Gay the Pray Away Audiobook By Natalie Naudus cover art

Gay the Pray Away

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Gay the Pray Away

By: Natalie Naudus
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
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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 Best of 2024 Coming of Age Editors Select LGBTQ+ LGBTQIA+ Creators Literature & Fiction Romance Heartfelt Feel-Good Tearjerking

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

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.'
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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.'

Editorial Review

What if you just realized you grew up in a cult?
At Audible, we’ve long known Natalie Naudus as a beloved narrator. Now, she’s written and performed her own novel that’s heavily inspired by her own childhood in a religious cult. To write it, she imagined what her life might have been like if she’d discovered her favorite narrated novels as a teen. Listening to Gay the Pray Away, I was struck not by the darkness of Valerie’s complicated family situation and the prejudice of her community, but by how the story was shot through with hope and discovery, and how it only takes one person to pull you out of a difficult path. It’s a YA story for those who are looking for the bright side to the darkness in our world. — Melissa B., Audible Editor

Authentic Representation • Powerful Storytelling • Exceptional Narration • Emotional Depth • Flawless Voice Acting
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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.

The morning devotional I needed

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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!

Stunning! Deeply moving, beautifully written and read! Wow

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(Cross positing my review on here and on Goodreads because I wrote a long and heartfelt one and don’t feel like trying to write another)

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This book was the alternate storyline my life desperately needed. Over the last few years I have thought so many times that if I had had access to books like this as a teen, my life would have been immeasurably changed for the better. I grieve the self knowledge and love that I could have had as a child, but I celebrate authors like Natalie doing the work to give young readers hope and to give us seasoned readers healing.

I don’t usually re-read books, but I think this is one I WILL listen to again when I need to find peace and contentment.

Natalie is an expert narrator and true voice actor, but I had no idea what to expect with her writing. I was drawn in immediately and legitimately did not want to “put the book down” - I listened to it in less than a day! Her writing has a beautiful flow and rhythm to it that feels so natural. I thoroughly enjoyed the very not subtle nods to well known people and organizations and appreciate her making it very clear what she’s talking about, because they deserve every bit of calling out possible. She does a really great job of giving unique life and personality to each of her characters and I loved watching their growth throughout. While not raised fundamentalist, I was still raised with very similar teachings and general beliefs and my sister and I call it fundamentalist-adjacent. Valerie’s awakening feels deeply relatable to me on a very personal level and I don’t know if I have ever felt more like a book character in my life. Natalie does a really good job of depicting what a Pandora’s box it is to have an awakening like Valerie’s. Once you see it, it cannot be unseen. You are changed permanently and you begin to lose your ability to tolerate what you somehow dealt with your whole life up until that point. You just…cannot anymore.

I have not felt this strongly about a book in a LONG time. I rarely leave written reviews because I feel like I never have much to say even if I really loved a book, but this one just did something to me that I can’t quite explain.

Healing

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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

Stunning debut

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it's a really good book. anything else would be far too personal. you should read it

I saw myself

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It was really wonderful listening to a story read by the author, who wrote the story she wished she could have found while surviving her super religious upbringing. As an ex-evangelical myself, I truly appreciated how she balanced familial love, with the harsh reality that that love can push abusive beliefs.

While conflict existed, I also appreciated that there was no cheap third act breakups, etc. and I loved how pure the “unpure” love experienced by the MCs felt.

A cozy hug for my religiously wounded heart

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What a magnificently told story. My heart breaks that this is what so many young people experience or worse from people supposed to love you. Natalie Naudus tells this story from so many angles with insight to a lot of the emotional experience and support needed by young people. It was an eye opener for me of the conservative theocracy that runs so many cult like religions. I found the inner strength and courage of these young characters so inspiring. This is a great story of the courage it takes to be who you are called to be. Bravo, love it, great author, amazing narrator and a story so beautiful!

A story about being seen, heard and loved.

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This book easily SHOT its way to the top of my Best Reads Ever list. How could it not? I kept thinking to myself the whole time how much I wished I had had this book 15 years ago. As thankful has I have always been for the support of my open-minded parents, I have never heard personal stories of those who experienced what Valerie did with the religious influence and blatant homophobia. It was hard for read at points because of how hurt the FMC becomes by those she has loved without a doubt her who life. I want a physical copy for my book shelf and to read over and over again.

Easily one of my top listened to books EVER.

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I loved this book! You could feel the struggle! I’m really hoping for a second book. I want one of the characters too figure her stuff out a little later in life and I want her to have her own book.🙃

Such a good book with meaning!

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I have followed Natalie on insta for years now. Her love for stories, her family, and life in general are wonderfully infectious. When she announced her first book, I couldn't wait to hear her tell her own story. Though we have never talked, she makes me, and I assume others, feel like part of her found family; she holds an immense amount of love for and hope in humanity. Gay the Pray Away is so personal to her while also having a universal truth: love, in all its forms, is what brings peace and happiness to our lives. Thank you for this story Natalie. I cannot wait for your next book... and captain's log.

Love and Hope

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