- autism rep. YES. I can't speak from experience but I think the representation was done really well! It was easy to understand and while not always relatable, I got what Martin was trying to say.
- the writing style. I loved the writing! It was really lyrical at times, and I adore present tense :) It felt a bit stilted, though? Sometimes it was confusing as to what Martin was thinking; I couldn't understand some of his observations.
- the search references. I haven't read Search, so I really didn't care much about the book :/ But I did find a lot of the snippets and references intriguing! Mostly I just skipped over them, though.
- the characters. They were all so lovable!! Arthur is a personal favourite. Except I feel like we didn't get to know Gilberte/Alice much: her personality isn't really discussed? I have mixed feelings about her.
- the setting. I LOVE FRANCE. GIVE ME ALL THE FRENCH STUFF. FOOD AND FLOWERS AND THE LANGUAGE AND EVERYTHING FROM QUATRE QUARTS TO MADELEINES FRANCE IS AMAZING

tl;dr: it's a really good book with awesome representation! some bits didn't really click with me, though? you should give it a try if you like contemporary novels and France!

I got about halfway through this book but got overwhelmed by life and did not finish. Therefore I can’t give it a complete review, the bit that I did read however was fantastic. The characters were relatable, the description of France and all the food was wonderful and I really appreciated the little bit of love story that was there. I will be purchasing this title for my library and hope to be able to finish it once things slow down.

Worth persevering with, and fairly hopeful. It was interesting to follow some of the links to wider reading about autism and generally raised awareness. I was distanced by the frequent referrals to Proust which was possibly deliberate but doesn’t make for an excellent piece of fiction.

Kids Like Us is a compelling contemporary that highlights an autistic teenager's summer in France, while he makes friends, falls in love and devours madeleines.


The story revolves around Martin, an American teenager, who's on the ASD spectrum and travels to France along with his mother and sister for the summer. He joins a general-ed school for the few weeks he would be in France while his mother, a film director, wraps up her film shoot there. Elisabeth, his older sister, is tagging along before she'll take on her journey to Stanford's med school. This book was so much more than I'd anticipated. I thought it would be a light contemporary read that might bore me with the writing that's telling too much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find so many more things in it. Plus, the writing was actually telling more than it meant. [Okay, I'll stop with the deep shit talks.]

The story is narrated by Martin in a first-person narration and falls exactly in line with the autistic representation. He remembers everyone's dialogues because his mind is on loop, keeps repeating them in his head, and even gets stuck at a few that affect him, either in a good or a bad way. He switches up pronouns which is yet another common trait of autism. In fact, a few chapters pop-up in an unintended second-person viewpoint and those made my day because, like I've already said, they mean more than they seem. Martin exhibits echolalia where he repeats what the other person said, and makes up for another authentic representation of autism. These are just a few of the so many practical characteristics that were included. One thing I especially loved was how Martin speaks, does and thinks like any other teenager would. There isn't a hard-core stereotypical portrayal of the character, and over-the-top efforts weren't taken to highlight his autism or make him purposefully appear special-ed. Martin effortlessly comes alive to me.

The supporting characters are another amazing aspect of this story. Except for the mother, who was a tad bit annoying for me, everyone else were distinctly characterized and given personalities that suited them the best. Right from Elisabeth who helped her brother understand stuff he might not be able to grasp in the right sense and stayed patient with him all throughout the story, to Layla, Martin's autistic friend back at LA, who texted Martin all through his stay in France—sending him her music videos of playing piano or telling him upfront when she feels he's going to forget about her—everyone had a role to play in Martin's story and they did it fairly well.

The story is certainly emotional, for me, especially when Martin reminisces his time with his Dad (won't speak too much about it in order to avoid spoilers) who by the way, has always kept his faith in his son and hoped he would learn to be happy forever. Even the entire plot line about Search, the french book he is slightly obsessed over, is interesting and gets woven commendably into the real story starring Martin. However, the story's compulsive interference became a little annoying for me, particularly toward the end. It was good to read passages from Search when it was correlating with Martin's reality but when that angle was going down anyway, I'd to skim through the references. Overall, this was a great read, no doubt.

I would recommend it to all those looking for a good autistic representation and an young adult tale that's realistically overwhelming.

'Maybe the actual place will unlock you'' Kids Like Us by Hilary Reyl is told from the perspective of an autistic boy called Martin. He is spending the summer in France with his mum, a film maker and sister Elizabeth.
He carries a copy of Proust's In Search of Lost Time with him everywhere and uses this as his key to unlocking the world around him- by comparing and measuring everyone against these characters, he can make sense of the world.

I found this to be a truly insightful look at how a young person with autism may view the world and interact with it. Martin misses the subtleties of human interaction at times, and told through his eyes, you can see how some arguments and disagreements can seem absurd.

His interpretation of how people communicate with each other- and how they are thinking and feeling is sometimes startlingly accurate, his view of the world may be different, but that shift in focus cuts through the white noise of every day situations to highlight real truths.

He tries so very hard to make his mum happy, but we keep flashing to thoughts of his absent dad- and how much he means to Martin.

He falls in love with a French girl, Alice, who he names Gilberte after a character in Proust's Search. He begins to realise that love is not out of his reach and as this beautiful story unfolds, we see a collection of love stories that tell us who Martin is; his love of baking quattre quart cake, his love of Proust and his love of his absent father.

Kids Like Us is available on Amazon, snap it up for an exquisite read that could equally suit the young adult or adult market!

Kids Like Us is the story of Martin, a teenager on the autism spectrum who moves to France. Unfortunately, I found this book very difficult to read due to the formatting, and had to give up a few chapters in. I will look for this book in the future though as it’s refreshing to read a different autistic character than the usual savant stereotype. Definite potential.

One thing that made me read this novel was that protagonist is an autistic teen. He sees the world different, he compares it to his favorite French Novel, The search. His world navigates on French cuisine and figuring out how to make room for more people and trust them. When he start referring his crush from one of the characters from his novel, I was stoked to see how she will react. It surprised me that she let him call her from that fictional character's name. 
    To be honest it was hard to understand some parts of the scenes with the whole you is me and me is you lol. The author wrote it in a autistic perspective and it was rather difficult because of what they all react and think. Main reason for my rating.
    I loved that she was able to make the protagonist evolve from his autism. He was able to see his crush in a different way. Meaning, he saw her as her and not that character from his novel. 
    May I add that it takes place in France? oui!. I wish to say more but I hate doing spoilers. It was a great read. If you want to understand more and gain some perspective of autism, this is a good book to begin with.

I read Kids Like Us almost entirely in one sitting during a long car journey over the Christmas period and to my surprise absolutely loved it. I had been apprehensive about whether I would enjoy this book after reading the first page and struggling to get into the writing style. However, after a few pages I was completely on board and charmed by Martin's unique voice and way of looking at the world.

Kids Like Us follows Martin, a 16 year old boy on the autistic spectrum as he spends a summer in France with his family and experiences a mainstream school for the first time.

I don't have much experience with people on the autistic spectrum, but from the little knowledge I do have, Martin's voice seemed to be a very sensitive and authentic portrayal. His obsession with the French novel "In Search of Lost Time" was so cleverly interwoven within the plot of the book and I liked that we actually got to learn a lot about that text whilst reading this story.

I found the book slightly difficult to follow in places because it was written from Martin's point of view which I felt gave me a tiny insight into how difficult it must be for some people on the autistic spectrum to follow the everyday conversations of people who are not on the spectrum. Martin's confusion with using pronouns correctly is just one example of the issues people on the autisitic spectrum face.

The love storyline was not my favourite aspect of the story as I didn't like Gilberte/Alice, or the other kids Martin made friends with in France but I did like how it highlighted Martin's personal development throughout the Summer. I also really liked the gradual discovery of where Martin's Papa was. This storyline was for me the most touching. Reading about their close relationship and then finally realising what had happened and why he was no longer around was very interesting.

I found this book really warm hearted, touching and insightful. If you loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I recommend this book to you.

God. Okay. I am so tired of requesting contemporary books and feeling so completely meh on them.

New Year's Resolution: don't request contemporary books unless I'm literally desperate to read them immediately.

The thing about Kids Like Us is that none of the events seem to draw a bigger picture. Its arc is obvious. Or maybe, to put it simply: this book is a bit boring.

Let’s explore this. The problem with this book is that there are a lot of events and sideplots and about 75% have nothing to do with the book. That blurb? That romance and exploration of incorrect expectations promised by this book? Basically nonexistent in the first half. You know what the focus of the first half is? Well, me neither. Because what the hell was even happening.

It just felt like a lot of buildup and not enough development. That is all.

I was… unsure how to feel on the autism rep. See, I love that there’s an autistic protagonist who gets to be the focus. And I’m hoping this book will improve on this front later. But Martin’s mother is… really clearly anti autistic people, and the narrative is very unclear on calling her out. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable. Okay, a lot uncomfortable, but I'm trying to stave it off because narrative agency is a freaking mixed bag.

I don’t know, guys. I’d read Cait @PaperFury’s review of this (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2043859050) if you want more info on autism rep, because she’s honestly smarter than me on this topic. And also I literally second 90% of what she’s saying here.

One more thing: not enough France. This is set in France and I wanted at least one pretty setting description. That is all.

I could understand the poor writting as the author is trying show life though someone with down syndrom, I can not forgive the main characters falling in love on the fifth page. Nothing is more cliche and less thought out plot line then lust/love at first glance.

I was planning on writing a full-length review of 'Kids Like Us', but because I've been slowly chugging forward for the past month I don't really have that much to say about the beginning of the book anymore. This is my fault for being too busy with university to make notes - something I definitely won't let myself slack on next time!
I'm not qualified to comment on the authenticity of the autistic rep in this novel, but based off of some of the other reviews I've seen it appears that Hilary Reyl does a good job throughout the book. Martin is a lovable character, and the development he undergoes throughout the novel definitely makes this more of a coming-of-age novel than anything else. The summery French setting allows the book to move at a slow and lazy pace - perfect for someone who was reading it as irregularly as I was! - but looking back it doesn't really feel as though too much actually happens, which is why I've only been able to give this four stars.
I'll definitely be looking out for more work from Reyl in the future, though.

To lay the groundwork for what it might be like to come of age as a person with autism is a challenge. There's a lot of research of treatment and the strain it puts on families -- which is appreciated. But there's also the complication of communication, which is repeated throughout the story. One line exchanged with Martin's friend reinforces the perils of communication. How do we ever learn to understand each other? I like the questions the book raises and how it mirrors Proust's In Search of Lost Time. It's a solid book. Thumbs up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrah, Straus, and Giroux for letting me read Kids Like Us, by Hilary Reyl. Martin is a wonderful teenager, struggling with his father being in prison, his mother temporarily moving him to France, and learning to function in a regular ed class as an Autistic teen. We see the struggles of his parents raising a young child with Autism, Martin’s struggles to be a functioning teenager outside his special classes, and the world around him learning to accept differences in people. This book is informative, as well as highly entertaining. Set in France adds to the beauty of this book.

Reyl has done a truly wonderful thing with this book. She has done her research with autism. Our main hero, Martin, doesn't have this official diagnosis, but it's clear while reading that he is on the spectrum. He has a fascination with Proust, and frequently References Proust throughout the book.

There are many interweaving love stories in the book: the love of a parent, first crush, etc. You can focus on these stories, or on the book within a book aspect. Either way the story will move you like no other.

I liked this story enough to read it all in one day. It was very engaging. Starts a little slow, but does warm up quickly in just a few chapters, so if you are lukewarm on chapter one, continue until at least chapter three to give it a chance to grow on you. Billed as YA, but can be read by anyone 13 and older.

Kids like us starts in a good fast paced way that leads the reader to appreciate that Martin is struggling with day to day life with autism and how that changes how he both sees the world and those he meets in it.

Unfortunately the pace of the story then wains and it feels like attempting the good work that went into building a believable and loveable character is wasted with a slow and drifting story

I quite liked Kids Like Us. I was interested at first because I’m on the autism spectrum too, and I could really connect with Martin in a lot of ways. For example, I, too, am obsessed with an old French novel and for quite a while I saw my life through the lens of that novel. There are other books, too. I could identify with the obsessive interests of Martin and Layla; I have an all-consuming interest in the Percy Jackson series. I imagined I was Percy, just like Martin imagines he’s Marcel. We both live in our own little bubbles of fiction. So Martin’s repetitive recounting of In Search of Lost Time was very relatable to me, even if I didn’t understand what was going on in the context of Search because I didn’t read the novel. God knows I’ve done that more times than I can count, so I can’t exactly fault him.

Martin was so well-written too. He was’t a stereotype of autistic kids, and he does call it out that he’s expected to be a stereotype. He’s a good character and he tries his best to understand the world around him, which is difficult even for neurotypical kids. He’s very fleshed out and definitely seemed like a real person, and he had wonderful character development throughout the book. His trouble with pronouns was interesting as a literary device, because the book opens in second person, and occasionally veers back to second person, which puts a whole new light on it in literary terms. It transposes the reader into the book like Martin does with Search.

I wish we had found out more about Simon and the girl Martin calls Gilberte. I feel like their stories were left kind of hanging. I really liked both of them, though, and all of Martin’s friends. I liked Layla too - and gosh, I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen an autistic girl in media, which I appreciated so, so much. I loved the setting in France. It was so idyllic and set a really lovely tone for the story as a whole.

There’s a lot of really interesting discourses about neurodiversity and autism brought up and left for the reader to ponder. Kids Like Us is a book that makes you think, whether you are on or off the spectrum.

At the beginning I wasn’t very eager to read Kids Like Us and for my rating you may suspect that I was right to not to want to read it, but I want to clear some points about this book and why you should give it a chance.

First, I’m not very smart so title with great story like this one would pass a little boring for me.

The reason I decided to read Kids Like Us is because someone with autism said that this book had a great voice, that the characterization about how it is to live with autism is very accurate. And, even if I could see, sadly I couldn’t connect with Martin at all. I’m very literal, matter-of-kind- of persona, which is kinda ironic, I know, but It was really hard for me to believe that you could get such infatuation for someone because you think is the character of a book.

It’s not that I didn’t get the book, it just I didn’t connect. I could compare the way Martin see the world pairing with his book in the same way I did with words when I started learning English (which I know my skills are awful, I need to practice and learn a lot).

This is a heartwarming story. It'll immerse you in Martin's world giving you a feeling of being in a film but a very delightful one to be in. It grows on you. Thank you NetGalley, I read this and loved the prose.

I will be pretty surprised if this doesn't end up being a pretty popular YA fiction title.

This story is primarily about Martin, a fairly high functioning 16 year old boy with autism. Initially, the story feels a little stilted spoken inside Martin's head, but, gains more fluidity as you continue through the story. The teens are smart and cultured, a bit like John Green's teens.

Martin has a bit of an obsession going on with Proust and thus there are tons of reference to Proust. Thankfully though, Martin is primarily reading Swann's Way, not the entire "In Search of Lost Time" so if you feel like reading the 2 books concurrently, it should actually be achievable. There's even several references to madeleines and Cesar Franck's Violin Sonata in A Major.

This is one of those books where you can choose to focus on the relationships theme or the 'book within a book' theme.

I liked this enough to read it all in one day, that's saying something. It does warm up quickly in just a few chapters, so if you are lukewarm on chapter one, continue until at least chapter three to give it a chance to grow on you.