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

Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

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

35 reviews

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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thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

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5.0

Okay, welcome to one of my favorite reads of 2023! Seriously, I loved this book so much. I don't have the words. It was just everything. Also, wasn't expecting a murder mystery but I'm here for it!

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atomicbritt's review against another edition

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mysterious 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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quietgrasshopper's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

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mayenk's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

Loved it. Portrays PTSD and surviving a violent crime very well. You can feel the love the main character's father has for them. I liked the addition of the past murder. I also like how seriously they take the consequences of looking into the past mystery. They also really humanize the person whose murder they are looking into. The book doesn't forget to remind you that the person who died in the past has/had loved ones and people who cared for him.

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