Maya MacGregor

Trigger Warnings: death of a patron, child abuse, mental abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, drugs, mentions of death by overdose

Will, an agender teen, is only a few months away from turning 18 - finally an adult, and finally able to have freedom away from their abusive, addicted mother. When their mother dies suddenly, Will is granted freedom earlier than expected, but her dying words haunt Will. Soon, their mother’s drug-dealing past comes back and threatens Will’s shiny new future, leaving them to scramble to find a past foster they haven’t heard from in years. And, they need to do this all before Child Protective Services finds out Will’s been left on their own.

I really enjoyed that this was written in second person. Besides fanfiction, I’ve never read a novel in this form and I’ve got to say, this works so well! And it makes perfect sense to use it for a character who is nonbinary or genderfluid.

The imperfections of the characters of this novel is what made this novel so perfect. Not one single person was the most amazing person ever - they all had their faults, their traumas, their own realistic story, and that made this beautiful.

I’m excited for those to need this story to get their hands on it. And I’m excited for those who may not necessarily need this story, but can learn from this story, because it’s all so important. With the amazing writing that is from Maya MacGregor you get so much representation that isn’t forced at all, it’s just who they are and that’s that.

Overall, I will be highly recommending this book to so many people. Though I will give a bit of a heavy warning to check the Trigger Warnings and to be gentle with yourself.

*Thank you Astra Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (plus d'informations)

Sam has experienced more traumatic events than some entire high school classrooms. They're on both the autism and ACE spectrums as well as Queer and having been in an orphanage until their Black dad adopted them when they were seven.
That would be enough, but the first friend they made, Lee, a girl in Montana, lost it and tricked Sam into coming to an outdoor party, only there wasn't one and Lee's male cousins nearly killed them by placing, then tightening a zip-tie around their neck.
Part of Sam's coping which intensified following their attack, has been by identifying and researching kids who died before age nineteen. They have a feeling that's their fate.
Dad moved them to Portland, Oregon and a year later to the small town of Astoria. They buy a house which turns out to be where a boy named Billy died thirty years ago. He's the first kid Sam researched and as soon as they move in and Sam realizes they're going to be sleeping in Billy's old bedroom, a psychic connection builds. The kids they meet at school are more aware of the gender spectrum than back in Montana, but there are still insensitive ones and at least one bully.
As Sam grows closer to several of them and develops an attraction to Shep, a girl who is also obsessed with discovering what really happened to Billy, strange and scary events begin piling up.
This is a top notch book, not only in terms of how the mystery unfolds and results in a dandy climax, but because the author's way of letting readers dwell inside Sam's mind to truly understand how they see the world, couldn't have been done any better. This deserves a place in almost every school and public library.… (plus d'informations)

Sam is eighteen, non-binary, and on the autism spectrum. Because of a traumatic experience Sam and their dad move to Oregon to a house where a teen boy died thirty years ago. Sam has long been fascinated by kids who died before they turned nineteen and therefore want to investigate the death of the teenage boy. But then they meet resistance.

The relationship between Sam and their dad is absolutely heartwarming. I love the messages it sends about foster parents . I really loved the mystery part of this as well. It doesn't really ramp up until past 25% or so since Sam is busy trying to fit into school and get used to a new town. But I loved the investigation once it started. It was so gripping and I loved how I was kept guessing until the end.

We need more characters like Sam a huge thank you to Maya MacGregor for creating such an amazingly diverse, relevant and relatable character to help represent so many different readers!

Id also like to thank netgalley and publishers for providing an arc so that I may share my honest feedback. I am so in love with this story and I know you will be too!… (plus d'informations)