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A review by bhrtng
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This was such a sweet book! The main character, Sam Sylvester, has just moved to a new town and a new school after they were almost killed by a transphobic act of violence in their previous town. Even before their own near-death experience, the deaths of teenagers were their autistic special interest. They keep all of their research in their book of "half-lived lives". Unbeknownst to Sam and their dad, they've moved into a house where a teen died 30 years ago. Sam makes it their mission to get to the bottom of the "tragic accident" that ended that teen's life too soon.
The author identifies as queer, autistic, and non-binary and their lived experience made Sam's character feel so real! Little details like Sam's stimming, overstimulation migraines, binding, gender feels, non-verbal moments, etc. felt so accurate and thoughtfully included. This book is amazing for its representation. As much as I enjoyed the characters and story, I found myself moving through the book pretty slowly though, I'm not sure why! The mystery did keep me on my toes even though the big reveal wasn't THAT surprising. I recommended this to anyone looking for a queer mystery (rare) or a realistic depiction of autism. I loved that the representation was so well included, but this was not a story about Sam's gender, sexuality, or autism--the focus of the plot was definitely the mystery!
The author identifies as queer, autistic, and non-binary and their lived experience made Sam's character feel so real! Little details like Sam's stimming, overstimulation migraines, binding, gender feels, non-verbal moments, etc. felt so accurate and thoughtfully included. This book is amazing for its representation. As much as I enjoyed the characters and story, I found myself moving through the book pretty slowly though, I'm not sure why! The mystery did keep me on my toes even though the big reveal wasn't THAT surprising. I recommended this to anyone looking for a queer mystery (rare) or a realistic depiction of autism. I loved that the representation was so well included, but this was not a story about Sam's gender, sexuality, or autism--the focus of the plot was definitely the mystery!