Published: 2 June 2021 (print)/ 16 June 2021 (audio) 
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia/HarperAudio
Pages: 288/5 hrs and 53 mins
Narrator: Archie Greig-Lawson
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
★ ★ ★ – 3.5 Stars
Xander Maze loves lists, and his grandmother is #1 in his list of People I Love Most in the World. But now that Nanna has stage 4 cancer, can a new list of 100 Remarkable Feats really save her life?
Particularly when his list contains difficult things like #2 Make a Friend and #3 Make a Best Friend.
Funny, moving and with a protagonist you can’t help but fall in love with, 100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze is
#1 Heartbreaking
#2 Heartwarming
and a book about defying the odds, not accepting the unacceptable, and one boy’s unconditional love for his nanna.
I was intrigued by this book and by the end of it I felt it was enjoyable. It’s light hearted despite having a bit of heavy topics like eating disorders and a relative on deaths door, but it’s a sweet story for Xander and while it wasn’t perfect in some areas, it is still a nice read.
In terms of characters I don’t think Lily and Lachlan are good friends to Xander. It feels like they are taking advantage of him in a way. They are pushing into his life instead of simply being there as a friend. Which could be who they are as characters, sometimes you make friends by someone pushing into your life. Lily is very forward, but the whole book does have the vibe of people suddenly being nicer when they realise an ostracised or “different” person has a skill eg. playing on the soccer team and mild notoriety for his list becoming public.
I didn’t mind the way the knowledge of the list came about. It was such a grandma thing to do to tell someone who tells someone to have it spiral a little out of control. Not completely, it still has the feeling of local news rather than national, but it is enough to kick start a few things.
I’m glad Xander gets to enjoy a variety of experiences, but the feeling he is being used never went away. Before you realise he is fifteen he easily comes across as eleven or twelve, but being fifteen isn’t any better. I don’t like people manipulating good kids and have their existence justified by doing lists, fitting in, or even just not doing anything wrong. It’s not like Lily is any better towards Xander, but she is a different kind of encouraging which isn’t as bad I guess.
Given the events in the book there are hypocrisies in Lily and Lachlan latching on to Xander, he didn’t do anything. Again it might be an age thing, but it was strange behaviour for kids that old, I’d understand more the misguidedness if they were twelve not mid teens. The older characters are way better, the ones out of school and about to start uni treat Xander like a real person and address him in a real way, certainly use him a lot less.
Whether Xander is neurodivergent in some way I think needed to be addressed. He is certainly written that way, but if he isn’t then his awkwardness doesn’t change anything but I think it needed to be addressed even vaguely for those who may not pick up on it. Especially around some of his behaviour and his affections for Ally which can be considered creepy.
In all fairness the characters are reasonably well rounded, each going through their own issues, but there could be a little more solid ground for them to stand on.
The story unfolds through first person narration, lists, messages and letters, but it never takes away from the story. Greig-Lawson does a good job narrating and even with this mixed format the story holds strong.
Overall I liked the story despite my complicated feelings over the characters and the premise. I think it changes them all in a way which is never a bad thing and having a character like Xander in a book is great representation. It allows readers to read about people different than themselves but it also may help readers find themselves in the pages too.
You can purchase 100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze via the following
Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible
