Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Color of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris

2 reviews

bug_lightyear's review against another edition

2.0

An awful book. Why did an author who has no first hand experience in autism choose to write such a story? The main character is an autistic kid who sees colours for sounds and is face blind, and is framing himself as a murderer but nobody believes him. This book has bullying, r-word insults, child abuse and more awful themes, and the autistic kid is mostly a stereotype of being a genius at painting and doing quite bad with social cues, with a dad who doesn't understand his stimming (flapping and rocking to keep up with the stereotypes). He loves parakeets and despite other reviewers hating them I actually missed more heavy infodumping because he clearly has a deep interest in them and knows more than we're told.
The intrigue peaks with more child abuse and a very distressed main character. I got this book for free because the library was giving it away and I was wondering why, well now I understand, it's not a good book especially taken as a book to understand autism or synaesthesia. I was looking forward to reading a possibly relatable book from an autistic point of view, but it's written by someone who did research, and that research falls short from portraying a genuine autistic character. 
I usually avoid these kind of books and themes and should have looked at content warnings before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Gun violence

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Self harm, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Murder, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Vomit, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, and Ableism

betsygrace's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book left me pondering for a while. I LOVED reading a perspective of a neurodivergent character and felt seen from that, but there were elements of the plot that seemed to focus on the MC’s suffering and differences in negative ways. While it is good that the bullying autistic people experience was highlighted, I hated that it was a plot point. Idk, it just made me feel uneasy. I liked Jasper as a character but he was dealt a shitty hand. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Cancer, Rape, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Bullying, Grief, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Adult/minor relationship