Originally posted on Forever Young Adult on 2017 December 12.

BOOK REPORT for The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

Cover Story: Third Period Doodles
BFF Charm: Let Me Love You
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Talky Talk: Real Life
Bonus Factor: Literature
Anti-Bonus Factor: Awful Grownups
Relationship Status: Charmed

Cover Story: Third Period Doodles

I’m not sure what this really has to do with the book. Let’s put on our armchair psychologist thinking caps: The scribbles are chaotic and represent Lily’s fears that her destructive tendencies will destroy all love (AKA the hearts)? The blue color is pleasant—that’s about as much emotion as this cover can drum up in me.

The Deal:

Lily Michaels-Ryan has ADHD. Maybe that’s streamlining things a bit too much, but most times she feels like her ADHD is the biggest and most defining piece of her personality. All she wants out of junior year is to get decent enough grades so her mom will allow her to spend the summer on her father’s farm out in Portland, but that is shaping up to be a major struggle.

Then a broken accordion wall and her impulsive nature brings Abelard, a boy with a high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, into Lily’s orbit. He doesn’t seem to mind that she routinely breaks things, says whatever’s running through her head, and can’t always remember where she puts her possessions. They start exchanging text messages peppered with quotes from The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise, one of their favorite (and obviously very appropriate, given that Abelard was named after Peter Abelard) books, and Lily can’t believe she’s found someone who may actually understand her.

But the fact is that Lily and Abelard are not what others would call “normal” teenagers. Can their love survive their differences and overcome any obstacle?

BFF Charm: Let Me Love You

I adored Lily. Simple tasks aren’t always easy for people with ADHD, but most especially when you’re in high school and expected to conform to exacting rubrics while dealing with bored teachers who delight in pointing out when you don’t follow directions. She’s a smart girl, but her focus gets so scattered she’s basically given up on academics and the dream of ever going to college. Her mom has her on ADHD meds/anti-depressants, but they make her feel fundamentally less her and have gotten her on suicide watch in the past, so she hides them in a pickle jar under her bed. For all her problems, Lily is a good sister, funny, and deserving of big, giant hugs. She often regrets her impulsivity, but it’s not always a bad thing—sometimes it can lead to unexpected and wonderful experiences. She goes through rough moments where she wants to give up, but she always comes back around to wanting and desiring to succeed.

She earned my BFF charm 4 life with this observation:

“Supernatural. Salad. These are things we do together, eat salads and watch Supernatural because all three of us, Mom, me, and Iris, think those guys are hot. Iris likes the taller baby-faced one, but Mom and I prefer the deep-voiced snarky brother. It’s like a miracle, Mom says, to find such transgenerational hotness on TV.”

And kind of broke my heart with this one:

“I stood up. If Coach Neuwirth wasn’t going to let me pass his class, then I wasn’t going to listen to his humiliating and discouraging meditation on the total craptacularness of adulthood. Really, this grueling reminder that real adult life is a farce and nothing you do matters as long as you fill out the forms correctly, had all the appeal of an angry suicide note. The world is impossible and untenable, and we all suffer, and therefore we make others suffer to ease our own misery. Like we exist solely to propagate paperwork, because paperwork is infinitely more important than actual human beings. Paperwork demands suffering.”

Eff you, Coach Neuwirth. You don’t deserve the privilege of being an educator with an attitude like that.

Swoonworthy Scale: 7

I’ve rarely been so curious to see what happens to a relationship after the book ends than with this one. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like Abelard and Lily are going to work—he doesn’t get social cues and doesn’t speak often, and Lily sometimes forgets about things like personal space and can talk your ear off. Texting is the perfect medium for Abelard, who desperately wants to connect with someone but needs the space and time to formulate his replies. Their banter was fun and nerdy and old-school romantic. (Nothing says “I’m into you” like hunting through literature for the right quote to fit your flirty chats. That’s dedication.) Abelard’s steady presence is like a natural drug for Lily, who is also in need of someone who won’t judge her for just being her. Abelard has a great romantic declaration that deserves a place next to ones like Julia Robert’s from Notting Hill and Lloyd Dobbler’s in Say Anything. Here’s a small sample:

“You are a fractured snowflake, a pattern repeated in infinite detail in a world full of salt crystals. You’re not broken—you’re perfect.”

You’ll just have to read the book to get the rest of the swoony context.

Talky Talk: Real Life

Some people might pass on this one because it will look and feel like an “issues” book, but Creedle makes it so much more than that. There was a wry humor to the characters, and plenty of realistic moments about how much adolescence sucks, but with the hope that life can improve with time.

I was drawn to Lily’s story because my husband also has ADHD, and it’s not something I’ve seen very often in YA literature. So maybe I felt an extra emotional connection to Lily because I could see a lot of my husband in her—the tendency to ramble on about topics they find interesting; the well-meaning intentions to be somewhere on time or do the thing you asked them to do, but they get distracted; the feeling that their minds are going in a million different directions; and being in crowds of people make them feel way over-stimulated. I probably drove him a little crazy while I read it because I was constantly reading passages aloud and asking him if he felt similarly to Lily, and a lot of it was spot on for him. Obviously ADHD effects everyone differently, but I think many people, even those without direct experience with it, will find in Lily a relatable and root-able character.

Bonus Factor: Literature

People actually appreciating literature and using the sexy bits to flirt with one another? Heck yeah. I haven’t read The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise but their (real-life!) story sounds fascinating.

Anti-Bonus Factor: Awful Grownups

There are definitely some good people in Lily’s life, but unfortunately the crappy ones always seem to exert much more influence. Part of Lily’s father’s absence could be attributed to the fact that he may also have undiagnosed ADHD, but I think more of it is just him being a certifiably selfish jerkwad.

Relationship Status: Charmed

Some people may deem you a lost cause, Book, because they find your issues too heavy or real. But I see your deep feelings and passion for life, and I am charmed to make your acquaintance.

Laura Creedle's The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily is the sweetest little book I didn't know I needed.

I fell in love with our diverse protagonists at first read. Laura Creedle wrote them to be so real that they jump off of the page.

I am 100% certain you, too, will be rooting for these two in the day (or two) it takes you to read this book (you won't want to put it down).

Love the themes of loving yourself just the way that you are and finding someone that you love BECAUSE OF, not in spite of, their flaws.

Thank you, Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for providing me with an advance copy of The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily in exchange for an honest review.

Okay. I have a lot of feels for this, okay? So, I’m kinda gonna need a minute. This book, you guys. Just this amazing, awesome, gorgeous book. I LOVE IT. That’s all I’ve been able to process right now. It’s just so good!

Firstly, I absolutely love the rep. Autism and ADHD main leads? Hells, yeah! I mean, so amazing. This was a first for me because I haven’t read an MC with mental illness before this. So, of course, I was a little skeptical about it because I had nothing to compare it to, and because I was a little peeved that maybe the rep would be incorrect or problematic and then everything would just be down the drain. But, thankfully, it was amazingly handled. It was just so good and I felt really good that this was my first mental illness rep.
The author doesn’t downplay the effect it has on the MCs life, but she doesn’t make them helpless either. And, of course, it’s not magically “cured” on meeting the love of your life at six – effing – teen. Which is great. What was interesting was that Lily’s brain was in overdrive and always worked ahead of time whereas Abelard’s was slow on the uptake and took more time to understand stuff. So, you’ve got one of fast forward and one in slow mo. Yet, it’s never shown as if the other is annoyed about it or that they feel maybe the other should try to change so they’re on the same frequency. They both accept the other just as they are and it’s just the way it is. I love that.

Also. Good parents who’re involved in their kids’ life. Yes and thank you. I’ve read tons of stories with absentee parents who just throw money at their kid so that they can live the high life. It was nice to see the parents so involved in the kids’ lives. My parents were always up in my business when I was sixteen. Hell, I’m twenty two and they’re still up in all my business. So, it always felt far fetched to me that parents never paid attention to their kids. I’m really glad that was not the case here. And I loved how Lily’s mom was always so patient with Lily, understanding what she needed. She supported Lily through everything even if she was a little too strict at times. And you could see that she cared deeply about her daughter and that was just so heartwarming to read.

Now, the love story. Lily & Abelard are so cute! I mean, these two loves are just amaze. Their relationship isn’t all sunshine and roses and they have their problems and issues, but they’re always supportive and understanding of the other, which really made me happy. And the growth of their relationship from classmates to friends and then more was so beautiful. I really enjoyed reading their bond grow. Yes, they were both frustrating at times, but hey, they’re sixteen! I’m glad, actually. Sixteen year olds aren’t supposed to have their life figured out. They’re stupid and impulsive and they make mistakes and they’re supposed to be frustrating and annoying. So, I’m really glad about that too.
All in all, this was a really great read and I had a lot of fun! You should definitely pick this up if you’re looking for good, authentic ADHD rep. And even otherwise because it really is a very awesome read!

This book was so stinking cute. As a kid I grew up with ADHD and I've completely lived the moment of "fiddle with something that caught your attention, all hell breaks loose". People think you're a bad kid, but you aren't. You're just checking it out and bam. I related to it so much and I just had to have it for my shelf. An excellent rep of ADHD kids in a way I'd never seen on the page before.

I must admit that a big reason why i only found this to be mediocre is probably because i'm just so over hetero romances, unless there's some other kind of draw. i thought the mental health aspect would be a draw for me, but i couldn't get past the insta-love feeling.

as for the rep in this, I've only witnessed ADHD as a sibling, but it seemed well represented, which isn't surprising because it is #ownvoices. I don't really have any experience with people on the autism spectrum, so I can't speak for that. I encourage you to seek out #ownvoices reviews to find out more.

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: I thought it was an interesting premise since this was based off the authors own ADHD experience. I myself was diagnosed with this at an early age. I felt that although some of the things that happen in this story were not true to my experience it was still a good show of what those with ADHD go though.

Check out author's other books or related books? Maybe depends on the situation

Recommend this book? I you are looking for a new book about mental health, check it out

Notes and Opinions: This one was a little different than most it deals with ADHD, dyslexia, and autism. I wish that the autism would have had more in the story but other than that I didn't have to many issues with this book. As for the story I thought it was kind of interesting that the two main characters chatted with each other from quotes from another book. Although parts of that really felt like books via prose which is just not something I enjoy reading. So I think that might have been an issue for me. The characters in this one were really alive. As each one changed though the story you could see and feel it. Especially Lilly as she fell into depression. The story was well rounded and the romance was very cute and sweet. I your looking for a new book to read about a romance and mental illness then check this one out.


Go Into This One Knowing: Mental Health, slight prose feel.

I could not download this book due to formatting issues with my kindle.
I could not download this book due to formatting issues with my kindle.
I could not download this book due to formatting issues with my kindle.
I could not download this book due to formatting issues with my kindle.
I could not download this book due to formatting issues with my kindle.

I don't read too many YA novels, which is probably why I was so excited to start with this one. The synopsis was intriguing because what is more romantic than exchanging love letters?

Sixteen-year old Lily lands herself in detention for breaking a door at school because she decides to ditch her ADHD meds. In detention she meets Abelard - the boy with Asperger's. Lily is intrigued by his looks and his brilliance. After posting a love note from The Letters of Abelard and Heloise online, they both connect over their mutual love for medieval love letters. It is one thing to communicate with each other via text but another thing to communicate in person - especially if Abelard seems always thirty seconds behind and Lily thirty seconds ahead.

I think the coolest feature of this story was the authenticity of Abelard and Heloise, the two people Abelard and Lily bonded over. Abelard and Heloise, two star-crossed lovers from the medieval times around 1116, became famous for exchanging love letters - just like Abelard and Lily did in this story, only they exchanged love letters via text. They not only texted each other what they were feeling, they even quoted medieval love letters from Abelard and Heloise themselves.

Which brings me to Abelard and Lily's relationship status. I didn't know those two were actually dating until Lily referred to Abelard as her boyfriend. I was honestly surprised and really confused about this turn of events. There were no obvious feelings, no build-up and no indication whatsoever that those two would become an item any time soon. Don't get me wrong, they were really cute together but it was so out of the blue that I thought missed a whole bunch of chapters.
Declaring them as a couple was rather Lily's idea than Abelard's - at least that's what it seemed like. Lily's brisky and impulsive character gave poor Abelard no choice, he just had to accept the fact that he was someone's boyfriend now.

Another thing that really confused me were sentences like "Don't come in - you haven't inspreefed ayftey procols" or "I have filled out a Skrellnetch form for you. Your mother will have to sign the kerbling and return it to the main office before you can be burn to claps..." and "Sclur your blashes". For just a moment, I thought those were Spanish words because a few of the teachers and students had Spanish names and were talking in that language too. But I quickly dismissed that thought because even though I can't speak a word Spanish, those couldn't be Spanish after all - even I knew that. In the end, it took me almost the entire book to figure out that Lily's ADHD made her comprehend some words differently at times. At least that's what I think was happening here. If I'm wrong, please explain to me what was really going on.
I don't suffer from ADHD, I have no friends that suffer from ADHD and I have never read a book about a character that was suffering from ADHD, which is why I have no clue about any symptons, cause, occurence, or severity of ADHD. Laura Creedle should definitely have explained the basic knowledge of this behavior to the reader.

The storyline had a lot of potential but I was not really satisfied with the outcome. The blurb definitely promised way more than the story gave. I was bored about halfway through the book because the story wasn't progressing at all. Nothing major happened. The characters only went to school, went home, went to school again the next day and hung out on the weekend. I was skipping through the last 45% of the book and I was rather relieved when it was over.

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily was not the story I was hoping for. I was mostly disappointed about the lack of chemistry and feelings between the two main characters, although the blurb promised a great love story: "The two fall for each other. Hard." I feel really bad but I can only give this book a two star rating.

THE LOVE LETTERS OF ABELARD AND LILY was a romance with a meet-destroy that low key destroyed my emotions. Lily's voice was the strongest part of this novel. You could feel her frustrations with dyslexia and ADHD, and especially her pull toward Abelard while wanting him to live his own life.

My big concern was with Lily wanting surgery to fix her ADHD. I understand how she feels, but...I don't know

This was another really hard book to rate.

First of all, I loved the characters. I think this is probably the most honest portrayal of how two sixteen year olds falling in love for the first time behave. Yes, it’s fast. Yes, it’s ridiculous. Yes, those are some extreme feelings… because that’s exactly how most teenagers react to their first love. And I enjoyed every second of it.

Creedle did a great job in fleshing out all of her characters. Not just Lily and Abelard but all of the side characters. I loved Lily’s little sister and her mom, and it was great to see Lily’s mom support her and still be frustrated with how Lily behaves. In a lot of stories, we see the parent be unconditionally patient but it was great to see Lily’s mom behave like a real human and respond to things that we’re hard for her to handle.

I’ve talked with a few people who have said the ADHD and autism rep were very good. The author herself has ADHD and apparently has done her research very well when it came to writing Abelard who has Aspergers.

The book lost two stars for me for two different reasons.

The first was when Lily said the phrase “-my personal spirit animal.” Y’all. This is 2017. No one, and I do mean NO ONE, should be including the phrase “spirit animal” in their book unless they are an Indigenous person whose tribe has spirit animals, and only if they are using the term in the proper context. Laura Creedle does not fit any of that criteria… nor does her book. That’s an automatic star loss, every single time.

The next thing that caused ABELARD AND LILY to lose a star was Creedle’s demonization of medication. Lily constantly goes on and off her meds and claims they don’t work. Fun fact: If you don’t take them regularly and get used to them, they do make you feel like a zombie! It was also very, very hard to read other characters encourage Lily to stay off her meds, too. But on the flip side of that, Lily was willing to have an electrode put in her brain. So, electroshock therapy and invasive surgery is good but medicine that you can change and adjust is… bad? It was also really concerning that leading up to the surgery, Lily kept referring to herself as a monster who needed to be fixed. I think this could have been handled very well if Lily had said this to someone and they corrected her. Anything on paper to show people in the same position as Lily that they are not broken monsters.

Again, this was a great book with some really problematic elements that I think probably would have been caught by some attentive sensitivity readers

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a sweet love story and had good representation of people who aren't necessarily neurotypical.

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle follows the story of Lily Michaels-Ryan, a sixteen-year-old girl who suffers from ADHD and dyslexia. During class one day, she breaks a crank on a wall that Abelard Mitchell is on the other side of. Abelard Mitchell is a classmate of Lily's who struggles with autism spectrum disorder. After Lily is forced to apologize to Abelard, the two of them begin texting and sending each other quotes from <i>[book:The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise|19228157]</i>. It is at this point when their love story begins and Lily's life begins to change.

I really liked Lily's relationship with Abelard because it felt like they were a good match for each other and that they really understood each other. I felt their relationship was realistic for a couple of highschoolers trying to understand themselves and each other.

I felt like there was a lot of back and forth at times and while it was a little hard to keep up a times, I think Creedle intended that. The story is told from Lily's point of view and since Lily struggles with ADHD, she struggles with keeping up and focusing. I really like Creedle's inclusion of points where Lily is not focusing and how life can be for her.

This book made me happy and while I wished the ending was more concrete, I had fun reading it. I give it 3/5 stars!

i thought this was a great book! great mental health representation and I loved the writing.

For a more in-depth review watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrI37...

Lily Michaels-Ryan has ADHD. Abelard Mitchell has Asperger's. When the two get sentenced to detention together they form a connection which no one else understands. Can their feelings overcome any issues they may encounter?

I enjoyed this book and it's realistic ADHA narrative. Creedle is able to pose questions about what it is like to live with these disorders that most people may not think about. However, the ending didn't quite work for me. I felt that it weakened the rest of the story.

I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. Two neurodivergent teens in love, a coming of age story, plus some medieval poetry...This had everything it needed for me to enjoy it. But I just couldn't bring myself to rate it more than 3 stars.

Note: I don't have ADHD nor do any of my friends. However, I do know a little about neurodivergence.

There were two things which dragged the book down in my opinion. First, the treatment of medication. I know this is fiction and even if that was the aim, the book can't hope to cover all sides of a complex debate. All the same, constantly showing the drugs as bad and pushing Lily to the point of suicide ideation so she secretly stopped taking them bothered me for some reason.

Also, the ending. The whole plot with Lily considering brain surgery to take away the "bad" parts of her neurodivergence bugged me. Rosalind said it best, I think: how much of the old Lily would be left at the end? It was even worse as Abelard's problems as a result of his difference were not seen as insurmountable, when surely Lily would have been helped in the same way by a change of schooling environment. As a result, the ending upset me really badly, although going off the Frankenstein's monster comparisons, I'm guessing it was supposed to?

Onto the good stuff, though! I loved Lily and Abelard's romance. So many adorable cute scenes and I loved the concept of them flirting through the words of Abelard and Heloise, it added such a great dimension to their romance. Rosalind too is such a vivid character and her interactions with Lily were the best. Also, I just generally loved the treatment of Lily and Abelard's neurodivergence, showing the ways it helped as well as hindered them.

I definitely would recommend this one, just with a few caveats. A nice fluffy romantic read.

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily feature two teenagers living with different mental health issues, Lily with ADHD and Abelard with Asperger’s. The two ‘broken’ teens cross paths after an incident within the school, bring them both the office.

Lily is our narrator throughout, we see her ADHD traits early in the book but they seem to fizzle out toward the end of the book and we see how she copes with adjusting to Abelard’s needs. Lily acts upon the impulses kick-starting her relationship with Abelard.

At the beginning the couple share their love of books, something Lily had shared earlier in her life with her father. While she has a great love of reading Lily has dyslexia which I related to greatly, she loves reading and so do I despite my dyslexia and the struggle it can cause.

The book approached the love between two people with conditions well, while the love they felt and the way they dealt with different situations may not be true of everyone with those conditions it is worth noting it could be that way. Lily’s mother makes it clear that love does not fix everything, they can’t fix each other with love.

One of the things that could have been improved upon was the speed of the relationship between Lily and Abelard accelerated, they went from texting once to being together. I’m not sure how it even happened, it felt there was no development, racing from 0 to 100 very quickly.

Another matter I feel unnecessary was the surgery Lily may be having in the book, the surgery isn’t a possibility at the moment and doesn’t add anything to the story for me. I understand we were seeing Lily making a difficult decision but it could have applied to so many other situations.

Laura Creedle’s writing was easy to follow and flowed nicely, it drew me in instantly and made me want to keep reading. The ending however felt very incomplete, while I have currently read a lot of books including John Green with this kind of use your imagination on what happens, I don’t think it’s appropriate in this book as it may attract people with Autism, some of which from personal experience prefer to have a defined end.

I will most defiantly be following the author to see if she had any future books, especially a follow on from this one, let’s hope we can get a satisfying conclusion.

Lily battles ADHD and dyslexia. She feels that she is a monster, who destroys everything in her path. After destroying a wall, Lily gains an new interest is Abelard. The two have known of each other since they were young, when Lily scarred Abelard with her lunch box. Abelard is on the autism spectrum and was attempting to fix the wall, while Lily was accidentally destroying it. Romantic feelings ignite between the two, who connect through the classic story of Abelard and Heloise. The two find a balance within the other and learn to successfully navigate their world. However, they must confront serious issues when Abelard is accepted to a special school across the country, for those on the spectrum and Lily is deciding whether to get surgical treatment for her attention disorder.

I loved the yin and yang between the two main characters. I thought it was an interesting, but realistic exploration of brain issues and social impact of them. I enjoyed the characters, I cared about what happened to them and enjoyed having them in my life.

First of all, I want to thank HMH teen for providing me an arc of this book via Netgalley.

I had been eagerly waiting for The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily to be released so when my request to review it was accepted, you can imagine how I grateful I was! I was really intrigued by the synopsis since I have read books with autistic reps in the past but never one with an ADHD rep!

I quite liked the pace of the story and although there is insta-love, the relationship development between Lily and Abelard is so sweet and innocent you can't help but fall in love with them :') I enjoyed the story overall but I did wish that there was more to the ending. I was hoping for a bit more romance as well but I am not too upset about it since the story in itself was a cute and unique read!

This was a fantastic read about two main characters that struggle with a disorder of some type. Abelard with autism and Lily with ADHD. I enjoyed the development of a relationship between these two characters and that it was clean. The emotional struggle these characters faced was realistically described. This book was a great read for youth who struggle with disorders, school and fitting in. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.

This is probably the sweetest, most wonderful, most perfect love story ever. You can't help but cheer for Abelard and Lily as they navigate not only their relationship but the world through Aspergers and ADHD. This is one of those books where I was so sad when it ended not because there was some devastating turn of events but because I just wasn't quite ready to leave Abelard and Lily. The only thing I wish this book had was Abelard's perspective. Don't get me wrong, I loved being inside Lily's head - but it would have been equally interesting to really get the opportunity to understand Abelard a bit more as well. The fact that we don't by no means takes anything away from what is truly a lovely story. And honestly, I can't recommend this enough. It's just t one of those "I wonder..." moments.

Overall - this is a great choice for library and home collections. One that I think teens (and adults) will be able to enjoy and discuss.