**This review may contain spoilers**
I have too many words to describe how much love and joy I feel toward Mason Deaver’s I Wish You All The Best. I read this book in four days, which is incredibly quick for me. The book is a little over 340 pages long, so it certainly isn’t short, but it is an incredibly quick read. Deaver’s writing hooks the reader from the very beginning, and no matter where the story goes, it is incredibly difficult to put the book down.
I Wish You All The Best follows 18-year-old Ben De Backer, a nonbinary individual living with their sister after being kicked out by their parents for coming out. The book follows them navigating this sudden change, having to go to a new school while still in the closet, coping with anxiety, and seeing a therapist for the first time in their life. To introduce them to a new school, the principal sets them up with Nathan Allen, a senior at North Wake High School. Nathan is beyond happy to show Ben around, and the book shows how their friendship grows and develops over the course of eight months.
I think my favorite part of this book is just how well I could relate to Ben. Being a nonbinary person with anxiety, I’ve noticed that this combination isn’t really shown in media that often. Even if it is portrayed, it’s rarely portrayed well. Seeing Ben have a good life (with bumps along the way, obviously) brings me a lot of hope. There are people who respect and love them for who they are. It reminds me of all the people in my life who are the same towards me. Even on my anxious days, even though I use pronouns that may not be “conventional” right now, there are always going to be people out there who care for me. That is huge, especially for a young adult story.
Speaking of anxiety, the portrayal of anxiety and panic attacks was written beautifully in this story. Ben experiences at least two panic attacks in the duration of the novel, and I could never complain about how they were written. Deaver captured the terror and fear of the moment perfectly every time, and included the symptoms of overstimulation to touch and zoning out. I adored how anxiety wasn’t romanticised. It’s messy and difficult to deal with, and I think Deaver illustrated it beautifully.
Something else I really loved about this book was the portrayal of strained familial relationships. As previously mentioned, Ben’s parents did kick them out toward the beginning of the book. As a result, Ben had to contact their sister Hannah, whom they did not speak to for 10 years beforehand. The best part is that they don’t forgive her immediately—there’s still resentment and bitterness toward Hannah leaving suddenly, and I genuinely loved that. Honestly, none of the characters in this book are perfect. They’re all human, which can be so difficult to find sometimes.
I enjoyed how the conversations between teenagers didn’t feel incredibly forced. Sometimes adult authors have trouble figuring out the dialect of teens, and although I understand, it can be frustrating to read at times. Deaver did not struggle with this at all, though—any dialogue between characters was perfect, and it never felt too juvenile or inappropriate for the situation. I truly loved how teens were represented as human beings and not as some oddity that could barely be deciphered.
My primary “complaint” about this book is that I wish some of the characters got a little more fleshed out. Hannah had a decent amount of characterization, but I feel like Nathan could have had just a teeny bit more. Although he was extremely well written for being the primary love interest of the novel, he could feel a bit one dimensional at times. It wasn’t the worst though, so it’s a very minor complaint.
I absolutely loved I Wish You All The Best. The story was written beautifully and was very easy to follow. Out of almost 40 books I’ve read in 2021, this book has very quickly taken over the top spot. I would love to read it again in the future. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartfelt, yet slightly intense journey of a kid doing their best with what they’ve been given.