Reviews tagging 'Death'

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

35 reviews

lue_moon's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense 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

I loved so many things about this book, starting with its stunning cover art. Overall the mystery aspect was fairly engaging, but this book rates high for me mostly because of the other elements. It's just as much about found family and healing from trauma, as it is about the mystery in it.

The queer, nonbinary, and autistic rep was excellent and very relatable, especially the later. It's maybe the first book I've read where a character is explicitly Autistic and getting to read so many little details that I was able to relate to was something I don't know I ever expected to get a novel. The description of overstimulation, stimming (both happy stims and self-aggressive ones), what it's like when words become difficult, the experience of not knowing how to human....An author with lived experience makes a world of difference. 

To also read a parent who wholeheartedly embraces his kid in all aspects of their identity, who actually takes the time and care to truly understand his kid, made me want to cry. Not nearly enough queer kids, let alone queer autistic kids, get to have that.

And the friendship between Sam and their friends is so freaking heartwarming. Found family like that in a book reminds me just how important my own found family is, and also makes me wish I would have been able to have friendships like that sooner.

This is why I will never understand how people think family is as common as blood. To me, family is breath; it's trusting the person beside you to demand your right to air in a world that would take it from you. It's the vulnerability of feeling someone's chest move in a careful rhythm to give you your own back.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Homophobia, Death, Hate crime, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Toxic friendship, and Biphobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, and Cancer

kstorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Outing, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Moderate: Ableism and Biphobia

Minor: Alcohol

sefalinde's review

emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Self harm, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death, Dysphoria, Murder, Bullying, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Biphobia

sammy_nor's review against another edition

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Transphobia and Grief

Minor: Deadnaming

kyanitecourage's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Hate crime, Death, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Child death, Bullying, Stalking, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Murder

Moderate: Biphobia, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Death, Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

valereads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

Review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Biphobia, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Self harm

ashylibrarian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.25

I had a great time reading this story and following Sam along their challenging adventure of life in a new town. 

Sam's character is so dynamic and full of emotion that I could not help but feel as if I was next to them the entire time, seeing the story play out from their perspective. 

I appreciated the subtle magical-realism that played into the mystery unfolding.

Can we take a MOMENT to appreciate the relationship Sam has with their dad? The positive representation of a single-father household was truly warming to read about, and the ways in which Sam and Junius communicate and engage with each other are beautiful. It's not perfect and clean all the time, but it felt happy and true. 

I also love the cover!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Death, Biphobia, and Child death

Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol

acasiamae's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Mental illness

Minor: Outing, Vomit, and Bullying

emily_mh's review against another edition

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