ladyluan's review
5.0
This book is an absolute gem.
There are literally not enough stars in the universe for this one.
A novel like this doesn't come across often for me - one that makes me feel almost every emotion I can possibly think of. It's my favorite romance novel to date and will be now on my list of "best books ever".
To witness the love and struggles of Emmet, an autistic, and Jeremey, a depressive, was beautiful. Favorite couple ever award goes to these two. What an AMAZING way to show that love is love, and everyone deserves someone to spend their lives with.
Along with a fantastic, heartwarming, and sometimes crushing love story, this novel is a huge eye opener into the daily lives of people with autism and depression. As someone who has dealt with depression and anxiety myself for a few years now, even reading through Jeremey's struggles and leaps of courage made me cry. I hope everyone on Earth reads this book, so that they at least have a glimpse of what it's like to have someone judge you over something about you that you have no control over. To accept and love everyone for who they are, no matter what their shortcomings.
This book is a reminder that no one has to carry their ocean alone.
What a gem this book is. Unbelievable. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to drop what you're doing right now and read it. I guarantee you you won't be able to put it down, and I know that from experience seeing as how I read the entire thing in twelve hours.
"Everybody needs somebody to love. I'm an everybody. I get a somebody."
There are literally not enough stars in the universe for this one.
A novel like this doesn't come across often for me - one that makes me feel almost every emotion I can possibly think of. It's my favorite romance novel to date and will be now on my list of "best books ever".
To witness the love and struggles of Emmet, an autistic, and Jeremey, a depressive, was beautiful. Favorite couple ever award goes to these two. What an AMAZING way to show that love is love, and everyone deserves someone to spend their lives with.
Along with a fantastic, heartwarming, and sometimes crushing love story, this novel is a huge eye opener into the daily lives of people with autism and depression. As someone who has dealt with depression and anxiety myself for a few years now, even reading through Jeremey's struggles and leaps of courage made me cry. I hope everyone on Earth reads this book, so that they at least have a glimpse of what it's like to have someone judge you over something about you that you have no control over. To accept and love everyone for who they are, no matter what their shortcomings.
"That's my ocean. I have to pretend as best I can to be like people on the mean so people don't call me a robot. I'm not a robot. I'm real and I have feelings the same as everyone else. And I want a boyfriend. Except my ocean doesn't make me want to be dead. It makes me want to fight. I want you to fight too, Jeremey. I want us to carry our oceans together."
This book is a reminder that no one has to carry their ocean alone.
What a gem this book is. Unbelievable. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to drop what you're doing right now and read it. I guarantee you you won't be able to put it down, and I know that from experience seeing as how I read the entire thing in twelve hours.
"Everybody needs somebody to love. I'm an everybody. I get a somebody."
hugo19999's review
4.0
I honestly adore these two together and this book as a whole.
I appreciate that this isn't just flowers and butterflies, we get an insight on how autism and anxiety and depression or just disabilities on people took a tool on people lives on how to deal with it.
I resonate with Jeremey the most since I have social anxiety almost as severe as his. I literally freak out when I see a group of people on the street when I have to walk past them its just really a fucking struggle and I just hope that maybe someday it'll get fix but maybe it won't and that's okay.
I appreciate that this isn't just flowers and butterflies, we get an insight on how autism and anxiety and depression or just disabilities on people took a tool on people lives on how to deal with it.
I resonate with Jeremey the most since I have social anxiety almost as severe as his. I literally freak out when I see a group of people on the street when I have to walk past them its just really a fucking struggle and I just hope that maybe someday it'll get fix but maybe it won't and that's okay.
lessthelonely's review
2.0
I'm going to be real: I misjudged this book.
I thought it was going to be an insta romance with a very poor description of disabilities. Instead, I got an insta romance with some nice description of disabilities.
In terms of main characters I enjoyed Jeremy's chapters more mostly because Emmett's had a little bit of a flow issue (which was obviously intended because of his autism, yet it still affected me a little bit) but I enjoyed it too as I did enjoy Emmett quite a lot too. This book is full of heartfelt moments regarding disabilities, especially with Jeremy's family and their inability to deal with Jeremy's depression. My main problems with this book arise from the way the romance is intertwined with the book's main plot issue: the main characters' disabilities.
I 100% understand that when you have a romance book you need to have heartfelt moments between your characters, as in you need them to say I love you, to share the first kiss, to have sex (if it's age-appropriate, obviously), but Jeremy's posture did not match his issues, since he kept referring to Emmet as medicine. Yes, it's addressed this isn't the case, by a character who is a doctor even, but the trend keeps going after it, and that didn't strike me well.
Also… If a romance has over 300 pages and they kiss before the middle point, I don't see where's the appeal of the romance even. Waiting, pining, comedy… It could have had it all. Even rolling in the deep, but most relationship criteria are met before the first-ever serious moment in the plot, so this last thing can actually progress.
Jeremy's attempted suicide… was treated as an obvious plot point. And it wasn't dealt with that well except it fully went for the shock value and the cheap cliffhanger, though both of them did land for me and kept me reading. That's just good writing, but it's not a good thing in terms of representation, I believed.
Emmet… He was a good main character, a flawed one even that tried to better himself with every mistake, but the last part of the book was literally unbearable. Jealousy sucks, yeah, but to go on and throw punches at people? And then disregarding it as easy as having the punched guy saying he had it coming? I applaud the author for most of the book but introducing a third potential main character for the sole purpose of plot fuel was this book's biggest fault, as was its insta romance.
The very first line already goes as far as making it very clear Emmet likes Jeremy. Not much goes by he's already saying he wants to be his boyfriend. Purely based on looks, mind y'all. Also, the sex scenes read really uncomfortably to me, as a gay guy reading them.
This was a pretty cover, mostly. But I did enjoy learning more about disabilities, which is why giving the book 2 stars instead of one. Do check the trigger warnings if you want to read this book.
I thought it was going to be an insta romance with a very poor description of disabilities. Instead, I got an insta romance with some nice description of disabilities.
In terms of main characters I enjoyed Jeremy's chapters more mostly because Emmett's had a little bit of a flow issue (which was obviously intended because of his autism, yet it still affected me a little bit) but I enjoyed it too as I did enjoy Emmett quite a lot too. This book is full of heartfelt moments regarding disabilities, especially with Jeremy's family and their inability to deal with Jeremy's depression. My main problems with this book arise from the way the romance is intertwined with the book's main plot issue: the main characters' disabilities.
I 100% understand that when you have a romance book you need to have heartfelt moments between your characters, as in you need them to say I love you, to share the first kiss, to have sex (if it's age-appropriate, obviously), but Jeremy's posture did not match his issues, since he kept referring to Emmet as medicine. Yes, it's addressed this isn't the case, by a character who is a doctor even, but the trend keeps going after it, and that didn't strike me well.
Also… If a romance has over 300 pages and they kiss before the middle point, I don't see where's the appeal of the romance even. Waiting, pining, comedy… It could have had it all. Even rolling in the deep, but most relationship criteria are met before the first-ever serious moment in the plot, so this last thing can actually progress.
Jeremy's attempted suicide… was treated as an obvious plot point. And it wasn't dealt with that well except it fully went for the shock value and the cheap cliffhanger, though both of them did land for me and kept me reading. That's just good writing, but it's not a good thing in terms of representation, I believed.
Emmet… He was a good main character, a flawed one even that tried to better himself with every mistake, but the last part of the book was literally unbearable. Jealousy sucks, yeah, but to go on and throw punches at people? And then disregarding it as easy as having the punched guy saying he had it coming? I applaud the author for most of the book but introducing a third potential main character for the sole purpose of plot fuel was this book's biggest fault, as was its insta romance.
The very first line already goes as far as making it very clear Emmet likes Jeremy. Not much goes by he's already saying he wants to be his boyfriend. Purely based on looks, mind y'all. Also, the sex scenes read really uncomfortably to me, as a gay guy reading them.
This was a pretty cover, mostly. But I did enjoy learning more about disabilities, which is why giving the book 2 stars instead of one. Do check the trigger warnings if you want to read this book.
papercranestitches's review
5.0
When I was in teachers college, the instructor of my Introduction to Special Education course arranged for a guest speaker to come into our class for a presentation. This woman was the mother of not one, but two children with autism spectrum disorder. I remember that this mother gave a very informative and moving presentation, but the nugget that I'll always carry with me from that day was this: her children have autism; they are not autistic.
To anyone else, this might seem like a case of semantics, but to her, this was everything. Her children were not defined by their disorder. Yes, it was a part of who they were, but not all of it. Not by a long shot.
That's really what this story was about - two wonderfully complex characters, one of whom just happens to have autism, the other clinical depression. It's about how they meet, how they fall in love, and how they see, interpret, and interact with the world. And it's really something special.
To anyone else, this might seem like a case of semantics, but to her, this was everything. Her children were not defined by their disorder. Yes, it was a part of who they were, but not all of it. Not by a long shot.
That's really what this story was about - two wonderfully complex characters, one of whom just happens to have autism, the other clinical depression. It's about how they meet, how they fall in love, and how they see, interpret, and interact with the world. And it's really something special.
jasmine63099's review
5.0
This book was absolutely amazing. Throughout the book, I was either smiling really big at how cute the couple was or crying because of all the hardship they had to face. I can't really put into words how good this book was and how happy it made me feel. I read this book in one whole sitting, not being able to take my eyes away.
henriquesantsper's review
4.0
It's very inspiring to learn how 'normal' is boring and that there's no such thing. It was very enlightening to get to know characters who are so relatable. BRAVO!
bfdbookblog's review
4.0
I’m a little late to the CtO game…but this is a book that I knew I had to be in the right frame of mind to read, and I was right. This is a hard book to read for anyone but especially for someone who suffers a mental health issue and has a child on the spectrum. This is a good book. Ms. Cullinan has either personally experienced both Autism and Depression/Anxiety or she has done extensive research. And while I think the story is good, I do agree with a few reviewers that this reads almost like a research paper/self-help guide and the author was a bit ‘preachy’/’soapboxy’ at times.
There are several things going on at once:
• Emmet’s autism
• Jeremey’s depression & anxiety
• Emmet maturing and wanting his independence, a boyfriend and a job
• Jeremey attempting to discover what he wants out of life although he knows he wants independence and some sort of direction
• Sexual orientation discrimination and coming out to parents
• Societal discrimination against folks with illness
• Parental issues both good and bad and making these medical conditions worse or holding individuals with the conditions back
• Guilt and anger over injuries & illnesses, etc.
I really liked the first person POV and being in each character’s head.
Emmet is pretty awesome and pretty spot on with other autistic folks I’ve known. I’m impressed with his ability to handle just about any situation and being self-aware enough to know when he couldn’t. His desire for Jeremey as both a friend and lover is endearing. The way he handles David is priceless. I’m proud of his independence and maturity by the end of the book although things fell into place very quickly for him and that seemed rushed compared to how long the rest of the story took.
Jeremey is still a bit of a mess at the end although he seems a bit better. I didn’t really notice too much of a difference in him with the daily medicine, only with the big stuff and then he was pretty much a zombie. He’s still very young but he does have some direction by the end of the story. He seems to be good for Emmet .
Dr. North is awesome and everyone on the spectrum or with a mental health illness needs someone like him.
There are some unanswered questions and incomplete story lines at the end of the book. This appears to be the start of a series but I’m unsure if this will continue the story or involve new characters. I would definitely love more of these two.
There are several things going on at once:
• Emmet’s autism
• Jeremey’s depression & anxiety
• Emmet maturing and wanting his independence, a boyfriend and a job
• Jeremey attempting to discover what he wants out of life although he knows he wants independence and some sort of direction
• Sexual orientation discrimination and coming out to parents
• Societal discrimination against folks with illness
• Parental issues both good and bad and making these medical conditions worse or holding individuals with the conditions back
• Guilt and anger over injuries & illnesses, etc.
I really liked the first person POV and being in each character’s head.
Emmet is pretty awesome and pretty spot on with other autistic folks I’ve known. I’m impressed with his ability to handle just about any situation and being self-aware enough to know when he couldn’t. His desire for Jeremey as both a friend and lover is endearing. The way he handles David is priceless. I’m proud of his independence and maturity by the end of the book although things fell into place very quickly for him and that seemed rushed compared to how long the rest of the story took.
Jeremey is still a bit of a mess at the end although he seems a bit better. I didn’t really notice too much of a difference in him with the daily medicine, only with the big stuff and then he was pretty much a zombie. He’s still very young but he does have some direction by the end of the story. He seems to be good for Emmet .
Dr. North is awesome and everyone on the spectrum or with a mental health illness needs someone like him.
There are some unanswered questions and incomplete story lines at the end of the book. This appears to be the start of a series but I’m unsure if this will continue the story or involve new characters. I would definitely love more of these two.
readingkitten's review
2.0
This didn't work for me as a romance, because the characters seemed so young and awkward. The graphic scenes weirded me out. Maybe I would've enjoyed it better as a YA novel or just a friendship.
ilyarozanov123's review
3.0
2.5, rounded up. I quite liked this. I had my doubts sometimes, but the overall feeling was a good one. I really didn’t like Jeremey’s parents, but the other characters were good. The trio of Emmet, Jeremey, and David was my favorite. I don’t think I’ll be reading the second book though, at least not right now.