Reviews by rickjones | The StoryGraph

1.66k reviews by:

This story focuses more on perception than anything else, which managed to work in its favor.

As readers, we are only able to understand Mim's world the way she wants it to be interpreted, and follow alongside her views of past and present as she becomes more willing to admit that those views are flawed. I regrettably can relate to the frigid comfort of compartmentalizing everything one can comprehend into absolutes during times of confusion and strain, coupled with the ease of ignoring how truth can rarely be legitimate in that capacity. Mim builds up absolutes throughout much of her narrative and withholds pieces that challenge them until she's forced to reevaluate, causing honesty to finally spill out into an unapologetic and raw reckoning that fortunately felt natural.

However, there were pieces of the plot in which it became difficult to suspend my disbelief. It may have been necessary for Mim to meet people larger than life in order to gain a better grasp of the intricacies of existence, but some of those people and situations clashed with ones that could transition into reality more smoothly.

All things considered, this novel was incredibly engaging and contained multiple quotes that were able to resonate with me. Mim was not a perfect person or narrator by any means, but it was easy to find affinity with her character and collection of oddities, which are embodied by every person in their own unique way.

Happyface

Stephen Emond

3.0

My first impression of this book was slight disappointment. I hadn't expected it to be in journal form and found the main character to be painfully self pitying. However a running theme in this story is that first impressions are not always correct, and thankfully I enjoyed my reading experience more as it continued.

The journal truly felt as if it was written by a real teenager. Both the art and writing varied in tone, and was used for different purposes that ranged from letting out emotions to simply documenting everyday details.

I'm not sure how much the average person can relate to Happyface, but I could definitely see myself in pieces of his personality and family situation. None of those pieces were flattering, but even when I was irritated with the character I could sympathize with him.

I wouldn't say this book was especially profound and some of the pacing did feel awkward, but it was engaging enough that I was able to finish it in only a few hours.

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

5.0

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Mark Haddon

3.0

I am autistic and easily I found myself relating to aspects of Christopher's thinking within the first few pages, namely his sensitivity to colors, the "nonsense" rituals that accompany them and his fear that shouting precedes uncertain violence. Most of Christopher's thoughts and behaviors made complete sense to me because they are similar to challenges I encounter in my daily life.

From my perspective, Christopher's story contained no humor and was instead incredibly sad. The abrupt ending did not reassure me that he was truly safe and would go on to lead a life unmarred with serious trauma. From the painstaking detail that went into creating Christopher's thinking patterns, it's clear that the author has open-mindedly listened to autistic people's experiences. However, it surprises me that this novel has been heralded as a triumph of empathy when Christopher is continuously forced to live in fear because he receives so little of it.

Then again, I must keep in mind that when this book was released I was five years old and had recently been diagnosed with sensory integration disorder, which is now classified as sensory processing disorder and is no longer recognized as it's own medical condition, but a comorbid one that is diagnosed along with another disorder, such as autism, which my diagnosis was later changed to. My point being, when this book was released there were large misunderstandings about how to view and treat autism even among the medical professionals and therapists that guided me throughout my early childhood. Maybe in 2003 this really was the epitome of attempting to understand the "mysteries of the autistic mind", and I have to accept that while still demanding better representation in the present day.