ndbookreviews

[ndbookreviews]

please stop treating the word neurodivergent like it means the overlap between autism and adhd

[ndbookreviews]

Okay I would like to open up a discussion about whether or not I should review The Dark Artifices. I'm conflicted on this because I actually did like some of the ways Tiberius is written but I don't necessarily want to be promoting a book series as problematic as the Shadowhunter Chronicles. So I decided to open it up to our followers to see if anyone has any thoughts on this. Let me know what you think!

[ndbookreviews]

i think the examples of canon ND characters would be really cool !! ESP if you break them down just a little? because then it's not just "___ character of the day," it's smth more solid y'all can do between book reviews?

Yeah... I may do that, we shall see how it goes!

[ndbookreviews]

The Percy Jackson series should be on the evaluation to-do list... Especially since there is possibly a TV show coming out in the next few years I think it would be interesting to revisit it and evaluate how it actually does on representing neurodivergent people (mostly ADHD people but that is also something to discuss).

Honestly I've read it so many times I'm not even going to have to re-read this one lmao.

[ndbookreviews]

Would people be interested in a series of posts giving examples of canon nd characters? Nothing super deep but just short posts. I don't really want this to become a like... Canon [blank] Character blog but I think it could be just a fun thing to do occasionally. Thoughts?

[ndbookreviews]

Remember schizophrenia and schizoaffective in neurodivergent positivity and activism!

Neurodivergence includes more than autism and adhd, including sz and sza, ocd, bipolar, aspd, tourette's, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysnomia, developmental speech disorders, and down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities. Remember all of us in your activism

-an autistic, dyslexic schizoaffective

[ndbookreviews]

Sorry I keep accidentally reblogging things here 😔

-Mod Dawn

[ndbookreviews]

Mod Applications

Here is the link to the form :)

Please do not apply if:

You aren’t neurodivergent (if you are unsure whether you fall under the label wikipedia has a pretty exhaustive list)

You defend sexualized rape/pedophilia/incest in media

You are never going to be active

Otherwise feel free to apply! I am in the midst of finals right now so it may take me a minute to look over applications but I will message you once I have made a decision. Thanks!

Please rb to boost!

[ndbookreviews]

The Kiss Quotient Review

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Genres: contemporary fiction, romance

Rep: autistic main character and side character

Is the author part of the group(s) they're writing for? Yes, Hoang is autistic.

Content warnings: explicit sexual content, a non-consensual kiss and a failed attempt at a second (not from the primary love interest, thank g-d).

Synopsis: Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases — a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old.

It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice — with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan — from foreplay to more-than-missionary position...

Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but to crave all the other things he's making her feel. Soon, their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic...

Would I recommend it? No. I wouldn't. There were several points that this felt less like a romance and more like trauma porn, and while I did find myself enjoying parts of it, those parts are not nearly enough to cancel out everything else. More under the cut, including mentions of both explicit and implicit sexual content.

The very first line of the first chapter is Stella's mother telling her that she expects grandchildren, and Stella's reactions to that. Her parents tell her she needs to work less and get out more, and suggest the possibility of setting her up with her coworker, Philip James. The term Asperger's is used in this conversation, but thankfully nowhere else in the text of the book itself(it is used in the author's note and synopsis, however). Later in the chapter, Philip sees Stella at work on the weekend and the ensuing conversation is workplace sexual harassment if ever I've seen it. He asks if she's a virgin, and insinuates that if she had more sex she'd be better at it. Stella decides to hire an escort in an attempt to get lessons at sex.

The escort, Michael, was interesting enough as a character, but descriptions of Stella in the chapters in his point of view felt infantilizing, and it only got worse after he finds out she's autistic. He also felt very much like the "you just need to find the right man" personified.

My biggest issue was the way things are framed in Stella's mind. Her three prior sexual partners referenced throughout the book were completely awful to her, but she blames it on her autism and not being good enough. If this was ever resolved, I'd have fewer issues with it, but it isn't. Stella and Michael get their happily ever after and it's never mentioned again.

Hoang's characterization of Philip also bothers me. The first mention of him is Stella stating that she thinks he has "several personality disorders," and in general he's just not good. If Michael is "you just need to find the right man," Philip is "he's mean to you because he likes you." He forces a kiss on Stella in chapter 27, after being incredibly possessive towards her. This was super difficult to read, I had to give myself a break afterward. He attempts to kiss her without her consent again in chapter 32, as well, but fails.

Overall, the Kiss Quotient feels like wish fulfillment for the author, but with enough trauma sprinkled in to make it hard to get through. It's rather tropey, which isn't an issue in and of itself, but combined with the lack of any actual solutions it just feels hollow. Stella also comes across as stereotypical, but I'm inclined to let that slide based on the fact that Hoang said Stella is based on herself.

The parts of the book that aren't upsetting are not memorable in the slightest, and the parts that are upsetting are upsetting enough to make it hard to continue.

There were points I thought it could have ended well, but overall, I'm disappointed. Nothing ever really resolved itself and Stella's thoughts about her autism are not the representation I think we need right now, not until allistic people are more sympathetic to us at the very least.

[ndbookreviews]

hey hi hello! im mod danny and my pronouns are he/him. im autistic, adhd, bpd, and osdd-1b, and im 18! i tend to read science fiction and fantasy, but i will read almost any fiction as long as it catches my eye! extra points for anything that pulls inspiration from cryptozoology, mythology, or alice in wonderland, because i am incredibly predictable when it comes to content related to my special interests. you can find me on my main @cheshirecatboyfriend <3

[ndbookreviews]

Mod Applications

Here is the link to the form :)

Please do not apply if:

You aren’t neurodivergent (if you are unsure whether you fall under the label wikipedia has a pretty exhaustive list)

You defend sexualized rape/pedophilia/incest in media

You are never going to be active

Otherwise feel free to apply! I am in the midst of finals right now so it may take me a minute to look over applications but I will message you once I have made a decision. Thanks!

Please rb to boost!

[ndbookreviews]

I know of a few sci fi books with autistic main characters that I’ve been interested in reading at some point if any of the mods would be interested in reviewing them!

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann

Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sonderby

Ohhh I love sci-fi! I'll add them to the list!

Out of curiosity are they YA? I don't mind if they are but I've been reading a lot lately and want to branch out so it may change their spot on the list.

[ndbookreviews]

Oh I forgot: points off also for using asperger's, especially since this is supposed to be more or less modern day.

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily Review

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

Genres: young adult, fiction, contemporary, romance

Rep: adhd (main character), autism (love interest)

Is the author part of the groups they’re writing for?

Laura Creedle is ADHD but to my knowledge isn’t autistic.

Synopsis:

When Lily Michaels-Ryan ditches her ADHD meds and lands in detention with Abelard, who has Asperger’s, she’s intrigued—Abelard seems thirty seconds behind, while she feels thirty seconds ahead. It doesn’t hurt that he’s brilliant and beautiful.

When Abelard posts a quote from The Letters of Abelard and Heloise online, their mutual affinity for ancient love letters connects them. The two fall for each other. Hard. But is it enough to bridge their differences in person?

This hilarious, heartbreaking story of human connection between two neurodivergent teens creates characters that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

Would I Recommend?

No. This book made me so angry after reading it if weren’t the middle of the night I might’ve thrown my phone across the room. 

It started out really strong and held a lot of promise for me, finally a book about adhd and autistic people interacting! A book with more than one neurodivergent character! And it’s a romance!

Well. It sucked.

Keep reading

[ndbookreviews]

Still figuring out how I want to order the tagging system so. Things might change a bit.

[ndbookreviews]

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily Review

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

Genres: young adult, fiction, contemporary, romance

Rep: adhd (main character), autism (love interest)

Is the author part of the groups they’re writing for?

Laura Creedle is ADHD but to my knowledge isn’t autistic.

Synopsis:

When Lily Michaels-Ryan ditches her ADHD meds and lands in detention with Abelard, who has Asperger’s, she’s intrigued—Abelard seems thirty seconds behind, while she feels thirty seconds ahead. It doesn't hurt that he’s brilliant and beautiful.

When Abelard posts a quote from The Letters of Abelard and Heloise online, their mutual affinity for ancient love letters connects them. The two fall for each other. Hard. But is it enough to bridge their differences in person?

This hilarious, heartbreaking story of human connection between two neurodivergent teens creates characters that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

Would I Recommend?

No. This book made me so angry after reading it if weren’t the middle of the night I might’ve thrown my phone across the room. 

It started out really strong and held a lot of promise for me, finally a book about adhd and autistic people interacting! A book with more than one neurodivergent character! And it’s a romance!

Well. It sucked.

The book starts with Lily and Abelard breaking a door together by accident, like one of those shitty sliding doors they use to divide rooms, and end up in detention together. They start talking and Lily, who obviously has a crush, awkwardly kisses him. This in itself is an annoying trope in YA in general but I also resent the implication that she impulsively kisses him because she was off her meds. Maybe this is one of those cases where personal experience varies but I’ve never forced a kiss on anyone because of my ADHD. 

Through a series of shenanigans Lily and Abelard start texting each other and quickly start dating. Most of their interactions are limited to text and email which is not very romantic but honestly since they don’t seem to be in any of the same classes and he has extracurriculars this isn’t THAT much of a stretch to me. 

Most of their conversations are taken from the novel The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (hence the title) as sort of a game where they try to take quotes from the novel to fit the conversation they are having. Honestly this is kind of cute if a little dorky. 

Both Abelard and Lily have strained relationships with their mothers; Lily’s mother never listens to her about how her medication is making her feel and doesn’t try at all to understand ADHD or her daughter. Abelard’s mother is like, the stereotypical autism mom and treats him like a child even though he’s in high school (I’m pretty sure they are juniors but I’m not sure). 

Lily also has a complicated relationship with her father who left them to pursue his passion project. In the beginning of the book she wants to go live with him and attend the experimental farming school he was working on for kids who don’t excel in typical school environments. Her mother had originally promised that she could go if she kept her grades up, but as this requirement becomes impossible for Lily (because she has literally no support at home or at school), Lily instead decides that she will flunk out of school to convince her mother to let her live with her dad. 

As it turns out, her mother’s promise was a lie the whole time anyway, and in true flaky deadbeat dad style, he doesn’t even have the school anymore but he does have a new wife and son. 

Abelard kind of takes a backseat to Lily’s family drama around this point in the book. 

Lily’s mother tells her she wants Lily to consider undergoing an experimental surgery to cure her ADHD (you see why I hate this book now?). At first Lily is hesitant for obvious reasons, as it’s literal brain surgery and this is coming from the woman who has literally done nothing but try to change Lily all her life. 

Of course, then her father comes to visit and she realizes how much he sucks actually and it’s sort of implied he also has ADHD? And so she decides she doesn’t want to end up like him and wants to go to college so she decides to undergo the experimental brain surgery. Yeah. Really. 

There is some more background relationship drama but honestly after the first few chapters their relationship gets barely any development and is not really central to the story at all, despite the title.

And finally I can talk about how much I detest this book. 

For one thing, from what I can find the experimental brain surgery Lily is supposed to undergo doesn’t exist (thank god). While if it did this book would be a whole different kind of problematic, it is kind of infuriating that the only solution Lily finds at the end is something that isn’t something that translates to real life. I can’t even imagine how I would have felt reading this when I was younger and struggling a lot more with school. 

The idea that the only hope someone with ADHD has to live a productive life and not end up a deadbeat is something that doesn’t even exist is so incredibly harmful. The issues in Lily’s life were not caused by her ADHD, they were caused by the adults in her life refusing to accommodate her even to the bare minimum they were supposed to. 

This book honestly feels like wish-fulfillment written by a struggling high schooler; it should have never seen the light of day. Everyone has times they struggle with the complications ADHD can cause, but writing your insecurities into a published novel without any sort of criticism of them is embarrassing at least and actively harmful at worst. 

Abelard barely has any personality and fits literally every criticized stereotype of autistic characters ever. He’s white, stoic, interested in stem, a genius, etc. He was boring and abandoned halfway through the book so he never really gains any characterization. Also the book ends with them being in a nebulous long-distance relationship anyway so it’s not even a particularly good romance. 

All-in-all, this book makes me angry to have ever even heard of it, especially since I did actually like parts of the beginning and had high hopes for it.

[ndbookreviews]

Actually I just wrote an entire review 😳

I'm almost done with finals and so I will probably start writing the reviews for the books I've read so far! I don't want to make any promises on time estimates since, well. I am neurodivergent 😔. Hopefully soon though!

[ndbookreviews]

I'm almost done with finals and so I will probably start writing the reviews for the books I've read so far! I don't want to make any promises on time estimates since, well. I am neurodivergent 😔. Hopefully soon though!