Scan barcode
A review by halfwaytoaugust
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor
5.0
The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester is your next all-consuming murder mystery, but make it queer.
Sam is an autistic nonbinary teen who just moved to a new town to escape the terrible things from their past. When they move into a legendary "haunted" house in this new small town, they discover it's the same house a boy died in 30 years ago. Sam befriends their neighbor, Shep, who shares their suspicion that the boy was actually murdered and they work together with friends to uncover the truth that the town wants to pass off as a tragic accident. What truths will Sam and their friends find? What obstacles will be thrown in their way to keep the truth hidden?
I've been searching and searching for a new murder mystery obsession since reading the Truly Devious trilogy, and I finally found it in The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester. What's to love about it?
•A wonderfully diverse cast of characters
•Mysterious small town vibes
•Murderous shenanigans
•A close-knit group of friends who will stick together through anything
•A romance that fits well into the story and feels natural
To start, Sam Sylvester is our main character. Sam is autistic and nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and is panromantic and on the ace spectrum (in my opinion they're coded as demi or gray ace). We see sam's autistic and nonbinary identities very clearly represented on page through stimming, situations where Sam goes non-verbal, sensory sensitivities, binding, introductions with pronouns, and many more. A lot of these are things I haven't seen often in books so I was really glad to see them on page here.
There is also Latina, Black, Vietnamese, bi, and aroace rep in the major side characters, and lots more rep in Rainbow Island, the LGBTQIAP+ group at Sam's new school.
The mysterious and murderous vibes come through a lot more strongly in the second half than the first, which I think is in part due to needing to set up the story, however, I would've liked to have a bit more of the spooky small-town vibes a bit earlier on. Throughout the book, you'll most definitely be left guessing who to trust, what will happen next, and what the truth is. And things get intense (CWs listed below). It makes for a wonderful read that you just can't put down!
The friendships and romance are also well done and the characters are fast favorites. Shep and Sky are Sam's closest friends, but all of the members of Rainbow Island are great and we see a few of them frequently as well!
The only criticisms I have of this book are minor and do not impact my rating or overall thoughts, but I find them important enough to note here.
The first being that the description says "teen with autism" which with the author being autistic themself, I wouldn't normally criticize, as I am aware that some individuals may personally choose to identify this way. However, there's a scene in the book where Sam explicitly says that "person with autism" is a horrible phrase used by neurotypicals. Because of this statement in the book, it seems logical to assume the description should say "autistic teen" rather than "teen with autism" to reflect the message in the book, as many people are unaware that autistic community largely prefers the former, and a lot of neurotypical professors teach their students the latter.
The other is the way aromanticism and asexuality are referred to in reference to the aroace character. The wording is "sent him some info about asexual aromanticism." To me and other aspecs I have talked to, this implies that asexuality and aromanticism are one identity, and suggests that these two communities are being misunderstood. Wording it as "sent him some info about asexuality and aromanticism" would clearly specify that they are two separate identities and promote a better understanding of them.
Again, these two things are super small in the scope of the book and do not impact my overall love of it! I already have the desire to reread it and become lost in Sam's story and the small town mystery vibes again.
Thank you to Netgalley and Astra Publishing House for this eARC! Expected pub date: May 3, 2022.
Sam is an autistic nonbinary teen who just moved to a new town to escape the terrible things from their past. When they move into a legendary "haunted" house in this new small town, they discover it's the same house a boy died in 30 years ago. Sam befriends their neighbor, Shep, who shares their suspicion that the boy was actually murdered and they work together with friends to uncover the truth that the town wants to pass off as a tragic accident. What truths will Sam and their friends find? What obstacles will be thrown in their way to keep the truth hidden?
I've been searching and searching for a new murder mystery obsession since reading the Truly Devious trilogy, and I finally found it in The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester. What's to love about it?
•A wonderfully diverse cast of characters
•Mysterious small town vibes
•Murderous shenanigans
•A close-knit group of friends who will stick together through anything
•A romance that fits well into the story and feels natural
To start, Sam Sylvester is our main character. Sam is autistic and nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and is panromantic and on the ace spectrum (in my opinion they're coded as demi or gray ace). We see sam's autistic and nonbinary identities very clearly represented on page through stimming, situations where Sam goes non-verbal, sensory sensitivities, binding, introductions with pronouns, and many more. A lot of these are things I haven't seen often in books so I was really glad to see them on page here.
There is also Latina, Black, Vietnamese, bi, and aroace rep in the major side characters, and lots more rep in Rainbow Island, the LGBTQIAP+ group at Sam's new school.
The mysterious and murderous vibes come through a lot more strongly in the second half than the first, which I think is in part due to needing to set up the story, however, I would've liked to have a bit more of the spooky small-town vibes a bit earlier on. Throughout the book, you'll most definitely be left guessing who to trust, what will happen next, and what the truth is. And things get intense (CWs listed below). It makes for a wonderful read that you just can't put down!
The friendships and romance are also well done and the characters are fast favorites. Shep and Sky are Sam's closest friends, but all of the members of Rainbow Island are great and we see a few of them frequently as well!
The only criticisms I have of this book are minor and do not impact my rating or overall thoughts, but I find them important enough to note here.
The first being that the description says "teen with autism" which with the author being autistic themself, I wouldn't normally criticize, as I am aware that some individuals may personally choose to identify this way. However, there's a scene in the book where Sam explicitly says that "person with autism" is a horrible phrase used by neurotypicals. Because of this statement in the book, it seems logical to assume the description should say "autistic teen" rather than "teen with autism" to reflect the message in the book, as many people are unaware that autistic community largely prefers the former, and a lot of neurotypical professors teach their students the latter.
The other is the way aromanticism and asexuality are referred to in reference to the aroace character. The wording is "sent him some info about asexual aromanticism." To me and other aspecs I have talked to, this implies that asexuality and aromanticism are one identity, and suggests that these two communities are being misunderstood. Wording it as "sent him some info about asexuality and aromanticism" would clearly specify that they are two separate identities and promote a better understanding of them.
Again, these two things are super small in the scope of the book and do not impact my overall love of it! I already have the desire to reread it and become lost in Sam's story and the small town mystery vibes again.
Thank you to Netgalley and Astra Publishing House for this eARC! Expected pub date: May 3, 2022.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Stalking
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, and Murder
attempted murder, hospitalization