I pretty much loved this book. As a teacher, I have had many students with varied levels of autism and this book portrayed the student who sees the world a little differently in a very clear and believable light. I also have a nephew who is on the spectrum and I saw many of his traits in one of the characters. This is a love story between siblings and shows the pressure and stress on a family of a child who doesn't fit exactly it the perfect square that society believes that people should fit into. The growing and changing relationships and need for support from friends and family are a cornerstone of this story. There are so many wonderful things about this book and I found myself reading it very quickly and growing to care for the characters. I was invested in them and when there is a huge emotional breakdown near the end of the book I found myself crying along with a character. Well written and a great story to read if you have any interaction with someone who has autism or if you just want to open your eyes to the world and the imperfections some of us have that make us perfectly perfect the way we are.

Things I Should Have Known is a wonderful and heartwarming novel. Not only is it deep, but it is also very educational.

Chloe is your typical high school girl. She is beautiful, popular, blonde and in love with the most popular guy at her school. When she notices her autistic sister is sad and lonely, she steps out of her narcissistic bubble and decides to help Ivy by finding her a boyfriend. On her journey to help her sister, Chloe not only learns to see her sister in a new way, but learn about the mistakes she's made in the past, and just how wrong she was.

I personally didn't like Chloe at all. Okay maybe she started to get a little bit better near the end of the novel, but at the beginning I could not stand her. My hatred for her was so strong I almost gave up on the book.

The reason I didn't give up was because of David and Ivy. Both of them were amazing characters, so different in their own way, yet really amazing. Ivy really surprised me, I haven't read book about autistic characters before, so this was a first for me, then when we find out more about Ivy I almost fell off my chair. She is so pure and gentle, I absolutely love her.
David on the other hand, I mean how could you not love that sass? I loved hearing about his story, especially when he started opening up. His character development was really wonderful, and intriguing.

I found the book to be a little boring at first, but after about 40% in I was really starting to like the characters and had to finish reading. The writing itself wasn't my favourite, but I got used to it after a while and didn't mind it near the end.

The romance in this book was really wonderful to read about. The connections were so very real and the development was so strong. I definitely recommend this for all the cute romance lovers out there.

Overall, this book was really eyeopening and so very enjoyable. I definitely recommend giving it a read if this sounds like the type of book you would go for.

Happy Reading,
Aneta.

This was one of those books that steals a little bit of your heart when you aren't looking. I was immediately intrigued by the premise, and Claire LaZebnik did not let me down. Not only was the plot interesting, but the exploration of the family dynamics was enjoyable. The sibling relationships were sweet yet realistic. Every character brought something to the story, even Chloe and Ivy's stepfather. Ethan was absolutely my favorite, though. The portrayal of autism in this story was respectful and genuine. I would definitely recommend this story to the YA lovers out there.

So we have Chloe Mitchell, 17-year-old, normal blonde cute popular girl with an amazing boyfriend, cool friends and social life. But the thing few people know is how messed up her home life is. Her father died a couple of years ago, her mother is a mess and remarried an intrusive guy full of unwelcome self-confidence and her older sister, Ivy, is autistic.
I've never read a book with an autistic teen as an important character before, it was really interesting.
Chloe starts to notice that her older sister has taken interest in her relationship with James, her boyfriend, and thinks that maybe her sister feels alone and wants to experiment a relationship just like hers.
So she sets up to fin the perfect guy for her and she does: Ethan, this cute super sweet autistic guy who is in class with Ivy.
Everything could be perfect if it wasn't for Ethan's older brother: David. (In here I'm a bit confused because David is in class with Chloe but Chloe is 17 and Ivy is 20 and I supposed Ethan was in the same age rate but then David wouldn't be his older brother so yeah… I think the author mixed up a bit.). David is an angry overemotional guy mad with the world and a jerk with anybody that tries to talk to him.
Quote : (view spoiler)
I totally fell in love with this book. It's not just the original and interesting plot but the amazing characters and the fact that the story is centered in a sisterhood/brotherhood relationship in stead of focusing on the romance.
Ethan and Ivy are the cutest teenagers alive, they're so sweet and so nice. They're different and I loved how David and Chloe talked about them and hated the "normal people" together for being mean to these cuties.
We also have Sarah and James. They don't appear much in the book and I kind of wondered a bit about those two but they were there when it was necessary (view spoiler).
And finally Chloe's family, her Mom and Ron who both develop all along the book with Chloe and I liked that they were present in this situation.
It was a fast read with so many unexpected turns. I just couldn't stop reading it, I wanted to know more specially when some things happened. It was interesting how the author created like a love triangle/pentagon/circle?
Also, can I talk about the ending? It was so goddamned perfect in a way that is believable, it wasn't a perfect ending for our characters but it was for us readers, I loved it, it shows us that life goes on no matter what and there can be good in everything.
And I loved the narration, so real and funny and written in a way you can totally relate.
It was just so damn sweet. And so original. I loved it and I have nothing else to say, totally recommended to anyone looking for the sweetest love story ever.