I’m still recovering from this book but as my school courses began yesterday, I wanted to go ahead and write this review while I have a little time.
I happened to see in Mason Deaver’s Instagram story that hoopla had the audiobook for I Wish You All The Best a bit more than a week early. I was SO EXCITED because I have a hoopla account via my local public library. Since this doesn’t affect first week sales and this is one of my most anticipated books of 2019, I decided to dive in head first. I’ll put the TW/CWs at the end of this post. Let’s jump right into the review!
The characters in I Wish You All The Best were so amazing. Ben De Backer is now my child and I will defend them with my life. Seriously. They’re all so well written that from the very beginning I was fully invested in everyone on the page. It is obvious that Mason Deaver put their heart and soul into these characters. The representation offered is beautiful and each character could easily walk right off the page. I especially loved seeing the slow burn between Ben and Nathan. Slow burns are my new fave.
There is one thing that I knew going into this review I would need to talk about so here we go. I went into the novel knowing that there would be amazing non-binary representation. It was just as amazing and more as what I was expecting. However, there was something else that I wasn’t expecting and it took me completely off guard. I don’t know how to share this other than to quote so….
“Touch aversion can be common in people who deal with panic attacks or people dealing with anxiety. In fact, there are some people who are just born or developed that way, like asexual or aromantic people.”
I… was not expecting this? When I got to this part of the story, I was so surprised and overwhelmed that I wept. Like full-on-ugly-cry-don’t-talk-to-me-I’m-not-fine wept. I had to pause the story and walk away for a few minutes. This book is the first time I’ve seen any rep for being touch averse, which I am. I never thought I would see that represented at all and even now I’m tearing up about it a bit.
I Wish You All The Best is a contemporary novel, which means it’s a realistic fiction set in modern times. The majority of the story takes place in Raleigh, North Carolina. I haven’t been to Raleigh, but I do live in another large city in the southern United States, so it wasn’t hard for me to get a feel for the environment. Also because of that though, I’m not the best judge of the large-scale world building. Honestly, I’m the worst at that with contemporaries anyway. But each of the locations was given enough of a description that it was immersive so do what you will with that knowledge.
The story itself is perfectly paced from beginning to end, with twists and turns at just the right moments. I would even go so far as to say that I Wish You All The Best is a work of art. I can’t say I loved every moment of it because there were parts that were meant to make the reader uncomfortable (and I was) but this is a book I’ll definitely be rereading in the future.
I Wish You All The Best was right up at the top of my most anticipated 2019 releases list. There is so much hype surrounding it. And it still manages to exceed all of the high expectations placed upon it. I can not wait to read more from Mason Deaver in the future.
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I loved this book so much!
First I want to thank the universe for Adrian over at perpetualpages because they are the reason why I picked up this book after watching their video on 5 Reasons to Read: "I Wish You All The Best" and if you haven't check the video out yet I don't know what you are waiting for!I will start by saying that I absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK! from beginning to end. The book is the story of Ben, and it starts when Ben decides to come out to their parents as a Nonbinary and because of it they get kicked out of the house. I will tell you guys this really broke my heart, as a mom, I just can't imagine treating my son that way. Ben got kicked out of the house with no shoes, no clothes out in the middle of winter with nowhere to go. That was very hard for me to read. Ben with no where to go decides to contact their estrange sister Hannah, and she welcomes them into her home with her husband Thomas whom Ben has never met. Ben has to deal with a lot of changes, like transferring schools and having to see a therapist to help them deal with what they are going thru. At the new school Ben meets Nathan, and let me tell you guys I completely adore this character, and love how their friendship evolved throughout the book. They are some amazing side characters as well that we get to meet that are there for Ben and are the best.There's so much good in this book that I hope you give it a try, and If I haven't convinced you yet then make sure to watch Adriana's video on why you should read it.Overall, I loved this book so much, and I learned so much from it as well Ben is such a great character that I just love them! and I will also add that once I watched Adriana's video I knew I will enjoy it but I didn't think I was going to love it as much as I did.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2019
First I want to thank the universe for Adrian over at perpetualpages because they are the reason why I picked up this book after watching their video on 5 Reasons to Read: "I Wish You All The Best" and if you haven't check the video out yet I don't know what you are waiting for!
I will start by saying that I absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK! from beginning to end. The book is the story of Ben, and it starts when Ben decides to come out to their parents as a Nonbinary and because of it they get kicked out of the house. I will tell you guys this really broke my heart, as a mom, I just can't imagine treating my son that way. Ben got kicked out of the house with no shoes, no clothes out in the middle of winter with nowhere to go. That was very hard for me to read. Ben with no where to go decides to contact their estrange sister Hannah, and she welcomes them into her home with her husband Thomas whom Ben has never met.
Ben has to deal with a lot of changes, like transferring schools and having to see a therapist to help them deal with what they are going thru. At the new school Ben meets Nathan, and let me tell you guys I completely adore this character, and love how their friendship evolved throughout the book. They are some amazing side characters as well that we get to meet that are there for Ben and are the best.
There's so much good in this book that I hope you give it a try, and If I haven't convinced you yet then make sure to watch Adriana's video on why you should read it.
Overall, I loved this book so much, and I learned so much from it as well Ben is such a great character that I just love them! and I will also add that once I watched Adriana's video I knew I will enjoy it but I didn't think I was going to love it as much as I did.
I will start by saying that I absolutely LOVED THIS BOOK! from beginning to end. The book is the story of Ben, and it starts when Ben decides to come out to their parents as a Nonbinary and because of it they get kicked out of the house. I will tell you guys this really broke my heart, as a mom, I just can't imagine treating my son that way. Ben got kicked out of the house with no shoes, no clothes out in the middle of winter with nowhere to go. That was very hard for me to read. Ben with no where to go decides to contact their estrange sister Hannah, and she welcomes them into her home with her husband Thomas whom Ben has never met.
Ben has to deal with a lot of changes, like transferring schools and having to see a therapist to help them deal with what they are going thru. At the new school Ben meets Nathan, and let me tell you guys I completely adore this character, and love how their friendship evolved throughout the book. They are some amazing side characters as well that we get to meet that are there for Ben and are the best.
There's so much good in this book that I hope you give it a try, and If I haven't convinced you yet then make sure to watch Adriana's video on why you should read it.
Overall, I loved this book so much, and I learned so much from it as well Ben is such a great character that I just love them! and I will also add that once I watched Adriana's video I knew I will enjoy it but I didn't think I was going to love it as much as I did.
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Top reviews from other countries
ZADA
Buen estado
Reviewed in Mexico on September 26, 2022
ZADA
Reviewed in Mexico on September 26, 2022
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Bruna de Andrade Gomes
História maravilhosa e cheia de aprendizados
Reviewed in Brazil on December 15, 2020