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A review by anastasialuoivsbooks
I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
challenging
emotional
funny
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
4.5
Firstly, I would like to say that 3.75 is not a bad rating for me, I just tend to be harsh in terms of rating. I adored this book and people do it filthy when they promote it as a MLM book. Beware of those people because that is not this. The story itself discusses how Ben does not like using him/his pronouns. The main character identifies as nonbinary. Do not do them injustice.
I really like Ben and Nathan together. Ben struggling with anxiety and depression are moments I really related to him and Nathan is kind of like the comedic character here and I related to him in that aspect. Their relationship starts off with Nathan trying to get close to Ben and Ben not really reciprocating that. It's a friends to lovers romance and I think the relationship is really believable. I know it's the bare minimum, but Nathan being considerate and patient with Ben truly made me really like his character.
I like Hannah and her husband, neither of them are perfect, especially Hannah. Her husband isn't really fleshed out here. This book tackles with Hannah and Ben's relationship and how her guilt for leaving may have impacted her decisions and how Ben's lingering resent is justified. Hannah's flaws are present here in this book, especially when their parents show up. It shows how the trauma you may have experienced in childhood still really shows even as an adult. You can see the teenager in Hannah that is still really hurt and angry. Their parents are despicable. I have encountered too many people far too similar to them. The father is misogynistic and the mother lets the bible influence her decisions and they expect that all the trauma that they have made on their children would be gone immediately. I appreciate that they went to therapy, but they cannot expect that the damage they'd do would disappear. They place so much pressure on their children it makes me sick.
We can see a change in Ben's character throughout the book. From them wanting to wear clothes they didn't think they could, to them wearing nail polish outside when they removed it when they first wore it. Hannah was very encouraging throughout this, but you can see how society has truly engraved in our heads systems that shouldn't be. Example is when both of them were looking at clothes for Ben and Hannah immediately went to the guys section without thinking.
Overall I really like this book and recommend it so much! It deserves more attention than it gets.
I really like Ben and Nathan together. Ben struggling with anxiety and depression are moments I really related to him and Nathan is kind of like the comedic character here and I related to him in that aspect. Their relationship starts off with Nathan trying to get close to Ben and Ben not really reciprocating that. It's a friends to lovers romance and I think the relationship is really believable. I know it's the bare minimum, but Nathan being considerate and patient with Ben truly made me really like his character.
I like Hannah and her husband, neither of them are perfect, especially Hannah. Her husband isn't really fleshed out here. This book tackles with Hannah and Ben's relationship and how her guilt for leaving may have impacted her decisions and how Ben's lingering resent is justified. Hannah's flaws are present here in this book, especially when their parents show up. It shows how the trauma you may have experienced in childhood still really shows even as an adult. You can see the teenager in Hannah that is still really hurt and angry. Their parents are despicable. I have encountered too many people far too similar to them. The father is misogynistic and the mother lets the bible influence her decisions and they expect that all the trauma that they have made on their children would be gone immediately. I appreciate that they went to therapy, but they cannot expect that the damage they'd do would disappear. They place so much pressure on their children it makes me sick.
We can see a change in Ben's character throughout the book. From them wanting to wear clothes they didn't think they could, to them wearing nail polish outside when they removed it when they first wore it. Hannah was very encouraging throughout this, but you can see how society has truly engraved in our heads systems that shouldn't be. Example is when both of them were looking at clothes for Ben and Hannah immediately went to the guys section without thinking.
Overall I really like this book and recommend it so much! It deserves more attention than it gets.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Misogyny
Another thing that may be triggering is when religious beliefs are the reasons for homophobia. Keep this in mind. Please search up the trigger warnings for this book and be mindful when you recommend this to others.