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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
4 reviews
divergentpixie's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
Loved this. Was so real and the characters made me happy.
I love the friend group and Sam’s dad.
I felt like I was really there with Sam, reliving everything.
The writing is so well done.
The ending was wrapped up so nicely, there were no questions left unanswered.
-autistic rep
-queer
-found family
-ghosts?
*homophobia, assault, transphobia
I love the friend group and Sam’s dad.
I felt like I was really there with Sam, reliving everything.
The writing is so well done.
The ending was wrapped up so nicely, there were no questions left unanswered.
-autistic rep
-queer
-found family
-ghosts?
*homophobia, assault, transphobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Biphobia, Transphobia, Stalking, Physical abuse, Hate crime, and Child death
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
legalplanner's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
LGBTQIA+, gender identity, and autistic positive, with a taste of mystery that seriously had me looped in from the get go.
Sam is 18, an adoptee, a survivor, and honestly a great lead voice for this novel. When we meet Sam they have just moved into their new home with their dad. We don’t necessarily know why they moved other than the “incident” as we get to know the background on Sam and their dad we get to know that life has twists and turns and we as children deserve a safe place to learn.
I loved the positive characters and characteristics of those in the LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, and gender spectrums/areas. They did not feel tokenized or over the top or even like they were only there for brownie points. Their presence was necessary, but their characteristics were secondary.
The mystery that is Billy was interesting to follow and I was fully invested in figuring out what was going on and can understand why Shep and Sam wanted to find the answers.
I would hands down suggest this to everyone and anyone that would listen because this felt like it was focused on the story not the qualities of a person in a bad way. I wanted to follow more I wanted to lunch people for Sam. It was a wonderful voice, story, and I appreciate the realness of Sam. So often a autistic person doesn’t show their stemming or even mention it in books and it’s mentioned here casually because it happens it’s not something that just doesn’t exist. That meant a lot to me.
Overall this is a 5star review and I can’t wait to grab my physical copy to add to my library of books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Homophobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Physical abuse and Panic attacks/disorders
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
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
pheromonecvlt's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
"I’m used to being the only queer in the room"
Okay so the premise of this book is great. Non binary teen, queer representation, autistic rep, a healthy family unit that supports that LGBTQ Autistic teen. A mysterious death that the band of teenagers try and solve?
Like yes. Awesome. Exactly what my teenage self needed.
Sam Sylvester and their dad, Junius, have recently moved into their new home, in a new town, and Sam is looking forward to the chance to restart their life, along with the hopeful prospects of making new LGBT friends at school. But when they realise that their new bedroom has a dark history, it will take more than just their book of "half lived lives" (a file of people who historically died before the age of 19) - it will also take friendship.
Okay so I actually liked this book. There isn't a lot of non binary rep in literature in general so I think it's really awesome that this book does have that.
BUT! as much as I wanted to love it, and as much as I did love some parts, the plot felt forced at some times, and the ending was anticlimactic. I thought that characters were great - but we didn't get enough of them, while we got a lot of vague references to the paranormal and repetition over previous events.
That said, it's a good read, and one with a lot of really great representation.
Okay so the premise of this book is great. Non binary teen, queer representation, autistic rep, a healthy family unit that supports that LGBTQ Autistic teen. A mysterious death that the band of teenagers try and solve?
Like yes. Awesome. Exactly what my teenage self needed.
Sam Sylvester and their dad, Junius, have recently moved into their new home, in a new town, and Sam is looking forward to the chance to restart their life, along with the hopeful prospects of making new LGBT friends at school. But when they realise that their new bedroom has a dark history, it will take more than just their book of "half lived lives" (a file of people who historically died before the age of 19) - it will also take friendship.
Okay so I actually liked this book. There isn't a lot of non binary rep in literature in general so I think it's really awesome that this book does have that.
BUT! as much as I wanted to love it, and as much as I did love some parts, the plot felt forced at some times, and the ending was anticlimactic. I thought that characters were great - but we didn't get enough of them, while we got a lot of vague references to the paranormal and repetition over previous events.
That said, it's a good read, and one with a lot of really great representation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia and Physical abuse
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