I very much enjoyed this book. It was well written and I loved the characters very much. The plot felt a little predictable and unoriginal but this may just be because I am outside the target audience as I am not a teenager. I loved the fact that we had an autistic and transgender MC and that the majority of the cast was LGBTQ+. I am looking forward to reading what this author publishes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced copy of this book! At the time, I had dnfed it and didn't give feedback because I wasn't really connecting with it, but after it published, I gave it another shot as a book club pick with my friends and I"m so glad I did.

I think one of the reasons I had dnfed in the past was due to assumptions about the synopsis, I read the comment about past lives and though Sam would be solving the mystery about how their past self had died. I was completely wrong and it was just a regular mystery though it did feel at times like something supernatural would happen with how Sam smelled popcorn at certain points along with seeing things about Billy.
Sam as a main character was a delight to read, there were certain aspects and traits of autism that I related to personally and seeing Sam navigate things and start to really feel comfortable in a space again after that traumatic time was relieving. I loved the friendships and support system they were able to get in their new place too, Junius was my favorite character honestly and I wish there were more characters like him.

*Spoilers ahead*
Some scenes relating to Sam's trauma were a bit triggering for various reasons but the whole of chapter 32 where Sam finds Junius unconscious dealing with an allergy attack was super triggering for me and I wish that there was a heads up despite the novel following a mystery around an unsolved death. I found it surprising that this didn't have a list of trigger warnings but things were handled in a way that I almost don't mind it but can see the benefit in adding that if possible.

Loved this book! I have been looking for books with an autistic main character for so long and I’m so happy i happened to find this one.

Sam was so interesting to read as a character and I loved reading about them and finding out about their past. It was also a joy to read about the mystery about the house.

I read this book a while ago and it’s still one I think about often. It really stuck with me.

I loved this book. I had been desperately looking for a fiction book with an autistic mc, then I lucked out and found this which also has a non-binary mc. I adored the characters and the story. I will definitely be ordering this book.

Sam Sylvestor was a character that was challenging for me to figure out. However, I was so invested in working with Sam to figure out the mystery behind the house they are now living in with their dad. Seeing the bullying and harrassment Sam went through at their past school made me sick, yet I know this is the reality for too many teens in our present day society. This is why it is so important for book like this to exist: to remind our teenagers that they are not alone and that they, too, can get through the challenges they're experiencing. It's so so important to have open and supporting adults and we see this come to life in this story.

This is one of those books that I read awhile ago but is also one that crosses my mind from time to time. A read that is bound to change lives for the right readers.

Reading The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester in todays time, with the ongoing battle of conservatives versus the LGBTQIA++ community is indeed a journey. As an avid ally, I thoroughly enjoy and strive to read and support authors who brave the waters and stand up for what is right. As the parent of a nonbinary pre-teen, I strive to engulf myself in as much as I can as well, as I want to ensure that I focus on inclusion of all. I loved this read, and have purchased it to read along with my three kids, as I feel there is so much to pick up and pack in from the words we find.

Highly, highly recommended, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to read this arc. Five stars, through and through.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Loved the representation in this one, especially having an autistic and nonbinary adopted teen! I loved the main character and their dad, and the vibes of the town and their friends were very well written.

I did at the time DNF, I got about 25% of the way before doing so. At the time I just couldnt really find myself connecting with the story itself. The characters however, were very intertaining so far and I will defintely be picking up a copy when I feel tthe time is right and I can truly appreciate this novel for what it is!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester

Author: Maya MacGregor

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: Autistic Adopted Non-Binary MC, Black characters, Latina characters, Bisexual character, Non-binary character, Aro-Ace character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, mystery, thriller, contemporary, LGBT, queer, autism, trans

Publication Date: May 3, 2022

Genre: YA Mystery Thriller

Age Relevance: 15+ (language, bullying, death, homophobia, abelism, racism, attempted murder, alcohol consumption, gore, biphobia, parental death, cancer, romance, alcoholism, child neglect, domestic violence)

Explanation of Above: There is some cursing in this book. There are scenes and mentions of bullying, homophobia, biphobia, abelism, and domestic violence. There are mentions of death, racism, attempted murder, parental death, cancer, alcoholism, and child neglect. Alcohol consumption is shown and there is a scene with vomit gore.

Publisher: Boyd Mills Press

Pages: 352

Synopsis: Sam Sylvester's not overly optimistic about their recent move to the small town of Astoria, Oregon after a traumatic experience in their last home in the rural Midwest.

Yet Sam's life seems to be on the upswing after meeting several new friends and a potential love interest in Shep, the pretty neighbor. However, 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?

Review: Overall, I really enjoyed this read. I thought it was a really good mystery book with a bit of spook factor in it. The book is about our main character Sam who just moved to a new town after an incident of intense bullying and more at their former town. They move with their father and life seems to be going good until they find out about a 30 year old mystery that Sam feels needs to be solved. The story follows their investigation into the mystery while also getting new threats in their seemingly better town. I really liked the story overall and the character development is where this story shines the most. The book also had really good world building.

But I did have a couple of issues. The book took a bit to pick up the pace and it was a bit confusing in the beginning. The book also was very wordy and repeated a lot, which caused a bit of my confusion as well.

Verdict: It was good! Highly recommend!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

Sam’s story is a pretty interesting one. They’ve just moved to a new town with their dad after something happened at their old school and landed in the middle of a town mystery. I get Sam’s interest in the “half-lived lives” as someone who also has “things.”

I really loved the relationship between Sam and their dad, Junius. Junius adopted Sam when they were seven and he’s a great dad. He’s there for Sam through everything and stands up for him when people are mean to him. His friend group is ok, but honestly a bit dramatic. His friendship with Aiden was a nice surprise. The romance was random.

I wanted to enjoy this book more and I was originally into the mystery, but by the time the reveal happened it had been dragged out for so long that I didn’t care as much. I didn’t guess who did it, so there’s that.

Compelling, heartfelt, great autism and trans rep. Really connected to the mc and was pulled in by the writing. Can’t wait for more from this author.

This book follows Sam, a neurodivergent, nonbinary teenager, who recently moved to a new city in the Pacific Northwest. They are adjusting to their new town and soon get swept up in the mystery of a death that happened in their own home.

There were so many things I loved about this book. Give me a queer coming of age, neurdivergent characters, and a mystery and I am sold. But what I liked most about this story was the character focus. Yes, there was an interesting mystery element going on. But the main event was watching Sam come into their own in their new setting. I also really appreciated that while Sam had so many parts of their identity that were unique, that wasn't the whole focus of the story. I love that now we are getting more stories about queer characters doing everyday things or exciting things like solving mysteries, not just stories of processing trauma, which is also important, of course.

DNF @ 20%.

The beginning was pretty slow and the powers that Sam has is confusing and not that exciting. However, the representation is amazing and I'm sure this book could really resonate with some people.

I think this might be the best book I've read this year. I'm helplessly, hopelessly, recklessly in love with it. All time fave.

Why aren't people talking about this!??!?

You can hear all my thoughts here, I uploaded a videoreview: https://youtu.be/D_jR5akUlig

This was one of the best books I have read this year. An own voices book, featuring an autistic non binary teen who is navigating a new high school and after leaving their previous school due to The Incident (CW - transphobia, homophobia). Sam has a book with a collection of people who have died before they turned 19 (the half-lived lives of the title), and their new home just so happens to have been lived in by one of the people featured in said book. But was the death really an accident? Or did something far more sinister happen?

I thought this was a really well paced book. The mystery was really good, and it was quite eye opening to see how the world treats people who are neurodiverse or do not conform to gender binary. I loved the slightly paranormal feel to the book - it was more than magic realism, but it wasn't so overpowering it turned into urban fantasy. The Incident, which we finally get to hear about, was quite hard hitting but also dealt with in a way that made very frightening sense. I also loved Sam's dad , the love he quite obviously had for them, and his struggle to give Sam the independence they request whilst also making sure that they have the support they need.

I would absolutely recommend this to anybody who enjoys reading diverse YA, and also to anyone who is looking to diversify their reading.

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This review has been hanging over my head for some time. I think it's because I didn't love this book the way I thought I would. But that is more about me not appreciating the structure of mysteries than it being a bad book. It's done quite well. The mystery itself is set up nicely. I wish there had been a little more of Sam's connection to the supernatural because I thought that was really interesting and it has the typical quick mystery solved ending that I think a lot of mysteries have. Although, I will say that I did not see that ending coming.

I thought the title was really clever and thought the use of tumblr made sense because Sam wanted to tell their story with at least some anonymity.

I thought the way the bullying and harassment were handled at the different schools made sense because some schools will do better than others when it comes to handling such horrible incidents and it shows readers that things being bad at one place does not mean things will be the same at the next place.

I loved reading about Sam bonding with friends in the LGBTQ+ support group.

This is a worthwhile read. 4 out of 5 stars.

I received this egalley as part of the ALAN conference and it is kept on a kindle in my classroom. My rating is based on the fact that my students have enjoyed this title and I look forward to when I get the chance to read it.

I loved this one so much!

This is the best book I've read in a while. I loved the storyline and the characters. This book felt oddly comforting despite the heavy topics covered.

I went into this story blind and I don’t think I enjoyed reading this as much as I would have liked. I loved the non-binary and autistic representation used here but the whole plot fell flat for me.

This story follows Sam who is non-binary and on the autistic spectrum. Due to a traumatic experience, Sam and their dad moved to Oregon in order to start afresh. All Sam hoped for was to be accepted and understood for their gender choices and autism. What they didn’t anticipate was how a teenage boy died in the same house thirty years ago. Sam was curious as to how and why the teen died and decided to investigate his life story but Sam got more than they bargained for and started receiving threatening notes and seeing sinister shadows lurking around. Just as Sam started to make solid friends and possibly a new love interest, they are faced with this. Will Sam solve the mystery before it’s too late?

The characters are great especially Sam. I love how Sam stands up for themselves and be their own person even when life gets hard. The representation was on point and many heavy topics were tackled and well written but…the mystery/thriller part of the story just didn’t work for me. I would have loved to see how Sam grew as a character without the paranormal mystery part of the book which I felt dragged the story down.

On a side note, can we please admire how gorgeous this cover is? The color schemes really fit Sam well!

Overall, not a bad story but just not for me. Thank you Netgalley and Astra Publishing House for the arc.