You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
58 reviews
emily_mh's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Transphobia, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Biphobia, Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, and Self harm
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Major: queerphobia, medical emergency, anaphylactic shock Moderate: migraines Minor: foster system, loss of a loved one, drowningthewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Outing
hobbithopeful's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The Cover
I really love the illustration on the cover, it is so great to see the vivid descriptions of Sam brought to life against the gorgeous smoky background. The way their tattoo sleeve smokes from their arm to create the background is just the lovely little cherry on top. I will say they are mentioned as having multi colored dyed hair strands so it would have been nice to see that depicted.
I am not a huge fan of the font, it feels a bit immature to me, especially considering this is a YA novel and deals with heavier topics. I also feel the light blue of the blurb on the front gets lost a bit, especially against the purple background.
It is hard not to be picky about a book that I so enjoyed, I always think an amazing book deserves and equally perfect cover.
Design by Barbara Grzeslo
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Outing
Minor: Murder
merle_bookdragon's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I'm usually not big on murder mystery but I guess if you package it in a YA queer contemporary with a wonderful protagonist it works. I really enjoyed Sam's POV, learning more about how they see the world and of course the wonderful realizations they had when they were finally surrounded by good friends. And my god are good friends groups one of my favorite things in literature. Sam, Shep, Sky, Aidan, and Ronnie and Jax, too, are such a wonderful group and I just wish everyone could be surrounded by such a safe group of people.
I think while this might sound cheesy one of my other favorite things was the wonderful representation we had in this book. Sam is autistic and nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and they also identify themselves as panromantic and being on the ace spectrum. We also see Latina, Black, Vietnamese, bi, and aroace rep (and more I'm sure) in Sam's friend group and in the LGBTQIA+ club at school.
The murder mystery part starts slowly and then grows more apparent towards the second half of the book when it becomes obvious that Sam and Shep have stirred a pot that somebody clearly doesn't want to have stirred. I really liked the dynamic development and without any spoilers - I didn't guess who the murder was.
And just for a little bit of emotional pain, because Sam was really good at inflicting that on me:
"I'm not afraid of the dead, Dad. They're dead. [...] The living are scarier."
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Biphobia, Death, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Vomit, and Outing
crunchycrystals's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Transphobia
penguinsquack's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Bullying and Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Self harm, Car accident, and Alcohol
Allergic reaction and anaphylaxislittleblackduckbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder
spark_879's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Self harm, and Vomit
transphobia = misgendering & harming someone because they're queer • murder = (accidental) attempted murder • sexual content = kissingevelynyle_88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love every minute reading this!
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Biphobia, Death, and Murder
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Self harm
therewillbenewsuns's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder