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foggy_rosamund 's review for:
Rogue
by Lyn Miller-Lachmann
Kiara has been kicked out of school because she can't control her temper: she responded with violence to other children taunting and bullying her. Her mother has left home, her father works long hours, and her elderly friend and neighbour has recently died. Into this myriad of problems steps Chad Jr, Kiara's new neighbour, an energetic and nervous kid that Kiara desperately want to befriend.
The first half of this book works well for me -- it sets up Kiara, her family and her problems, as well as Chad and the problems in his life. However, this book failed for me on two fronts. Firstly, the portrayal of Kiara herself. Although I know the author, like me, is autistic, I didn't think she portrayed Kiara with depth or nuance. Kiara often states she has trouble talking with other children, but we rarely see what this is -- other children torment her, but that's hardly Kiara's fault. It felt to me like the narrative unfairly blamed Kiara or Kiara's autism for something that was clearly the fault of those around her. Other things I associate with autism didn't really show up for me here -- even Kiara's special interest in X-Men felt tacked on and not fully explored. I also felt like Kiara's lack of diagnosis, which is common for girls, wasn't fleshed out enough. Kiara never felt like a real character to me: she always seemed like she existed to serve the plot.
And, unfortunately, the plot is also a bit of a mess. A lot of the focus is on Chad, and his parents, who. His problems, both emotional and physical, are myriad, and with the focus on both Chad and Kiara, it felt that neither of them really got enough space in the book and both their characters felt flat. The story wraps itself up far too quickly with and how or why this happens is not well realised. I was really excited to read about an autistic girl who loves X Men, but unfortunately this book fell flat for me, and I don't recommend it.
The first half of this book works well for me -- it sets up Kiara, her family and her problems, as well as Chad and the problems in his life. However, this book failed for me on two fronts. Firstly, the portrayal of Kiara herself. Although I know the author, like me, is autistic, I didn't think she portrayed Kiara with depth or nuance. Kiara often states she has trouble talking with other children, but we rarely see what this is -- other children torment her, but that's hardly Kiara's fault. It felt to me like the narrative unfairly blamed Kiara or Kiara's autism for something that was clearly the fault of those around her. Other things I associate with autism didn't really show up for me here -- even Kiara's special interest in X-Men felt tacked on and not fully explored. I also felt like Kiara's lack of diagnosis, which is common for girls, wasn't fleshed out enough. Kiara never felt like a real character to me: she always seemed like she existed to serve the plot.
And, unfortunately, the plot is also a bit of a mess. A lot of the focus is on Chad, and his parents, who