I gave up just over half way through this book. While it may be compelling as a whodunit, I grew too disgusted by the pervasive ableism, misinformation and horrifying ideas about autism in this book. The autistic characters lack humanity, with the story centered around their ableist mothers who seem in perpetual competition over who has the most burdensome disabled child. I kept hoping for some pro autistic perspective or counterview, but got nothing. In fact, the small group of mothers that actually defend the autistic children are portrayed as looney and tedious — ironically, akin to how anti-vaxxers act in real life. They are referred to simply as “the protesters”.

Autism is a neurotype, is not “worse than cancer”, and does not need to be cured. If this is your basic understanding of autism, this book is not for you either.