Faith B.

As someone who is autistic, and sometimes seeing myself in some similar situations (hating being touched, for example), I absolutely cannot stand how shallowly this book treats how Christopher reacts to the world around him. I describe some sensations, such as loud noises, as feeling like knives. It's horrible, it's not me reacting badly just because I'm autistic, it's sensory issues, it's having trouble with imagery because stuff can be mixed up in my head like a goldfish bowl, and not EVERY "special interest" is super useful - some are just mundane things, like a certain video game. Christopher falls under the same stereotype for every autistic person I've seen in media. This character, this entire book, was suggested to me because of the main character supposedly being autistic. He's a shallow portrayal of autism. He lacks the nuance of my brain, something that can be so important when telling you WHY I react to things the way I do, why I always order the same food when eating or why I react so aggressively when forced into a hug I didn't ask for. Do not read this if you're looking for an accurate portrayal of autism. You're going to be misinformed about what our lives are actually like from the get-go.