I can’t finish this . It’s really too much - how awful this family treats this autistic boy , except the father , but ….
Too much sadness and events I wasn’t ready to handle . Not finishing at 38%.

I’m assuming that it ends well, but I can’t read anymore of it.

I would prefer not to give it a star rating since I didn’t finish it, but I can’t post these thoughts without rating it , so I’ll give it two stars.

I was given an advanced copy of this novel by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Schaeffer writes a novel that has an interesting hook, but fails to capitalize on it. A stronger editor is needed to make this read extraordinary.

Wes Scott, a teenage boy on the autism spectrum, tells us in his own words about his struggles to cope with a chaotic, confusing, and scary world—while his family tries to handle both living with an autistic child and a Marine father who returns from Iraq debilitated by wounds and suffering PTSD. Reading thins book really made me want to reach out to Wes and give him a cuddle.

Thanks for the advanced copy of this in exchange for a review.

I truly struggled with this book, I actually wanted to rescue Wes in multiple occasions from the violence etc that went on in this book. Towards the ending I struggled the most.

‘To Dad, I’m extraordinary. To Mom, I’m ubiquitous.’
This is Wes’s story, a teen on the autism spectrum. A boy who hears everything, sees everything, but can’t express himself the way other people can.

‘You think he really gets what’s going on here?
Are you ever capable of feelings?
You’re like a damned skipping record!
He’s not normal.’

The author tells this story from Wes’s POV, first-person, present tense. Bam! Everything he hears, sees, feels is right in your face. The way his family, other people talk about him. In a negative way, like he’s not there and doesn’t understand a thing.

‘“Who knows how cruel his world is,” she says. They speak in front of me as if I’m a lab animal behind glass rather than their little brother.’

His family doesn’t know how to cope with Wes, except his father. But when his dad gets injured in Iraq, nobody gets Wes anymore.

‘I want to feel the cool of the ocean waves and the warmth of his smile. Instead, there’s nothing but darkness of his new world and the confused madness of my own.’

Wes desperately wants to communicate but isn’t able to.

‘I’ve never cried. I can’t. I just don’t know how. So I rock all the harder.’

The Extraordinary is a book about a teen on the autism spectrum, but even more a story about family, love, loss, heartbreak, acceptance and hope. I felt Wes’s pain when his family talked in a negative way about him, and he couldn’t put his thoughts into words. But I also felt Thomas’s pain, angry at Wes all the time, sometimes even envying his brother.

‘Imagine that boat is all the attention I get at home ... Now...the ocean. That’s how much attention Wes gets. Every day. Morning, noon, night. It never ends.’

Although I liked the story, I have a few things I want to mention. Using pepper spray to calm Wes down??? WTF? It gave me shivers over and over. Is it possible to remove this from the story? Please? This just doesn’t feel right.

Furthermore, I didn’t always understand Wes’s POV. Sometimes a family member took over to fill the gaps Wes couldn’t know or see, and at other times it was like an outsider explained what happened around Wes. And occasionally the language was just too difficult for any fourteen-year-old: ‘Primordial inclinations’? In the end, I let it go, because the story was easy readable and captivating. AND STILL... I’d have liked the story even more with dual narratives, Wes’s and Thomas’s. It could have made Wes’s voice clearer. I’d have loved to read Thomas’s side of what happened as well. That boy had so much anger and pain inside him.

I liked the ending but I’m not sure about the 10% before the last pages. The voices became very mixed up and I don’t know if I liked some other things (I don’t want to spoil).

Don’t read this story just because you’re on the autism spectrum or because you just want to understand autism more. Like I said above, this is even more a story about family and loss and it’s pretty fucked up at times. There’s also quite a bit of violence in it. If you want to read a sweeter story about a boy on the autism spectrum, I’d recommend A tremendous amount of normal.

I’ve doubted about my rating. I really enjoyed the story and even though it’s harsh at times, I understood why people reacted the way they did. Overall it felt like a four star rating, but I didn’t like the last 10% very much and that pepper spray..., it keeps lingering in my mind ... 🚩. So, for now I stick to three stars (I even considered two stars because of this but that doesn’t justice to the story).

I loved Wes by the way and want to virtually hug him!

What the f**k did I just read?! I have autism (for real) and found this novel offensive and hurtful. TW: Lots of family violence, disability abuse, and suicide. It had a good ending, but this novel was unenjoyable. I wish I could hug Wes for real. Don’t waste your breath on this book.