I haven’t binged a book in a while and Paige’s words made me want to keep reading.

In the last few years, I’ve been casually exploring self-diagnosis of autism because I’ve always felt different. I was never bullied or singled out; I was just always on the edges of friend groups and never felt like I fit in. I’ve learned about common traits or similarities of autistic people from those sharing online and Paige’s book and hearing about her childhood has me questioning some more of my traits, especially from childhood where I thought that maybe I’m just really shy.

While Paige shares her own experiences of growing up, she also gives a good overview of autism in general, the diagnosis process, labels related to autism, and how autism impacts every aspect of a person - you just might not know it or believe it because of masking.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who thinks they may be autistic, anyone who is (although I can see it being a difficult read if you had a similar childhood to her), or anyone who wants to learn more about autism, especially from a first person perspective and someone who doesn’t look autistic.

I am genuinely so thankful I was given an advanced copy of Paige’s book. I can tell it’s going to be a great help on my own personal journey and I hope it’s helpful to others.

I cannot begin to express how much I adored this read!

While everyone’s ASD journey is unique; I found so many parallels between Paige’s story and my own experiences. Finally something where I can honestly say “ someone else understands me and what I have been through”

5 beautifully written stars!

I applaud Layle for writing this book about her autism diagnosis and everything that came with it. There were many facts and examples of behaviors I had no idea that were also associated with autism. I learned a lot and felt a lot while reading. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars.

There is comfort
in shared struggle.

I adored this book.
As an autistic person myself, much of this was really hard to read because of how relatable it was to my own experience. That said, it is also so validating in a "wow, someone else has felt the exact same way as I have felt before".

But this book isn't just about Layle's personal life as an autistic person. This could be an excellent introduction to autism: if you have never read about what it is like to live in North America as an autistic person, this is a perfect first autistic perspective to encounter, because she also explains so much about:
- what is autism
- the process of diagnosing
- labels related to autism (and why we don't use "functioning" and "asperger")
- how completely different autistic people can be from one another
- the many cooccurring conditions that are common with autism
- how it impacts every aspect of who you are
- that the world we live in is built by and for allistic people, and it is good to question how things could change to be more inclusive and fair

It is a very good overview of what everyone should know about autism, the level of basic knowledge that I wish the general population had. I especially wish it was mandatory reading for adults working with autistic children.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has been recently diagnosed or self-diagnosed (I won't get into how problematic and difficult diagnosis can be), anyone who knows someone who is autistic or genuinely just anyone who wants to learn from a first person perspective what being autistic means.

Infinite thank yous to the author for writing this book. I cannot imagine it was an easy process, and it now offers me an incredible resource which I cannot wait to acquire so I can keep it in my collection to lend to friends and family who definitely need to read this book so they can better understand me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette for the opportunity to read this ARC. This book comes out on March 26th, 2024.