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A review by in_the_loop_about_books
Show Us Who You Are by Elle McNicoll
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
2/5 ⭐⭐ Missed Opportunity
Show Us Who You Are centers around 12-year-old Cora Byers, who is autistic. She quickly befriends a boy named Adrien, who has ADHD. Cora also becomes captivated by Pomegranate Institute, a company that uses holograms to recreate real people, allowing them to live forever as AI counterparts. But as Cora digs deeper, she discovers that Pomegranate is hiding a lot of secrets.
When I heard that Elle McNicoll, the author of [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144], wrote another book, I was intrigued to see how this story would unfold and set the standard for future neurodivergent representation in literature. But this book was a disappointment. Let's go over the pros, cons, and autistic representation.
Pros: One of the only things that I can say that I liked about this book is Adrien’s character. He had more personality than Cora did, which is not a good thing because she’s supposed to be the main protagonist! The other thing that I liked about this book was the themes and messages in it. It’s nice to see a book that positively reflects autism and neurodiversity, but in a sense, the messages feel a bit forced. Despite the title of this book being Show Us Who You Are, it does more TELLING than SHOWING, which brings me to some of my problems with this book.
Cons: There were a lot of things that bothered me about this book. One of them is how it's not very descriptive. The writing is very matter-of-fact, but it's not very artful; because of this, scenes that are supposed to be emotional fall flat. So I'm not only having difficulty visualizing what's happening in the story, but I don't have any emotional investment with the characters either. In the first chapter, the book mentioned how Cora didn't like bright lights and loud noises. However, it doesn't describe what those sensory sensations feel like for Cora. All we know is that she doesn't like them. That's it.
Speaking of Cora, she was an underdeveloped character. We don't know much about her, except that her special interest is in journalism. (That only got brought up about two or three times in the book) Cora also had a very "meh" attitude at the beginning of the book. But at the end of the book, her character does a 180, and now being proud of being autistic becomes her personality. The story insists that Cora is "different," yet there aren't many scenes showcasing that.
The last point I'll bring up here is the story's pacing. Some chapters feel like they go on for way too long, while others go by too quickly. The book felt like such a chore to read through, and the worst part was that it wasn't even enjoyable. Some of my other gripes with this book lie in the autistic representation.
The Representation: As an autistic person, I looked forward to seeing how Cora's portrayal would've been handled, considering how wonderful [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144] was. But this was such a letdown. As I've mentioned earlier, Cora's character was underdeveloped. She seemed to be disinterested and indifferent about everything. (Yes, that includes things that are supposed to be her “special interest”) The only thing she DID care about was learning more about Pomegranate in the book.
One thing that makes her portrayal particularly disappointing is that it had an opportunity to touch upon a lot of interesting topics. Cora not only got diagnosed late, but her mom also died afterward. Cora’s family also didn’t talk about her being autistic very much. The book could’ve explored an interesting dynamic between Cora and her family, but it didn’t delve into it at all. It doesn’t say WHY Cora’s family shies away from talking about her autism. It just tells us that her family never mentions it. Based on the way the book talks about Cora’s mom (Or how it doesn’t talk about her), we don’t even feel sadness for the fact she was gone.
[b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144] was so much better than Show Us Who You Are was. Addie’s book was like fillet mignon, while Cora’s book was more like steak that wasn’t seasoned. The story and character development just felt so empty compared to [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144], and considering how the same author wrote this book, that only makes it even more of a letdown. Let’s move on to the conclusion, shall we?
Conclusion: Overall, Show Us Who You Are was one of the books of all time. The writing was mediocre, the character development was lackluster, the themes and messages felt forced, and it was just a huge disappointment. If you liked [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144], you’re probably not going to like this book. The sad thing is that this book could’ve been phenomenal, but it didn’t do it for me. Please consider reading [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144] instead.
Thank you for reading, and God bless!
Show Us Who You Are centers around 12-year-old Cora Byers, who is autistic. She quickly befriends a boy named Adrien, who has ADHD. Cora also becomes captivated by Pomegranate Institute, a company that uses holograms to recreate real people, allowing them to live forever as AI counterparts. But as Cora digs deeper, she discovers that Pomegranate is hiding a lot of secrets.
When I heard that Elle McNicoll, the author of [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144], wrote another book, I was intrigued to see how this story would unfold and set the standard for future neurodivergent representation in literature. But this book was a disappointment. Let's go over the pros, cons, and autistic representation.
Pros: One of the only things that I can say that I liked about this book is Adrien’s character. He had more personality than Cora did, which is not a good thing because she’s supposed to be the main protagonist! The other thing that I liked about this book was the themes and messages in it. It’s nice to see a book that positively reflects autism and neurodiversity, but in a sense, the messages feel a bit forced. Despite the title of this book being Show Us Who You Are, it does more TELLING than SHOWING, which brings me to some of my problems with this book.
Cons: There were a lot of things that bothered me about this book. One of them is how it's not very descriptive. The writing is very matter-of-fact, but it's not very artful; because of this, scenes that are supposed to be emotional fall flat. So I'm not only having difficulty visualizing what's happening in the story, but I don't have any emotional investment with the characters either. In the first chapter, the book mentioned how Cora didn't like bright lights and loud noises. However, it doesn't describe what those sensory sensations feel like for Cora. All we know is that she doesn't like them. That's it.
Speaking of Cora, she was an underdeveloped character. We don't know much about her, except that her special interest is in journalism. (That only got brought up about two or three times in the book) Cora also had a very "meh" attitude at the beginning of the book. But at the end of the book, her character does a 180, and now being proud of being autistic becomes her personality. The story insists that Cora is "different," yet there aren't many scenes showcasing that.
The last point I'll bring up here is the story's pacing. Some chapters feel like they go on for way too long, while others go by too quickly. The book felt like such a chore to read through, and the worst part was that it wasn't even enjoyable. Some of my other gripes with this book lie in the autistic representation.
The Representation: As an autistic person, I looked forward to seeing how Cora's portrayal would've been handled, considering how wonderful [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144] was. But this was such a letdown. As I've mentioned earlier, Cora's character was underdeveloped. She seemed to be disinterested and indifferent about everything. (Yes, that includes things that are supposed to be her “special interest”) The only thing she DID care about was learning more about Pomegranate in the book.
One thing that makes her portrayal particularly disappointing is that it had an opportunity to touch upon a lot of interesting topics. Cora not only got diagnosed late, but her mom also died afterward. Cora’s family also didn’t talk about her being autistic very much. The book could’ve explored an interesting dynamic between Cora and her family, but it didn’t delve into it at all. It doesn’t say WHY Cora’s family shies away from talking about her autism. It just tells us that her family never mentions it. Based on the way the book talks about Cora’s mom (Or how it doesn’t talk about her), we don’t even feel sadness for the fact she was gone.
[b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144] was so much better than Show Us Who You Are was. Addie’s book was like fillet mignon, while Cora’s book was more like steak that wasn’t seasoned. The story and character development just felt so empty compared to [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144], and considering how the same author wrote this book, that only makes it even more of a letdown. Let’s move on to the conclusion, shall we?
Conclusion: Overall, Show Us Who You Are was one of the books of all time. The writing was mediocre, the character development was lackluster, the themes and messages felt forced, and it was just a huge disappointment. If you liked [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144], you’re probably not going to like this book. The sad thing is that this book could’ve been phenomenal, but it didn’t do it for me. Please consider reading [b:A Kind of Spark|51256288|A Kind of Spark|Elle McNicoll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581691019l/51256288._SY75_.jpg|75985144] instead.
Thank you for reading, and God bless!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent
Minor: Grief