REAL WHEN I'M WITH YOU is a fun-filled autistic romance.

It's been a few years since the end of Lucy Powrie's THE PAPER & HEARTS SOCIETY series ended, and I'm so glad we get another novel from her. This is an older YA novel (her debut trilogy was firmly teen), but it's just as full of romance and fun and openly autistic representation.

I liked how the fake dating trope here escalated. It's initially only one date, but then spirals. This feels so much more realistic to me for virtual strangers - they aren't jumping into the deep end initially, just putting a toe in. And then it balloons quickly. I also liked that it is acknowledged that Effie's reasons for doing so are not great. Understandable but not great. The lying nature of this trope is also interrogated too, which was nice.

Effie is autistic and Aiden, the love interest, is ADHD - but they're not the only neurodiverse people in the book! I love books with authentic ND representation, particularly when there's a lot of it and a diverse array. This book really explored the sensory side of autism as well as shutdowns, which I've seen far less of than meltdowns.

While it is a romance, it's also about a platonic break up and all the pain that involves. Effie is coming to realise that her best friend Chelsea isn't good for her, and that friendship ending is the messiest, most painful part of the book. I really liked that the end of a friendship was given so much page time and sensitivity. As a society, we expect romantic relationships to sometimes go awry, but rarely platonic ones - and that makes their end arguably much worse, because we're not expecting or bracing for it.

REAL WHEN I'M WITH YOU has really positive female friendships in it too. Effie makes new friends across the book, from finding neurodiverse friends to a really easy friendship with Aiden's ex. I really appreciated that the two girls weren't pitted against each other - it's a horrible societal expectation.

In all, this was a really fun, fake dating romance - and I hope we get more novels from Lucy Powrie.

What a lovely fun lighthearted romance between two teens who are both dealing with health issues & stigma but manage to find love and each other along the way! I love that it features relatable characters and situations teens are currently dealing with and felt very of the time. I think this would make an excellent YA book club read or a movie for teens