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Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton
6 reviews
emalderwood's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.5
Another fun read in this series! Also loved getting some autistic rep from Alice.
Alice's sensory experiences and overwhelm I felt were well handled and realistic, including how she herself felt about them. Her autistic traits were kept mostly consistent through the book and went deeper than stereotypes - her autism was a part of what made her, her but she encompassed more beyond the symptom checklist and had her own unique coping mechanisms that allowed her individuality to shine. She also experienced difficulty, and shame, and pain from how her autism impacts her. I really appreciated how that was handled. Alice's hurt and reflections on who she is vs who her many masks are made me feel seen.
I did feel that Alice's lack of awareness around idiom and subtleties of conversation weren't entirely consistent with her character, though. I appreciated her not picking up on all of them or interpreting them incorrectly or just not noticing when someone was speaking with double meaning. What I wasn't as much a fan of was how that was the case in every situation. I felt that as an intelligent spy, who supposedly has spent so long masking and pretending to be someone else undercover, that she would at least have studied and learned the real meaning of some of the idioms and euphemisms people were using. Even if she still forgot or had to take a minute to figure it out, or got it wrong sometimes, it wouldn't have felt it so at odds with how she's had to adapt over her life and mask.
Overall a great read and I absolutely adored Alice. I could tell the author took her time trying to do her justice.
Alice's sensory experiences and overwhelm I felt were well handled and realistic, including how she herself felt about them. Her autistic traits were kept mostly consistent through the book and went deeper than stereotypes - her autism was a part of what made her, her but she encompassed more beyond the symptom checklist and had her own unique coping mechanisms that allowed her individuality to shine. She also experienced difficulty, and shame, and pain from how her autism impacts her. I really appreciated how that was handled. Alice's hurt and reflections on who she is vs who her many masks are made me feel seen.
I did feel that Alice's lack of awareness around idiom and subtleties of conversation weren't entirely consistent with her character, though. I appreciated her not picking up on all of them or interpreting them incorrectly or just not noticing when someone was speaking with double meaning. What I wasn't as much a fan of was how that was the case in every situation. I felt that as an intelligent spy, who supposedly has spent so long masking and pretending to be someone else undercover, that she would at least have studied and learned the real meaning of some of the idioms and euphemisms people were using. Even if she still forgot or had to take a minute to figure it out, or got it wrong sometimes, it wouldn't have felt it so at odds with how she's had to adapt over her life and mask.
Overall a great read and I absolutely adored Alice. I could tell the author took her time trying to do her justice.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Bullying, and Child abuse
erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This third book in the Dangerous Damsels collection has a lot more going for it than the previous titles, though your mileage may vary. Personally I am in love with it because I finally feel represented in a romance story.
As in previous books the action focuses around the pirates, who dress big, and use magic to fly around in houses, (avoiding sun and freckles), and with gallant rumbistification (a word coined by a different Kiwi author so I'm sticking to it), witches who don't exist and while not doing so use magic to move objects around and artfully assault any who would come into conflict with them. Add to this Her Majesty's spies, a.. downstairs network of handmaids, butlers and sundry help in deep cover attempting to keep the other two factions away from each other while protecting the interests of The Crown.
While the other 2 books were, nerdy, bookish, sex-positive, and loaded with Jane Austen-like verbal jousting, a new element is introduced in the narrative - that of hyper-literal Autism. When a couple of your main characters are being baffled by deft social-maneuvering and would rather slip off into a quiet room and read some poetry, all of a sudden this storytelling becomes entirely relatable.
OOof, this book made me catch feels. When your two main characters are Autistic, and kept under thumb by a manipulative organisation that praises them for being gifted and efficient, while gaslighting them and encouraging them lean into their tendency to ignore their emotions, this all gets a little DARK. Traumatised orphans, trained to excellence, trained to follow rules and orders, punished into compliance, and thus developing idiosyncratic coping strategies... is all a bit close to home.
As far as romance and sexytimes is concerned these two are so marvellous. They are very broken by their previous experiences, but start their navigation of each other by co-regulating, making each other feel safe, discussing their needs and expectations beforehand, identifying their triggers and sensory differences, and trying to get the hang of how their own feelings work. It's a work of art, and I loved the journey. Very saucy.. and neuro-spicy.
Again, your mileage may vary, but I am the target audience.
As in previous books the action focuses around the pirates, who dress big, and use magic to fly around in houses, (avoiding sun and freckles), and with gallant rumbistification (a word coined by a different Kiwi author so I'm sticking to it), witches who don't exist and while not doing so use magic to move objects around and artfully assault any who would come into conflict with them. Add to this Her Majesty's spies, a.. downstairs network of handmaids, butlers and sundry help in deep cover attempting to keep the other two factions away from each other while protecting the interests of The Crown.
While the other 2 books were, nerdy, bookish, sex-positive, and loaded with Jane Austen-like verbal jousting, a new element is introduced in the narrative - that of hyper-literal Autism. When a couple of your main characters are being baffled by deft social-maneuvering and would rather slip off into a quiet room and read some poetry, all of a sudden this storytelling becomes entirely relatable.
OOof, this book made me catch feels. When your two main characters are Autistic, and kept under thumb by a manipulative organisation that praises them for being gifted and efficient, while gaslighting them and encouraging them lean into their tendency to ignore their emotions, this all gets a little DARK. Traumatised orphans, trained to excellence, trained to follow rules and orders, punished into compliance, and thus developing idiosyncratic coping strategies... is all a bit close to home.
As far as romance and sexytimes is concerned these two are so marvellous. They are very broken by their previous experiences, but start their navigation of each other by co-regulating, making each other feel safe, discussing their needs and expectations beforehand, identifying their triggers and sensory differences, and trying to get the hang of how their own feelings work. It's a work of art, and I loved the journey. Very saucy.. and neuro-spicy.
Again, your mileage may vary, but I am the target audience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Injury/Injury detail
kendal_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Ableism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse
Minor: Death and Pregnancy
nic3's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really enjoyed the autistic representation, the world building and characters. The writing was witty without self consciousness and the plot was compelling. The setting and tone really reminded me a Gail Carriger's books
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
aseel_reads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was less silly than the others but at the same time, darker themes were hinted at but not touched so it was still a light-hearted read. I'm reading these characters as Autistic coded and that's that.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders
purplepenning's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
"You are a professional."
"Yes, ma'am," Alice said.
"You would never behave in a manner contrary to the agency's Code of Conduct."
"No, ma'am."
"Because this is a thriller, not a romance, isn't that so, Agent A?"
"Yes, ma'am."
The final thrillingly fantastical romantic farce in India Holton's Dangerous Damsels series is even more packed with literary (mis)quotes, (mis)adventures, and innuendo. And this time with two book-nerd protagonists — Alice (Agent A) and Bixby (Agent B) — who steal our hearts and have us instantly under the spells as if they were born to piracy or witchcraft instead of the secret service.
“Reading is not a hobby,” she said. “It is a way of life.” He was silent a moment as he considered this, then he nodded in agreement."
Alice and Bixby, two orphans who were (mis)educated and molded into top agents, are clearly the heart of this story, but readers of the series will be happy to find that Cecilia and Ned, Charlotte and Alex, and the elderly piratical matriarchs all have significant roles here at the end — and at the end of the end in a surprisingly touching epilogue that champions female friendship and found family.
It's the middle of the story that lags a bit for me. Alice and Bixby's undercover attempts to find a weapon at a house party of pirates drags on a bit long for my tastes, though there are plenty of pirate shenanigans and (un)veiled sexual tension to keep most readers happy.
Besides Alice and Bixby's relationship (superb), the good-natured lampooning of the literary (always amusing), and the incorporation of past characters, the rambunctiously intelligent writing voice is what makes me a fan of these books. The Secret Service of Tea and Treason reaches Terry-Pratchett-levels of a sort of anthropocentric metaphoring that I never cease to find blazingly brilliant and absurdly amusing.
His brain ran around shouting urgent orders and waving red flags, trying to forestall an eruption of emotion he absolutely could not afford... And his heart, sighing in defeat, packed up all its wild and hungry longings and went to hide under a blanket.
Daniel and Alice exchanged a glance that didn't know whether to be amused or anxious, but that mostly wished it could go sit in a corner somewhere and read a book.
A laugh sounded... It was dry, brief; the kind of laugh that has eyes in the back of its head and just knows when you're about to do something stupid.
As the silence lengthened, growing heavy with overtones, undertones, and implications, the air between them blushed, made up an excuse, and departed the room in awkward haste.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence
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