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Wanting to read this as well. Is it worth the hype?

I'm only 25% into it but so far... meh. We'll see!

I totally agree!!! I just don’t get how this one won last year??!!

I didn’t feel like it was condescending to the main character at all. I strongly recommend it.

I feel the same! I was shocked when it won! There are à lot of books these genre better.

I just finished reading it and I agree. The way Molly was written came across as someone who is neurodivergent. I found it quite sad how it was never clarified in the story and how people treated her so harshly and dismissive of her character traits. There were a lot of times that I found the way the author wrote Molly was condescending in the way she acted and spoke. It was an okay story, but I wouldn’t say it was the best for 2022.

I am neurodivergent myself and this book peed me off so much!

the GCA is mostly picked through popularity, not literary merit

This is what I was worried about - it’s on my TBR because my mum told me it has an autistic protagonist. I’m autistic & would love to find a fiction book with good representation of an autistic woman. Sadly allistic authors rarely state that the character they created is actually autistic. They also rarely portray the struggles that come with being autistic & rely heavily on stereotypes.

I tend to agree with the majority of your reviews Emily, but will give this one regardless!

I agree with you on the rating. I didn’t get condescension from the character description though.

Overall, I found this entertaining enough to read but not worthy of winning awards.

Same, girl same. SMH�� the representation was not it. I had to DNF

I had to DNF this one, the characterization of Molly really pissed me off. I was disappointed to see it win its category

yeah, the voice of this book was kind of unbearable!

I agree. It was insensitive to her and to her POC friends.

I don’t understand how this won either�� I feel a lot of times it’s not about the contents of the book, but just whichever book is most popular at that moment.

Hard same. I had so many problems with it. She was treated like an idiot.. until suddenly she's a criminal mastermind? She can't keep secrets or lie....unless it's convenient to the plot?

She and her hispanic friend need two white people to save them?
So problematic, I don't understand the fuss

Totally agree, Emily! What I hated most was how the author portrays the neurodivergent protagonist as "quirky" instead of being real about her actual challenges.

Agreed. I gave it two stars too.

I agree! There were better ones on the list.

Yup. All of this.

Same as a lot of Oscar film winners (a lot of which are boring pretentious tripe IMHO). Was going to read this but not so sure now 🤷‍♀��

Thank you for sharing your review. I'm only in chapter two of this book, but I already can't stand Molly's character. Your review helped me decide that it's not worth continuing to read.

I think a lot of people are missing the point here. I don't think it's a problem that she wasn't explicitly labeled as autistic or neurodivergent. Based on the fact that she was raised by her grandmother, Gran may never have pushed for a diagnosis because she's from an older generation. It's also clear the school wasn't supportive due to the extreme bullying. Also, making inferences is a big part of reading. Some authors don't need to spell out every single detail. They trust that their readers are able to read between the lines and figure things out for themselves. I think it's a very accurate description and commentary about how, unfortunately, so many neurodivergent people are treated so poorly in society, especially by the judicial system.