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citrus_seasalt 's review for:
I Wish You All the Best
by Mason Deaver
Actual 3.5 rating this time lol…as a nonbinary person, I appreciated the rep! I can see why people say this book is important, it was a lot of readers’ first book they read with a nonbinary protagonist, and I liked Ben’s discussions about their queerness and how they lived out their life within their nonbinary and bisexual identities. (Also, a mention of how dysphoria impacts their future romantic relationships, kinda earlier on in the book when an actual relationship is still an idea!! As someone with a similar thought process I felt especially seen by that part shjdbdkgnlsfonfo)
But although I felt seen by the nonbinary rep, I don’t have much else to say about the characters. Mainly because they’re very one-note? Not underdeveloped, we have the gist of who they are, but even Nathan’s character felt too simple for me. I especially wanted more time to dissect Hannah, Ben’s sister and guardian. It’s clear from the start that she has a lot of unprocessed trauma and guilt regarding their household, but instead of unpacking it with subtlety, it’s handed to you in the therapy sessions with Dr. Taylor. (On the topic of Dr. Taylor, although she’s also kind of one note too, she’s definitely one of the more realistic therapist characters I’ve read about. And she’s genuinely helpful, too!)
I also wasn’t jiving with the romance…Nathan started out as pushy and I found him kind of annoying for the most part, he shows a more laid-back and compassionate side later on but his flirting was very shoehorned in and there wasn’t much chemistry between him and Ben. (Sidenote: there was a moment where Ben said that they thought Nathan deserved someone “simpler” because “they were too messy” which made me giggle as someone who actually just finished a book with a messy protag…Ben you just have trauma responses lmao)
(Also, minor criticism about how Ben talks about “not fitting into the stereotypical image of a nonbinary person” when????they do lmao they’re thin, white and long-haired)
Not gonna penalize anyone for liking this book obviously, but I was kind of expecting more for something hyped up this much. At least it helped me through an anxiety/depressive episode when I started it, though?
But although I felt seen by the nonbinary rep, I don’t have much else to say about the characters. Mainly because they’re very one-note? Not underdeveloped, we have the gist of who they are, but even Nathan’s character felt too simple for me. I especially wanted more time to dissect Hannah, Ben’s sister and guardian. It’s clear from the start that she has a lot of unprocessed trauma and guilt regarding their household, but instead of unpacking it with subtlety, it’s handed to you in the therapy sessions with Dr. Taylor. (On the topic of Dr. Taylor, although she’s also kind of one note too, she’s definitely one of the more realistic therapist characters I’ve read about. And she’s genuinely helpful, too!)
I also wasn’t jiving with the romance…Nathan started out as pushy and I found him kind of annoying for the most part, he shows a more laid-back and compassionate side later on but his flirting was very shoehorned in and there wasn’t much chemistry between him and Ben. (Sidenote: there was a moment where Ben said that they thought Nathan deserved someone “simpler” because “they were too messy” which made me giggle as someone who actually just finished a book with a messy protag…Ben you just have trauma responses lmao)
(Also, minor criticism about how Ben talks about “not fitting into the stereotypical image of a nonbinary person” when????they do lmao they’re thin, white and long-haired)
Not gonna penalize anyone for liking this book obviously, but I was kind of expecting more for something hyped up this much. At least it helped me through an anxiety/depressive episode when I started it, though?