e-ARC, 324 pages
Release Date: May 14, 2019Published by: Push (Scholastic Trade)
Read from: June 16-19, 2019Stand-aloneSource: Edelweiss (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher & Edelweiss in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: MisgenderingFor fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, NeuroDiverse, LGBTQIAP+, YAWhen Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they’re thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents’ rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.
But Ben’s attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan’s friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.
At turns heartbreaking and joyous, I Wish You All the Best is both a celebration of life, friendship, and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I didn’t even need to know too much about this book before I added it to my TBR, All I needed to see was an own voices non-binary author who wrote about a non-binary character. This was a very much needed, very emotional wild ride and I can’t wait for more and more people to read it.
“That was one of the things I realized early. If you’re queer, your life has the potential to become one long coming out moment.“pg. 53
When Ben’s thrown out of their house, they go to the one person they have left: Their sister Hannah. Although they haven’t spoken in years, its the only place that Ben can go. But when school starts, Ben makes friends in the most unusual places, like with Nathan Allan. He’s funny and well like by everyone…. including Ben.
“I’ve never met a single teen who has it all together.“pg. 100
The best thing about this was the rep. From the neurodiversity, to the identity rep to orientation, it makes me happy to see all of these things in one book. This book will touch so many teens that I’m sure share some experiences with Ben but are afraid to say anything. I hope this book can show those teens its ok to be scared and its ok for things to be scary, that they don’t always stay that way. The other rep that I liked about this was the positive showing of therapy and anxiety medications.
“Don’t ignore the problems. […] Learn from them. But also, don’t knock what you get right. Every success.“pg. 260
The other best thing about this was the characters. I really enjoyed them all. I really loved Hannah and Thomas for taking them in with no questions asked. There were so many unspoken things between them, and they took them in anyways without blinking. And then there’s Nathan, who is without a doubt one of the sweetest. And I saved the best for last. Ben. They were finding out who they were and what it would take to make them happy and it broke me. No one deserves to be happy more than Ben. The supporting characters were also pretty great too, there to offer good advice and to help convince them that they are worth everything good that’s coming to them.
“Love at first anxiety attack.”pg. 260
The only thing that stopped me from giving this 5 stars was the plot. There were a couple times when I found myself a bit disconnected to the book during plot lulls. For the most part, the lulls were few and far between, but it was still enough for me to notice and then for me to jump or “fall” out of the story.
Sometimes , its worth it to try again.“pg. 260
This book is so needed and very important. I knew I loved it when I was crying by chapter 2. I hope others that are looking for more information on being non-binary or are non-binary themselves give this wonderful book and try and love it as much as I did.
Overall, I give this
