Guys, help me out: You know those books that, staring at the cover or reading the synopsis or just from page one, you know they’re going to be special? Does this feeling have a name?
Call it a gut feeling. Call it a psychic sense. Maybe it’s magic? One can only guess.
I’ve had this experience (and been proved right sometimes, thank goodness) with books like Six of Crows, A Darker Shade of Magic, and The Winner’s Curse. And now? Things I Should Have Known joins those books. The ones that feel special and ARE special.
Where do I start? There’s just so much to talk about, so much to love. But I’ll start with the idea in general.
The concept of creating a sisterly relationship with autism included is impressive. Why? Because a)sibling dynamics are so sweet and capture 99.87% of my attention in a novel, and b) I haven’t read many books with good autistic representation, and I’ve actually been looking for a book that includes this.
So you can probably imagine my satisfaction when I stumbled across this one, AND how happy I was to know that this book was worth it.
The characters are interesting, so interesting. Chloe might seem to be your typical all-popular high school girl, but her characteristics are not confined to just that. There’s so much more going on in her head and at home, and I like the message that you can never really know someone just by their typical behavior, because there’s always a story to each person that is never told.
Unless, of course, you ask. And see.
Ivy, too, is developed with finesse. LaZebnik portrayed autism accurately (I believe her son has autism and she also co-authored a nonfiction book about autism itself, if I’m not mistaken??), and I liked the fact that there is so much more to Ivy than just the autism; she has her own personality and likes and dislikes. Authors typically forget this part so, so often. And that saddens me.
LaZebnik, though, is better than that. And i respect this.
The pacing, too, is on point. Pacing is always a little odd and, frequently, a little off as well, but THINGS I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN flows smoothly, and even the slow-ish parts are still so interesting, you can’t even notice the pace has slowed down until it picks back up again. Love love love.
Bottom line: I love all brotherly-sisterly books. All of ’em. And TISHK’s premise sounds awesome and is awesome. I was destined to love this. And I did.
NOW GO READ THIS. I command you.
*laughs evilly while stroking this pretty cover with all its scratched-out-paradoxical-title-of-awesomeness glory*
Thank you, HMH Teen, for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review!