I really wanted to like this book and it's not all bad. There are certain aspects and characters I really like however the main character I strongly disliked. 

Chloe was annoying and full of contradictions, she never called people out and let them get away with saying horrible things and made excuses for them and then complained about them. She also thought of herself as the only person who had struggles and responsibilities which was emphasized when she constantly compared herself to other students.  

The romance lacked chemistry and was very sudden. I didn't like David either and there was the awkward moment near the end where she compared him to a lion and basically said she was with him because it's 'harder and cooler' to be with a lion then a dog (referencing other guys) which is stupid. Also he was rude to everybody and even afterwards when he hung out with her friends which was harsh of him and he just treated people like crap and was hugely judgmental. 

The book also included various cliches which would have been okay if there wasn't that many. 

But i do feel if the book had a different narrator and love interest I would have really liked the novel. 

1/5

I had read another of Claire LaZebnik’s books (Epic Fail) a while ago and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to get my hands on this one. The writing is just as engaging and authentic as I recalled, the storyline was unique and refreshing – and I wasn’t one bit disappointed in my choice to pick this one up. There was something so…rewarding (for lack of a better word) to get this sort of up-close-and-personal view of what life is like as an autistic person, and as someone who loves an autistic person. I felt like I learned a lot while not realizing I was learning a lot and buried into this bigger message was this super sweet love story that kind of stole my heart.

I feel like Ms. LaZebnik excels at dialogue and so it’s not really any surprise that the dialogue exchanges among nearly all the characters were my favorite parts of the book. I absolutely adored Chloe – her smart tongue and her giant heart. I loved how she navigated her way through her relationships – not always sweet and bubbly, but somehow always remaining lovable and definitely relatable. I felt like her relationship transitions were a little abrupt, and perhaps a bit glossed over, but I did enjoy how she handled the curveballs that were thrown at her. She’s the kind of person I would wish for as my best friend even as an adult, which I think speaks volumes to how wonderfully she was written.

David should have been a much more difficult character to like, but I’m a sucker for a hero with a soft underbelly and David completely fit the bill. He’s all prickly and sour on the outside, but the fierce love he has for his brother, and the sweetness he showed Chloe let me know that his heart was soft and generous (if well protected). I enjoyed his interactions with Chloe and the way she opened him up over the course of the book. Theirs was a very positive relationship dynamic in every possible way.

There are a lot of issues packed into this book, but not a whole lot of angst. Things I Should Have Known was an interesting and entertaining and even subtly educational read – and I feel like its message is fitting for all ages!

Things I Should Have Known is a story that showcases sibling relationships and the struggles of being different. We follow Chloe and David, classmates who are not friends, as they begin to connect through their autistic siblings.

Things I Liked :
The highlight of the book for me was the sibling relationships. I loved getting to see siblings who are each other’s champions, while also realistically being annoyed at them. Chloe and Ivy’s relationship and Ethan and David’s are both unique and universal. Chloe and David face challenges their classmates and friends don’t because of their autistic siblings. While they may get frustrated with each other, as all siblings do, they love, encourage, and support their siblings.

I really loved Chloe and David’s personality. She was very sarcastic and witty. David was too, just in a less tactful way. Both characters were really easy to connect with through their humor. They also had really heartfelt moments that showed they weren’t one-note jokesters.

I really loved the inclusion of autism in the story. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with autistic characters before, so it was nice to see them represented. The story did a really great job of showing how autistic people process thoughts, and react to everyday conversation and stimuli differently.

Things I Didn’t Like :
All of the parents in this story were pretty awful. Sure, there were a few good moments, but largely the parents were judgmental, absent, or apathetic.

I could have done without the romance that developed between Chloe and David. They had nice banter, and I understand how their friendship developed, but the romance was a little weak for me.

This was a great story that really highlighted family, growth, and understanding. It was super easy to read, and was engaging throughout the entire story. This is a very human story that feels easily accessible and relatable.

Note that this is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This was an awesome book by an author with a mouth-twisting last name - which happens to be the Arabic word (zebnik) for zebra as far as I know (but that's only as far as I know)! It's also a book where things could have gone sadly and badly wrong, but the author picked her way carefully through this maze and the result was amaze! For me she put a foot wrong on only a couple of occasions, missteps which I was happy to let slide because the rest of the novel was totally awesome.

Having read so many (far too many, in fact) YA novels which have timidly, like a lamb, followed the rest of the herd along the path most traveled (usually into bland oblivion or itchy annoyance), I live for novels like this, which strike out on their own path, tell their own story, and make it real.

The differences are clear from the start. Contrary to far too many YA novels, instead of starting out as the outcast and the underdog, Chloe Mitchell is a popular girl who is well-liked and dating the school's hottest guy (so she says), so that's a welcome reversal of the usual YA trope right there. In another departure, Chloe's sister, Ivy, is autistic, quite highly functioning, but nonetheless decidedly on the spectrum. What Chloe doesn't know to begin with though, is that the guy she most detests in school, David, also has an autistic sibling, Ethan, and he attends the same school Ivy does.

Chloe is truly torn between wanting to have a life for herself, and feeling responsible for Ivy, and facilitating her having a life, and she manages it well despite feeling put-upon and abused at times. It comes to pass that when Ivy expresses some interest in Ethan, Chloe decides maybe the two could date. Despite being four years younger than her sister, Chloe is very much the older sibling in this relationship, and she nudges Ivy along and arranges for them to meet at a yogurt shop downtown.

When she and Ivy show up, there is Ethan, and with him most unexpectedly, is David. Chloe is confused and annoyed at his presence until she discovers David is Ethan's brother, and has the same relationship with him that Chloe does with Ivy. Suddenly she not only has something in common with the guy she detests, but it's also something of vital importance.

A lesser author might have left it at that, but this author doesn't. She keeps on ramping it up. Ivy, while enjoying, in her own way, her visits with Ethan. has much more interest in a girl at her school named Diana, and rather belatedly, Chloe realizes her sister is gay.

Here was the first misstep in the writing, for me, which is that Chloe then refocuses on finding Ivy a "young, gay woman with autism" which is wrong-headed. Ivy's partner needs to be someone who can be with Ivy and appreciate her for who she is. The partner is required to be neither 'young' nor autistic herself!

Chloe makes a lot of mistakes and typically learns from them, but she never seemed to learn from this one. That she was so wrong about Ivy's sexuality ought to have taught her that she should be more cautious in who she tried to "line up" for her sister in future.

Of course it's obvious what was going to happen, because this novel still has the trope of the girl falling for the guy she initially hates, but here's it's done sensitively and not at all like a Meg Ryan romantic comedy, which was very much appreciated.

The relationship between David and Chloe grows naturally and organically, and there's no miraculous transformation. The relationship is troubled and thorny, because David is, but it's easy to see how the two of them are learning to accommodate to each other's ofttimes uncomfortable shape and demeanor as they grow to know each other. That kind of maturity in a relationship is rare in YA novels which are all-too-often puke-inducing, instadore-laden disasters.

This brings me to the second misstep, which is that David, at one point, is described by Chloe as having yellow flecks in his eyes. This is the biggest, most annoying cliche in all of YA-dom. Usually it's gold flecks, but yellow is hardly any better. I despair of YA writers who employ this because I have read it so often it's nauseating, and it smacks of a complete lack of imagination and inventiveness on the part of the YA author.

In the unintentional humor department, I have to quote the opening few words from chapter six which are: "A little before seven" which I thought was hilarious because chapter six is indeed a little before seven. But that's just my truly, hopelessly warped mind. In the intentional humor department, of which there were many sly instances, this line was a standout: "The indoor tables are all occupied by unshaven guys writing movie dialogue on their MacBook Airs, so we sit outside." The novel takes place in LA, so this was perfect and made me LOL.

My two minor gripes aside, I truly loved this novel and I fully recommend it. It was a welcome breath of life in a YA world which has become glutted with the rotting corpses of an endless parade of YA clone novels marching lock-step towards oblivion. The formatting of the ebook needs some work, but I assume that will be taken care of before it's released. In case it isn't, this needs to be fixed: "wish she could stay in in high school forever." (An 'in' too many!). But other than that, this book was about as near to perfect as you can humanly get it.

So I've been reading Claire LaZebnik for a few years now - I found her back when Epic Fail first came out, and I've waited on and then devoured each of her YA Austen retellings as they were released. When I saw that she had a new book out, I knew I had to read it (and given that I've loved all of her other stuff, I had pretty high expectations). I loved the premise of this book - I feel like, true to her style, it has all the right ingredients to be a thoroughly enjoyable but quirky YA contemporary. And while I did enjoy it, I feel like certain parts of the execution of the story fell flat for me. Namely, the romance between Chloe and David; it felt very whiplash-y: enemies, enemies, and then, boom! They're suddenly not only smitten, but together? Okay.... So in that way, it was a little confusing, I would've liked to have seen some more/deeper character development from both of them, too, even if maybe it took away from the romance a little...particularly Chloe. I felt like we really didn't see much evolution in either of them from start to finish, and I would've liked to. I really appreciate that Claire is able to write about autism in a way that is normalizing, and simultaneously doesn't simplify Ivy's identity to that characteristic alone. The matchmaking trope - be it between sisters, best friends, whatever - is one that always sort of rubs me the wrong way, and so that part annoyed me (but obviously was necessary to the overall plot). I also appreciated the diversity of the characters. Overall, I honestly just didn't feel like I related or connected to Chloe very much as a character, and so I think that's what the biggest thing was for me. The writing was great, and quite clever, as is per usual with Claire. I think perhaps this particular story and protagonist just wasn't necessarily for me. That said, I realize not every book by any given author is going to be a home run for every reader every time, and I'm okay with that. I definitely plan to continue reading whatever Claire puts out! 3/5

I absolutely adored this book. It was super sweet and really handled a lot of subjects well. While there were many problematic and ableist comments, they were addressed as problematic.

By most means, Chloe is your average intelligent, beautiful, blonde, popular seventeen-year old dating the equally good-looking, wealthy athlete. She does well in school and has an active social life. Except no one knows very much about her older sister, Ivy, who has autism, goes to a separate school and doesn’t have many friends outside of it. Chloe is content keeping her sister company and trying to find a job so she can buy herself a car which would give her more autonomy (especially when she’s considering going to college nearby to stay close to Ivy). Until Ivy starts asking more and more questions about how it feels to be in a relationship. Soon, Chloe is playing matchmaker between Ivy and a boy from her class, Ethan. Unfortunately, setting up dates with Ethan also mean spending time with his brother, David, a loud-mouth loner in Chloe’s class. Together they work to push their older siblings towards independence while also coming to terms with their roles as caregivers, siblings, and teenagers.



Diversity: +12

Race/Ethnicity: +1 (Sarah, Chloe’s best friend is half-Latina and half-Jewish)

Gender: +1 (Author), +3 (Chloe, Ivy)

Neurodiversity: +5 (Autism) [Author has child with autism and coauthored two nonfiction books about it]

LGBTQ+: +2



What I liked:

-The sibling relationships. I don’t have a sibling with autism, but I am the oldest child and the only daughter from a very strict gender-role adhering family. I completely understand and relate to taking care and loving a sibling so much while trying to help them be more independent and learning to let them be their own person. I love how we get both Chloe’s perspective and David’s perspective on how this feels and how both of their reactions are very different. I also really like that Chloe calls out David when he’s being unreasonable and that everyone seems to hold each other accountable and they’re willing to talk about what’s happening instead of letting problematic things slide.

-I also really appreciated including characters like James, Sarah, David and Ethan’s Stepmom and Chloe and Ivy’s Stepdad. I know how awkward and uncomfortable it can be getting to know people on the autism spectrum. I spent several months at a nonprofit intent on housing people with disabilities. I came into their home as an outsider, surrounded by people they already knew and felt comfortable with. It’s easy to say and do things you shouldn’t do, especially if no one talks to you about it. They all come into the story as outsiders. They all say and do very problematic and ableist things.
(Such as talking about them as if they weren’t there or couldn’t understand what was happening, the Stepmom being a very vocal antivaxxer, the Stepdad pushing a “healthy” lifestyle, and biological parents who cope with their children very differently)
Chloe (as the narrator) acknowledges how problematic things are and reacts to it. At first, she lets some things slide because she wants to fit in and doesn’t want to seem overly-sensitive or politically correct, but she still lets the reader know that it wasn’t an okay thing to do or say. Later on, she works on how to speak out and call people out on it. They are unlikable characters because they don’t treat Ethan and Ivy as they deserve to be treated, I completely and 100% understand that. But Ethan and Ivy are written as complex and individual characters regardless of any opinions the others have on them.

*Problematic characters are okay ONLY when their problematic behavior is called out and corrected.*

-I also liked that Chloe and David weren’t always very likable characters. They weren’t perfect. They were flawed, but still tried to be better. Chloe was written as the stereotypical bombshell and David the stereotypical loner, but they ended up being more than that.

-I LOVED that even though Ivy, Ethan, and Diana were on the autism spectrum, they were all their own person. They all had their own personalities and reactions and coping mechanisms. They didn’t become stereotypes or caricatures and they were all given room to grow and explore.

-The romance between Chloe and David. It was the enemies-into-lovers trope plus the slow-burn trope. I never liked James and am a sucker for the brooding and brutally honest type. David might seem a little flat, but I really liked him and he definitely grew up from the beginning to the end.

-The romance between Ethan and Ivy. I really appreciate that we only got their interactions from the outsider point of view. I get that many nondisabled authors want to give voice to people with autism, but I don’t think that anyone should write from that perspective unless they are that perspective. We only get to see what happens as Chloe sees and understands it. She has this beautiful epiphany about projecting her feelings onto Ivy that shows how much she grew as a person. I am so happy for how Ivy was allowed to express herself and for how the complexity of her situation was addressed and confronted instead of making it seem like everything was perfectly alright.



What I didn’t like:

-While I appreciated that there were so many flawed and ableist characters that showed different ways of caring for Ivy, Ethan, and Diana, I wish we had better characters. Why can’t there have been a mother and/or a father who cared as much for them as their siblings did? It felt like Diana’s mother might have fit that role, but I wish we had at least one example of a stable relationship. We only know that Diana lives with her mother, far away from the school they go to, and that she works late on weekdays. I really didn’t like the idea that there was not one single, functional family that happened to have a family member with autism, instead we have two relatively dysfunctional families that revolved or broke apart because of a family member with autism. It’s 100% possible for this not to happen! I’ve met many of these families myself! I wish it weren’t siblings-vs-the world the whole time. I didn’t approve of the paternalism that Chloe and David had for them either. BUT I’m glad that their perspectives shifted away from the strict paternalism of a caregiver.

I absolutely loved this book. To find someone who totally got you, who understood every single thing in your life is worth more than anything in the world. As someone who has a daughter on the autism spectrum this especially hits home and I so wish I could find someone who I could relate to. Thanks for writing this book!

This book was such a joy to read!

It was SO WELL written, and there is SO MUCH LOVE here! SO MUCH! ❤️

It’s so palpable how much David and Chloe cared for their siblings that your soul can’t help but smile. 😊

ASD rep was spot on and I especially loved how the reactions of people to Ivy and Ethan where described. I have relatives in the spectrum and I’ve experienced those reactions personally. Unfortunately that is exactly how people often react and that is how you feel. You can tell Claire has first hand experience!

While my soul was idiotically smiling my mind was frowning a little though because I was a little conflicted about Chloe’s meddling that much in Ivy’s personal life but I guess it is a fine line to walk how much support you give a loved one with special needs without interfering too much.

Chloe is also conflicted about her intervention in Ivy’s life and that just gives more depth and human dimension to the story.

Sooooo… Precious! This book was precious!.

This is a wonderful YA book that can easily appeal to adults. It's a story about understanding and cherishing differences, love and lost love, and the dynamics of families that are not "whole."

Chloe, a junior in high school, and her older sister, Ivy, live with their mom and her second husband, Ron. Chloe is a typical high school girl, generally a good student, wanting a boyfriend and then finding out that the boy she thought was right, wasn't. Ivy has autism and goes to a special school. She is highly verbal and functional, but, as do people on the autism spectrum, she has her unique quirks (but, we ALL do, don't we?). Her different-ness is embraced by her family, although they seem to stifle her burgeoning desire for more independence. Chloe is her most fierce advocate, and she makes it her mission to find a boyfriend for Ivy, figuring that since she has one, so, too, should Ivy.

Enter David and his brother Ethan. Ethan is one of Ivy's classmates, who Chloe spots and decides he's the perfect boyfriend for Chloe, so somehow a date is arranged. Since Ivy is unwilling to meet Ethan alone, Chloe goes along as chaperone, where she discovers, to her dismay, that Ethan has been accompanied by his brother, David, probably the nerdiest boy in Chloe's class.

What follows is a delightful exploration into young love, experiencing a range of emotions, and discovering who one really is and what matters most. The characters are real; like people you might know or encounter. Ivy and Ethan ring true as people on the autism spectrum. Since the book was written for the YA audience, adult readers might find the plot and the writing style unsophisticated (which I do not mean as an insult), but it is perfect for the intended audience. I am an adult reader and I took that as a given, and enjoyed the book and its dilemmas and insights immensely.

Highly recommended.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

So going into this book I really wasn't sure what to expect as I haven't read anything by this author before and since I RARELY read summaries, I honestly didn't know what to expect. However, this is one of those times that requesting an eARC without reading a summary paid off because I absolutely adored this book.
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My favorite thing about this book was the sibling relationships. I would say family relationships but the two MCs both have less than stellar parents. To be honest, Chloe's mom was the best of the four and even saying that is kinda pushing it. I guess I wasn't too fond of how she let her husband talk to her daughters, especially Ivy. I'm not going to do into complete details but let's just say Ron is an ass and leave it at that.

But the relationship with Chloe, Ivy, Ethan and David was what made the book. I love how David and Chloe were with their siblings.

All in all, this was a very good read and I'm so happy I got to met Chloe, Ethan, Ivy and David.

I thoroughly enjoyed this YA! It tackled A LOT of topics and there were some things skirted over and room for more development but all in all this was a solid read.

Chloe is a popular seventeen year old. Her older sister Ivy is autistic. She thinks Ivy is lonely and goes on a mission to find her a boyfriend. Ethan seems like the perfect match. He's sweet, and kind, and also autistic. Ethan's brother David is someone that Chloe can't stand. He's the only person who understands what Chloe is going through with her sister because he's Ethan's caregiver. Ethan may not be the right person for Ivy but will David be the right person for Chloe?

This book is a wonderful depiction of teens caring for their autistic siblings. It shines a light on autism and shows that individuals with autism are not strange. It's realistically describes what their daily life is like and informs the reader what it's like to take care of someone autistic. A lot of people are ignorant to what autism really is and this book is a great resource for understanding it. Autistic individuals are people too and deserve to be loved and treated equally. The love that Chloe and David have for Ivy and Ethan is special. It realistically portrayed their feelings when being with their siblings. They talk to them normally, enjoy their company, but sometimes they get annoyed with them. At the end of the day they have their best interest at heart.

This book also has LGBT representation. I liked that the friends to lovers trope was included. I also liked the fact that is showed that no family is perfect but they can surprise you.

I really enjoyed this book. I even stayed up half the night to finish it. This is a realistic contemporary YA novel. Fans of Sarah Dessen will enjoy this novel. If you're looking for a good novel that explores the topic of autism this book is for you.

I was expecting more of a romance. Simply based on the synopsis, I thought it would take center stage for this story in terms of the main plot but I found that wasn’t the case and I can’t say the story was necessarily lacking because of it but I couldn’t get into it.

Contemporaries are always hit or miss for me. Usually, I don’t mind contemporary romances as much since I read romances pretty often and it’s a theme that I can connect to while reading. Which is why I thought I’d like Things I Should Have Known more than I actually did.

This just wasn’t the right book for me.

Briefly touching on that romance bit, I felt it was kind of forced at times but at others just… not really there. It takes a while to really get into it and by that point I kind of lost interest.

But I definitely think it’s the right book for other readers and though the romance and my connection to the story wasn’t really present, there were a lot of amazing relationships between siblings and friends. I don’t have personal experience and can’t attest to the authenticity of this story and the experiences the characters go through as being siblings of characters with autism, it felt authentic. Real. Grounded. Obviously I wouldn’t say this is a good representation of autism for everyone on the spectrum because a) I don’t have the experience to warrant a statement like that, and b) as far as I’ve heard it’s different for everyone, much like most things are. But I think it represents these characters and their experiences well.

Now while the characters were beautiful in their connections to each other, I can’t say I was a huge fan of Chloe. She just kind of annoyed me? And with her perspective dominating it meant slogging through the slower sections of the book a bit harder. But I think that comes down to the writing too, which I wasn’t a big fan of. It’s a personal preference, just not a style that clicked with me. Might be because of the genre and I’m just not well-read enough to appreciate it but I couldn’t bring myself to really get into it.

I think this book is wonderfully diverse and addresses topics that I haven’t read about before, which was a really cool experience for me as a reader. Unfortunately, as a reader I’m also reading for entertainment/enjoyment and while certain elements of this book were great, it wasn’t the book for me. But I would definitely recommend anyone who’s added it to their TBRs to still check it out!

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Things I Should Have Known by Claire LaZebnik
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 28, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

From the author of Epic Fail comes the story of Chloe Mitchell, a Los Angeles girl on a quest to find love for her autistic sister, Ivy. Ethan, from Ivy’s class, seems like the perfect match. It’s unfortunate that his older brother, David, is one of Chloe’s least favorite people, but Chloe can deal, especially when she realizes that David is just as devoted to Ethan as she is to Ivy.

Uncommonly honest and refreshingly funny, this is a story about sisterhood, autism, and first love. Chloe, Ivy, David, and Ethan, who form a quirky and lovable circle, will steal readers’ hearts and remind us all that it’s okay to be a different kind of normal.

What I Liked:

Months ago, I received a galley of this book - it was sent unsolicited from Houghton Mifflin (and of course, receiving this galley in no way affected my opinion of the book). So I wasn't sure if I would read it, but recently, a few of my blogger pals read this book, and all of them really enjoyed the book. Throw in the fact that I really enjoyed the one LaZebnik book I've tried - The Last Best Kiss - and I knew I had to squeeze this one into my schedule somehow. I'm so glad I did, because it was a wonderful, thought-provoking, sweet story. With great diversity too!

At a glance, Chloe Mitchell has a great life; she is smart and gets really good grades, her boyfriend is hot, athletic, and a fairly nice guy, and she seems really social and has a great group of friends. But behind closed doors, everything isn't as put-together as it seems. Chloe doesn't have the best relationship with her stepfather, or her mother (since her father died and her mom got remarried). Chloe's older sister is autistic, and Chloe is very protective of and careful with her sister. Chloe's friends don't know much about Ivy, and Chloe sometimes feels as isolated as Ivy. Chloe knows how lonely Ivy is, and so she gets Ivy to start hanging out with Ethan, a boy in Ivy's classes. Ethan is autistic as well, and when Ivy and Ethan hang out, Chloe comes along, as well as Ethan's brother David. David is one of the most annoying jerks that Chloe knows, but as she hangs out with him (and Ivy and Ethan) more, she realizes that he is somewhat antisocial and alone all the time because his devotion to his brother is similar to hers with Ivy. But what if Ethan isn't the right person for Ivy? What is David is the right person for Chloe?

I don't really love or care for most YA contemporary novels that I come across - I'm much more of a fantasy girl, when it comes to YA. But certain YA contemporary authors have produced amazing books that really worked for me - like Kasie West, Emma Mills, Jenny Han, Huntley Fitzpatrick, Julie Buxbaum... I think it's safe for me to add Claire LaZebnik to that list. I'm two for two with books of hers that I've read!

Reading from Chloe's POV was so entertaining and interesting. I love how selfless Chloe is - she sacrifices a lot of time and social opportunities to take care of Ivy or meet Ivy's needs or demands. And yet, Chloe is also good about not giving into to all of Ivy's demands - she does a fairly good job of taking care of herself. Chloe is such a good sister, and a good friend and girlfriend too. I especially liked seeing her stand up for her sister to everyone - even their stepfather, of all people.

Ivy is a lovely character, one that I liked getting to know and learn about. I've had a lot of experience with young adults with autism, but I've never lived with someone with autism or had to spend hours and days with them. I think the author captured Ivy so well - not just Ivy with autism, but Ivy the person, Ivy the older sister, Ivy the lonely almost-twenty-one-year-old. Ivy is a secondary character in this book, but she is so important to the story.

David was a character that surprised me a little. He comes across as an antisocial jerk who gets good grades but is never seen with friends or a girl, so everyone thinks he is weird and unlikable. Even Chloe isn't nice to him at all, in the beginning. But I love how the author changes our minds about him; he stills seems a little antisocial and not a people-person, but we start to understand why. David is always with his autistic brother Ethan when they're not at their respective school, so David doesn't have much of a social life. His father and stepmother have no time or patience for Ethan, and David is all that Ethan has. David is incredibly selfless and such a good person, when you dig deeper. In fact, I'd say Chloe is more of a jerk than David is, in terms of how mean she was to him initially.

Autism is a big part of this book, and I thought LaZebnik handled the condition well, in both characters. Ivy and Ethan, and their fellow classmate Diana, and others in the class - they all have similar tics and mannerisms, but they're also very different, in terms of the spectrum. I appreciated this a lot, because (in my experience) there are so many different behaviors and mannerisms within the spectrum of autism.

The romance - both romances - is not what you'd think! Chloe has a boyfriend for about half of the book. James is cool and there's nothing really wrong with him - he doesn't cheat on Chloe, he's not sleazy, he's not a jerk to her. But he doesn't really get why Chloe is so attentive and devoted to her sister, and about halfway into the story, Chloe and James break up. It seemed fairly natural and with minimal drama, and I actually ended up not minding that Chloe had a boyfriend that wasn't the intended love interest (usually this bothers me because LOVE TRIANGLE).

But this aspect of the romance worked fine for me, because Chloe and David barely knew each other at the time, and they didn't have the best opinions of each other. By the time they both start to develop feelings for each other, Chloe and James break up, and it's a fairly clean break. Chloe and David are great together! They're supportive of each other, and they understand each other. I didn't really swoon over them because there weren't a lot of swoony scenes or magical kisses, but I liked their romance.

Ivy's own romance is great! I had a feeling about it and I think everyone else does too. It was great to see Ivy come out of her shell a little and try new things with Ethan, and explore her feelings about him possibly being more than a friend. Ivy's tentative friendship with Ethan was interesting to see unfold, but her romance is even better.

It was also pretty cool to see the evolution of Chloe's relationship with her stepfather. I hated him initially, and I still don't totally like him, but I liked him more towards the end of the book. Chloe's mom too. David has a strained relationship with his stepmother and his father, and those relationships don't mature like Chloe's do, but they still improve. LaZebnik handled the development of these familial relationships fairly well, in my opinion.

Overall, I have to hand it to LaZebnik - this was a fantastic book. I don't usually like YA contemporary, especially the ones that are heavy with tough issues. This book had "tough issues" (difficult stepparents, struggling find a balance with an autistic sibling, xenophobia exploring relationships), but I like the tone of the book, and how the issues were brought across. This isn't a book that will make you ugly-cry and break your heart - which made me very happy. It is definitely a book that makes you stop and think about xenophobia, and how you view autism, and loved ones of those with autism.

What I Did Not Like:

Nothing really! Maybe more kissing from David and Chloe?

Would I Recommend It:

If you like YA contemporary, then definitely put this one on your TBR! I'm not a YA contemporary person and I enjoyed it. It's worth the read - if anything, it'll open your mind to the a completely different world that you might never have thought about (isn't that the lovely thing about books!). I've never read a YA book like this (I'm sure they exist, I just haven't read any).

Rating:

4 stars. I really enjoyed this light yet thought-provoking novel! Especially with the diversity it contains. I'm glad I took the chance and read it. I'm excited to see what else LaZebnik will be publishing!

Chloe is at the prime time in her teenage life. She has the perfect boyfriend, is popular in school, her grades are perfect and she is just about to apply for college. After a conversation with her autistic older sister Ivy, Chloe turns as much of her attention as she can on finding Ivy a relationship of her own.

Things I Should Have Known is a realistic and heart-warming young adult contemporary book. I have never read a book before in which a character has a family member who has been diagnosed with autism. Once I saw that this book covered the topic of autism I wanted to give it a read. It is obvious that Claire LaZebink has had previous experience and written about autism in non-fiction before, as it commented on in the acknowledgements section of the book, and feels very authentic. This book tackles, deals with and shows respect to both the topic of autism and those with autism.

I loved the characters in this book. Chloe is the typical teenager dealing with her life. All her thoughts were honest. You can tell she is a flawed human dealing with all her own struggles as well as her sisters. I related with Chloe when she got irritated at her sister, as I am the same with my sister. It was also nice to read that Chloe would also drop anything to help Ivy. Claire LaZebnik does an incredible job with writing authentic teenagers in her stories. Some books I have read recently the teenage characters feel fake but all the characters in this book felt authentic. All the side characters added their own little elements to the story. David, the teenage with no social life because he is his brother’s caretaker. I enjoyed what he added to the story. Chloe’s popular boyfriend made me want to scream at points. He made the typical unaware remarks about Chloe’s sister Ivy and her disability, like that she was “messed up.” But this again made the story feel real as this is what goes on in real life.

It was lovely to finally read a book that was funny, heart-warming and endearing and still feel incredibly real. A lot of young adult books at the minute that talk about realistic issues and challenges try to sugar-coat it and make the overall story unnecessarily depressing. This book is the complete opposite and feels incredibly authentic and real.

The only issue I had with this book is a really specific one. But I wasn’t a fan of any of the parent characters in this book. They just felt underdeveloped and like they had been thrown in because they needed to be there.

Overall, this book is important, heart-warming, and endearing. I have already recommended it to family members and friends and certainly will continue to do so. I recommend this book to any young adult contemporary book readers out there. Especially if you want to read a story that feels incredibly authentic.

Thank you to Netgalley, Claire LaZebnik and HMH Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF

Mini review:

I received this E-ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I had initially heard about this book through my friends' reviews. Once I read the synopsis I was sold! Unfortunately I did not enjoy it.

The interactions with the characters felt forced. Specifically the dialogue. I couldn't bring myself to read further and just dropped it.

I do still recommend it because I think it'll be cute.

I feel like I inhaled this! It helped that I was left alone on a sunny Saturday and had nothing to do but sit in the breeze and read this! So what we have here, is a fun, engaging, easy read about teenagers and high school romances with a difference, because it also has characters on the autism spectrum and idk about you, but I haven't come across many books about kids on the autism spectrum.

Things Chloe knew: Her sister, Ivy, was lonely. Ethan was a perfect match. Ethan’s brother, David, was an arrogant jerk.
Things Chloe should have known: Setups are complicated. Ivy can make her own decisions. David may be the only person who really gets Chloe.
Meet Chloe Mitchell, a popular Los Angeles girl who’s decided that her older sister, Ivy, who’s on the autism spectrum, could use a boyfriend. Chloe already has someone in mind: Ethan Fields, a sweet, movie-obsessed boy from Ivy’s special needs class.
Chloe would like to ignore Ethan’s brother, David, but she can’t—Ivy and Ethan aren’t comfortable going out on their own, so Chloe and David have to tag along. Soon Chloe, Ivy, David, and Ethan form a quirky and wholly lovable circle. And as the group bonds over frozen-yogurt dates and movie nights, Chloe is forced to confront her own romantic choices—and the realization that it’s okay to be a different kind of normal.

So the thing is, the bare bones of this is about kids dealing with stuff, and what is a YA novel if not a book about kids dealing with stuff. I'll start with our narrator, Chloe. Chloe's older sister Ivy, is autistic, so she kind of has to parent her a bit, add to this mix the fact that her dad died of cancer and her mum has remarried someone that although means well, Chloe isn't all that keen on. Despite this, Chloe is sociable and fairly happy with her high school life, she has lots of friends, gets good grades and has a super cute athletic boyfriend, all the standard teen drama stuff. The story really kicks off when Ivy sees Chloe with her boyfriend and comments that she'll never have a boyfriend which makes Chloe decide to play matchmaker by sizing up the other kids in Ivy's class at a school for teens with special needs and picking one at random, who just happens to be the younger brother of one of her classmates. Who she doesn't like. Do you see where I'm going with this?
David and Ethan's story is equally as interesting even without the added dimension of Ethan and Ivy seeing the world differently. They live in a world where their parents are living separate lives which barely involve either of them and their new step mother in particular has difficulty accepting Ethan.
While there are some aspects of this story that are a tad predictable, of course Chloe is going to form a special bond with the guy she's hated this whole time, of course there is going to be bumps in the road of her match making, there is a lot to like about this book, namely the fact that it deals with autism and it deals with LGBTQA+ aspects of autism.

The only other book I've read with a similar character to that of Ivy and Ethan is the Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime, which is a great book, if you've not read it before, but this is the first one I've come across featuring autistic teenagers trying to navigate dating and socialising. Slight disclaimer - I don't know many people with autism, so I don't know if they would have a different opinion on how well Ivy and Ethan are portrayed and I would love to hear their thoughts on this book, but for me, I thought it was well done and about time that characters like Ivy and Ethan were featured in books and on TV. It was also great seeing Chloe and watching how protective and caring she is and how she reconciles how frustrated she gets with Ivy and the situation and the guilt that follows. I just feel that now having finished it, that this book was so heartwarming and well presented and I want to see more stories like this.

Chloe decides to help her older autistic sister find true love. Through a series of disasters, they figure out that life is hilarious and sweet. The book explores the relationship between sisters as one tries to help the other find love.

I'm going to post my full review as soon as possible. It is an enjoyable read indeed and it is amazing to see more of how it is to live with someone who is autistic but i'm afraid I was expecting more from this novel.