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A review by frog_punk
I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
DNF. I really disliked Ben as a narrator. They were consistently ungrateful and defensive towards everyone except their sister.
The book placed a lot of emphasis on making Ben 18 but the narrative and characters make decisions for them constantly, as though they're actually 15 at the most. Ben's opinions aren't considered by other characters, but we barely get a sense for what Ben thinks whatsoever. Ben's charactisation also reads as very teenage and immature.
If you don't want to speak to someone don't just ignore them, at least tell them you don't want a conversation. From what little I could get through, I thought "You're 18, act like it" several times over.
While Ben's behaviour is a legimate reaction to a traumatic situation, give us some indication in their thoughts that they're behaving this way because of it. Mostly, the reason given was because Ben felt socially awkward.
The writing style felt disjointed, conversations seems to stop midway through and Ben's outright negative behaviour was not challenged. There wasn't even any indication that other characters were taken aback by how closed off they were. The humour was forced and is simply not how people speak to one another or respond to certain behaviours/actions.
This is a real shame as I generally like coming-out/coming-of-age books but I don't have it in me to spend another 300 or so pages with Ben.
The book placed a lot of emphasis on making Ben 18 but the narrative and characters make decisions for them constantly, as though they're actually 15 at the most. Ben's opinions aren't considered by other characters, but we barely get a sense for what Ben thinks whatsoever. Ben's charactisation also reads as very teenage and immature.
If you don't want to speak to someone don't just ignore them, at least tell them you don't want a conversation. From what little I could get through, I thought "You're 18, act like it" several times over.
While Ben's behaviour is a legimate reaction to a traumatic situation, give us some indication in their thoughts that they're behaving this way because of it. Mostly, the reason given was because Ben felt socially awkward.
The writing style felt disjointed, conversations seems to stop midway through and Ben's outright negative behaviour was not challenged. There wasn't even any indication that other characters were taken aback by how closed off they were. The humour was forced and is simply not how people speak to one another or respond to certain behaviours/actions.
This is a real shame as I generally like coming-out/coming-of-age books but I don't have it in me to spend another 300 or so pages with Ben.