Reviews tagging 'Ableism'
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
98 reviews
meetmeinthebookstore's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Animal death
Moderate: Death of parent
riverdec_567's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism
katlouisee's review against another edition
I don't think this book was for me. I found it hard to imagine Christopher as a fifteen-year-old as his tone is kind of juvenile (the narrator of the audio version I was listening to was apparently 12 too, which probably didn't help suspend my disbelief) and his info-dump delivery was often quite overwhelming to me. I am not autistic, however, so I assumed this was maybe my lack of understanding about what might be a neurodivergent way of thinking and narrating special interests, social difficulties, etc. Only to find out that the author admits to having done "no research" on autism for this book (Haddon on his own blog) and isn't autistic himself. I'm down to give autistic-POV another go but will seek out autistic authors for this because the parts of the book that seemed like stereotypes evidently were and that was really disappointing. I've had a peek at some spoilers and unfortunately I really don't care enough about the rest of the plot to push through on this one, so am moving on to something else.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Child abuse
midsummernoodle's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I don’t really understand why this book is so popular. The author didn’t do research about autism before he wrote the book and it shows. It was fun for a while, but it felt a lot more like a stereotypical portrayal of neurodivergence and not a very realistic one. And having nearly every adult in the book be inflexible and ableist/cruel to him during his meltdowns was not a fun read. Just my two cents as someone with ASD. This book might be more fun for others.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, and Vomit
jcinf's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Being autistic myself, I searched Reddit forums for books with autistic main characters. That’s where this book came recommended.
I’m glad I read it because it touched me to read about a character so similar to me. The overstimulation, hyperfixations, looking for order in a chaotic world, safe foods, significant stress when plans change (or when there is no plan). So much of Christopher was so similar to me. It was a gift to see myself represented.
In terms of pace, the first 2/3 was pretty fast pace, and last 1/3 was a little slower. That said, I did feel like the ending was quite abrupt. I thought I had two more pages left, but it was just the appendix. So once I read the ending, it seemed too quick. I don’t mind the ending itself — as in the resolution. But I do think the resolution could’ve used 4-8 more pages perhaps.
If you’re looking for a fast read, especially one with a neurodivergent main character, I’d recommend this one.
I’m glad I read it because it touched me to read about a character so similar to me. The overstimulation, hyperfixations, looking for order in a chaotic world, safe foods, significant stress when plans change (or when there is no plan). So much of Christopher was so similar to me. It was a gift to see myself represented.
In terms of pace, the first 2/3 was pretty fast pace, and last 1/3 was a little slower. That said, I did feel like the ending was quite abrupt. I thought I had two more pages left, but it was just the appendix. So once I read the ending, it seemed too quick. I don’t mind the ending itself — as in the resolution. But I do think the resolution could’ve used 4-8 more pages perhaps.
If you’re looking for a fast read, especially one with a neurodivergent main character, I’d recommend this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Animal death and Toxic relationship
chrisljm's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
not a mystery, just mostly about how shitty christopher’s parents are
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Infidelity, Excrement, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Ableism, Death, Blood, and Cursing
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment
samburkhouse's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Violence
Minor: Alcohol
daybreakreads's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I would describe it as “cute”. I listened to the audiobook, but I know the physical book has illustrations that might have made it more endearing. I was looking for something similar to The Maid by Nita Prose or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine in the sense that I love socially awkward narrators. In comparison, the narrator here feels much less well-rounded and developed and more of a stereotype of autism rather than a real person. It was still cute and endearing, but it was hard to feel real connection or empathy to a one-sided character. There isn’t a lot of plot; it’s mainly focused on showing how the narrator sees the world and interacts with it so much differently than the rest of us. It’s just hard to enjoy that kind of book when the narrator is hard to love. Ending was a bit cute but that’s it really.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
assimilate's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
1.0
Read if you love insulting "neurodivergent" representation written by an NT who, self-admittedly, did zero research on neurodivergency. If I didn't naively choose this book for a reading assignment, I would not have finished this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism