Synopsis
A debut Queer YA novel combining the power of video games, and the potential of young love with magic, horror and the supernatural.
Praise for Everything Not Saved:
“THINK SEX EDUCATION MEETS BUFFY. MY MIND WAS BLOWN!” – Justin Arnold
“RIVETING…TOLD WITH HEART AND PASSION BY AN EXCITING NEW VOICE IN YA FICTION” – Benjamin Dean
“A GRIPPING PAGETURNER FOR GAYMERS YOUNG AND OLD” – Will Kostakis
“A BREEZY AND HEARTWARMING ODE TO GAY GEEK CULTURE” – L.C. Rosen
‘CHILD OF DARKNESS,
CHILD OF LIGHT,
ONE BORN TO MOURN,
THE OTHER TO FIGHT.
TEACH WHAT YOU KNOW.
SEAL THE BELOW.’
Everything Not Saved follows two very different teenage boys: Mikey Redman & Kris Dwyer and the unlikely bond between them.
The boys’ shared love of computer games glues them together over the years and helps them overcome struggles at school and at home.
While they try and understand what is happening to their friendship, and figure out why increasingly unpleasant things are happening in Pytt End.
There’s more magick about both of them than they realise.
There’s also more than it seems to the creepy well in Mikey’s back garden, where an ancient evil is stirring underneath the village.
Can they save the world without losing each other?
Trigger Warnings
This book contains serious content which might be upsetting to some readers.
This includes depictions of: alcoholism, bullying, childhood trauma, domestic abuse, death, gender dysphoria, homophobia, queerphobia, sexual health scares, sex, sexual assault and violence. Please be mindful of these, and other potential triggers, and consult the resources listed on page 299 if affected.
Review
I received the audiobook to give this a listen for the Indie Ink Awards. I actually had to listen to it off my phone out of my Files app, so for the first time in years, I listened to a book at normal speed! I also think it was created after a successful Kickstarter campaign (maybe?), and I may be one of the earliest listeners, as the audio doesn’t seem available yet, so what a treat. The three narrators do a fantastic job.
Mikey’s mom moves him and his brother to a new town. A new school, which usually provides new anxieties for a nerdy kid like Mike, ends up being something of a blessing, as he immediately falls in with new friend Kris. Kris is the effortlessly athletic football player. Girls find him attractive, and boys respect him. While this may seem like a strange friendship, it still offers some form of shield for Mikey, as bullies tend to avoid picking on the best friend of the school’s lead player. The thing is, Mikey finds Kris attractive too, but in fear of ruining what they have, keeps it to himself for a long time.
Kris, who comes from an abusive home, finds solace in his supportive and present grandmother. This grandmother though, has some interesting things to say about his friendship with Mikey. The house Mike’s family rents has been considered haunted for years. Strange things happen to, and around, it, and over time it’s revealed that Kris’ Granny knows more than she’s letting on. What she will say is this: in one way or another, Mikey and Kris are meant to be bound for life. Through their love of video games and free time, they simultaneously push back the horde of evil, managing this through pure friendship and love.
This one is really unique. Such a love letter to video games with epigraphs throughout from games the author loves. There’s also a through line where chapters will begin with, or are followed by interludes of, an in-universe game created by the author that shadows their friendship and the town’s more magical aspects. Personally for me, I struggled with these at the beginning though. The tone is quite different from that of the main plot, and I didn’t feel like the side plot felt very much like a video game. With games being such visual storytelling, it’s certainly hard to nail. The video game character dialogue wasn’t really on par with the rest of the novel either, although if the goal was to sounds like VG writing, it succeeds. Not bad whatsoever, and the plot does come back around into play in an important way, it can just be jarring at times. Personally, I did enjoy the more sci-fi tilt (the game itself is fantasy) to the story though.
It’s also a love letter to being a young gay kid. Mikey and Kris might be the slowest slow burn of all time—I listened to 59 sections of audio for a first kiss! And damn does it feel earned by then. While in many aspects, being LGBTQ has become much more “accessible” these days, kids are still notorious for being awful to each other. This story doesn’t shy from that. From teasing to bullying to outright slur-calling. It tackles insecurities and fears, especially when those are also being projected as jokes in front of the other classmates. Even when those jokes were yelled long before Mikey and Kris really knew themselves. I appreciated the author making the slow burn tick away until both characters were over 18, but I’m not really a fan of sex scenes in novels regardless—though these were far more tame than many I’ve seen. I really enjoyed the two main characters and their stewardship of the friendship. I loved how protecting each other came first and foremost, always. The juxtaposition between Kris’ abusive father and emotionally unavailable mother (there’s plenty to unpack there, but it’s not the focus in this story), and the supportive and spot-on parenting of Mikey’s mom, was not only necessary, but really well woven into the story. A firm hell yeah for displaying supportive family. The world can be bad; often it is, but not everything or everyone is out to get you. Sometimes, like the love of a mother, or the love of a grandmother, people want you to be exactly who you are.
Somehow I’ve typed this much while still not really talking about the plot itself, maybe it’s better this way. The author has curated a hometown romance story, a video game sci-fi tinged world, a dark fantasy, or even horror, tilting world with its magical realism and world-ending scale. The boys are just like any other, millions of others, and yet they hold the strength and power to save their town, the world at large, and each other. If you know me, I always vote for more horror, especially with such a creepy set up as this, but it works well as is too. This book is not without its faults, but it is a hell of a good debut.
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