Honestly Ben cover art

Honestly Ben

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Honestly Ben

By: Bill Konigsberg
Narrated by: Dan Bittner
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

In this companion to Openly Straight, Ben confronts pressure at school, repression at home, and his passion for two very different people in figuring out what it takes to be Honestly Ben.

Ben Carver is back to normal. He's working steadily in his classes at the Natick School. He just got elected captain of the baseball team. He's even won a full scholarship to college, if he can keep up his grades. All that foolishness with Rafe Goldberg the past semester is in the past.

Except...there's Hannah, the gorgeous girl from the neighboring school, who attracts him and distracts him. There's his mother, whose quiet unhappiness Ben is noticing for the first time. School is harder, the pressure higher, the scholarship almost slipping away. And there's Rafe, funny, kind, dating someone else...and maybe the real normal that Ben needs.

Perfect for fans of David Levithan, Andrew Smith, and John Green, Honestly Ben is a smart, laugh-out-loud novel that will speak to anyone who's struggled to be "honestly ____" in some part of their lives.

©2017 Bill Konigsberg (P)2017 Scholastic Inc. Dating & Sex Difficult Situations Family & Relationships LGBTQ+ Literature & Fiction Dating Heartfelt Funny

Critic Reviews

"Dan Bittner's narration develops the unique personality of 17-year-old Ben, a secondary character in Konigsberg's earlier book Openly Straight.... In this follow-up, Bittner quickly reveals Ben's intelligence and introspection.... In a complex portrait, Bittner captures Ben's confused central conflict - is he gay, or straight, or is he only 'gay-for-Rafe'? Keeping the plot engaging, Bittner highlights Ben's search for his identity." (AudioFile)
All stars
Most relevant
In this equal to Openly Straight we get to know more about beautifully complex, unapologetically, honestly, Ben.

A beautiful sequel to Openly Straight

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I had to think about why I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the first book, Openly Straight. Maybe just too much of a good thing as I listened to them back to back, maybe the identity struggle was tougher as a straight guy comes to terms with his feelings for another guy. It contained the same great characters but was told from Ben’s POV, rather than Rafe’s. Ben is a quiet complex character who has a good moral compass but has to unpick the toxic messages about manhood that his father has always said and modelled. Moving!

Moving sequel to Openly Straight!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I hope some young people struggling with their sexuality pick up this book. I also hope people not struggling with their sexuality (heterosexuals included) read this book.

Beautiful Book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you consider the audio edition of Honestly Ben to be better than the print version?

There were parts of the book where the audio version emmited phrases more clearly than the book version did, this worked well with jokes, sarcasm and emphasizing phrases. But overall, the audio version was pretty much on par with the printed version; both were amazing.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is Ben Carver, I love him.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The bathroom part where Ben admits to Rafe that he loves him. Pretty much my favorite moment.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, this book is very humorous and had made me almost die in giggles of laughter. There were also some deep moments that kinda made me sad but more so, it was from the aftermath of openly straight and openly honestly.

Awesome and spot on!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
this book inspired me to to come out as gay to my dad. It was so helpful to me.

Inspiring

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved this so much, the story, the narration, both incredible. I love the way bill Konigsberg writes in such a way I'm constantly surprised at the funny moments amongst the serious and sentimental, I found myself having constant bursts of laughter when least expected. Also a great sequel to Openly Straight, I really loved the insight into Ben's mind and how it really made me think about things such as privilege, vulnerability and the impact of toxic masculinity (just to name a few). It really was an overall great listen and I would highly recommend.

Exceptional!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Put off finishing this book for a while, as it didn't have the same feel as the first. Overall, was nice to listen to, but some parts of the story just felt really off.

Average, with a few standouts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.