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

I don’t think I’ve read a book this fast in such a long time.
I randomly decided to pick this up at 2am after hearing a good review and I quite literally couldn’t put it down. Words can’t describe how comforting and heartwarming this book is and I really love that the authors note says that this is the story they needed when they were younger because that’s exactly how I feel. I wish it didn’t end but I love how the story professed and I loved getting to see Ben open up and become more comfortable with their identity and that they got their happy ending.

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neverlandpages4's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was the second book that I read for the #transrightsreadathon and I think had it not been for the readathon, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up anytime soon because I was very intimidated and nervous about reading a book with nonbinary representation. I’m nonbinary and until this book, I had not read a book with a NB main character but I am so glad that I read this because it’s literally one of my all time favorite books and it means so much to me.

Reading the synopsis alone made me emotional and I wasn’t surprised that I was crying at the first few pages. For me, this book represents an alternate reality of what would happen if I came out so reading about Ben getting kicked out and losing everything hit me hard

I related to Ben on so many different levels and they’re definitely one of my favorite characters of all time. When they said “I’m basically always living a lie. They don’t really know everything about me” I felt that in my soul

Ben & Nathan are the cutest couple ever and Nathan made me cry multiple times because of how amazing and accepting he is.

I also loved the side characters, especially Hannah & Thomas. They were so good to Ben and they’re the kind of people that deserve the world. This book really highlights the importance of having supportive people in your life.

The mental health representation was also done so well. Therapy and mental health are talked about in a healthy way and honestly, I feel like this book healed me in some way.

For the first time in a long time, I felt myself get lost in a book and I loved every second of it. This was the definition of a roller coaster of emotions. I cried, I laughed, I was sad, I was happy, I was angry. I felt everything all at once.

𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 🎄

as soon as I finished IWYATB, I was dying to read more about Ben & Nathan so when I saw that there was a sequel, of course I had to read it! And I loved it just as much as the book 🥹🫶🏼

Content Warnings

pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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

Oh my gosh, did I love this book. There were so many aspects that just made it perfect. Ben and Nathan are literal perfection.

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lydiabulmer's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

check trigger warnings before you read this book !
This is my first read of the year and i could not put it down ! i read it in less than 48 hours. i love the diversity and complexity of the characters. i think the way Deaver has portrayed the main character Ben has helped you resonate with them more. i think the flaws of the character have become a main part of the story and the overall growth of ben themself and their feelings. i think this book is amazing, i would recommend to anyone in the LGBTQIAP+ community, it is also helpful for people trying to understand how to learn more about these things and how to respect people in different ways. i would recommend this to a lot of people. Mason Deaver is one of my new favourite writers, their work is amazing !

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dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

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mads1706's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? No

3.25

I don't know how to rate and review this, but here goes. The mental health rep here was handled really well. It portrayed anxiety and depression realistically; meds didn't work perfectly, Ben initially had an aversion to both therapy and medication, and their recovery wasn't linear. I also thought the nuance that Deaver brought to Ben and Hannah's relationship was good. I appreciated that they showed how Hannah wasn't necessarily in the wrong, but Ben could still be hurt by her actions. There wasn't much plot, but I still enjoyed reading it because it was super cathartic seeing Ben start to heal. I think they come a long way by the end of the book.

On the other hand, I think some other rep and information was not done well. For example, I really wish Nathan had been fleshed out as a character. It kind of felt like Deaver took the stereotypical "golden retriever" LI archetype and left it at that, giving him no motivations or desires unrelated to Ben. While it was obvious Ben and Nathan had a connection, one I was rooting for, it still felt like I barely knew Nathan. This is the book's biggest issue, because I think it is an example of the situation that readers and reviewers of the global majority have been pointing out for ages, where white authors write a LI of the global majority whose only purpose in the book is to assist the white MC in their development. If I am wrong here or out of my lane, I will fully delete this review. I wanted to flag it in case I wasn't.

On top of this, the book presents some misinformation about being gay, ace, and aro. It implies that a nonbinary person like Ben cannot be gay because being gay is about being attracted to the same gender, and as Ben doesn't have a gender, they cannot experience same-gender attraction. In reality, being gay is simply about non-women being attracted to non-women. This is the quote I am referring to:

"And besides, I don’t exactly have a gender, and being gay implies being interested in the same gender."

It also implies that to be ace or aro is to be touch averse, when only some aces and aros are touch averse - it's this very piece of misinformation that means so many aces and aros don't realise they are asexual or aromantic for ages. Literally a simple "some" in this sentence would have fixed this misinformation:

“'Touch aversion can be common in people who deal with panic attacks, or people dealing with anxiety. In fact, there are some people who are just born or develop that way, like asexual or aromantic people.'”

So, yeah. Do with this what you will.

Rep: bisexual NB MC, bisexual LI of the global majority (ethnicity not explicitly stated), Bahraini Shia Muslim pansexual NB SC, Chinese-American SC, SC of the global majority (Ben's therapist Dr. Taylor, whose ethnicity is also not explicitly stated), Black SC (implied, ethnicity not explicitly stated), Korean-American SC with ADHD

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effect3cause'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? Yes

4.0

Wonderful representation of nonbinary identity, depression, anxiety, and family trauma. A lot of books try to do too much at once, but I felt like everything worked together very well - nothing felt out of place or too abbreviated or exaggerated. I know some teens are really going to see themselves in it, and I'm glad it's on my classroom shelf.

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