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A review by lostcupofstars
Almond by Won-pyung Sohn
1.0
Deeply sighing at this read.
I picked this up because I thought it would be interesting to read a book with a neurodivergent protagonist. It turned out to be very similar to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in its overtly harmful nature.
Autism seems to = sociopath to a lot of people/writers and there is never actually any exploration into the character outside of how they are perceived by neurotypicals.
Everything was so superficial and when I realised where the ending was going I was even more disappointed. It was giving “autism can be cured with cognitive behavioural therapy.”
This book was far too wrapped in ableism; he is constantly taught that he needs to conform in order to be accepted instead of being who he truly is and the ending was a horrible way to support this message that it’s not ok to be who you are if who you are does not fit societal norms.
I would personally like to see much broader (own voices!) neurodivergent representation, and this book is not it.
Short chapters were a plus but that was about it for me.
(Includes an ableist slur and moderate/graphic violence)
I picked this up because I thought it would be interesting to read a book with a neurodivergent protagonist. It turned out to be very similar to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in its overtly harmful nature.
Autism seems to = sociopath to a lot of people/writers and there is never actually any exploration into the character outside of how they are perceived by neurotypicals.
Everything was so superficial and when I realised where the ending was going I was even more disappointed. It was giving “autism can be cured with cognitive behavioural therapy.”
This book was far too wrapped in ableism; he is constantly taught that he needs to conform in order to be accepted instead of being who he truly is and the ending was a horrible way to support this message that it’s not ok to be who you are if who you are does not fit societal norms.
I would personally like to see much broader (own voices!) neurodivergent representation, and this book is not it.
Short chapters were a plus but that was about it for me.
(Includes an ableist slur and moderate/graphic violence)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Violence