i'm having a really hard time knowing what to rate this because of all of the feelings.

that's not to say that i freaking loved this... i didn't. it was just so superbly strange and sad, honestly. i don't think it's a spoiler to say that this book deals with autism.

and i think that's where this was tricky for me. i don't have autism or experience with it so i can't really speak to whether this was an accurate representation. but it made for a hard to love romance. since communication is so integral to relationship development it was pretty hard for the emotions and interactions between the two main characters to be fully understood.

and i feel terrible saying that. because i really do like that webster chose to write about an autistic male lead. and i liked that she didn't try to "cure" him/use him as a plot device (as is often done in romances... guy is mute and can somehow finally speak once he finds his true love? cheap). but like i said, i wasn't sold on their romance.

other things i kind of had a problem with were the dubious consent (real freaking dubious) when the main character loses her virginity. pretty unsettling. i also really hated the way that everything was so "coincidental." if you've read enough romance you know what i'm talking about. but this had some seriously shitty plot holes that were sown up with coincidences. not my fave.

that being said, i didn't hate this book. i couldn't put it down and the beginning especially intrigued me. i also wasn't disappointed with the ending. that being said, i'm going to await reviews by people who have experience with autism to really know how i should feel about this one.