A review by frannook
The Evolving Truth of Ever-Stronger Will by Maya MacGregor

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

 “Your name is Will because that’s what it takes to live among people who hate you for no other reason than that you exist. 
So. Will. Will the Monster, here we are, and here you are. 
Your life is about to change. 
Ready?”
 
Oh. My. 
Maya MacGregor did it again. 
And once again, I'm left speechless. And in awe. Utter, speechless awe. 
 
Will is an agender teen on the cusp of freedom. Six weeks away from their 18th birthday, Francis, their biological abusive drug-dealing mother, dies of a heart attack, leaving Will to figure out what they can do to not fall back into the hands of CPS (Child Protective Services), who did nothing but fail them over and over again, and be free once and for all. 
While going through Francis' stuff before throwing it all away and get rid of her nauseating stench of roses, weed and tobacco, Will and their best (and only) friend Hannah come across a box containing letters, so many letters, all of them addressed to Will... They were written over the past four years by Raz, the only foster care mum who ever truly cared about Will and from whom Will was taken away by a now falsely-sober Francis just when they were about to be adopted. 
And yes, Will knows they're a monster. Who else would be happy of their biological mother's death? They don't deserve to be happy. They don't deserve to be left in peace by school bully Levy. They don't deserve a life in which they don't have to take care, at 17 years old, about paying electricity bills or Francis' booze and cooking dinner every day. But maybe... maybe they get to have this one thing. Maybe they can find Raz and be a family with her, for real this time. 
 
This is the book I wish I could have written. The book I wish I'd had when I was a teenager, when I needed a release for my anger and pain, when I needed a comforting hug. 
I loved every single thing about it: every quote, every word, every dot. 
Everything felt carefully, purposefully chosen to make this book the queer YA masterpiece it is. 
 
I loved how nothing is black and white and everything is a spectrum of grays, up for grabs to be challenged and turned upside down, to make you question instead of giving established answers. 
One of my favorite scenes is the "fight/argument" between Will and Hannah (chapter 18). In a world where it's becoming harder and harder to have conversations between people with different opinions that don't end up in never talking to each other again because you just cannot accept someone who thinks differently from you, it was bold and refreshing to see how differences of ideals and life experiences do not necessarily have to break people apart. You instinctually lean towards Will's side - after all, Hannah is blinded by her privilege and can't quite see nor understand Will's situation and harsh reality - but can you really blame her for not understanding something that is so foreign to her? And could it also be that Will is themself blinded by their own circumstances, their own prejudices and erected shields to see possibilities beyond what they've experienced so far? Does Will also fall prey to hypocrisy? 
Can there be a point of empathetic contact - a conversation - instead of sticking to your own irreconcilable stances? 
 
The second person narration hit me like a wave on its way to become a tsunami. Check mate move. Pure genius. I bow to Maya, deep deep bow. The way you feel everything on your skin: the pain, the despair, the anger, the panic, the incredulity, the slowly yet incontrovertibly blossoming happiness… all these raw emotions sinking into you through a throbbing yet healing papercut. 
It’s my first time encountering it and I honestly didn’t think it could work for me – let alone work so damn well – but goodness me, it did. It absolutely fucking did and it shook me to my core and I loved every single second of it. 
 
And Julian. Sweet, precious Julian. You deserve the world but the world doesn't deserve you, you beautiful beautiful soul. 
All I'll say about it is that this book has the most tender, wholesome kiss. It was as delicate as a daisy’s petal, as intense as an electric shock, as strong and powerful as a hurricane (chapter 21 – a meaningful number to me, and no, I do not believe in coincidences). 
 
“You are both nonbinary people in a world that doesn’t want to understand you, let alone romance you. You know this. Julian knows this. In some small way, you feel a surge of defiance.” 
 
This book is a punch in the gut. 
This book is a silent, desperate cry of help into the void of a world that either doesn't care or is straight up against you. 
This book is finding your voice, your place in that complicated, messed up world. 
This book is a warm, comforting hug. 
This book is a quiet yet resilient whisper in your ear, saying you can weather this seemingly unending storm and hold on tight, there is someone right over there, beyond the dark clouds and the thunders, someone who loves you and is waiting with open arms, waiting to give you what you've been missing your whole life. 
This book is the Odissey and the happy ending you never thought you deserved all along. 
This book is the Will to exist, to take up space and belong and the journey that leads right to all that. 
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