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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Super interesting to read a book in the perspective of someone who has autism. Cool facts about astrology, and pretty insightful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
i posted a review earlier, contemplated it for a bit, bitched to a friend, and ultimately realised i need to redo it. so let's try this again.
what i liked:
the writing style/pov. i absolutely understand this is something others may find grating, and i will admit i did at times. but i liked it overall, and i personally found it a fantastic portal in which to see through christopher's eyes in a more intimate fashion. it helps you see things the exact way he does, whether you like it or want it or not, and i think that's important and a wonderful thing to have if you find you can tolerate it.
christopher's mother. she's the only character i liked, if we're being honest. she acknowledges her errors, acknowledges that perhaps he's better off with her at a distance and, rather than remaining with them to fit the mould of a "proper" wife/mother/woman, she goes to live elsewhere. but she attempts to maintain contact and seems to have been doing much better in this position than she was before.
what i didn't like:
everything and everyone else, essentially. i found his father to be a very grating, selfish man. i did agree with some of his choices, and i could tell he genuinely loves christopher too, but deciding to tell him that his mother is dead is simply bullshit. whether christopher would have been able to understand the truth or not, i don't know, though he seemed to do well enough after learning the truth. granted, perhaps this was fueled by fear and anger towards his father, but there seemed to be little to no issues with him grasping the truth. the issues seemed to rest with his father having lied and kept such an important thing from him.
as for christopher himself, the friend mentioned above described him as a "neckbeard", and i absolutely could not agree more. he's nothing more than a spoilt, coddled brat who seems to believe the world should bend to him, else he'll at the least make a noise like a barking dog, and at the most quite possibly shank someone. no lie, i was waiting for him to actually stab someone throughout the second half of the book. i get that he was in a scary, unfamiliar situation, but c'mon. it's pretty evident he hasn't been taught any skills or techniques/methods of coping with such things, and instead has more or less been placed on a pedestal and allowed to believe everything revolves around him. he hasn't been taught how to actually live in the world as best as he's able, but he's basically been sheltered from every possible thing. that's no way to be.
the mystery of who killed wellington, which is what this book was supposedly about, is "solved" around the end of the first half. the rest of the book turns into a family drama, essentially. everything with the dog was wrapped up in a neat little bow so christopher could go off and re-insert himself into his mother's life in closer proximity. i noted one reviewer state they felt he just ended up fucking up her life and mr. shears' life as well, and to be quite honest, i agree. she left for a reason (for many reasons, really), she seemed to be doing well, but the he had to come barreling back in. and...what? we're supposed to find this cute or heartwarming or something like that? i certainly don't.
1/5 stars, which still feels a bit generous.
*** i don't truly know when i began reading this. it was most likely well before january, but this shouldn't reflect too heavily on the book itself. i did have to take breaks from it, both short and long, due to finding the writing style exhausting at times, but it was majorly due to outside conflicts. if i had to estimate, i'd say it would normally take me around 2-3 weeks to read this particular book.
what i liked:
the writing style/pov. i absolutely understand this is something others may find grating, and i will admit i did at times. but i liked it overall, and i personally found it a fantastic portal in which to see through christopher's eyes in a more intimate fashion. it helps you see things the exact way he does, whether you like it or want it or not, and i think that's important and a wonderful thing to have if you find you can tolerate it.
christopher's mother. she's the only character i liked, if we're being honest. she acknowledges her errors, acknowledges that perhaps he's better off with her at a distance and, rather than remaining with them to fit the mould of a "proper" wife/mother/woman, she goes to live elsewhere. but she attempts to maintain contact and seems to have been doing much better in this position than she was before.
what i didn't like:
everything and everyone else, essentially. i found his father to be a very grating, selfish man. i did agree with some of his choices, and i could tell he genuinely loves christopher too, but deciding to tell him that his mother is dead is simply bullshit. whether christopher would have been able to understand the truth or not, i don't know, though he seemed to do well enough after learning the truth. granted, perhaps this was fueled by fear and anger towards his father, but there seemed to be little to no issues with him grasping the truth. the issues seemed to rest with his father having lied and kept such an important thing from him.
as for christopher himself, the friend mentioned above described him as a "neckbeard", and i absolutely could not agree more. he's nothing more than a spoilt, coddled brat who seems to believe the world should bend to him, else he'll at the least make a noise like a barking dog, and at the most quite possibly shank someone. no lie, i was waiting for him to actually stab someone throughout the second half of the book. i get that he was in a scary, unfamiliar situation, but c'mon. it's pretty evident he hasn't been taught any skills or techniques/methods of coping with such things, and instead has more or less been placed on a pedestal and allowed to believe everything revolves around him. he hasn't been taught how to actually live in the world as best as he's able, but he's basically been sheltered from every possible thing. that's no way to be.
the mystery of who killed wellington, which is what this book was supposedly about, is "solved" around the end of the first half. the rest of the book turns into a family drama, essentially. everything with the dog was wrapped up in a neat little bow so christopher could go off and re-insert himself into his mother's life in closer proximity. i noted one reviewer state they felt he just ended up fucking up her life and mr. shears' life as well, and to be quite honest, i agree. she left for a reason (for many reasons, really), she seemed to be doing well, but the he had to come barreling back in. and...what? we're supposed to find this cute or heartwarming or something like that? i certainly don't.
1/5 stars, which still feels a bit generous.
*** i don't truly know when i began reading this. it was most likely well before january, but this shouldn't reflect too heavily on the book itself. i did have to take breaks from it, both short and long, due to finding the writing style exhausting at times, but it was majorly due to outside conflicts. if i had to estimate, i'd say it would normally take me around 2-3 weeks to read this particular book.
I really did not enjoy this book. The only reason I’m giving it three stars is because to the best of my knowledge it was a pretty okay portrayal of autism. Other than that I think it was a crappy book. It was really boring and I couldn’t wait for it to just be over. I had no emotional attachment to any of the characters and they all seemed pretty flat. I was actually excited to read it going into it. What a let down and waste of time.
emotional
funny
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character