Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - A Kind of Spark

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

23 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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queenoffirestone's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I've read this and also seen the show (which you can stream for free without an account on byu TV by the way) and as usual the book is better. Shows can't get nearly as in depth as books can. Especially with an autistic main character who is masking hard and whose words and appearance do not usually match her thoughts and feelings. Also the show didn't have Bonnie.

Bonnie's story was very painful to read for me. She wasn't involved in the present timeline, we never actually meet her, but she's Keedie's friend who was institutionalized. She's an inspiration for a lot of Addie's fear and indignance about the witches. I'm autistic too and I've spent about a year in residential treatment and the psych hospital- 7 months, 3 months at a time. I've had an ambulance called on me for having a meltdown in public. I can't speak. Addie's fears are real, Bonnie is proof, and Bonnie is me.

Addie is a cute but formidable young student and I'm wary of discussing good/bad autism representation because the lower support needs autistic community usually dismisses people on a different part of the spectrum when praising characters like them for being good representation but Addie is both like them and good representation.
This story has good messages about standing up for yourself, enforcing boundaries, and how to handle situations. It does get dark but in a way that I think only stands out to people who already understand that darkness so I think this is a great book for adults and any struggling preteen neurodivergent people you might know alike. I can almost guarantee you they already know about anxiety and trying to fit in.

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myarae's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I can’t explain how much this book meant to me, reading it as an adult who is months into realizing they’ve been autistic their entire life. This was so deeply healing and cathartic to read; I see so much of my inner child and my younger self in the main character Addie, and my current self who just finished university and was destroyed by autistic burnout in the character of her older sister Keedie. I wish I had this book when I was younger and I’m so happy it exists <3

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themelodyofspring's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Good book that talks a lot about Autism, but the plot wasn't strong enough. I liked the witches storyline, but that was it? Kinda needed the book to have a bit more plot and to be more engaging or fun.

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rivercat0338's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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lettuce_read's review against another edition

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Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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hayley_mariep's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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maeverose's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

Contemporary isn’t a genre I tend to like, especially middle grade, but I wanted to read more books with autism rep by autistic authors and I liked this a lot more than I expected to.

This is such an important book and I’m so glad it exists. It was infuriating to read how Addie was treated by some of the ignorant and abusive adults in this book and it’s especially infuriating knowing that that’s a very real experience for lots of kids in the real world. I think this book could be really helpful for kids who might be going through something similar. Or for allistic kids to learn more about what having autism can be like.

Bonus quote: ‘Mr Laird rises in her place, eyes slightly wild and mustache aquiver. “The geese on Juniper pond,” he booms, “are demonic.” There are some groans, but a couple of ayes.

Idk why but that made me laugh a lot 😆 I wanna know how these geese got this reputation.

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wends_nblw's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

autism real .

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t_higgsreviews's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

5.0

5 Stars
CAWPILE = 9.25

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