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Gay the Pray Away  By  cover art

Gay the Pray Away

By: Natalie Naudus
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
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Publisher's summary

Valerie Danners is in a cult. She just doesn’t know it yet. When she finds a queer book at the library and smuggles it home, her conservative Christian homeschooling world begins to crack. And when the cutest girl she’s ever met shows up to Bible class, she starts to question everything.

Riley is so confident and kind, and she and Valerie bond quickly over existing as multiracial teens in a very white Christian community. As Valerie explores her feelings for Riley, she begins to see that the world she knows is a carefully crafted narrative.

Publicly, the girls are close friends—holding hands in prayer, rooming together at a conference. Privately, they grasp at any chance to continue their forbidden romance—until they are found out. Now, Valerie must choose between staying with a family she fears will never accept her, or running away with the girl she loves.

©2024 Natalie Naudus (P)2024 Natalie Naudus

Interview: Narrator Natalie Naudus’s debut novel is based on her childhood in a cult

'I'm the waiter serving the food as best I can. But with this, I made the food, I cooked the food.'
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  • Gay the Pray Away
  • 'I'm the waiter serving the food as best I can. But with this, I made the food, I cooked the food.'

What listeners say about Gay the Pray Away

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Stunning debut

This is Natalie's debut and she has done a spectacular job writing Val and Riley's story. The characters are well developed throughout the book. The type of religious fervor portrayed is hard to realistically capture unless you have been there, and Natalie has done that.

As an exvangelical and a bisexual person who grew up in a religious environment much like Val's, I empathize so personally with her. The fears, emotions, and brainwashing Val must work through are all starkly real.

Natalie also narrates Gay the Pray Away and is stunning in her performance. I suspect it helps to be the author, but her voice flawlessly pulls us into the story and along the journey.

Gay the Pray Away is a powerful story of breaking free and living authentically. I will reread this, will give it to friends and family, and will recommend it wholeheartedly!!

🌶️ Spice level = .5 (1/2) YA-level kissing and nudity
🌈 Bisexual rep, Sapphic rep
Religious trauma/deconstruction

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I could not stop reading!

This book was fantastic! I found myself wanting to get home from literally everywhere to continue listening! The story was heartwarming, heartbreaking and enlightening. Narration by the author was on point! I highly recommend this read/listen.

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Fast, Easy, Hopeful Read

This was such an amazing book. I know it's influenced by the author (who also narrates!) and her upbringing. It's a beautiful story about breaking out of forced expectations to realize that you are good and worthy of love and acceptance as you are. Highly recommend!

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Such an important voice

What an incredible perspective from someone who has clearly borne the brunt of some religious trauma. I am gifting this book to several people and hope they will do the same, perhaps together we can continue lifting more people up and out. Oh, and while the narrator’s not as good as One Last Stop’s, she’s still exceptional. ;) LOL. Wonderful!

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A story full of hope

This book is hopeful story about surviving religious trauma. I was already a fan of Natalie Naudus as a narrator and TikToker, and I’m now happy to say I’m a fan of her as an author as well. Fantastic debut!

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Deeply heartfelt and hopeful

Tender and complicated and engaging and enraging - this novel is a jewel of a stained glass window into a queer kid’s heart. Gay the Pray Away is wrenching, infuriating, and illuminating while also managing to be wrapped around a luminous core of hope. Natalie Naudus has deftly crafted a nuanced narrative, and her performance hits each note perfectly.

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I need this in my life

I don’t think I really understood how badly I needed a happy ending for two gay girls. Thank you so much for writing this.

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The morning devotional I needed

Deconstruction of religious trauma, finding your true self while trying not to suffocate in the mold of what others want, and a love story that explores that journey in an authentic and heartwarming way. This book has it all. It truly was heart wrenching but still managed to pick you up, dust you off, and tell you that everything will be okay. It made me feel all the things and more.

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Stunning! Deeply moving, beautifully written and read! Wow

I just finished it and I'm stunned at everything I just lived through. This was a journey into a worlds I never knew existed. I wasn't prepared for this and I can tell you it was amazing. The beautiful expression of love, hope and compassion has had a profound effect on me. I'm so grateful for this book, and hope it offers us. Beautifully written and performed!

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A story I didn't know I needed

This book was so healing for my inner child. I didn't realize how much of this I would relate to and how powerful it was to see an alternate telling of how many of our stories went. So thankful to the author for writing this.

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