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madarauchiha's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-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? Yes
4.75
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
I don't usually read books about autism or those which feature explicitly autistic characters. Mainly because wow, people really hate neurodivergent people. Or they don't, but they get it all wrong which is irritating in its own way. I think this is the first that has shown an autistic character that wasn't demonized or shown to be a sinful burden on their parents / caretakers, or generally treated like a morality lesson for other characters to learn from.
I don't usually read books about autism or those which feature explicitly autistic characters. Mainly because wow, people really hate neurodivergent people. Or they don't, but they get it all wrong which is irritating in its own way. I think this is the first that has shown an autistic character that wasn't demonized or shown to be a sinful burden on their parents / caretakers, or generally treated like a morality lesson for other characters to learn from.
"Though life with Clark was hard—full stop, no negotiation—I knew that life without him would be impossible. I couldn’t even contemplate it."
In this story, Lois loves her son Clark. This is not a selfless fairy tale love, and appreciate that. It gives it depth and make it heartwarming and heartwrenching. Something significant to me is that Lois is also on the spectrum. I like that it acknowledges the hereditary aspect of neurodivergence.
That's not to say there isn't explicit ableism in this book. I know people will see that in the storygraph CW summary, see the plot summary, and reshelve the book. I'd caution against judging by its cover in this circumstance. I'm neurodivergent as well and thought it was handled well enough. The author is white and the characters are white. Don't expect diversity in the form of varying races and cultures. But they do acknowledge that as white characters they are treated differently, with privlege, in regards to their neurodiversity. I think this book portrayed autism very well, insofar as white neurodiversity goes. It doesn't feel cheap or a terrible horror plot trope.
Someone mentioned the cliche and perhaps ableism of having two autistic children being 'chosen' and channeling supernatural entities, which is a horror trope. That is something that comes up in the book, and I feel like the author attempted a subversion of that.
I do question how valid a complaint of having only autistic children being 'chosen channelers'. Simply because introducing additional neurotypical children would bloat the cast. We, perhaps, have such a character with
I love the theme of eyes in the novel, too. How people with autism generally can't handle eye contact for various reasons but the way
Like if you start thinking to hard about it, it's really quite literal and I love that. It's very autistic to me, a ND person, because that's simple how we communicate.
I admit it was a little difficult to read at times. There's plenty of run on sentences that did make it hard for me to follow along. I resorted to using my in app highlight text feature to break up paragraphs that consisted of a single sentence. Or, if one is reading a physical copy, use a ruler or piece of paper to break up the paragraphs.
The generational echo of Lois, her husband, and their son Clark vs Iris, her husband, and their child Hyatt was fantastic. Actually honestly everything about the generational mirroring was so well done.
Lois was able to say 'rip to my predecessors but I'm different' quite literally because she had a social familial net to fall back on.
While Iris had no one literally being abandoned by her family albeit unintentional and then intentional by her caretakers allowing a not quite pedophile to cradlesnatch her the second he was legally able to.
Meanwhile lois's husband loves her as she is as her own person and stands by her no matter what. Albeit with some contradiction because he isn't an endlessly forgiving saint. Like, it's a decent, healthy marriage compared to Iris's!
Lady midday and iris' husband chose Iris. Lois and her husband chose each other and never abandoned her. Tho in a way she did repeatedly abandon her husband and Clark in pursuit of this quest.
Iris was repeatedly chosen and tried to chose in turn.
I don't know, maybe I'm talking out my ass here but I love thinking about this. Oh yeah, this is a great book to reread later on.
Content Warnings
minor Armenian genocide, ableist c slur, child death, christianity, homophobic q slur reclaimed, medical content, religious bigotry, sexual assault, sexual content, suicide, vomit
medium abuse, arson, body horror, child death, cults, demolition, excrement, fire, gore, grief, murder, pedophilia, toxic relationships
major ableism, body horror, child abuse, medical content, pregnancy, stalking
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Stalking
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Genocide, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit
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