Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

8 reviews

emily_mh's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

There wasn’t anything I hated about this book but I also don’t feel super enthusiastic about it having read it. I’ve broken the book down into its three core elements: 

The mystery. As with all mysteries, this consists of two parts: the investigation and the solution. The investigation was pretty lacklustre. Sam and their friends don’t really figure out anything beyond what’s already obvious. I also feel like a mystery should be peppered with mini reveals as the characters tease out the red herrings, but because of the lack of investigation, there weren’t really any. Because the mystery is the driving force of this book, it didn’t feel driven at all, but kind of wandery. To add to that, the solution was underwhelming. This was because I didn’t really know the suspects beyond surface level archetypal stuff, so none of them were compelling characters. 

The MC. I think Sam was the best part of the book. I loved the autism rep in them especially; it was woven in well with the narrative. They also seemed very real in their trauma responses, especially regarding their belief that they would die prematurely. Sam’s development with regard to their PTSD wasn’t rushed or unnatural, and I loved seeing them be able to find a place in which to belong. Having said all that, because I didn’t like the writing style of this book, and the book is written in first-person, the poor writing style became entwined with Sam’s narrative voice. This was a struggle. 

The romance. The attraction here wasn’t signposted very well, so I didn’t find the romantic connection between Sam and Shep believable. I honestly just wish there hadn’t been a romance at all. 

P.S. I’m not sure how good the adoption rep is here, but I do know that there might be an issue in the fact that we are not given any information on Sam’s background before they are in foster care at age 7. 

Rep: autistic queer ace nonbinary MC, aroace Afro-Latino SC, queer Latina LI, Vietnamese-American SC, bisexual SC, Jewish SC, sapphic Black SC, questioning SC 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Stalking, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Child death, Self harm, Biphobia, and Gun violence

Minor: Classism, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Suicide, Alcohol, Car accident, Racism, Alcoholism, Addiction, War, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual content, and Ableism

Major: queerphobia, medical emergency, anaphylactic shock Moderate: migraines Minor: foster system, loss of a loved one, drowning

hobbithopeful's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Murder mystery but make it *queer*! Oh my gosh I adore this book, it healed my inner child and yet was a tense page turner. (What a combination am I right!) Sam and their Dad are new to town, seeking a fresh start after an incredibly traumatic hate crime occurred at Sam's old school.  Sam soon finds themselves making friends and fitting in, not an easy task as a nonbinary teenager with autism. Add to the mix a 30 year old mystery death that took place in Sam's new bedroom, and supernatural elements that have them feeling oddly connected to the victim create a fantastically written read. A loveable cast of queer characters add so much heart to this book, from page one I was fully hooked and could not put it down! Sam's Dad is so cheesy and warm and I love their relationship so much, all the subtle hints and threads make every character feel so real, no matter how brief their moments on the page. It feels odd to say a book that deals with such dark topics such as bullying, homophobia, and high school life, could have such heart and feel so warm, but it does! Reading through the pages I felt a part of my inner child heal just a lil bit more, and by the last page the tears that ran down my cheeks were a combination of relief and happiness. Maya MacGregor has cemented her place as one of my new favorite authors, and her own experience in life as queer and autistic shines through with joy and pain. I have read so many books in my life, and known have ever left me feeling so seen such as this one. If I could give it 100 stars I would- make your day better and give The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester a read.

The Cover
I really love the illustration on the cover, it is so great to see the vivid descriptions of Sam brought to life against the gorgeous smoky background. The way their tattoo sleeve smokes from their arm to create the background is just the lovely little cherry on top. I will say they are mentioned as having multi colored dyed hair strands so it would have been nice to see that depicted. 
I am not a huge fan of the font, it feels a bit immature to me, especially considering this is a YA novel and deals with heavier topics. I also feel the light blue of the blurb on the front gets lost a bit, especially against the purple background. 
It is hard not to be picky about a book that I so enjoyed, I always think an amazing book deserves and equally perfect cover. 
Design by Barbara Grzeslo 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Bullying

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Outing

Minor: Murder

aexileigh's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Child death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Biphobia, Bullying, Death, and Transphobia

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

sarah984's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

I feel terrible giving this book such a low rating but I didn't like it at all. 

I will say first off that I really liked Sam's relationship with their dad, and the way that emotions are described  being interpreted through facial expressions and the general autistic point of view. 

Every character that wasn't Sam or their dad was pretty one-note, though. I kept forgetting about Sky even though he was part of the core friend group, and it took me like half the book to realize Aidan and Dylan were two different guys. There were two different characters whose entire personality was "mean girl". The slang is really embarrassing (stop saying emoji!) and the constant brand name and meme references are already dated.

The mystery was also just really bad. The perpetrator is pretty easy to guess

because it's the one adult with zero redeeming qualities.

The author also seems to want to write a book where true crime sleuths save the day while acknowledging how damaging and ghoulish true crime superfans can be and that did not work for me. The way everything worked out comes across as "digging at old wounds and invading peoples' privacy is bad unless I do it."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Child death, Stalking, Ableism, Alcohol, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia

Minor: Police brutality, Toxic friendship, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Cancer, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Cursing, and Child abuse

imstephtacular's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Transphobia, Grief, Mental illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Death, Dysphoria, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit, Suicide, Classism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Stalking

benediction's review

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Violence, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Outing, and Self harm

Minor: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical content, Police brutality, Racism, and Religious bigotry

foreverinastory's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this one so much!!!

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester is a YA thriller about teenage Sam who is nonbinary (they/them pronouns). Sam is recovering from trauma and with their dad has moved to a new school that will hopefully be more understanding of Sam's gender and their autism. Sam ends up meeting some kids from the Queer club and makes a couple friends. But as they settle into their new house, they found out someone was murdered in it before they bought it.

Sam is intrigued and has to know more. With their new friends in tow, the three of them begin to investigate the murder. But things are getting weird, Sam finds threatening notes and sinister shadows the more they dig into the case. Are they onto something or are the notes unrelated?

Y'all I loved this book with my whole being. I need more books with neurodivergent and nonbinary MCs. The feeling of being seen like Sam made me feel is indescribable. I love them so much and I want to protect them and their dad at all costs.

I really loved the mystery part of this as well. It doesn't really ramp up until past 25% or so since Sam is busy trying to fit into school and get used to a new town. But I loved the investigation once it started. It was so gripping and I loved how I was kept guessing until the end.

There's also a little bit of romance in this book and it was so so sweet. I absolutely loved the relationship that developed!

Rep: white Autistic panromantic asexual nonbinary MC, adopted by an aroace Black dad, Latina sapphic female side character, various other queer side characters.

CWs: Bullying, panic attacks, biphobia/bimisia, homophobia/homomisia, transphobia/transmisia, grief, stalking, death, mental illness (anxiety), attempted murder. Moderate: murder, alcoholism (side character), cursing, violence, toxic friendship, suicidal thoughts. Minor: Cancer, domestic abuse, self harm, gaslighting, outing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Transphobia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Outing, and Self harm

spookieboogie's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Violence, Murder, and Cursing

Minor: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Self harm, and Bullying