I’m a little late to the CtO game…but this is a book that I knew I had to be in the right frame of mind to read, and I was right. This is a hard book to read for anyone but especially for someone who suffers a mental health issue and has a child on the spectrum. This is a good book. Ms. Cullinan has either personally experienced both Autism and Depression/Anxiety or she has done extensive research. And while I think the story is good, I do agree with a few reviewers that this reads almost like a research paper/self-help guide and the author was a bit ‘preachy’/’soapboxy’ at times.

There are several things going on at once:
• Emmet’s autism
• Jeremey’s depression & anxiety
• Emmet maturing and wanting his independence, a boyfriend and a job
• Jeremey attempting to discover what he wants out of life although he knows he wants independence and some sort of direction
• Sexual orientation discrimination and coming out to parents
• Societal discrimination against folks with illness
• Parental issues both good and bad and making these medical conditions worse or holding individuals with the conditions back
• Guilt and anger over injuries & illnesses, etc.

I really liked the first person POV and being in each character’s head.

Emmet is pretty awesome and pretty spot on with other autistic folks I’ve known. I’m impressed with his ability to handle just about any situation and being self-aware enough to know when he couldn’t. His desire for Jeremey as both a friend and lover is endearing. The way he handles David is priceless. I’m proud of his independence and maturity by the end of the book although things fell into place very quickly for him and that seemed rushed compared to how long the rest of the story took.

Jeremey is still a bit of a mess at the end although he seems a bit better. I didn’t really notice too much of a difference in him with the daily medicine, only with the big stuff and then he was pretty much a zombie. He’s still very young but he does have some direction by the end of the story. He seems to be good for Emmet .

Dr. North is awesome and everyone on the spectrum or with a mental health illness needs someone like him.

There are some unanswered questions and incomplete story lines at the end of the book. This appears to be the start of a series but I’m unsure if this will continue the story or involve new characters. I would definitely love more of these two.