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mxsunflower's review against another edition
I don’t think this was the right time for this collection for me. My mood is more memoir and the scope of this project was too broad/covers too many genres for me at this moment. Hope to come back to it!
literarybutterfly's review
4.0
Stim is a collection of short stories, essays, and graphic artwork by 18 diverse autistic writers and authors. While this collection is intriguing for what it is, I found the title to be misleading. Huxley-Jones explains her thought process behind choosing the title at the end of the book, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. None of the entries in this anthology have to do with stimming. But that just kind of sums up my reading experience as a whole. It might just be the writing style used in most of the short stories, but I often found myself confused. I largely prefer the essays and graphic artwork over the short stories. My two favorite essays are “Stripping While Autistic” and “Handling the Bones.” Both are written by autistic women and document their struggles in maneuvering social situations. My favorite graphic is “Information Superhighway;” I thought it was really creative visual representation of overstimulation and I’d love to see it as a large print. My favorite short story is “The Strangers,” although I’m not sure there’s a parallel to autism there; I think it’s just a story about lions. Overall, Stim was a mixed bag. Upon first finishing this collection, I was a bit disappointed for the amount of entries I didn’t like. I don’t think Stim was intended for me anyways; it seems more targeted at a nuerotypical audience. However, upon reflection, I’m more appreciative for the exposure to the pieces that did resonate with me. Even thought this wasn’t a perfect fit for me, I highly encourage others to check Stim out and discover the diverse experience of many different autistic writers and artists.
3.5/5⭐️
3.5/5⭐️
emmanovella's review
3.0
I originally didn't rate this book, but after thinking on it, I'm now giving it 3 stars.
The pieces individually were good but I found it incredibly jarring to read (as you can see it took me over a month to get through. Usually I'd DNF but I wanted to support a book by autistic people) and to reiterate what I saw in another comment; I'm autistic and this book is by autistic writers.. yet they decided to jumble fiction, non-fiction and art, forcing me to switch my brain to different processing ways that was really confusing.
Anthologies can be hard for me regardless as I have to handle different writing styles, but typically the stories are all in the same genre or at least have some sort of connecting factor. For STIM, the connecting factor is autism, which is such a vast/broad subject that without having a more specific subject (say, non-fiction pieces where the writer talks about learning they were autistic, or discusses being autistic in high school etc) it makes for such a mismatched book that while may work for neurotypicals, isn't so great for a lot of autistic people who would perhaps be really excited by a book entirely by autistic creators.
I donated towards the creation of this book and I'm incredibly glad I did as I hope this book will help showcase these writers and hopefully see them published but I am disappointed overall that I couldn't enjoy this and often would skim through a piece because I couldn't get myself to switch
The pieces individually were good but I found it incredibly jarring to read (as you can see it took me over a month to get through. Usually I'd DNF but I wanted to support a book by autistic people) and to reiterate what I saw in another comment; I'm autistic and this book is by autistic writers.. yet they decided to jumble fiction, non-fiction and art, forcing me to switch my brain to different processing ways that was really confusing.
Anthologies can be hard for me regardless as I have to handle different writing styles, but typically the stories are all in the same genre or at least have some sort of connecting factor. For STIM, the connecting factor is autism, which is such a vast/broad subject that without having a more specific subject (say, non-fiction pieces where the writer talks about learning they were autistic, or discusses being autistic in high school etc) it makes for such a mismatched book that while may work for neurotypicals, isn't so great for a lot of autistic people who would perhaps be really excited by a book entirely by autistic creators.
I donated towards the creation of this book and I'm incredibly glad I did as I hope this book will help showcase these writers and hopefully see them published but I am disappointed overall that I couldn't enjoy this and often would skim through a piece because I couldn't get myself to switch
whatelreads's review
5.0
May update this review if I ever find the right way to express how much I enjoyed & am grateful for this book but. In a nutshell - I want everyone to read it and will be recommending it for the rest of my life. Amazing. The varied stories and styles of writing and experiences of autistic folks made me weep. Ahhhhh
septan's review
3.0
Couldn't do much with the fiction in this, but was thrilled to read first-hand experiences of women on the spectrum.
strawbizzy's review against another edition
4.0
I liked some of the entries more than others, but that’s fine. It was nice to learn a lot about a bunch of different people who struggle with the same things I do ❤️