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Reviews tagging 'Sexism'
Different, Not Less: A Neurodivergent's Guide to Embracing Your True Self and Finding Your Happily Ever After by Chloé Hayden
3 reviews
clovetra's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
2.0
i need to preface this entire review by saying i love chloe hayden!!! ive been following her online since 2020, and i adore what shes done for the autistic community & in general her attitude to life!!! i also need to note that i am also autistic, so my experience reading this book may be vastly different to someone neurotypical reading this book, but obv i don't speak for other autistics' opinion on this book.
now, i wish i could say i liked this more.
2 stars seems incredibly harsh but it feels a bit wrong for me to bump it up a star as i didn't enjoy reading this if im honest, it began to feel like a chore. and i think that might be due to the fact im autistic.
i found this book to be quite educational, and honestly, this is my bad but i thought this was moreso a memoir rather than a self-help book, so my expectations were shot going into this ill admit. but i don't know hearing about how shit my life and the lives of other autistics' are was upsetting! i don't say this as a bad thing, i say this purely to explain my rating.
i think this was a beautiful book and honestly i would recommend this to everyone i know ever. but, for me it was not a good fit, a) because i know a lot about autism simply because psychology is my special interest, and b) it made me feel bad for myself? i don't doubt this was NOT hayden's intention, but seeing her succeed in life kinda idk.... made me sad i didn't get any support for my autism as a kid! sure maybe i masked too much so i fell through the cracks, but i kind of felt like "oh, this is what my life could've been like if i got support! yeah sure i'd still be autistic but hey at least i would be able to cope better and idk experience more of life" whilst reading this. i wouldn't even call it jealousy or envy, i would say it was eye-opening in ways i wish it wasn't.
this review is nothing negative on hayden's book. i love chloe and she could do (almost) no wrong in my eyes. she is my aspiration in life. but i don't know this book put a lot in perspective for me that kind of made me depressed.
also, this is solely because im a dumbass, but i went in expecting more memoir aspects, and i was disappointed it was more a self-help book. like when chloe was talking about her experience at the titanic museums i was enjoying it quite a lot! i think the self-help aspect caused a lot of introspection i wasn't ready and looking for, which i think is the whole reason my enjoyment level was so low.
yet again i do like this book i just didn't have a good time </3
chloe hayden if you somehow see this i did love this book i am so sorry
now, i wish i could say i liked this more.
2 stars seems incredibly harsh but it feels a bit wrong for me to bump it up a star as i didn't enjoy reading this if im honest, it began to feel like a chore. and i think that might be due to the fact im autistic.
i found this book to be quite educational, and honestly, this is my bad but i thought this was moreso a memoir rather than a self-help book, so my expectations were shot going into this ill admit. but i don't know hearing about how shit my life and the lives of other autistics' are was upsetting! i don't say this as a bad thing, i say this purely to explain my rating.
i think this was a beautiful book and honestly i would recommend this to everyone i know ever. but, for me it was not a good fit, a) because i know a lot about autism simply because psychology is my special interest, and b) it made me feel bad for myself? i don't doubt this was NOT hayden's intention, but seeing her succeed in life kinda idk.... made me sad i didn't get any support for my autism as a kid! sure maybe i masked too much so i fell through the cracks, but i kind of felt like "oh, this is what my life could've been like if i got support! yeah sure i'd still be autistic but hey at least i would be able to cope better and idk experience more of life" whilst reading this. i wouldn't even call it jealousy or envy, i would say it was eye-opening in ways i wish it wasn't.
this review is nothing negative on hayden's book. i love chloe and she could do (almost) no wrong in my eyes. she is my aspiration in life. but i don't know this book put a lot in perspective for me that kind of made me depressed.
also, this is solely because im a dumbass, but i went in expecting more memoir aspects, and i was disappointed it was more a self-help book. like when chloe was talking about her experience at the titanic museums i was enjoying it quite a lot! i think the self-help aspect caused a lot of introspection i wasn't ready and looking for, which i think is the whole reason my enjoyment level was so low.
yet again i do like this book i just didn't have a good time </3
chloe hayden if you somehow see this i did love this book i am so sorry
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Bullying
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Medical content
Minor: Eating disorder
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism and Bullying
Minor: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
visorforavisor's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I don’t know if I’ve ever read anything else that touched me so wonderfully. I read the whole thing within the space of twenty four hours (the first time in a while that I’ve read a book that quickly). It made me feel less insane.
So many things that I’d thought were just me being dramatic, so many things I’d thought everyone dealt with, so many things I’d thought I’d always be alone in: all of these, explained in such beautiful and precise terms that I can’t count the number of times I cried while reading Different, Not Less.
Chloé Hayden describes meltdowns as feeling, for an autistic person, like watching a horror film when the disc is scratched in such a way that you’re just getting the jumpscare over and over. I’ve never felt understood in my meltdowns before. Not on that level. It’s such a perfect description of what I’ve experienced at least weekly (and at times daily) for my entire life, and it gives me hope. A simple description having such a profound effect seems silly, but that’s what this whole book is. It’s just page after page of Chloé Hayden making autistic (and ADHD) readers realise that we aren’t alone.
It’s more profound than not being alone, though. Knowing, intellectually, that there are other autistic people in the world (and even having autistic friends) did not prepare me for the enormous wave of emotion evoked by the passages in this book that frankly and accurately describe aspects of autism so rarely talked about by the wider media because non-autistic people are able to ignore them.
This is by an autistic person, and for autistic people. Both are revolutionary.
Cannot recommend enough, no matter your neurotype.
So many things that I’d thought were just me being dramatic, so many things I’d thought everyone dealt with, so many things I’d thought I’d always be alone in: all of these, explained in such beautiful and precise terms that I can’t count the number of times I cried while reading Different, Not Less.
Chloé Hayden describes meltdowns as feeling, for an autistic person, like watching a horror film when the disc is scratched in such a way that you’re just getting the jumpscare over and over. I’ve never felt understood in my meltdowns before. Not on that level. It’s such a perfect description of what I’ve experienced at least weekly (and at times daily) for my entire life, and it gives me hope. A simple description having such a profound effect seems silly, but that’s what this whole book is. It’s just page after page of Chloé Hayden making autistic (and ADHD) readers realise that we aren’t alone.
It’s more profound than not being alone, though. Knowing, intellectually, that there are other autistic people in the world (and even having autistic friends) did not prepare me for the enormous wave of emotion evoked by the passages in this book that frankly and accurately describe aspects of autism so rarely talked about by the wider media because non-autistic people are able to ignore them.
This is by an autistic person, and for autistic people. Both are revolutionary.
Cannot recommend enough, no matter your neurotype.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Suicide
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