I'm not a huge thriller/mystery reader, but for me, this had a perfect balance between a YA contemporary and a mystery. I could try to review this as objectively as I can, but I can't, because I have never seen a main character who is autistic, non-binary AND asexual before, just like me! So you'll understand that was AMAZING to see. I loved the autistic rep as well, it was different from what we usually tend to see in a really good way. And I absolutely adored Sam's dad - a Black single parent who adopted them when they were 7. The mystery was also actually interesting to me, which isn't always the case.

I feel like I was pretty confused thorough this book. However, I love that the main character's father was actually very supportive and loving. In most of the LGBTQ+ novels I've read almost all of the parents don't accept their children.
(arc from netgalley)

Thank you to Net Galley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was an interesting read for me on many levels. It had a bunch of stuff I absolutely loved and a bunch of stuff that I didn’t particularly care for.

Things I loved:
The representation in this book is immaculate. I can count on one hand how many books there are with non-binary rep, let alone autism rep. This was done so so well, including all the LGBTQ+ rep within the side characters. I also really loved how ride ir die the dad was for Sam. He would quite literally do anything for them without a second thought. It was so refreshing to read a queer book that had a supportive and stable parental figure.

Things I didn’t love:
The plot was blander than flour and reminded me of a D version scooby doo and the mystery gang. It was incredibly anticlimactic and the the paranormal/murder mystery aspect got completely lost in so many places.

I wish there was more complexity to this book but it’s a solid light read with amazing representation on all fronts.

I loved the representation of this book. It was diverse and well done in my limited opinion. My biggest struggle was the actual plot of the book. The mystery at the heart of the story didn’t capture me. It didn’t pull me in and the juvenile Scooby detective squad got a little annoying to read at times. That’s all is to say maybe someone who is looking for non binary rep and a very simple read might enjoy this non complex contemporary YA.

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC.

CW’s for: bullying, homophobia, biphobia, hate crime, violence, murder, transphobia, panic attacks, abuse, gun violence, and maybe a few others (check storygraph for any I may have missed)

Okay, so this was not at all what I expected it to be but I absolutely could not put it down. I really, genuinely am grateful for the experience of reading from the point of view of a non-binary, autistic, queer, ace, adopted MC. There were so many layers to this story, so many queer experiences and just so much to unpack and I’m really grateful that this book will be available to young folks so soon. I loved the dynamics between Sam and their dad. The characters were all really wonderful and the murder mystery storyline had me up past my bedtime needing to know what happened. I absolutely loved Sam reflecting on their therapy experiences throughout the story and getting to see how they used the tools they learned in life. Also, the single adoptive parent being aromantic was an absolute gift and the queer acceptance and exploration coupled with reading these characters’ experiences with homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia made me feel hopeful.
I highly recommend this one, it made my heart race from fear while also comforting me and giving me hope. Really wonderful.

The sweet and haunting story of Sam is partially a painful read and partially feels like a hug. The world is better for having characters like Sam, their dad, and their friends. This was a 3.5 for me because pacing felt a little off to me, and I would have appreciated a little more dimension to the antagonists in the story.

The representation in this book fills my nonbinary neurodivergent heart with joy. I saw so many parts of myself reflected in Sam, which until recently I had never seen in YA fiction before. MacGregor depicts what it is like to be neurodivergent and nonbinary in a way that hit me hard, the feeling of being Too Different that only abates when you meet people that see those pieces of you as complimentary to their own.
The cast of characters in this book dazzles me. Junius Sylvester, Sam's dad, is the parent every kid deserves. He breathes kindness and acceptance. Shep is the perfect companion for Sam's adventure, bold and curious. There's a whole cast of characters from the school's Rainbow Island LGBT+ club that steal my heart. And everyone's fashion sense? Amazing, 10/10 want to steal their outfits.
The mystery aspect of this book is amazingly done as well. I felt confused and concerned and frustrated along with the characters as they delved deeper into the mystery of Billy Clement's death. MacGregor kept me guessing right up until the end.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a YA mystery with queer neurodivergent representation because The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester is all of that delivered in the best way.

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester was a story I didn’t know I needed. With an interesting mystery, a sweet romance, a cool cast of characters, and how intensely raw it is, I was drawn in from the first page.

Sam was an extremely relatable character for me and was an incredibly well-written autistic character. The casual mention of stimming, using a binder, and use of pronouns was so nice. You rarely get to read about autistic teens and Sam was refreshing.

The mystery was interesting and kept me on my toes. I had a difficult time piecing it together, until the end when it clicked.

While the mystery is definitely an integral part of the story, I feel the main message of the story is about life and how trauma can change your view of it. While this story was fluffy and funny, it wasn’t afraid to touch on heavy topics.

And this also has some pop culture references. I didn’t find them too terrible, but not everyone will like them.

Overall, I deeply love this story and Sam. As a queer non-binary autistic teen, this is exactly the story I and other queer autistic kids need.

TW: Bullying, biphobia, homophobia, transphobia, self-harm, death, murder, attempted murder

Oh my gosh! what is not to love about this book. It literally has everything! Representation with queer characters and a mystery you cannot help but turn page after page. I love this book!!

This book wasn't at all what I expected and I think I enjoyed it more because of it.

Sam is autistic, identifies as they/them, and is starting over in Astoria, Oregon after experiencing extreme trauma.

The house Sam moves into is well-known because a young boy died there. The house, Sam's trauma, and an obsession with finding out what happened to the boy all lead to Sam and their friends on a mysterious adventure.

Not only does the reader gain insight into autism and some of the ways it impacts daily life, they also learn a lot about queer culture and identities. The book educates and points out issues, all while a group of high school juniors navigate uncovering a potential murder.

I loved a lot about this book, but it did have moments where explanations seemed repetitive.

All in all, it's a great read and I'm so glad teens and adults have more and more access to these sorts of stories.

Autistic MC - check
Nonbinary MC - check
Queer MCs - check
Adopted MC - check
Multiracial family - check
Single parents - check

This book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book. As someone on the spectrum and not always understood or accepted, I really enjoyed finding peace in a character I could relate to. I took my time reading this one when I usually speed through books. It was an easy read but I wanted to stretch it out and really dive into the characters.

There is something so wholesome and lovely about Sam. I cannot say enough how much I loved the feeling I got when reading about them.

All in all, I give it 4 stars.

#netgalleyarc This book took me awhile to get into, but once I was hooked I was hooked. Sam is a great character, non-binary and neurodivergent and full of teen angst. This book was part-mystery, part teen angst, and part diverse high school life. I’ll definitely be purchasing this for my high school library.

Thank you NetGalley and Astra Publishing for an advanced copy of this book. I am choosing to leave this review.
A paranormal coming of age story of Sam Sylvester and their friends searching for the answers of a 30 year old cold case.This is the kind of coming of age story that I hope every kid gets to read. So many great reps LGTBQ+, nonbinary, bi, autism, neurodivergent rep.


Lets get chatty about this book
1) PARENTAL FIGURES ARE PRESENT!!! There are so few YA coming of age stories, or anything, that also includes the parents as apart of the story line. I loved that Sam's father, Junius, is present and has actual parental opinions. He positively influences the story and is a really great role model for Sam and all of his friends.

2) A lot of personal dialogue about Sam's thought promise during stimuli and him figuring out a way to respond. I enjoyed Sam's mention of how they are answer something in a way that might not best suit them but will the person they are talking to. I think this perspective is great because it really shows how much work responding to anybody's preference is and there are extra challenges for neurodiverse/autistic.

3) I thought the integration of the paranormal aspect was a bit clunky at first but then it really intertwined with the story. I can see why some people did not enjoy this because I think the story would of been just as strong without a paranormal aspect.

OMG I LOVED THIS BOOK! Sam is the most lovable protaganist and their backstory was so real and devastating. Their character development was a dream to see and I was rooting for them the whole book (cheering LOUDLY by the end). The whole cast of characters, from Dad to teachers and their newfound queer community, were vivid and relatable. The combination of mystery, paranormal, a little romance, and a queer narrative was really a perfect combination and made for a completely enjoyable and exciting read.

I want to preface this review with the fact that I am writing it immediately after reading it and I am highly emotional. I clicked all of the trigger warnings ever on StoryGraph, wishing I could have marked them all as “but it was well-handled.” Which I mean, I will, when I put this review over on there but I digress. I am trying to make a space for myself in the world of eloquent book readers and this review is already full of my rambling but… that’s okay. I hope.

Without further ado… My review of The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor. Before I forget, I received my eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

This book is certainly not for everyone. I’m guilty of reading other folks’ reviews immediately after finishing a book like I’m questioning whether or not I was right to enjoy it. It works one of two ways: it makes me question every thought or makes me swing wildly in defense of the book. I tried not to delve two deep yet into the other ARC reviews this time, wanting my thoughts to be clear, but I did see a mixed-bag of reviews (though none under three stars, which was exciting).

This book deals quite heavily in a lot of sensitive topics. The aforementioned content warnings should have clued you in, review reader, to this fact. It comes with the territory, when we look at our protagonist of the story: Sam Sylvester themself. Sam is autistic and though we don’t see much ableism in the story, there is the underlying current of it. Sam is also nonbinary. Sam was in the foster system until the age of seven, when they were adopted by a single black man. They were raised in a small town in Montana. We see underlying currents of racism, as well, though it is not a central theme in the story. What we do see is transphobia, homophobia, and biphobia. What we do see is the hate crimes related to those things.

For each and every content warning, there is an aspect of representation to shoutout. Again, we have our main character, Sam. With Sam we get autistic representation, nonbinary representation, asexual representation, and adoption representation. While I’m not sure if the latter is a thing (or that I worded it correctly), it is for me because I was adopted.

Beyond Sam, there’s just a fantastically diverse group of characters. I mentioned Sam’s dad being black. Junius is an amazing father. I was attached to him from page one. He was a single black man who adopted a nonverbal white kid after seeing them once. There’s these lines in the book where Sam talks about how Junius never expected them to adjust their wavelength to everyone else’s. Instead, he adjusted his wavelength to Sam’s. Also! Junius brings us asexual and aromantic representation.

Then there’s the friend group. Shep is the first person who was just… on Sam’s wavelength for the first time in their life. She’s incredible and driven. Sky is an absolute ray of bisexual sunshine. The advisor for the queer club on campus, Mr. Quach, is a Vietnamese man who is the first ever person to instantly use Sam’s pronouns without hesitation. The rest of the friend group continues to be amazing, as well.

I’m not sure what god is in charge of “puppy dog jock characters” but whoever they are, they entered the dreams of authors releasing books in 2022. This is the second book this year where my favorite side character was unabashedly the unexpected sportsball player who had a heart of gold. I need to give Aiden all my love by putting in a quote from him here:

I know who you are, and I know who I am. If somebody thinks I’m gay, I’m not gonna run around flailing and yelling no homo.

Aiden, literal puppy dog straight boy (not self-described)
Okay. That’s the gushing about characters. Now to review the nail-biting, anxiety-ridden plot. It left my head spinning. Let me just post the plot synopsis from Goodreads:

Sam can’t seem to let go of what might have been, and is drawn to investigate the death of a teenage boy in 1980s Astoria. Sam’s convinced he was murdered–especially since Sam’s investigation seems to resurrect some ghosts in the town.

Threatening notes and figures hidden in shadows begin to disrupt Sam’s life. Yet Sam continues to search for the truth. When Sam discovers that they may be closer to a killer than previously known, Sam has a difficult decision to make. Would they risk their new life for a half-lived one?

So, as one might imagine: this plot centers around a murder. And I was actually left unsure who was the killer until it smacked me so hard in the face that I felt like an idiot. I cycled through a few people until it hit me… only mere pages before the big reveal. I’d had early-on suspicions about this character but it felt too heart-wrenching to be true. Until it was.

During my shallow dive into other reviews, I did see some stating that they couldn’t buy into the paranormal aspects of the book. The thing was… I don’t think they were paranormal, necessarily? As a neurodivergent person, I recognized a lot of the feelings that Sam was having. Sure, it got a little spooky, but there’s just this… shared feeling I believe in. Maybe it’s paganism (maybe it’s Maybelline).

I tend to like books that are character-driven, I’ve realized. But this book was truly mixed. I just find it easier to talk on the characters rather than the plot when tiptoeing around spoilers. I do believe in content warnings though and so I’ve provided what I hope can be a comprehensive list below:

Explicit depictions of:
– attempted murder (twice), homophobia, transphobia, panic attacks, anaphylactic shock, violence, guns, (assumed) stalking, hate crimes
Moderate depictions of:
– biphobia, (past) murder, abusive relationships, toxic friendships, death of a grandparent, gaslighting, alcholism
Mild depictions of:
– racism, alcohol, suicide, survivor’s guilt, foster care

Sam’s hyperfixation is specifically of children who died before turning 19. Sam’s constant fear is dying before 19. Sam specifically has a past near-death experience that was the direct result of a hate crime. This book is heavy, tense, and dark.

This book is also funny. It is hopeful. It is romantic. It is heart-warming. It shows both the effects of an amazing father and an abusive one. It is a nuanced piece of literature that I will be proud to give to the LGBT+ club at the high school in the district I work in.

My last note: I personally found it fast-paced. I found myself in a small reading slump yet devoured this in one night. This is also the LONGEST review I have written in a while (possibly ever). Please give this book a chance.

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me. I generally enjoy a more casual voice-y writing style in ya contemporary, but this one just felt very contrived. The narration style was honestly a bit annoying and it made both the mc and most of the major events feel quite artificial. I did not finish this book and don’t really have much else to say.

If you are looking for a book filled with rich characterization, great family rep, diversity out the wazoo, with a sprinkle of mystery and spook? This is for you!
I love that stories like these are being written for young adult/students to see themselves on the page in vivid landscapes like the one MacGragor created. Love.

This book was a unique take on the YA Mystery genre. Not only does it have autism and non-binary representation, but the main cast of characters is filled with LGBTQ teens. This book is perfect for readers who love titles like Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.

Have you ever read a synopsis of a book and thought that you were easily going to fall in love while reading? Keywords stick out about ghostly sightings, threatening notes, and a bizarre mystery. It sounded so right up my alley that I couldn't look away. Then I decided to give it a go and I believe the hype I created for this book was better than the actual story. Sad emoji.

I hate to keep using this metaphor but this was like a dog chasing its own tail. The mystery was presented to us and it kept going round and round. I was starting to become nauseous. This wasn't the roller coaster I was expecting and I wanted to get off but I pushed through. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever read but it wasn't the best. I wanted to love this so much but it just wasn't there. The story was definitely a miss for me.

What made this somewhat enjoyable was the reps. It was positive and the LGBTQIA+ group at school was a huge bonus. Not many schools offer groups of love and support. That one touched this dark soul because a lot of kids get bullied without anyone to go to and this was what these kids needed to make it through. It was beautiful. My favorite thing about this was Sam's very loving and supportive Dad. He was an absolute sweetheart. Where's his spinoff book? He was the sunshine on a gloomy day.

As the mystery developed more and more, it became really predictable. Nothing was shocking or twisted. I'm saying this about the thirty-year-old mystery and not about what Sam went through at their old school. What Sam experienced made me tear up because no one should have to deal with asshole bullies like that and the kids who did what they did should be in jail!! The confrontation was a big letdown. It was there and over in seconds. I was waiting for this huge shoe to drop and I was going to be screaming. I wound up rolling my eyes and moving on with my day. Ugh!

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester was an okay read with a mediocre mystery. I liked the ghostly elements and the support system that Sam had. There wasn't enough offered to make me really love this and gush about it. All I can really do is shrug my shoulders. Shrug emoji. Eyeroll emoji. (If you know, then you know)

Such an amazing story! Sam Sylvester just moved into a house where a teenage boy died thirty years ago. They know they shouldn't investigate, but as more clues become uncovered, Sam gets pulled into a mystery previously untouched for years.

On top of an exciting mystery to uncover, the book also focuses a lot on Sam's struggles as an autistic nonbinary teen. Sam's single father was the only other family member we meet, and honestly he was one of the most well written parental figures ever written. I loved their dynamic and the extent to which he went out of his way to make sure Sam was safe and happy. All the representation, including a handful of trans characters, interracial families and relationships, an autistic main character, and two major characters on the ace spectrum, was truly heartwarming to read about.

The pacing is pretty slow throughout the book which I found less interesting at certain parts. And while I wasn't able to predict the plot twist in the first half of the book, in the second half I was able to figure it out. Some of the dialogue was also very awkward and unrealistic. But those are small when compared to all the good that this book has. I also pride myself on being able to predict plotlines early on and other reviews say they couldn't predict it so take what I say with a grain of salt. I'm very grateful I got to read this book. The representation was so important and I cannot recommend this enough, especially if you want something to ease you into the mystery genre.