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betsygrace's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This book left me pondering for a while. I LOVED reading a perspective of a neurodivergent character and felt seen from that, but there were elements of the plot that seemed to focus on the MC’s suffering and differences in negative ways. While it is good that the bullying autistic people experience was highlighted, I hated that it was a plot point. Idk, it just made me feel uneasy. I liked Jasper as a character but he was dealt a shitty hand.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Cancer, Rape, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Bullying, Grief, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
maisierosereads's review against another edition
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
"The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder" is an interesting mystery told from the perspective of Jasper, an autistic teenager with both synaesthesia (i.e. he sees sounds as colours) and prosopagnosia (a.k.a. "face blindness"). One of Jasper's special interests is birds, and this leads him to befriend a new neighbour (Bee Larkham) when parakeets start living in a tree outside her house.
I really liked the pacing of this book, with small details being revealed as the story goes on and Jasper continues his investigation - through his observations, conversations, and memories. While I did predict some parts of the big reveal quite early on in the book, I still enjoyed the journey to that point of the story.
This book is not a lighthearted read - it contains many difficult and challenging themes in addition to the murder in the title, as shown in my list of content warnings below. However, it is infused with humour to balance this - not at Jasper's expense, but from his perspective (often at how ridiculous the neurotypical adults around him are).
Although Jasper repeatedly faces ableism from other characters, and is often misunderstood or underestimated, I did feel the author made it clear that Jasper's perspective is important and that he should be valued. She also uses Jasper's internal monologue to counter some harmful viewpoints - such as the beliefs that Jasper should not stim, or engage in his special interests, or talk about his synaesthesia. Several of the other characters also develop throughout the book so that they have a better understanding of Jasper by the end. Of course, it would have been wonderful if more of them had a positive view of Jasper from the start as well as an accurate understanding of autism; but it is clear that the author put considerable effort into her research to try to make this representation of neurodivergence as accurate as possible despite it not being own-voices.
I would love to read more mysteries from neurodiverse perspectives, and always welcome suggestions!
I really liked the pacing of this book, with small details being revealed as the story goes on and Jasper continues his investigation - through his observations, conversations, and memories. While I did predict some parts of the big reveal quite early on in the book, I still enjoyed the journey to that point of the story.
This book is not a lighthearted read - it contains many difficult and challenging themes in addition to the murder in the title, as shown in my list of content warnings below. However, it is infused with humour to balance this - not at Jasper's expense, but from his perspective (often at how ridiculous the neurotypical adults around him are).
Although Jasper repeatedly faces ableism from other characters, and is often misunderstood or underestimated, I did feel the author made it clear that Jasper's perspective is important and that he should be valued. She also uses Jasper's internal monologue to counter some harmful viewpoints - such as the beliefs that Jasper should not stim, or engage in his special interests, or talk about his synaesthesia. Several of the other characters also develop throughout the book so that they have a better understanding of Jasper by the end. Of course, it would have been wonderful if more of them had a positive view of Jasper from the start as well as an accurate understanding of autism; but it is clear that the author put considerable effort into her research to try to make this representation of neurodivergence as accurate as possible despite it not being own-voices.
I would love to read more mysteries from neurodiverse perspectives, and always welcome suggestions!
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Vomit
More information about content warnings - no character names given. Adult/minor relationship:
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