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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
It’s like this book went through every one of my least favorite tropes and picked them all out to use together. I haven't ever read Watership Down so that connection was lost on me. After some pointed internet searching it seems like the autism rep seems well received. I am less sure about the disability rep for Stanley. I'm curious what research went into it and it also bugged me that Stanley gets into not one but two fistfights during the story--as a 19yo, with brittle bone disease--like what? And it felt like absolutely no research went into how Alvie's social worker situation is handled. How would he miss her sleeping on a mattress on the floor or that her fridge has rotten food? Why doesn't he stay after her emancipation hearing? Everything about that felt very inconvenient and needlessly so when she could have been aged up to 18 like Stanley or had an absent parent or so many other things. I'm glad people are finding representation they need in this story but it was absolutely not for me.
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was heartbreaking emotional and raw. It was fairly painful to experience and I did not really enjoy myself reading it. Very serious trials and issues dealt with it in this book. Should probably come with trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death of parent
Moderate: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Depression, attempted murder/suicide, foster system,
This book maybe does a decent job showing how messed up the lives of the two disabled leads are, including fraught interactions with loved ones and the law. But it's just not a good romance, despite being marketed as part of the genre.
Alvie and Stanley's relationship progresses via highly dramatic exchanges and many misunderstandings. It's hard to root for them when you feel like they're codependent and should maybe leave each other be. Sure, there is that sense of "there's no one else for me, it's only you!" but not in a romantic way - rather, in a bad way that says more about the system failing to protect them than any actual compatibility.
And let's not forget that incredibly awkward one-night stand proposed by Alvie. This is not a spoiler, it's on the first page and I think it warrants a warning. It kicks off a whole thing about sex that made me consistently uncomfortable. I don't object to discussing the sexuality of disabled characters; I think especially with autistic characters, there's a danger in media representations of infantalising them by portraying them as incapable of consenting or desiring, when the reality is many more shades of grey. But the whole thing was approached in a very stilted way here.
I most appreciated the bits about the two characters' parents' reactions to their illnesses, the guilt and abuse that they each had to go through. I thought that was the most realistic and affecting part of the book. But that's all in the past; events in the novel's present tend to feel overly dramatic and yet also conveniently resolved (like Alvie's brief homelessness and absolute poverty) so that the book could wrap up in a timely manner.
Still, there is something to the writing - you can tell Steiger put a lot of effort and love into it, and there are moments that feel like they've been worked over and gradually perfected. The end result just doesn't really work for me.
Alvie and Stanley's relationship progresses via highly dramatic exchanges and many misunderstandings. It's hard to root for them when you feel like they're codependent and should maybe leave each other be. Sure, there is that sense of "there's no one else for me, it's only you!" but not in a romantic way - rather, in a bad way that says more about the system failing to protect them than any actual compatibility.
And let's not forget that incredibly awkward one-night stand proposed by Alvie. This is not a spoiler, it's on the first page and I think it warrants a warning. It kicks off a whole thing about sex that made me consistently uncomfortable. I don't object to discussing the sexuality of disabled characters; I think especially with autistic characters, there's a danger in media representations of infantalising them by portraying them as incapable of consenting or desiring, when the reality is many more shades of grey. But the whole thing was approached in a very stilted way here.
I most appreciated the bits about the two characters' parents' reactions to their illnesses, the guilt and abuse that they each had to go through. I thought that was the most realistic and affecting part of the book. But that's all in the past; events in the novel's present tend to feel overly dramatic and yet also conveniently resolved (like Alvie's brief homelessness and absolute poverty) so that the book could wrap up in a timely manner.
Still, there is something to the writing - you can tell Steiger put a lot of effort and love into it, and there are moments that feel like they've been worked over and gradually perfected. The end result just doesn't really work for me.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First time I've seen representation of OI, it was nice. Writing was a little clunky in places and didn't love that sex was used as a substitute for "healing" the characters, but it was very good overall.
Currently, this is my favorite book in the universe! I love this book! It's really about understanding others, the need to be understood, and independence (and unexpected love!). This book led me to start reading about Asperger's like Stanley did. Like him, I want to be understand a person diagnosed with Asperger's. To me, this book was really inspiring and really caught my attention.