Let me start off by saying that I love Mazey Eddings writing. She has a way of connecting you to her characters and has you feeling everything.

This was Mazey’s YA debut and it was a super cute read. I loved the neurodiverse representation in the main characters, Tilly (ADHD) and Oliver (Autism). I loved their connection and seeing their relationship grow. And oh my gosh, their first meeting on the plane was everything! 😍😆

My only real complaint is that the ending felt really rushed. There was a lot of conflicts throughout the story that all pretty much get resolved in the last chapter…. And no epilogue 🥺. I would have loved even a quick chapter to see how Oliver and Tilly are after starting a new job and college. (But that’s just me).

Overall, it was a really cute read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free eArc in exchange for my honest review.

I am already a huge Mazey Eddings fan, having read and loved all three of her adult romances, but as someone who runs a YA book club, I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to hear she was stepping into the world of YA! For a YA debut, I think Eddings absolutely nailed it. I was super impressed with how this book maintained the distinct things I've come to expect and love from Mazey's previous novels, while shifting into being a book for a YA audience and about a teen protagonist. Once again, Mazey did an excellent job with the neurodiverse representation and I really enjoyed how neither Tilly's ADHD or Ollie's autism felt like some feature they could toss off or on like a coat when it suited the plot, but was instead baked into every aspect of who they were as characters. I can't wait to see what else Mazey writes in the YA space in the future!

Ok….hear me out!

I loved a lot of aspects about this book:

- I gained a deeper appreciation and knowledge of autism and ADHD!
- the book showed the stuggles AND the joy
- Oliver is just wonderful and must be protected at all costs

Here’s where I got lost:

There is A LOT of side stuff that the author threw in. So many side characters, and a lot of random tangents. NOW any author has the right to put their passions in a story and it won’t be for everyone. It will be for some.

For me personally, I felt like those side plot lines took away from the romance. It pulled me out of the story everytime and disconnected me to the romance. The result was that I missed the MCs connection, passion, and chemistry. Even the intimate scene felt stilted and well…not intimate. Like reading a textbook.

I think this book should have been classified and fiction and not romance.

Mazey Eddings has become one of my favorite authors this year. I absolutely loved this book! I will be thinking about Tilly and Ollie and everything they taught me about neurodiversity for the rest of my life.

My 3 year old son is ND. He is a Gestalt Language Processesor, which means he first learned how to copy full sentences and phrases instead of single words. He's also on a (2 year!) waitlist to be evaluated for autism. As his mom, I will be doing everything in my power to make sure he's happy and not pushing him to be "normal". Bring on the stims!!!

Preorder this book if you love YA romance that makes you laugh out loud with some amazing mental health representation. Or even if you like closed door adult romance. The main characters are just out of high school.

Thank you, thank you, thank you @mazeyeddings for putting this book out into the world. And thank you @ and @ for giving me the chance to read it early. I have preordered it so I can have this gorgeous book on my shelf forever.

Tilly in Technicolor
by Mazey Eddings
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pub Date 15 Aug 2023
St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books
Teens & YA
#netgalley


“Tilly Twomley is desperate for change. White-knuckling her way through high school with flawed executive functioning has left her burnt out and ready to start fresh. Oliver Clark knows exactly what he wants. His autism has often made it hard for him to form relationships with others, but his love of color theory and design allows him to feel deeply connected to the world around him.”

Parents, grab your tissues! Mazey Eddings has written a much-needed story of neurodiverse teens and their unique experiences and challenges. MORE IMPORTANTLY, this book celebrates the incredible abilities and perspectives of those navigating their own neurodivergent journey. It reminds us all of their innate strengths, creativity and love.

"Tilly in Technicolor" includes the vast range of neurodiversity is a remarkable and enlightening book. My experience with this book will help me be a more patient and understanding parent and -though it is a young adult book, I recommend it to all ages.

Thank You to Netgalley for this eARC!
Starting off with the good ( that heavily outweighs the bad), I really enjoyed both Tilly and Oliver’s characters. I was interested in the lives of both characters individually and their potential future together. The pacing was good for the majority of the book, more on that later, and the plot flowed nicely. I found myself smiling at Oliver and Tilly’s awkwardly cute moments.
While I don’t have many negative things to say about this book, the one thing that frustrated me was the resolution or lack of. It felt as though the big conflict between the two characters happened and then was quickly resolved a chapter later. It made the ending feel very rushed. Aside from that, I had a very fun time reading. You can never go wrong with a Mazey Eddings book! 4 stars⭐️

Loved Tilly and Oliver! Such a sweet love story between two neurodivergent newly coming of age adults. Both Oliver and Tilly felt so real, their worries and struggles immensely vivid. Mazey has done a wonderful job with all of her books to date and this one is a great foray into YA.

Tilly in Technicolor is an absolutely beautiful YA debut for Mazey. It is a sweet, inspiring story about coming of age, embracing your differences, and falling in love.

Tilly and Ollie have a disastrous meet cute on a plane ride to London. Soon they find out they will be spending the whole summer as interns together, travelling around Europe with Tilly's sister and her business partner.

Tilly is diagnosed with ADHD, she is tired of trying to fit into society she just wants to be herself and do what she wants to do, be a writer. Tilly finds herself in her writing, where she is able to get her emotions and frustrations out.

"My brain isn't broken. I don't need a cure. I just need compassion." (ARC quote)

Ollie is autistic, he is used to keeping everything in order and living on a schedule. This trip around Europe has messed with his schedule, and sharing rooms with Tilly has definitely made things unfamiliar for him.

Ollie and Tilly begin to start experiencing feelings that they are unsure of just how to communicate to the other and unsure of what exactly they are. I loved that once they began their relationship, they still had to learn how to communicate with each other, since both their neurodivergences are different they don't always communicate the same way.

Mazey does an excellent job portraying the sensory overloads, the meltdowns, the miscommunications, the outbursts, all the things that can be overlooked or can be seen as acting out to someone not familiar with a neurodivergent diagnosis. As a mom of a child with an ADHD diagnosis, that is amazingly similar to Tilly, this book was a perfect representation of her diagnosis.

I will 100% recommend this book to anyone, it was amazing!

Thank you so much to Mazey Eddings, NetGalley, and St Martin's Press for providing an ARC of this book!!

3.5 stars rounded up.

I went into this with low expectations because some of the author’s previous works haven’t been my thing, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much the author had grown in her writing. There was a lot I really enjoyed about this book—but I will say I ultimately don’t think Mazey Eddings’ books are my cup of tea. So take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt.

I have ADHD and suspected autism as well, and there was so much from Tilly and Oliver that I really loved. I felt like both characters were written with so much depth and heart; you can tell that Mazey Eddings put so much of herself into this books. The characters were relatable and well-written.

I was left wanting more with the romance—especially in the first 50% of the book. I think this ultimately is because Mazey Eddings tends to dramatize what’s happening to her characters. Both the scenes and the characters’ reactions felt overdramatic to me at times (especially almost everything that happened in the airport/on the airplane) and I found it hard to suspend my disbelief while reading. The last half read much better than the first half, although I struggled with the “third act breakup” too.

I also want to mention: this is a book that is definitely for able-bodied education. When I as a disabled individual read books that center disability, I want to escape the ableist world around me. This isn’t one of those books, because the ableism the characters experience is front and center on nearly every page. And there’s nothing wrong with that… but I do want to mention it for any other disabled readers who might be looking for a disabled book without any ableism. Note: This did not affect my rating.

Overall, if you’re looking for a book with lovable neurodivergent characters (especially if you’re able-bodied and want to unlearn some ableism), I do recommend this one!

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All views reflected are my own.

First, I am so thankful for the opportunity to review this.

The representation in this book is so great and important.

Unfortunately it was just a little *too* YA for me. But I can definitely see why people are loving it so much!

This was such a cute story! I most of all loved that the main characters were both neurodivergent. I thoroughly enjoyed the ADHD and Autism representation.
Tilly and Oliver were a treat to follow in their journey of self-growth and finding solace in each other. They understood and encouraged each other to be unapologetically themselves and pursue their passions. I loved how they learned to communicate their needs to each other. However, I would’ve liked Tilly and Oliver’s relationship to be a bit more gradual as I felt certain points were too fast-paced or late to include in the story. I also wasn’t as invested in the other characters as I felt they lacked a certain depth.

Thank you NetGalley, St.Martins press & Wednesday for the arc.

wow wow wow I loved this so so much! I finished it in a day and half and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I never wanted it to end. I truelove Tilly and the story line.

Tilly and Oliver meet over the summer and begin to fall for each other. It is written through two POVs and is a quick, light read featuring neurodivergent teens.
A classic case of a good story let down by a bad ending...
It was a cute story overall.

Tilly in Technicolor

I was so excited to read this book by a neurodiverse author about neurodiverse teens falling in love and Mazey Eddings did not disappoint. Tilly’s ADHD is a foundational part of who she is and reading about how she processes the world made so much sense to me. I know people with ADHD and this book really opened my eyes to some of the major challenges that neurodiverse people face every day. I think everyone can relate to some of the struggles that Tilly has: parents with high expectations, a perfect sister she feels like she has to live up to, difficulty reading people, keeping friends, feeling worthy. Who can’t see themselves in at least one of those issues?

Oliver too is extremely relatable. He’s dedicated and single-minded, but ultimately willing to do the work. Getting to read the journey that these two take one summer in Europe as they intern together for Tilly’s sister’s company was beautiful. I did have to push myself through the first two chapters or so, but once they started to settle into their jobs I really couldn’t put the book down. The writing was tight, colourful, and highly emotional. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is neurodiverse themselves, is a teen struggling with future expectations, anyone who remembers what it felt like to be a teenager, or anyone trying to find themselves and their purpose in life.

I received a free e-ARC from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion on this book and thank them so much.

TLDR; this book is great! Read it!

I am obsessed with this YA debut from Mazey. It is everything.

Tilly has to figure herself out. She has a difficult relationship with her mom due to her ADHD and it ultimately messes with her relationship with her sister as well. Oliver also is neurodivergent and is Autistic, and I love how Mazey made his special interest around colors, photos, and imagery. I could get lost in his explanations of colors because it was so poetic. He however has a very loving and accepting family.

I love the funny moments, the sweet moments, the every moments. Let's say I continue to think about the pharmacy bag that Tilly found from Oliver's sister that had more than just chocolate in it.

As a mom to an autistic neurodivergent child I devoured this book. Every person is so different, but if this book could give me any insight to him I will take it. He's not a teenager by far, but I hope I can take the loving aspect of Oliver's parents, the willing to learn and change from Tilly's mom, and just learn to truly be there for him when times are hard and he is older. This just made the book so special to me and I can't way to get my hands on my own physical copy.

Tilly doesn't want to be spending her summer as her sister's intern but if it gives her time away from her parent and an opportunity to travel around Europe while trying to plan for her future after graduating high school, then she will take whatever chance she is given. What she didn't expect is her intriguing fellow intern, Oliver Clark, who cannot seem to stand her, or at least cannot seem to describe the feeling he feels for her.

This is was such a delightful (and at times emotional) read. In this story we follow Tilly who has ADHD and knows that the typical life path of going to collage and getting a regular 9-5 job is not for her and her executive disfunction , and Oliver who is autistic and thrives off of routine. It was honestly just so cathartic to see these two teens learn how to communicate what it is they want both from each other and from life. Both Tilly and Oliver have to go through some major personal journeys as well as a physical one as they travel through Europe. They each felt so real, especially when they got vulnerable with each other and the other characters in the book. And while some of the situations they ended up in did go a little off the walls at times, those unrealistic moments were just so much fun to read. I found the writing style extremely accessible, however I did find myself having some problems with the pacing, specifically when it came to the ending. I found that there was a lot of build up and then suddenly everything was moving very fast and every problem was solved quickly with a very neat bow on top, however that wasn't too distracting for me to make the story unenjoyable. Overall this was a really fun YA romance with some great neurodivergent representation.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the eARC. It is my choice to post an honest review.

Tilly in Technicolor is a truly beautiful novel that read as a love letter to neurodiverse folks. I am a lover of quite literally anything that Mazey Eddings writes and she did not disappoint with her YA debut. You can't help but fall for both Tilly and Oliver. On paper (pun intended), they look like complete opposites, that their ADHD and Autism wouldn't "work" well together. But it's the opposite. They understand each other in a much deeper way and for the things that they don't experience, they are understanding.

I just love this book so much, it was filled with as much self-growth and discovery as it was romance. I also saw that Oliver's sister is getting a book that is sapphic and this is my informal request to be able to read that book as soon as I can.

Please read this y'all. It is so fucking good. Like even if you don't read YA or don't know anything about ADHD or Autism, read it. Read it and you won't regret it, I promise.

I’m a not completely sure I can find the words to describe how much I truly enjoyed this book. Tilly and Oliver are such great characters and they have a great supporting cast of characters that I fell in love with as well. The story flips between Tilly and Oliver’s view point. These two characters are so different and yet so very much alike. Tilly is ADHD and Oliver is Autistic. These two are so different and yet so much alike. While Oliver seems to have his life planned out Tilly is still struggling with her diagnosis, not only for herself but her family as well. Where Oliver has always had a very supportive family two mom, a sister, a best friend, and a family counselor. Tilly has none of that. She feels she has grown up in her sisters shadow, that her mom will never understand her and she’s very overwhelmed by the demands and decisions she is being pushed to make about her future. Oliver and Tilly have a rocky start when they first meet, but they grow together. Tilly teaches Oliver that it’s ok not to schedule every single thing. Oliver teaches Tilly how to communicate and this helps her navigate the relationships between her sister and her mother. Oliver supports Tilly like no one else ever has before and by doing that he helps her realize her potential.
I loved this book so much because it helped me just a bit to understand the complexities of being neurodivergent. I look forward to reading more books from this author and recommending “Tilly in Technicolor” to everyone I know.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mazey Eddings & St. Martin's Press for a digital arc of Tilly in Technicolor in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my (except quotations) and may not be reproduced.

I was SOOOOO excited to get an early copy of Mazey's YA debut especially since she is neurodiverse herself & that is a large part of this book.

"Tilly Twomley is desperate for change. White-knuckling her way through high school with flawed executive functioning has left her burnt out and ready to start fresh. Working as an intern for her perfect older sister’s start up isn’t exactly how Tilly wants to spend her summer, but the required travel around Europe promises a much-needed change of scenery as she plans for her future. The problem is, Tilly has no idea what she wants.

Oliver Clark knows exactly what he wants. His autism has often made it hard for him to form relationships with others, but his love of color theory and design allows him to feel deeply connected to the world around him. Plus, he has everything he needs: a best friend that gets him, placement into a prestigious design program, and a summer internship to build his resume. Everything is going as planned. That is, of course, until he suffers through the most disastrous international flight of his life, all turmoil stemming from lively and exasperating Tilly. Oliver is forced to spend the summer with a girl that couldn’t be more his opposite—feeling things for her he can’t quite name—and starts to wonder if maybe he doesn’t have everything figured out after all.

As the duo’s neurodiverse connection grows, they learn that some of the best parts of life can’t be planned, and are forced to figure out what that means as their disastrously wonderful summer comes to an end."

As with all of Mazey's other novels, Tilly in Technicolor was absolutely spectacular. It brought so much more meaning to the book as I read it to know that the author deals with neurodiversity herself and you could just tell that this novel was written so well that it could only have come from someone with the experience she has.

Tilly & Oliver on their own are such unique characters that you are going to absolutely fall in love with. They're so cute, you will just want to eat them up! And then throw in their young love romance and this story is just so emotionally sweet. Their journey is not that simple though. With the issues that they both face with their neurodiversity/autism & ADHD, they both have to learn from one another and branch out from the only selves they've ever known. And the entire journey was incredible to see play out.

I think this is such a relevant and relatable novel, not just for YA readers, but adults as well. I think a lot of people will be able to relate to Tilly & Oliver and what they deal with on an every day basis.

I would recommend this book to literally anyone and everyone. It is impossible to come away from it without having learned something that maybe you didn't know before and see things from a different perspective.

PLEASE grab a copy of Tilly in Technicolor when it releases on August 15, 2023!

4.5/5 Stars

I absolutely adored Tilly and Ollie and their story. This book really helps you see things from their perspective and more about how they cope and live in a world where everyone tries to fit a certain mold.