xiphactinusfish's review
0.25
This was foul. Autism is NOT A PLOT TWIST. The fact that this ableist fuckery got published is horrifying. Read something by an actually autistic author instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Ableismtombs's review against another edition
fast-paced
1.0
Some very mixed feelings about this book. Fantastic art that increased my rating. I bought the book because I read they had a autist protagonist. Autistic myself, I rarely find comics with autistic characters being the hero of their own story.
But as I kept reading this book I started to wonder when what I heard about it would kick in…
…And then it turns out the story is “what if this nonverbal girl is verbal and ‘’normal’’ in her mind”. And then the outro text talk… Well, I’m just disappointed.
But as I kept reading this book I started to wonder when what I heard about it would kick in…
…And then it turns out the story is “what if this nonverbal girl is verbal and ‘’normal’’ in her mind”. And then the outro text talk… Well, I’m just disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
carleesi's review
0.5
About 3/4 of the way through, I almost DNFed this because the plot was so confusing and the characters did not have depth and acted like we understood a bunch of dynamics that hadn’t been established. But I thought back to the prologue and pushed through because I thought something cool would be coming.
Instead. Wow. The author explicitly says he doesn’t want to write a story about himself as a parent of a child with autism and instead… assumes what it must be like to have autism? And constructs it as something to overcome, with a very weird binary about autism vs the world that won’t allow Adora to be autistic and happy. Just so much ableism in that ending.
Instead. Wow. The author explicitly says he doesn’t want to write a story about himself as a parent of a child with autism and instead… assumes what it must be like to have autism? And constructs it as something to overcome, with a very weird binary about autism vs the world that won’t allow Adora to be autistic and happy. Just so much ableism in that ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
ellornaslibrary's review
fast-paced
1.0
This isn’t inspirational, it’s problematic.
Honestly, I’m not even sure where to begin except to first say that if I read another review that uses the words inspirational or inspiring when describing this book, I might actually gag. While I am not autistic, I am disabled and this book is 100% an example of inspirational rhetoric. It's terrible and wrong, and certain communities are tired of seeing it pushed especially by people who have children that are considered part of those communities. I know autistic people, and have interacted in their communities, which is why I felt rage when I got to the end of this book. Autism is not something to be gotten through anymore than a disability is something to be overcome. And it most definitely is not a plot twist! That doesn’t even start to touch how awful the conversation is these adults are having while discussing this child.
Even before I got to the terrible reveal, I had almost DNFed this book cause the writing and plot wasn't good. It was rushed, there wasn’t any reaction to reveals like the character’s closest companion betraying her, they just moved on from character deaths like it was no big deal or made contradictory claims like acting upset people might die while going on about how people are going to die when others got upset as if they were being unreasonable, etc. but I’m glad I finished. Now I can tell people how awful this book is so they don’t read it to children - especially autistic children. There are better books out there for children regarding autism that aren’t insulting to autistic people. Some are even written by people who are actually autistic. I recommend checking those out instead.
Honestly, I’m not even sure where to begin except to first say that if I read another review that uses the words inspirational or inspiring when describing this book, I might actually gag. While I am not autistic, I am disabled and this book is 100% an example of inspirational rhetoric. It's terrible and wrong, and certain communities are tired of seeing it pushed especially by people who have children that are considered part of those communities. I know autistic people, and have interacted in their communities, which is why I felt rage when I got to the end of this book. Autism is not something to be gotten through anymore than a disability is something to be overcome. And it most definitely is not a plot twist! That doesn’t even start to touch how awful the conversation is these adults are having while discussing this child.
Even before I got to the terrible reveal, I had almost DNFed this book cause the writing and plot wasn't good. It was rushed, there wasn’t any reaction to reveals like the character’s closest companion betraying her, they just moved on from character deaths like it was no big deal or made contradictory claims like acting upset people might die while going on about how people are going to die when others got upset as if they were being unreasonable, etc. but I’m glad I finished. Now I can tell people how awful this book is so they don’t read it to children - especially autistic children. There are better books out there for children regarding autism that aren’t insulting to autistic people. Some are even written by people who are actually autistic. I recommend checking those out instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Medical content
Moderate: Death
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