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ratherbereading's review
5.0
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. I think it is awesome to write about a subject that does not have a lot of books out there. It was much longer than I anticipated. I love that it was written by a 16-year-old and she is really putting herself out there and sharing her story. I really enjoyed the information in the book even though it is written towards people on the spectrum and I am not and I think that is really important because this is a book everyone can read and enjoy.
kleonard's review
3.0
Written by a British 16 year old, this book has good intentions, offering support for autistic girls and young women. I am an autistic woman, and read this with the question in mind of whether this would have been helpful for me. The answer is complicated. Castellon’s approach is upbeat and encouraging, but is often problematic as well. She repeatedly recommends autistic kids turn to their parents for help, based on what appears to be a positive and supportive relationship with her own parents, but many autistic kids won’t have that kind of parental relationship. Parents—and other adults and authority figures— are often focused on cure, and nowhere does she address how to handle the ongoing issues that stem from that. She also embraces the idea of calling her aspects of autism “superpowers,” which is a compensation narrative many autistic people reject, and rightly so, because it further Others us and makes us seem abnormal. She cites Greta Thunberg as a role model, but seems unaware that much of Greta’s success comes from her privileged parents—something few of us have. The book is full of anecdotes that share Castellon’s experiences with bullying, bad friends, and uneducated educators, but her message that by working with parents and finding mentors you can trust will make everything better is naive and Pollyanna-ish. I’d like to have a book about living with autism that is more realistic and isn’t afraid to tackle the much darker issues and problems of being an autistic girl or woman in our patriarchal, racist, sexist, capitalist society, with real advice for the hard times.
sheerpoetry's review
4.0
I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.
I do admit to being an adult reading this, but I still think it's good!
I definitely see how this could be helpful to teens and kids. It was enjoyable and not overly heavy or preachy. And I liked that it was marketed to girls, because a lot of representation for autism is male. (Even better if we can get some LGBTQ+ out there, but I digress.)
Great little book!
I do admit to being an adult reading this, but I still think it's good!
I definitely see how this could be helpful to teens and kids. It was enjoyable and not overly heavy or preachy. And I liked that it was marketed to girls, because a lot of representation for autism is male. (Even better if we can get some LGBTQ+ out there, but I digress.)
Great little book!
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