Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester

I really wanted to love this, especially because there's so little nonbinary and/or autistic representation in books (especially from authors who are nonbinary and autistic, too!), but unfortunately even the amount of love I held for the diversity in these characters couldn't redeem this story from how much the narrative voice and writing dragged it down.

Not only did the dialogue and characters feel stilted and flat much of the time, but the romance struck me as entirely unnecessary. I love a romantic subplot and it's very rare that I wish a book had skipped it altogether, but Sam and Shep didn't have any romantic chemistry and the formation of their relationship felt rushed and one-dimensional. The friendships between Sam and the other side characters were also difficult to connect to, with the only real exception being the surprising level of warmth I felt towards the unlikely closeness between Sam and Aiden.

I feel terrible for complaining so much, but while we're at it, while the mystery did keep me engaged, the killer reveal was predictable and their motive was anti-climactic. A slight spoiler here:

based on the reoccurring theme of hate crimes, I fully anticipated the killer's motive to be rooted in that same plot, yet it wasn't, and for some reason it left me feeling like the entire book had carried out all of this trauma for a half-formed purpose in the end.

All of the negatives aside, there were a few things I loved, and the greatest of these was, without a doubt, Junius Sylvester. Sam's dad is an absolute shining beacon of wonderful parenting in a world of books full of lackluster or terrible fathers, and the fact that he was also ace/aro and a Black man (who occasionally touched on topics important to him specifically, such as the eggshells he walks on in his daily life to avoid being seen as a "problem") was an added bonus on top of his unconditional love for Sam and his delightful dad jokes. Honestly, 5 stars for Junius alone.

Altogether, The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester is a book that I had high hopes for, but it fell short on almost every front. While I'll still recommend it heartily to anyone looking for great nonbinary, autistic, and asexual rep (as Sam themself is also ace!), I wouldn't go into it looking for a fully cohesive story or a thrilling mystery.

✨ Representation: Sam is nonbinary, autistic, ace, and uses they/them pronouns, and Sam stims (including self-harm stims); Shep is Latinx and bi; Junius (Sam's dad) is Black, ace, and aro; multiple side characters are queer and/or BIPOC

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benediction's review

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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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bookish_burrow's review

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dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Thank you to Astra Publishing House and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on May 3, 2022!

First off, WOW! It is has been quite a while since a book sucked me in so much that I NEEDED to finish it in one sitting! This book has it all; a diverse cast of characters, a mysterious small town brimming with secrets, ghostly happenings, a loveable friend group, and INCREDIBLE representation.

I loved Sam, they were such a loveable character and it was great to see an autistic and nonbinary character represented in literature! I will be honest I didn't realize how little I had read things in fictional literature regarding autism, nonbinary representation, pronoun introductions or usage, or even happily single dad representation. I loved seeing bisexual representation as well as discussion of bi-erasure and asexuality and aromanticism. Like some other reviewers have commented on, however, there was a specific sentence in the book that included the two as one identity when they are two separate identities. I felt this could add some confusion to young readers who may be exploring these identities. That being said, literature like this is something I wish had been available when I was growing up as a teenager but I am so happy that teens now can.

MacGregor's writing is stunning, it was so well-balanced between character description, ambiance building, and dialogue. I really loved how we learned about Sam's story in gradualness as the mystery of the town unraveled. I was a bit worried that the book would feel weighed down because of the numerous plot lines that all intertwined into the core plot but I didn't actually feel that way at all! By the end, I had come up with about 10 endings I thought would happen and none of them did and I absolutely love that. This book was one that definitely kept me on my toes!!

My other comment does not affect my overall rating of this title as it was more of a personal thing because it was the one thing that took me out of my reading. To preface, I am an adult reader and I know for a fact my 15-year self had been reading this she wouldn't have even blinked an eye because she created very long acronyms in text and in spoken conversation. Within the book, Sam at times will respond to what someone is saying by stating an emoji that might be used in a text conversation in spoken conversation. It was something minute, in all honesty, and doesn't take anything off my rating it was just something I cringed a little at while reading.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend it but I would want to caution some readers as some content in this book may be triggering to individuals. Thank you again to Astra Publishing House, Netgalley, and to MacGregor for such an incredible book brimming with lots of important content.

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foreverinastory's review

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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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halfwaytoaugust's review

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5.0

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester is your next all-consuming murder mystery, but make it queer.

Sam is an autistic nonbinary teen who just moved to a new town to escape the terrible things from their past. When they move into a legendary "haunted" house in this new small town, they discover it's the same house a boy died in 30 years ago. Sam befriends their neighbor, Shep, who shares their suspicion that the boy was actually murdered and they work together with friends to uncover the truth that the town wants to pass off as a tragic accident. What truths will Sam and their friends find? What obstacles will be thrown in their way to keep the truth hidden?

I've been searching and searching for a new murder mystery obsession since reading the Truly Devious trilogy, and I finally found it in The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester. What's to love about it?

•A wonderfully diverse cast of characters
•Mysterious small town vibes
•Murderous shenanigans
•A close-knit group of friends who will stick together through anything
•A romance that fits well into the story and feels natural

To start, Sam Sylvester is our main character. Sam is autistic and nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and is panromantic and on the ace spectrum (in my opinion they're coded as demi or gray ace). We see sam's autistic and nonbinary identities very clearly represented on page through stimming, situations where Sam goes non-verbal, sensory sensitivities, binding, introductions with pronouns, and many more. A lot of these are things I haven't seen often in books so I was really glad to see them on page here.

There is also Latina, Black, Vietnamese, bi, and aroace rep in the major side characters, and lots more rep in Rainbow Island, the LGBTQIAP+ group at Sam's new school.

The mysterious and murderous vibes come through a lot more strongly in the second half than the first, which I think is in part due to needing to set up the story, however, I would've liked to have a bit more of the spooky small-town vibes a bit earlier on. Throughout the book, you'll most definitely be left guessing who to trust, what will happen next, and what the truth is. And things get intense (CWs listed below). It makes for a wonderful read that you just can't put down!

The friendships and romance are also well done and the characters are fast favorites. Shep and Sky are Sam's closest friends, but all of the members of Rainbow Island are great and we see a few of them frequently as well!

The only criticisms I have of this book are minor and do not impact my rating or overall thoughts, but I find them important enough to note here.

The first being that the description says "teen with autism" which with the author being autistic themself, I wouldn't normally criticize, as I am aware that some individuals may personally choose to identify this way. However, there's a scene in the book where Sam explicitly says that "person with autism" is a horrible phrase used by neurotypicals. Because of this statement in the book, it seems logical to assume the description should say "autistic teen" rather than "teen with autism" to reflect the message in the book, as many people are unaware that autistic community largely prefers the former, and a lot of neurotypical professors teach their students the latter.

The other is the way aromanticism and asexuality are referred to in reference to the aroace character. The wording is "sent him some info about asexual aromanticism." To me and other aspecs I have talked to, this implies that asexuality and aromanticism are one identity, and suggests that these two communities are being misunderstood. Wording it as "sent him some info about asexuality and aromanticism" would clearly specify that they are two separate identities and promote a better understanding of them.

Again, these two things are super small in the scope of the book and do not impact my overall love of it! I already have the desire to reread it and become lost in Sam's story and the small town mystery vibes again.

Thank you to Netgalley and Astra Publishing House for this eARC! Expected pub date: May 3, 2022.

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