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

emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester was a story I didn’t know I needed. With an interesting mystery, a sweet romance, a cool cast of characters, and how intensely raw it is, I was drawn in from the first page.

    Sam was an extremely relatable character for me and was an incredibly well-written autistic character. The casual mention of stimming, using a binder, and use of pronouns was so nice. You rarely get to read about autistic teens and Sam was refreshing. 

    The mystery was interesting and kept me on my toes. I had a difficult time piecing it together, until the end when it clicked.

    While the mystery is definitely an integral part of the story, I feel the main message of the story is about life and how trauma can change your view of it. While this story was fluffy and funny, it wasn’t afraid to touch on heavy topics.

    And this also has some pop culture references. I didn’t find them too terrible, but not everyone will like them.

    Overall, I deeply love this story and Sam. As a queer non-binary autistic teen, this is exactly the story I and other queer autistic kids need.

    TW: Bullying, biphobia, homophobia, transphobia, self-harm, death, murder, attempted murder
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