All The Truth I Can Stand by Mason Stokes is an emotional and thought-provoking exploration of grief, identity, and the complexities of legacy. Through the lens of Ash, a high school student still mourning his mother's death and grappling with the fallout from losing his friends, Stokes crafts a poignant narrative that delves into the transformative power of art, love, and tragedy.

The story begins with Ash, a teenager struggling with isolation and a sense of displacement after the death of his mother. His father, seemingly wanting to help Ash reconnect with life, encourages him to join the crew of a local college production of Oklahoma! Initially resistant and emotionally withdrawn, Ash is gradually drawn into the world of the theater, where he meets Jenna, a student reporter, and Shane, the charismatic lead actor. As Ash grows closer to both of them, particularly Shane, a romance begins to blossom—a tender, slow-burn relationship that is complicated by Shane's own inner turmoil.

The book excels in its portrayal of Ash’s emotional landscape. His grief over his mother’s death, compounded by the rejection he faces from his peers, is rendered with sensitivity and authenticity. Stokes captures the delicate nuances of Ash’s journey toward healing—how grief doesn’t just disappear, but rather morphs and changes over time, often in unpredictable ways. His slow evolution as he becomes more involved with the production, with Jenna, and especially with Shane, feels organic and real.

Shane, the object of Ash’s affection, is portrayed as a magnetic but troubled figure. His raw talent, sensitivity, and the deep scars he carries make him both captivating and heartbreaking. The slow-burn romance between Ash and Shane is one of the novel’s most compelling aspects, as the two connect over their shared vulnerability and struggles. However, Shane’s ultimate fate—his brutal beating and subsequent death—adds a layer of tragedy to the novel that casts a shadow over the entire narrative.

The impact of Shane’s death on Ash and Jenna, and the way it becomes a rallying point for the broader gay rights movement, is handled with a mixture of heartbreak and ambiguity. Stokes does a powerful job of exploring the complexities of Shane’s death, particularly how it is both politicized and romanticized after his passing. This leads Ash and Jenna to question the true nature of Shane’s life and identity, as well as the ways in which tragedy can be transformed into a symbol, often obscuring the messy, imperfect reality of the person behind it. The novel doesn’t shy away from the discomfort of this realization, presenting a nuanced critique of how society, media, and movements can elevate individuals into symbols, sometimes losing sight of who they truly were.

While the thematic depth of the novel is impressive, there are moments where the pacing feels uneven. The slow build-up to Ash’s emotional arc is compelling, but the latter half of the book, particularly after Shane’s death, feels somewhat rushed in comparison. The shift from personal grief to broader societal implications is abrupt, and at times, the emotional resonance of Ash’s journey can feel overshadowed by the external drama and political ramifications of Shane’s death. The narrative could have benefited from a bit more exploration of the emotional aftermath, both for Ash and for Jenna, as they process Shane’s legacy in different ways.

Jenna, as a secondary character, also stands out in her own right. Her role as a reporter who grapples with the ethics of telling Shane’s story is a significant subplot that adds depth to the narrative. While Ash’s perspective is the primary focus, Jenna’s insights into how tragedy is reported and consumed adds a layer of complexity, underscoring the book’s examination of grief and legacy.

Ultimately, All The Truth I Can Stand is a poignant meditation on loss, identity, and the way personal stories intersect with larger societal movements. Stokes offers a deeply emotional narrative that tackles difficult themes with grace, but the pacing and shift in focus in the latter half of the book may leave some readers wanting more. That said, the book’s exploration of the consequences of elevating imperfect individuals to the status of symbols is timely and thought-provoking, making it a memorable read for those who appreciate complex character-driven stories with real emotional stakes. While not perfect, All The Truth I Can Stand offers a heartfelt reflection on the intersection of grief, love, and the complexities of public memory.

I wanted to love it; it has important themes and is a worthy publication. But I think to do justice to a topic like this, a book needs to be extremely well-written. This is a valiant attempt, and I applaud it, but it didn't quite reach the mark. I felt educated but not viscerally affected.

Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for the eARC.

This book is hard to get through. Based on the synopsis, this is not surprising. But my goodness Mason Stoke has really put together a book that is going to make you hurt.

The fiction is dangerously close to reality. The real life murder used as "inspiration" for this novel feel in poor taste to me.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc of this upcoming read.
With that being said, I want to foreworn those who go into this. It is heavy, its grim. But there is also a certain sense of insightfulness. Based off of the horrifying murder of Matthew Shepard, I wanted to read this on that matter alone. Truthfully, there has been alot of speculation on the case and whether or not it was a hate crime. This shines light on the tragedy and the hate

I'm someone who watches a lot of true crime - let's start with that. I know sometimes people say that the consumption of true crime is inherently harmful, and that's definitely something I've wondered when I've stumbled across some of the more exploitative documentaries out there. However, overall I think they can teach us about the psychology of people and recentre the victims in situations where their name is sometimes eclipsed by what happened to them.

That being said, I sometimes struggle with fiction based too heavily on real life tragedies, and it's sometimes hard to find where to draw the line, even for myself. What is it that makes me find The Miseducation of Cameron Post (which I talked about in my blog post on my recommended reads for summer) a fascinating book but All The Truth I Can Stand something that, ironically, I found very difficult to stand indeed.

I was kindly approved for an advance copy of the book All The Truth I Can Stand by Mason Stokes, and I really struggled with it. Like Cameron Post, Stokes was inspired by a real-life case to write his book, namely the murder of Matthew Shepard.

Before I launch into this review of All The Truth, I'll state up front that I could not finish it. The case of Matthew Shepard is one I find incredibly difficult and sitting with a book which is described on the author's website as "a work of speculative historical fiction" which "reimagines a pivotal moment from the gay rights movement of the 1990s". For me, this was too much.

The book follows Ash, a high school senior who falls for the star of the school musical, Shane. However, when Shane is violently attacked and killed, his death sparks talks across America about hate, prejudice, and human rights. The book itself is interesting, paralleling the introverted and shy Ash with the outgoing and exuberant Shane. Still, it's hard to read. The word 'speculative' stuck in my head with every page, reminding me that this was a book about what could have been, not what was. And I think that's what I found so rough about it.

Matthew Shepard's story is not one long lost to time, requiring fiction to retell it. Matthew died in 1998. The story is not separate enough for anyone familiar with the real life case to be able to read about Shane and not see Matthew reflected back. Unlike Emma Donoghue's 'Room' (inspired by the Fritzl family case), or Nina de Gramont's 'The Christie Affair' (which, while a speculative historical about a true case, at least has the distance of nearly 100 years and the fact Agatha Christie's mysterious 11 day disappearance didn't result in the author's death), All The Truth is inextricably linked to the Shepard case. And that made it - for me - an impossible read.

If you have read All The Truth I Can Stand, please let me know what you thought. I'd love to hear your opinions, especially if you - unlike me - finished it. Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing for the ARC.

I was ready to have my heart broken by this book, yet somehow not a single tear fell from my eyes. And I do consider myself a rather sensitive reader.

The description promised a story inspired by the murder of M. Shepard in 1998. I read about it quite a while ago and Matthew's death was absolutely tragic, however(probably like lots of other people), I didn't know about the other side of that young man who was turned into a symbol for gay rights. The dark & dirty one that some people tried to hide. It was eye-opening and really showed that no human is only ever good or bad. Everyone is imperfect, even though some people are made into symbols, martyrs. I do feel like this book truly painted a great picture of that.

Now for parts that seemed lacking to me. First of all, the portrayal of grief. Maybe my expectations were too hight, but I was hoping to see a deep exploration of grief. In reality, I felt like those parts were rushed, action picked up the pace right after a short period of grieving and we had to move on. I'm not saying I wanted 5 chapters of Ash's feelings on a loss, heartbreak, but simply slightly deeper dive into emotions would have been great.

Another thing that felt a bit off to me was Ash and Shane's relationship. Its fast development and tragic end. While YA books tend to have insta-love trope, this book felt more serious. The short relationship that we were shown felt, well, too short to really feel the strenght of Ash's feelings.

The writing was great. Overall, I enjoyed the pacing, the choice of words, dialogs in the book, they felt real, natural. The final chapter, visiting of the fence, was really powerful. Kind of felt like I sat there with Ash and Jenna.

Something that stuck with me was Ash and his dad's relationship. The growth, the support and mutual understanding. However, I do wish it was developed a bit more, as well as the relationship between Ash and his brother. I feel like there is a huge potential there.

A separate mention for the cover - I absolutely adore it. You see it in another light after reading the book. Stunning.

All the truth I can stand is a honest look into imperfect humans, young love, loss of a loved one & 1990s Wyoming. And simply a reminder to be kind, love others and support each other.

I started reading this book and was very upset by all the parallels to Matthew Shepard. As someone who lived through that time, it’s still raw. This is not an easy book to read and not an enjoyable one in my opinion. For me, fiction based on true events is not one of my favorite subjects and I had thought this was going to be more loosely based on Matthew’s story. For those who did not grow up with his story, it might be a more enjoyable read b/c they can distance themselves for it. For those us who lived through the time, we still fight back tears when we remember how he was found in the freezing cold, tied to that that fence post and they had taken his shoes, like the absolute monsters they were.

I was given this book for free in return for my honest opinion.

I don’t know that I’ve ever struggled with reviewing a book so much. The writing is engaging, the characters are compelling, and the plot is fascinating - it is undoubtedly a well-written novel.

Still, while reading this, I couldn’t help but feel so disgusted. One of the main characters, Shane, is inspired by Matthew Shepard, a young man from Wyoming who was brutally murdered in the late 90s, presumably because he was gay (although there are some inconsistencies in that story). Everything from Shane’s short stature, to the exact conditions of his death, to the tragic events of his adolescence are taken directly from Shepard’s life. I wasn’t alive when Shepard was killed, but I will admit I had a little bit of a hyperfixation on Shepard when I was younger: I read every article about his life and death, and I would play the details over and over in my head to the point that I had recurring nightmares about it.

My takeaway from that obsession is as follows: Shepard lived and died in so much pain, and so the best thing we can do for him at this point is let him rest in peace. It took 25 years for his parents to find a safe place to lay his ashes to rest - the dust has only just begun to settle from Shepard’s death. More than anything, I think he and his family deserve peace and quiet at this point. As a result, I found this book to be in incredibly poor taste. I felt physically ill as I read it. I understand the argument the author makes for honestly portraying Shepard’s shortcomings, but I just can’t get behind it. I want nothing for him but peace and happiness at last, and I think this book poses a significant obstacle to that.

All the Truth I Can Stand is not an easy book to read and review.
Based on true-life events, this is told by Ash. This is the story of Matthew Shepard’s killing, and Stokes argues that by showing that a victim was flawed does not make the crime against them, their death any less tragic, nor that a crime against an LGBTQI+ individual not being a hate crime in origin makes the violence against that individual any less violent.
Stokes’ prose is quite gripping. The pacing and the length are 4/5.
As for the perspective, I do not feel qualified and knowledgeable enough to speak about the real event.
Stokes is gay himself and I want to trust his research and analytical skills as well as his intentions and perspective here.
Hence, if I approached this as a literary work that is entirely fictional and has the above themes, I would not have had mixed feelings about it.
Yet, this cannot be separated from reality.

This book right out tells you that the story is based on the murder of Matthew Shepard, back in 1998, and how this helped bring hate crimes out in the open. But, there is more to his story, and more to this story. In a note at the end of the book the author explains how they did a lot of research on this, and while some of the revelations in the story seem far fetched, they are actually more true than not.

Because, along with gay bashing, the rural areas of the country are awash with meth. It is the drug that kills more youth than just about anything else. And what the author found when really looking into the Matthew Shepard story is that it wasn’t just gay bashing, but the drug trade, and how everyone involved was knee deep in it. By taking the truth and fictionalizing it, we do not lose what we gained from Matthew’s death, but we do learn how the drug trade ruins lives.

I expected to be upset by reading this, but didn’t realize how upset. This is not a book to be taken lightly as a tear jerker, but rather to be outraged how drugs ruin so many lives. Thus the name of the book.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 5th of November 2024.

Thanks first to all involved, including NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this novel. This opinion is entirely my own and it is a difficult one as this novel leaves me with many mixed feelings.

First, as all likely know, this is a fictionalized telling of ONE VERSION of Matthew Shepard's story. I highlight the idea of it being one version as it is clearly tied to the version of Matthew's story told in the book The Book of Matt. That book, by Stephen Jimenez, purports to be a journalistic analysis of Shepard's murder. Contrary to what the author suggests in the notes, however, the Book of Matt is one theory that is not consensus or fully accepted. The book has received a lot of criticism from many sources, including the coroner in Wyoming and various parties with direct knowledge of events. That doesn't mean it's completely wrong, but this novel essentially takes the Jimenez book, changes the names, adds a couple characters and repeats the narratives about Matthew Shepard that Jimenez has created, but that are otherwise disputed

Ultimately, though, the issue for me is what purpose this book serves. Why is it necessary. We have the Jimenez book already. Dozens of articles analyzing the Shepard murder from all directions (including many from anti-gay bigots who revere the Jimenez theory as tarnishing hate crimes legislation and the like). It's not clear what adding Ash or Jenna to the story tells us beyond what reading various nonfiction novels tell us. To the extent any answer to that question is provided, it comes to me in the author's note in the end, not in the novel itself. Because of that, I can't rate the novel highly. Despite being reasonably well written, it doesn't seem to me to serve the purpose it intends, but instead fictionalizes and tells the negative view of the Shepard story and Matthew himself, without serving some bigger purpose.

All the Truth I Can Stand is a retelling of the tragic story of Matthew Shepard, who was brutally murdered in 1998.
Ash is a closeted gay teenager, living in a town in Wyoming, after the death of his mother Ash shuts himself off from the world, but after his fathers insistence that he should get out some more, he agrees to sign up for a college theatre production. There he meets Shane, an openly gay guy who Ash can't keep his eyes off of but even as the two slowly fall for each other there are secrets Shane is keeping from him, until one day Shane is found tied to a fence, beaten to a pulp. He's rushed to the hospital but it's too late, and he dies a short while later. Ash, though heartbroken is determined to discover the truth of what happened to him along with his best friend Jenna. But as they go about discovering what happened they uncover dark secrets that Shane had gone to such an effort to hide.

As a queer person who has been fortunate enough to never have gone through any serious homophobia, this book really left me with lots of thoughts upon completion. I hadn't heard of Matthew Shepard before, but I looked into him after reading All the Truth I Can Stand and it really impacted me. I'm glad this book didn't shy away from the worse side of Shane, even though he definitely had his faults in no way did that make up for what was done to him.

Thank you to Mason Stokes and Netgalley for letting me read this ARC.

"All the Truth I Can Stand" is a moving young adult book inspired by the sad death of Matthew Shepard and set in Wyoming in the 1990s. Ash, an adolescent gay man, struggles with rejection, loss, and the intricacies of love. Shane's cruel destiny serves as a focal point for LGBT rights activism, highlighting the consequences of transforming flawed people into symbols. a potent examination of heritage and loss.... I love it....

All The Truth I Can Stand is a speculative retelling of the Matthew Shepard murder. We follow Ash, who has joined his local theatre community where he meets Shane and Jenna. Shane is an outgoing bright young man who doesn't shy away from his sexuality and makes an impact on everyone around him, good or bad. But when tragedy strikes, the webs start to unravel and both Ash and Jenna start to learn about the darkness surrounding Shane's life.

I was familiar with Matthew Shepard's story before going into this book, but it was still easy to get attached to Shane and heartbreaking when he is killed. I really appreciate that the author didn't shy away from any of the dark topics weaved into Shane's life; that living a complicated and messy life was a big part of the story and how it invokes a lot of confusion to the people left in the aftermath.

I enjoyed this book, as much as you can say about something so hard to read. The author includes a lot of notes at the end which I appreciated and they shouldn't be skimmed over by other readers. Whether you've heard of Matthew Shepard or not, this is an important book that tells the story from another (albeit fictionalized) view point and will leave readers with a lot of thoughts upon completion.