[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Wednesday Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Tilly in Technicolor releases August 15, 2023

1.5/5

Tilly in Technicolor is Eddings YA debut, told in dual pov, featuring two neurodiverse main characters. Tilly has ADHD, and Oliver is autistic.

Tilly and Oliver met on a flight from Cleveland to Europe, where they’ll both be interning for Tilly’s older sister’s nail polish brand for three months.

This book had a <b>very</b> rocky start for me, and I spent so much time contemplating whether I even wanted to progress past the first 10% because Tilly made me want to pull out my goddamn hair.

Much like Eddings other book called “Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake” that featured a character with ADHD, this had me in a perpetual state of feeling stressed out.

Let’s break down some of what happened within the first 10% — things like when Tilly didn’t even care to check what her assigned seat was on the flight and just assumed the position of a window seat because she thought she was entitled to it? Or the way she kept asking for copious amounts of ketchup packets from the flight attendant? Truly how unaware is she? Ever think that this is a regulated piece of transportation and that you can’t just have literal handfuls of ketchup at the blink of an eye? And then the way she just took Oliver’s napkins from him without permission? I can’t handle the air of entitlement that is coming across here, where everything seems to need to be catered to her and her only. What gives her such specific privilege?
And I get that she has ADHD and to cope with the overstimulation of other sounds she might find reprieve in a conversation with another person, but to expect a complete stranger to take on that unsolicited and unexpected burden just because you came unprepared is uncalled for. I would have likely lost my shit if I was seated beside Tilly.
And if you thought all of that bothered me, don’t even get me started on how Tilly apparently barged past and sprinted out of a flight full of passengers, and proceeded to sprint through an international airport. One, how is that even possible if you’re not at the front of the plane? It’s not. Secondly, is that not suspicious behaviour to be sprinting off of a plane and through an airport (she’s going through customs, not a connecting flight) — would a TSA agent or security not pull you aside? I guarantee you if she was a person of colour, this would not happen as blasé as it was written.

Moving on to Oliver — I loved reading his passion for colour theory and the extreme detail that went into that with the hyper specific Pantone colours. It made for an effective and immersive visual experience.

The romance here to me felt forced. I think the story would have still been just as good had it been strictly platonic because both Tilly and Oliver were not well versed in having friends, so navigating this space together with their shared understandings already provided growth.

I felt like everything was crammed into the last 30%. The mother and sister just suddenly turned a new leaf towards Tilly and it wasn’t believable, at least not with how less than fleshed out it was for the reader.
I also wish that the blog posts were italicized as a way to differentiate it from the regular text since it was hard to tell most of the time where it started and ended.

While I didn’t find much enjoyment in the characters or the plot, I did think this had some good moments of neurodiversity by giving examples of how someone with ADHD or autism might stim, have interludes of passionate infodumps and tangents, or not be able to pick up on ordinary social cues.


Rep: neurodiverse main characters, sapphic side characters
Tropes: forced proximity, one bed

You know when you finish a book & just can’t stop thinking about it? This book right here. Tilly & Ollie have my heart forever. They took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I didn’t expect a YA book to cut so deep.

I’ve struggled to make sense of my thoughts because I loved it all so much. Eddings perfectly described Tilly & Ollie’s inner thoughts, fears, emotions & reactions. I felt like I was in their heads and experiencing life with them.

I think you’ll love:
•ADHD & Autism representation
•The way Tilly grows on Oliver and him trying to make sense of what is happening
•Tilly’s 1st Babble post 😭
•Oliver talking about how it’s easier to connect to people through his IG account vs in real life
•Taylor Swift-ish chapter titles
•Variety of family relationships & growth
•Real & raw emotions

Favorite part:
•When Tilly & Ollie tell each other they have ADHD & autism…this was such a great scene.

I love books that dig into brains, personalities, social norms, mental energy & internal reactions to the world. I can’t recommend this book enough. I already pre-ordered it for my daughter to read.

Thank you for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 rating

I decided to read Tilly in Technicolor because 1. That title is great and 2. The premise sounded fascinating. I am not diagnosed as neurodivergent so I can’t address how accurate the representation is, but I appreciate the author using her story to teach other people about neurodiversity. I enjoyed reading from their point of views of someone with ADHD and someone who is autistic. I really love the focus on color throughout the story as well. That really shaped the story and Oliver’s point of view chapters in a unique and beautiful way.

But the story as a whole fell a bit flat. For one, it takes a long time for the characters to admit their feelings for each other. I’m all for slow burn romances, but this one felt extra slow and extra long. They don’t actually admit they like each other until over 60% of the way through and before that the story is peppered with them realizing they like each other but thinking the other person doesn’t reciprocate their feelings even when it’s painfully obvious to everybody around them and even to themselves that they probably do. After a while, it became a bit too exhausting to read.

In addition, the ending felt rushed. It was as if they finally admit their feelings and then the story whirlwinds from there, making sure to wrap everything up nicely without much effort. Even a slight conflict between Tilly and Oliver near the end is presented and resolved in like a chapter a half and felt completely pointless to include.

Last, some aspects just came across so unrealistic and I don’t like that this book tries to encourage young readers with artistic aspirations in an unrealistic way. I’m all for stories that feature teen writers and teen artists to encourage teens to follow their dreams. But they also need to be realistic in how those dreams come about. I find it hard to believe that an 18 year old with zero writing experience or credit other than a personal blog a la Tumblr would land a consistent position at a high profile online magazine. That doesn’t happen. I understand the author didn’t want Tilly to give in and go to college because college isn’t for everybody, but I liked that she was able to work for her sister and get experience and maybe could have been working toward a better writing job. I also found it hard to believe that Oliver could have that many Instagram followers as well.

Overall, the pacing dragged at times and the ending felt rushed, turning the cute premise and great representation into a story that was just okay.

Tilly and Ollie's first meeting - on their flight to London- doesn't go well but these two neurodivergent teens, both interns for Tilly's sister Mona find they've got more in common than they could have imagined,. It's a delightful read, with good characters and a sly look at how society (and parents) sometimes deal with their teens. Yes it's a little privileged but there's a big heart here. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Meant for the YA crowd but a good read for older people as well.

The adhd representation is this book won me over right way. It was so accurate that sometimes I had a hard time reading. The characters were painfully relatable and well developed.

I loved the little romantic moments and Oliver not knowing why he was feeling how he was. I wanted to punch the mom so bad. She is exactly how I wish parents didn't react to an adhd diagnosis.

I can't fully speak for the autism rep as I am not autistic. However, from what I can tell it was done well. The author is audhd so I'm confident.

Tilly is ready to be her own person. After she finishes high school she’s going to spend her summer away from her (well meaning but) overbearing parents who acknowledge her ADHD but don’t understand their daughter. Tilly is going to intern for her sisters new brand as a hand model. While on her flight across the pond, she is seated next to an interesting guy and every encounter goes to hell. As she’s exiting the plane, she asks her seat mate for his number but freaks out and runs away before getting an answer. Once she’s with her sister, she meets the rest of the “team”including Oliver, the guy from the plane. Oliver is also neurodivergent, diagnosed with autism, and after a bit of time realizes Tilly might be one of the only people who understands him (and Vice versa). As the summer abroad continues, feelings grow and the thought is saying goodbye makes things harder by the day.

I wish I could have read this book as a teenager. This book really is going to set the standard for any YA that I read going forward. I felt soo much reading this, and soo many feelings from when I was 18 came rushing back. Tilly and Oliver are so perfect for each other and relatable in their own ways. This book makes you laugh while simultaneously giving the characters the biggest hugs. Mazey just wrote the book I’m sure is going to be a gamechanger for soo many young adults.

*thank you Mazey Eddings, Netgalley, and St Martins Press for the ARC. opinions are my own*

I am clearly in the vast minority here, but I did not fall in love with Tilly in Technicolor the way I had hoped to.

I loved everything about the premise of this book (I am a huge fan of neurodiverse rep) and that color is, guh, GORGEOUS. I had not read anything by this author before but I was very excited to dive in.

What I found was not necessarily a story about two neurodiverse people making a connection and falling in love so much as a story that really wanted to teach me about neurodiversity. It felt like too much and as a result I really didn't connect with the characters or the storyline.

I put the book down in an attempt to distract myself from finding it frustrating. It's now a month later and I don't have a desire to pick it back up. Thus - while I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to read and review - it's a DNF for me at 35%.

I have loved every book Mazey Eddings has put out and I was so excited to see she was doing a YA neurodivergent love story. I didn't love this one as much as I love her adult romance books. While I haven't be diagnosed with either of these issues, I have a lot of neuro-spicy tendencies but I just didn't click with it. To be fair, I don't think I am the target demographic for this book. This is a book I needed as a teen growing up. I needed to see a character like me and realize that these idiosyncrasies I had were normal. But as a 30. year old woman, I just found this book needing more depth. This is definitely a slow burn, and slightly enemies to lovers. Tilly and Oliver didn't even realize they liked each other until 65% of the way into the book then all of a sudden they were in love and were endgame. It just felt so rushed past that 65% marker. I enjoyed that this was a dual perspective between the two of them and we got different view points of people with each disorder. This author definitely knew the ins and outs of the quirks that come with these differences.

My favorite part of the book was Tilly's family dynamic. Her relationship with her mom and how they were at odds so much. I feel like a lot of families of people with ADHD think it's fixable and are constantly trying to fit a round peg into a square hole and Tilly's mom is a great example of that. In reality we just need to accept our differences and adjust. I loved how at the end of this book TIlly and her mom found a way to do that. Also the dynamic with her sister was so spot on. Her sister was the "perfect" one while Tilly was the one who always made mistakes and was living in her shadow. Dang did I see that in real life. But I loved that they were able to get past it and have a genuine relationship.

Overall I'd give this 3.5 stars. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 8/15

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Wednesday Books/St. Martins Publishing for the ARC of "Tilly In Technicolor".
Technicolor may serve as an apt description for this mega-sweet romance between two neurodiverse teens who fall head over heels for each other. It's such an unabashed feel-good experience to read, I felt like I'd found my way into a good old-fashioned, classic Hollywood love story, filmed in gorgeous color across every spectacular scenic city in Europe.
And from the first chapter on, I found myself surrendering to the practically fairy-tale nature of what unfolds. You just can't help falling for (and rooting for) this adorable pair. How could you not?They've endured a lifetime of living with and coping with the fact that their brains are wired differently from those around them, leading to no end of misunderstandings and hurtful experiences.
Tilly Twomley's ADHD keeps her mind racing at maximum speed in multiple directions while Oliver's Clark's autism makes human interaction a daunting challenge for him. So naturally their 'meet cute' as fellow passengers on a flight to London goes comically awry. And to their further displeasure, they discover they'll spend the summer together as interns for the fledgling nail polish line started by Tilly's older sister Mona and her partner Amina.....with Tilly serving as a hand model for photos by Oliver, who's a gifted student of colors and designs.
When these four make their way across Europe to generate more business for the start-up, those inevitable romantic sparks start to crackle for Tilly and Oliver. As they begin to discover their similarities and anxieties in the way they see the world (and deal with it) a tentative connection between them slowly blossoms And I can tell you as a reader, prepare to find your heart happily aching for them while you cheer them on every step of the way.
Okay, maybe it rarely happens this way in real life, but it's so nice, at least while you're reading this, to believe it could - and 'Tilly In Technicolor' spins a enough enough of first love glow around you to make you believe. A quick read, but precision designed to make a reader sigh and smile all the way through it.

I love the way that Mazey Eddings writes neurodiverse characters and also makes them unapologetically themselves. I love how Tilly knew who she wanted to be and despite being treated like she was the problem. I also love how they portrayed and discussed her and Mona’s relationship and that dynamic, but also gave them space to get to really know each other despite the gap. I loved Oliver’s perspective throughout the story. I love how his brain worked and how he was using color theory to relate to the world and try to understand it. I also love how his family supported him and learned ways for them to work as a family with not only him but as a whole. I think this story covered so many important topics when it comes to growing up, especially growing up with a brain that works different than what is expected.

Mazey has quickly become a favorite author of mine, so I had high expectations for this book!
Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! My heart, this was such a sweet, messy, real, and honest story. Tilly and Oliver are my favorite pairings. I cannot wait to buy this book!

Mazey Eddings is such a phenomenal writer, the way she is able to represent every one of her characters accurately and with intention and heart is so inspiring. Tilly is such a triumph and will be so comforting to fellow neurodivine youths across the world. I’m so happy it exists!

perfect YA summer romcom read. if i was 10-15 years younger i would be so feral for this book. another hit from mazey eddings - can't wait for cubby's book!

This was a fresh, fun YA romance read. I loved the way Mazey Eddings wove the lens of color with which Ollie views the world throughout the story. This creative, original approach is what made this story stand out to me, along with the neurodiversity rep and the completely lovable characters. I think Ollie and Tilly will be stuck in my mind for a while now—I hope Eddings writes more YA romances!

This is Eddings' first YA novel and it was fabulous. Tilly and Oliver were such lovable characters and I love how realistic they felt. It definitely helps that Eddings pulled from her own experiences with neurodivergencies to write these magnificent characters

Mona and Amina were such cute side characters and I loved their business, the travel, and how the supported the MCs

Highly recommend picking this one up!

Huge thanks to NetGalley & St Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have loved everything I have read by this author and this book was no different. I absolutely loved it! I read this in less than a day and couldn’t put it down! As a parent of children (grown) with ADHD I wish I had been able to read this before becoming a parent. It has really opened my eyes and I’m now realizing things I wish I could go back and change about parenting my kids. I went through all the emotions while reading this. I laughed, cried, swooned and even got mad (not only at certain characters but also myself…like I said, this was eye opening for me!) This is such a sweet and heartwarming story that I will be recommending for a long time! If you haven’t read anything by Mazey then I highly recommend you start now. She just has a way with her words and really grabs you. She makes you feel like you are right there with her characters. Highly, highly recommend!

“Being around you - seeing the way you shine - it’s like discovering a new color of the rainbow every single day.”

I’m a sucker for anything @mazeyeddings writes and I absolutely loved her first YA novel! Tilly and Ollie are probably my new favorite characters 🩷

I loved all the representation in this book - ADHD, Autisum, and LGBTQ+! Mazey always does an incredible job writing love stories with neurodiverse characters and this was no exception! The connection between the characters was undeniable and realistic. 🫶🏼 & the different ways that Tilly and Ollie were truly able to be their authentic selves was so fun - Tilly wrote blog posts that helped her turn her feelings into words & Ollie used color theory! 💕 Tilly and Ollie learned how best to communicate each other & their connection over neurodivergence led to their subsequent romantic development!

TILLY + OLLIE 4ever 💖

What to expect!
🧩 ADHD/Autism rep
🌈 LGBTQ+ rep
🎨 Color theory
😂 LOL moments

This may be one of my favorite books all year. There really isn't anything quite like seeing yourself, your struggles, and your joy in nearly every sentence. An incredibly gentle and comforting romance with the most engaging AuDHD pairing (communication struggles abound but are solved simply!), TILLY IN TECHNICOLOR had me clutching my chest in the best way. I so appreciated the healing the Mazey imbues in this text also - from learning self love/advocacy to learning new ways forward with those who love you, but maybe haven't 'seen' you. This book is a delightfully visual experience and has me longing for a European whirlwind of my own. When you need a hug, grab yourself a copy of Tilly.

TILLY IN TECHNICOLOR is a true delight that will have you smitten with the characters from the very first page. I absolutely LOVED the characters Oliver (Ollie) and Tilly (even their names compliment each other) as individuals and their dynamic as a couple: Ollie and his need for everything in order with Tilly on the more wild side. With their first impressions of each other not being the best through misunderstanding, it made their connection all the more charming and believable. They both learn to navigate each other's world, while creating their own world together they both understand. I also greatly appreciate how the author brings awareness to neurodivergent experiences with autism and ADHD representation.

I wish Tilly's Babble was a real blog I could subscribe to!

It was a pleasure and privilege to read Ollie and Tilly's story. Much gratitude to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’ve enjoyed everything Mazey Eddings has written so far, but Ollie and Tilly just stole my heart! I was swept up in their story from their not so meet cute on the phone to finding out they were both interning with Tilly’s sister.

I loved the autism and ADHD representation. It was lovely to see them begin to open up and share with each other as they became more comfortable. I loved when Ollie knew she was struggling in the bustling city and found somewhere quiet they could escape to. They had so many sweet and hysterical moments.

I also really loved seeing Tilly’s babble posts and how she expressed herself and how ADHD affected her world. Also, I may be the only one but I loved the use of Pantone colors as Ollie discussed his photos and particularly Tilly. I found myself highlighting and googling them. Mazey Eddings will continue to be an autobuy author for me and I can’t wait for what’s next!