The book “I Wish You All the Best” is heartbreaking, magical, and pure all wrapped up in a shade of the rainbow, a book about overcoming anxiety, depression, rejection, and trauma.
BOOK INFO
Published Details: May 14th 2019 By Push
It’s just three words: I am nonbinary. But that’s all it takes to change everything.
SYNOPSIS When 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.
Content Warning: Mental health, Anxiety, and Depression, Challenged by parents’ rejection after coming out, Panic attacks
I Wish You All the Best is a young-adult contemporary about Ben De Backer, a non-binary teen who was thrown out of their house after coming out to their parents, welcomed by their older sister, Hannah, who they haven’t spoken to for more than a decade, and her husband, Thomas; they begin a new life, entering therapy, and begin to find peace as they finish their senior year.
Ben finds comfort in art classes, which become a haven as the art teacher takes them under her wing who then goes and supports their best friend, who is a non-binary Muslim immigrant and has to overcome the after-effects of this trauma, struggling with anxiety disorder, depression, and feelings of loneliness, but whose days are brightened by their classmate, Nathan, who just might become more than that, though there were some occasion we were terrified cause I found myself debating on whether Nathan was going to hurt them and if his optimism was just a mask.
Don’t know whether to cry or scream or do both. It feels like I’ve done more than enough of both. And it feels like I haven’t done enough.
Ben De Backer
A BULLET POINT OF WHAT I LOVE FROM I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST
- I Wish You All the Best provides a valuable resource for parents or allies who want to educate themselves while also serving as a source for non-binary teens who need representation, affirmation, and guidance.
- The representation offered is beautiful and each character could easily walk right off the page. We loved seeing the slow burn between Ben and Nathan.
- This book talks about touch averse, which can be expected in people who deal with panic attacks or people dealing with anxiety, cause we read of some instances where some people who are just born or developed that way.
- The story itself is perfectly paced from beginning to end, with twists and turns at just the right moments, this is a book we’ll be rereading in the future.
There is so much hype surrounding I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST. And it still manages to exceed all of the high expectations placed upon it. I can not wait to read more from Mason Deaver in the future.
- I Wish You All the Best is a letter to the kids who don’t know where they fall in the gender binary, to the kids who know they fall outside the binary but who need a little help understanding just how that doesn’t mean they are a failure, those kids that just want to be accepted, loved and protected.
- They wrote an intriguing and moving plot, and, most importantly they wrote their debut novel in such a manner that it never felt like a debut and a ray of hope for others who are having issues with their gender identity.
On The Blog: Fake It Till You Make It is a book that was a fun, predictable read filled with drama, romance, friendship and forgiveness with a cute ending and there was no explicit sexual content unless you count the spark and making out
I Wish You All the Best was that one book that tackles what can be considered difficult conversations about gender identity with parental figures, friends, relatives, and romantic partners.
It is not always easy for Ben to explain how they’re feeling, or why they’s feeling that way, the book provides a guide on how to articulate those feelings that surround gender identity, while also discussing the non-binary gender etiquette for the reader.
Let Chat
- How interested are you in trigger warnings in a book?
- When do you believe trigger warnings be placed either in a book or a blog post?
- This is the first book we had read that did not make sure the parent came to terms, same with you.
- Pinky swear the last question, What is your favourite style of a book review?
One comment