This is going to be my new personal recommendation for people looking for nonfiction books on autism!

I remember seeing this book around when it came out and I added it to my TBR immediately. It wasn’t until I watched an autistic tiktok compilation with so many people praising and recommending it that I actually picked it up. I’m glad I did!

I had to write my review on it as soon as I finished listening to it. It’s been so long since I finished a book this fast; granted, I was listening to it on 2x, but it was still very enjoyable and informative. I can now understand the praise it got from the community and I agree — it’s definitely worth a read/listen.

I had some expectations, I’m not going to lie; I did pick this up because of all the praise, so I was expecting something good. I’ll be honest, though, I wasn’t expecting something this good! I have this problem with nonfiction, that I usually can’t get into it after some pages — I tend to get bored of it. It did not happen with this one! There was no filler and although some information overlapped, it never felt unnecessary.

Wait, I’m done already? — this is what I thought at the end of it; seriously, it was way too quick.

I usually don’t read or listen to nonfiction and I’m pretty picky with my choices. I’m glad it did not disappoint.

I think what made this book so good is the way it takes a subject like autism and expands on it — taking into consideration a percentage of autistic people who are either undiagnosed, high-masking, or a mix of autistic and black/queer/trans/etc.. As an autistic AAA battery (agender, aromantic and asexual), I’m glad my existence was approached in a respectful and interesting way!

Besides, it is also written in a professional but easy-to-understand way, which I can certainly appreciate.

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°★.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°★.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°★.。.:*・

Basically, this is a great book: easy to understand writing, an inclusive approach and a fantastic topic to explore.

I’ll totally recommend this one to you if you are interesting in knowing more about autism and how it might manifest in those who mask.

This book changed my view of myself as an autistic person, honestly. If you care even a bit for this topic or you have people in your life who are autistic or even neurodivergent, please give it a chance!

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to more books from Price!

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alisazhup's review

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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xarsonx's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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kateellis00's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.25

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katharina90's review against another edition

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hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

A really wonderful resource that I imagine is super validating and affirming for folks on the spectrum. Lots of great exercises.

I really appreciated the suggestions on how to make public spaces more sensory-friendly and how to make our world more accessible in general.

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bookedbymadeline's review

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

I Feel so incredibly seen and understand! So many memories from childhood and adolescence have come flooding in and they make sense now. It’s like putting everything into a new perspective where I’m realizing “it wasn’t my fault, I was never the problem!” 😭

I’ve cried so much from finally feeling understood and knowing what was “wrong” my whole life-

The amount of times I gasped and said “wait I’m not the only one who felt like this/experienced this/does this”

So helpful in my journey, and incredibly validating since starting to look into diagnosis.

It’s been ups and downs of “I can’t possibly have autism” to “maybe I am autistic? hmm I’m relating a little too well to some of these things” to “let’s take a test” “well after many tests I think I’m definitely autistic” to “nah I’m probably faking it…nope def autistic“

It’s been a long and difficult process of accepting this new part of myself (even though I’ve been autistic all along it’s a lot to take in). It’s saddening to realize how much of what I was bullied for growing up was because of my autistic traits but I have hope I can learn to unmask and learn to love the parts of myself that I’ve been taught to hate or needed to “fix” for so long

Incredible resource I recommend to anyone who is Autistic or thinks they may be autistic

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