get the better of him, he lashes out at his best friend, Dean, and wishes he had what everyone else has. And he wishes they'd never been friends.

Max gets more than he bargained for when he wakes up to find his wish has come true--his feelings for boys have vanished, and so has Dean. And he got exactly what he wanted . . . a girlfriend. With his school life turned upside down and his relationship with his family in tatters, Max sets out on a journey of rediscovery to find a way back to the life he took for granted, and the love story he thought he'd never have.

Review Quotes

"A delightfully queer page-turner with a powerful message, Straight Expectations should be on every rom-com reader's bookshelf. There's no shortage of heart, humor, and swoon-worthy moments in Calum McSwiggan's debut." --Robbie Couch, New York Times Best-Selling Author of If I See You Again Tomorrow.

"Adorable and righteously angry, Straight Expectations blends classic rom-com with a heartfelt examination of what it is to be queer, and how it's so much more than just a matter of attraction. McSwiggan's love of his community and culture are on dazzling display here, in a well-crafted and swoony novel of learning to fall in love with yourself, as well as the cute boy." --L. C. Rosen, author of Camp

"By turns outrageous, heartfelt, funny, and tender, Straight Expectations is a thought-provoking exploration of identity and what makes us who we are. Calum McSwiggan is a fabulous new voice on the YA scene." --Simon James Green, author of Gay Club!

"Straight Expectations is a refreshingly unique, beautifully queer take on a familiar trope, packed with endless adorable moments, sugar-sweetness, and laugh-out-loud hilarity. Don't miss out on this utterly charming, heart-melting rom-com from a new voice to watch in the queer YA world!" --Sophie Gonzales, coauthor of If This Gets Out

"A highly readable lark."--Booklist

About the Author

Calum McSwiggan is an LGBTQ+ writer, advocate, and award-winning creator who is passionate about gender and sexuality, queer politics, and LGBTQ+ history. Whether sharing his own personal experiences or using his platform to tell the stories of others, meaningful storytelling is at the heart of everything he does. His travel memoir, Eat, Gay, Love was published in 2020. Straight Expectations is his first novel. He lives in London, UK, and you can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @CalumMcSwiggan.