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ashley_a 's review for:
When My Heart Joins the Thousand
by A.J. Steiger
Some great Asperger’s and anxiety representation as well as what it’s like to live with a physical disability.
The story itself was kind of slow but the really focus anyways is the characters, Alvie and Stanley.
Alvie is living by herself and is trying to become emancipated. Which leads her to try and prove that she can be more “normal” and be self-sufficient so that she live alone in peace. She meets Stanley, who has Osteogenesis imperfecta, (meaning his bones break very easily). Stanley is super sweet and is one of the very few people in her life who understands her and doesn’t make her feel bad about the way she is.
It was really rough reading how cruel people were to Alvie growing up and even presently. She’s made very aware of how different she is in hurtful ways. Even in flashbacks it’s shown how Alvie felt like her true self wasn’t being seen by her mother, who while she loved her, was still trying to look for the “real” Alvie. She was basically forced to go on medication even though she hated the effects of it.
So to have that positive dynamic between her and Stanley was very heartening to see. And that dynamic worked both ways. Stanley has a physical disability and has had so many surgeries that make him self-conscious about his body. But Alvie is straightforward and honest and doesn’t care about any of that. She finds him attractive says it plainly to his face.
I thought this book was really great in its mental health representation and didn’t try to romanticize it but also didn’t try to show Alvie as some poor, weak person because she had Asperger’s. Yes, she had Asperger’s, but that doesn’t make her any less of a person.
The story itself was kind of slow but the really focus anyways is the characters, Alvie and Stanley.
Alvie is living by herself and is trying to become emancipated. Which leads her to try and prove that she can be more “normal” and be self-sufficient so that she live alone in peace. She meets Stanley, who has Osteogenesis imperfecta, (meaning his bones break very easily). Stanley is super sweet and is one of the very few people in her life who understands her and doesn’t make her feel bad about the way she is.
It was really rough reading how cruel people were to Alvie growing up and even presently. She’s made very aware of how different she is in hurtful ways. Even in flashbacks it’s shown how Alvie felt like her true self wasn’t being seen by her mother, who while she loved her, was still trying to look for the “real” Alvie. She was basically forced to go on medication even though she hated the effects of it.
So to have that positive dynamic between her and Stanley was very heartening to see. And that dynamic worked both ways. Stanley has a physical disability and has had so many surgeries that make him self-conscious about his body. But Alvie is straightforward and honest and doesn’t care about any of that. She finds him attractive says it plainly to his face.
I thought this book was really great in its mental health representation and didn’t try to romanticize it but also didn’t try to show Alvie as some poor, weak person because she had Asperger’s. Yes, she had Asperger’s, but that doesn’t make her any less of a person.