Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - I Wish You All the Best

This is the first book that accomplished to tear me up. Maybe because I read it in a very emotional moment idk. What I do know is that I couldn't put this down either. This is also the first book ever that I read in one sitting. Normally my brain does not have the attention span to read 100 pages in one sitting, but this book was so damn good I stayed up until 3 am just to finish it and fuck up my sleep schedule.
This book is so important and I am so thankful that it exist. Everything feels so real and very well described. As someone that experiences panic attacks myself, this is the first book where I can say 'yep that is exactly what it feels like'. I am in love with this book. This book deserves 6 ⭐️. It deserves everything. All I can really say is to please read this book because it handles so many important themes so very well. I honestly just can thank Mason Deaver that they wrote this and I will from now on read anything they will publish.

Additional Content Warnings:
Misgendering, Mental illness, Therapy content

Content Warnings

madmadmaddymad's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

So heartwarming, so relatable, and such a tender love story.

I started this book just wondering why the parents were so cartoonishly evil - but by the end, I decided it didn’t matter. This book is queer as heck, and I don’t need any other reason to love it.

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sashahc's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Just finished “I Wish You All the Best” by Mason Deaver. It’s a YA coming of age #book about a non-binary teen and it’s heart wrenching and sweet and hopeful all at once. There are some TWs for sure, but I’m so glad these kind of books exist now. I think it’s something that a lot of enby teenagers need in their lives.

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miri42's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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quinniantheduck's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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jesse_5's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.75

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asipofcozy's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

At the end of I Wish You All the Best I was left wanting more. More of Ben, more of Nathan, more of the dynamic between everyone because I absolutely adored this book. That beginning left me feeling so many things - anger, connection, frustration, hurt, jarred. And throughout the book I felt like I was being swept away with so many emotions and following along with Ben and their feelings.

What I think this book does really well at is showing the other side of reality and coming out. We are starting to really see an uptick in LGBTQIAP+ literature (which I am very grateful for). However, many of the books out there portray a lot positive coming-outs, which we need to feel hopeful, but at the same time we also need the ones where there isn't a positive coming out, like in the case of Benji coming out to their parents and being kicked-out.

I am not saying we shouldn't have all the positive examples of coming-out but for some of us coming-out was not a positive experience and we are left wondering, hoping will it get better? How can we move on from this? Can we still be accepted? Benji feels all of this and more, struggling through anxiety and depression and fear of coming out ever again. I connected with them on such a large scale.

My only critique would be that I wanted more, I wanted more of the characters, of the ending plot, of Nathan and Benji. More of Benji growing and gaining confidence. However, it seems like there is a Novella that is available to us so definitely picking it up :).

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kristenreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

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