BOOK REVIEW: I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST

Queer Rep - Nonbinary Rep - Family Dynamics

Author: Mason Deaver

Genre: YA Fiction

Page Count: 324 pages

Trigger Warnings: Homophobia, Toxic families

“Labels can help people find common ground, can help them connect, with themselves and other people."

“Be sad, hell, sit in bed all weekend and just watch Netflix. I’ve had those times too. But don’t stop living your life for them.”

When Benjamin De Backer comes out to their family as non-binary, they're met with the tangible goodbye and a door slamming in their face. Having nowhere else to go, they decide to call their sister, Hannah, of whom they haven't spoken to in a decade, having to take a last-resort option. Luckily, as Ben's sister kindly takes them in, welcoming them with open arms despite the separation, Ben must now learn to fit into a new school, feeling more insecure about themselves than ever before after their parent's unruly reaction. Ben's attempts to remain hidden in their new school but finds that to fail when they meet Nathan Allan, an amiable and humorous person who decides to pick a newfound friendship with Ben. As the two grow closer as friends, Ben can't deny their growing feelings for Nathan, but as the feelings grow, the pressure to tell Nathan about their gender identity does as well -- but the truth grows too unbearable for Ben to tell, as the experiences of their previous coming-out claws their chest like a knife held across their neck, daring them to say a word. In this book, we follow Ben as they must rediscover their confidence in their gender, and lead the journey to avoid feeling caged by it any longer.

I Wish You All The Best is the kind of book that perfectly captures the essence of growing up queer, especially in a hostile family, and the struggles that accompany it. This is one of the few books I've read with a nonbinary character narrating the story, and I feel that kind of representation provided a fresh outlook on the book, as well as aspired others to give their hand at weaving gender variance in their writing.

This book follows a quite simple telling of events, but I found that it could be a little cliched or coincidental at times. Once Ben got kicked out, they had to divert to their last-resort option -- calling their sister who they haven't spoken to in a year. Even so, she picks them up without hesitation, barely asking questions through the remainder of the car ride, and that is something I find to be a bit dubious, as many people experiencing this would not have this kind of fallback, especially noting the circumstances Ben was under. It is not only this situation, but noting how Ben and Nathan meet that proves to be a bit coincidental, as we find that Nathan was just so walking through the office doors as Ben was waiting there, and though this might be something of customary, I wish the author had come up with a more creative way to have them meet. However, this is by far the most I can complain about Ben and Nathan, as the development of their friendship and eventually, romance, was the most light-hearted and endearing aspect of the book. Putting aside coincidence, I liked how Ben's character arc is weaved through the story almost transparently, as though we are watching Ben grow right in front of our eyes. With the story, we can see how the circumstances of every event happening to Ben affects their mood and the way they act to others in an almost linear model, not seeming to have any emotions that accompany the story to be out of place or questionable -- Ben always has a valid reason to feel what they feel, as what they do experience emotionally accompany the plot fittedly.

Though Ben proves to be one of the sweetest narrators I've read in a book, I love that they have complexities to their personality as well, as keeping up the facade of being sweet throughout the entire book would be improbable, given the situations Ben faced and the natural emotional response that comes from it. During many pitfalls following the climax as well as when Ben got kicked out, we watch them dissolve from their almost charismatic character to a person without a sense of purpose, and what I love about is the sense of realism it portrays. Ben is also a driven by their art, as seen through the book when they spend most of their time in the art room, sweeping paint to create their own escapism, and this adds a deeper layer to Ben often missed in many novels. Most stories with queer characters usually circulate around the main character's sexuality or gender identity -- and though that is an amazing aspect of a novel, it does get annoying when it seems to be the only trait of their character. People are more than just their sexuality or gender identity, even if it makes up a huge part of them, and I believe this book shows that while still keeping its lens on Ben developing themself in a gender-wise or lgbtq+ view. The art also gives us a head-first delve into Ben's mind, their thoughts, their feelings -- it paves the way for a deeper level of understanding because as Ben makes their art, they make it subconsciously, and this way, we get to follow their thoughts as they come to them, providing a sense of connection. Through the characters, I do wish we'd gotten to see more of their parent's understanding upon making the decision to kick Ben out, seeing as many do not come to this conclusion easily, especially upon having a strong relationship with their child, as seen Ben's parents did with them in the opening scene. I did, however, hope we could have learned more about the side characters, Melika and Sophie better, as they are only in the novel sparingly.

Though a simple book, with, in my opinion, a couple of drawbacks to work out, this book is one that opens its heart out as per providing lessons. I learned several things about this book, ranging from how it must feel to be growing up nonbinary -- and though I feel I'll never truly be able to emphasize with it, this book provided a deeper sense of how that must be. Through this book, one clear lesson I learned was that sometimes you must stand up for yourself in the face of adversity, even to those you'd never thought you'd have to. When Ben got kicked out of their parent's house, they were distilled with shock, as they'd been expecting a better outcome, but soon realized that those we believe support us for how we are, sometimes only do so under the circumstances of the image they'd created in their heads. I also learned a more uncovered lesson presented in the book, and that is that sometimes leaving people you think you need may make you stronger. This, of course, traces back to Ben's parents, as we can clearly see Ben was desperate for their approval of them, and heartbroken when their parents were unaccepting of them. However, they fought back from the affliction and soon grew from the rejection, creating tough skin and a keener sense of who's approval only matters -- theirselves'.

An understanding and deep novel that among the few, presents a nonbinary character in YA fiction, and walks the readers through the ways of growing up as a person of gender variance, even if the readers are not so.

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 2/5

Pacing: 5/5

Overall: 11/15

Recommended for fans of Symptoms of Being Human, Out of My Mind, and Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda.