Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

183 reviews

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

“Whatever happens”—his grip tightens a little—“I wish you all the best, Benjamin De Backer.” He says it with a smile. “You deserve it.”

I finally got around to reading I Wish You All the Best! It's an emotional story about Ben, a nonbinary teen whose coming out goes horribly wrong. They are thrown out of their parent's house and have no choice but to go live with their estranged sister. Hannah never got along with their parents, so they barely knew each other. Luckily, she takes in Ben and tries to help them together with her husband. I really felt for Ben, as they were in a bad situation and struggled to adjust to their new life. I liked that we saw Hannah and Ben reconnecting and dealing with their shared past, as a lot of things were left unsaid. Ben's also attending therapy for their anxiety and panic attacks, which was worsened by their parent's rejection and bigoted behavior. I appreciated the mental health representation and how Ben finds Nathan, a charismatic student at their new school who's super supportive. Their growing dynamic was really sweet and just what Ben needed in order to have the courage to deal with their struggles! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kai_okay's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

roxanned's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.25

Ben De Backer's story is necessary and important. It is also emotional and beautiful. 

In this book important topics
like identity, sexuality, family, therapy, anxiety and how to recover from a terrible event
are addressed respectfully and in a way everyone can understand them. It is about
what it means to be nonbinary, people being different than expected and different types of love (among other things)
.
I'm not nonbinary so it's not my place to say something about the quality of Ben's representation. The intentional imperfect portrait of their support system seems realistic though. Hannah, Thomas and Nathan are trying their best but also make mistakes
with pronouns and other gendered words
. It is one of the possible situations that could happen in real life.

Deaver calls attention to things that make Ben uncomfortable
like gendered clothing, gendered toiletries, coming out
, which shouldn't be an issue in modern society but they still are. Thus, the book invites reflection and discussion.

Overall a cute and meaningful story, that isn't romance heavy but has a lot to do with love.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

megb64's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

axel_p's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really like it at first, but after a while it got boring to hear the main character complain so much. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

flx_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

4.75

It was a stunning book with just an amazing writing style and story and it really helped me understand people who identify as nonbinary and its a great example of struggling with mental health and insecurities 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

anna_17793's review

Go to review page

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? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tahsintries's review against another edition

Go to review page

  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rickireadss's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.25

this was heartbreaking but also it put my heart back together so nicely. i cried a lot while reading, especially the scenes between ben and their parents. their parents are absolute TRASH, and it hurt to see them mistreat ben. there is a romance subplot (and it made my heart very happy!!), but it’s not the main focus.

⚠️: transphobia, panic attacks/disorders, homophobia, emotional abuse, abandonment, child abuse, religious bigotry, disordered eating, grief, mental illness, dysphoria, suicidal thoughts

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

admunro20's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional inspiring sad slow-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

This is probably the best book I’ve read in 2023 so far. The diversity is *chef’s kiss*. Ben’s character made me feel so seen. Their struggles with identity are similar to my own struggles and I really appreciate the dive into the difference between sexuality and gender-identity. I knew from the first 50 pages this book was going to be inspiring and emotional. I was right. This book had me crying and I felt “seen” by the book. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings