Claire LaZebnik

"A popular Los Angeles teen tries to find love for her older, autistic sister"--

Things I Should Have Known

An unforgettable story about autism, sisterhood, and first love that’s perfect for fans of Jenny Han, Sophie Kinsella, and Sarah Dessen. New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things Julie Buxbaum raved: “I couldn’t put it down.” Meet Chloe Mitchell, a popular Los Angeles girl who’s decided that her older sister, Ivy, who’s on the autism spectrum, could use a boyfriend. Chloe already has someone in mind: Ethan Fields, a sweet, movie-obsessed boy from Ivy’s special needs class. Chloe would like to ignore Ethan’s brother, David, but she can’t—Ivy and Ethan aren’t comfortable going out on their own so Chloe and David have to tag along. Soon Chloe, Ivy, David, and Ethan form a quirky and wholly lovable circle. And as the group bonds over frozen yogurt dates and movie nights, Chloe is forced to confront her own romantic choices—and the realization that it’s okay to be a different kind of normal.

A Novel

Jazelle H

To help her older sister, Ivy--who is on the autism spectrum--develop a bit of independence, Chloe decides to set her sister up with Ivy’s special needs classmate. Throughout a series of chaperoned dates, Chloe helps Ivy discover more about herself beyond her autism, and that people aren’t always as they seem.

“It’s like people have a place in their brain for normal, and they have a place in their brain for something obviously wrong, but they can’t deal with something just a little bit different. And that makes them uncomfortable. And when people are uncomfortable, they act like jerks.”

This novel balances the important subjects of autism, growing up, and even sexuality. The real stars of this novel are Ivy and Ethan, who are both well represented and developed. However, Chloe’s character development is minor in comparison. It could have been beneficial to perhaps switch the point of view from time to time, so readers could see a glimpse of the world through Ivy’s eyes. The story pacing could have been better, as well as the language. Neither have the potential to enthrall readers for longer than a few pages at a time. While the story’s topics definitely have potential and deserve representation, the storytelling is lackluster in comparison.

Its a perfect Claire LaZebnik book; it starts out terribly and then drastically becomes better before beautifully finishing itself leaving the reader satisfied.

At least the reviews are better than Wrong About the Guy because its dealing with autism and not a <3 year age gap.

Devansh Patil

Its a perfect Claire LaZebnik book; it starts out terribly and then drastically becomes better before beautifully finishing itself leaving the reader satisfied.

At least the reviews are better than Wrong About the Guy because its dealing with autism and not a <3 year age gap.

Sven Test

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.
Chloe is one of the popular girls at her school but it's not because she tries. It's because she doesn't try that people admire her and like her. She's even dating the most popular guy at school and everything seems okay. But at home, Chloe takes care of her older sister Ivy who is Autistic. Chloe is already used to taking care of Ivy and being there for her, so when Ivy starts asking questions about kissing and relationships, Chloe sets out to pair her up with Ethan, a boy from her school who's also Autistic. What Chloe doesn't know is that Ethan is David's brother, the annoying and insufferable guy from school who she can't stand. But by going on Ivy's and Ethan's dates, Chloe and David start to see a new side of each other that they hadn't seen before.

I know I just made it seem (as well as the synopsis) that this is a book focused on romance and that Autism takes a backseat. I'm here to tell you that's not the case. I was quite surprised when I realized that yes, there's a cute romance, but it's not the focus at all. In this case, Autism takes the full front and passenger seat. I don't know if the author wrote this story from experience but it felt so real. The characters came to life before my eyes, especially Ivy and Ethan. I mean, we see Chloe and David struggling with their siblings because they don't understand normal cues. They get loud if something upsets them, ask more questions than normal because they aren't able to get what's up, they are brutally honest, they can be extremely quiet or talk non-stop. The list goes on and on, and because of it, these characters made me see Autism in a new light.

I'm her younger sister, but I can't remember a time when I didn't feel like I needed to protect and take care of her.

I loved how flawed Chloe was and how her reactions were very normal in the sense that she would get upset, mad irritated because her sister wouldn't understand things. At the same time, she's always there for Ivy and is always giving her advice and motivating her to try new things in life. With David, his reactions towards Ethan are actually calmer and more soothing. We see how it affects David and his family that Ethan has Autism. One thing I loved about David was how open he was about his feelings towards this situation, to the point of even crying, which broke my heart. Chloe and David are teens handling a tough situation because their parents aren't really there to help and it's sad to think that it happens nowadays and how ignorant a lot of us are to this Mental Health.

People can have nothing but good intentions and still sometimes makes you want to kill them.

This story is so important to read! Not only that, it also tackles another important topic and the way it was handled was great and it made me so happy! I can't say because it's a major spoiler, so you guys will just have to read it :D One thing I did find negative of the story was the fact that there are various topics thrown in the story and I wish some had been fleshed out more.

Things I Should Have Known is an impressive, wonderful story that tackles Autism in a realistic way, as well as family dynamics, especially sisterhood.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.

Caroline Lewicki

A sweet story about a girl learning to understand her sister who has autism. She learns so much about herself and her peers along the way. A nice coming of age story.

Jeni Enjaian

I wish LaZebnik had written a better book, at least a better opening to her narrative than the first several chapters of this book. I read three or four chapters before heading to bed, putting it away easily and knowing that the only reason I would pick it up in the morning was because I wanted to finish all the books on the nominee list, not because I had a shred of vested interest in Chloe. LaZebnik focused entirely too much on the sensual nature of Chloe and James' relationship in the first few chapters to make her care for ivy feel real at all. 
Once she started to set Ivy up with Ethan, a boy from Ivy's school, she started to become real, she started to appear like an actual human being with feelings other than lust, to learn how to actually care for and support her autistic sister through watching Ethan's brother, David do that for him.
By the end LaZebnik pulled it out but I would not recommend this book. If I could give fractions of stars, I would rate this book 2.8, not quite average but not terrible.