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Original poster

Would you read this book

55 replies

CardoMondo · 13/01/2021 08:28

A book about 2 teenage girls. One is autistic, the other is a master manipulator.

As an adult, would you read it?

OP posts:
BigBadVoodooHat · 13/01/2021 09:30

@CardoMondo

A book about 2 teenage girls. One is autistic, the other is a master manipulator.

As an adult, would you read it?

There's nowhere near enough information there to allow people to make an informed guess. All you've done is name two broad character types.

What's the theme, the style, the genre, the premise?

VettiyaIruken · 13/01/2021 09:35

I'd give it a thumb through. If it was well written and insightful then yes, why not.

If OTOH, it was full of stereotypes - either of 'manipulative' young women or people with autism then absolutely not.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 13/01/2021 09:42

@CardoMondo

I’ve briefly started it. Target audience I’m not quite sure about. It’s going to be a little too dark for teens so I wanted to aim it at adults but this has got me thinking I need to work out a target audience before I go any further.

If you have seen “the end of the fucking world” I’d say it would be aimed at the same audience

A little too dark for teens? Do you read much YA? In a world in which The Bunker Diary can win the Carnegie Medal I would say there is no such thing as too dark for teens.

I do agree that these are somewhat overdone tropes so it would need to be done very well to convince me to buy it but that’s not in itself a reason why it’s not worth doing. It might be that one reason why a lot of books with teenage girls as master manipulators sell is that teenage girls would rather read books that represent them as that rather than a mess. And from an adult perspective teenage girls might be a mess but I can almost guarantee your teenage dd will know someone she considers a skilled manipulator.

London1977 · 13/01/2021 09:44

Well plenty of adults read and enjoy Lolita (Nabokov). Personally, having read the book, I would be wary of any grown men who read it and said they enjoyed it, put it that way.

So I think I would read that book as there doesn't appear, on your description, to be a book hidden as porn.

FenEel · 13/01/2021 09:45

I haven’t voted, because while I would of course read a book with a teenage girl as a protagonist I am not sure I would read that book. I’ve just read Sisters by Daisy Johnson, which has a similar vibe to your plot though, so who knows. I don’t think the age of the protagonist puts people off from reading a book - isn’t Scout about eight in To Kill A Mockingbird?

PinkyParrot · 13/01/2021 09:47

No - I read for entertainment and avoid wind up dtories

ShinyMe · 13/01/2021 09:50

I definitely read books with teenage characters. But from your brief description, no, I wouldn't be interested in that one. I'd want to know more before parting with cash, and I may try the first page or so if I was browsing in a bookshop.

TeaTimeReader · 13/01/2021 09:51

Take a read of Sisters by Daisy Jones. It has a horror feel and it targeted at adults. It focuses on the relationship of sisters where one is more dominant/ powerful

Mochudubh · 13/01/2021 09:51

I enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime but I only read it
a) because it had so much publicity & good reviews.
b) I wanted to find out who killed the dog.
c) The protagonist (Christopher?) was engaging.

I don't think on the brief precis you gave that I would pick that up

DenisetheMenace · 13/01/2021 09:51

Premise makes me uncomfortable, couldn’t specifically tell you why.

LaceyBetty · 13/01/2021 09:54

Why not?

MinnieJackson · 13/01/2021 09:59

@TeaTimeReader I'm going to look this one up, sounds good.
I never knew Lolita was aimed at YA. Now I'm assuming the virgin suicides and the bell jar were aswell?

bluegovan · 13/01/2021 10:51

I would read it but maybe I'm not the right person to ask as I'm autistic (awaiting assessment) and I like YA fiction.

I think books about teenagers tend to be marketed as YA. Someone mentioned Lord of the Flies, but that was written decades ago when YA didn't really exist as a category. I think publishers are much more savvy (and also more conservative?) about marketing now.

There's a MN creative writing board - maybe people there could help with targeting the right audience. From my teenage dcs I'd say there's an appetite for books with more diverse characters including neurodiversity, and they read books that are much darker than stuff I tend to read. Maybe publishers have guidelines for the kind of stuff that is acceptable in YA fiction.

steppemum · 13/01/2021 11:01

I have to say that there are a plethora of books around at the moment with main characters with autism.

Starting to get a bit dull, there are many other types of neuro diversity around.

They rarely portray those autism people as happy, fully functioning and successful either do they?

Bemystarlord · 13/01/2021 11:09

No, definitely not.

Original poster
CardoMondo · 13/01/2021 11:11

I am also autistic, which is why I want an autistic lead.

But this has given me much food for thought, thank you!

OP posts:
dontgobaconmyheart · 13/01/2021 11:30

I wouldn't read anything with that as the blurb, no. How can anyone really say with so little info? Having an autistic protagonist isn't a plot in itself. Certainly I'd read something that featured the subject and think that it's always a brilliant insight when authors have perspective on such things they can include but off the brief description,no. It does sound more like it would be darker YA- pretty little liars type territory etc which isn't my bag. Lots of people love that type of thing though, I suspect if you asked on YA forums or Reddit etc you'd get different reeponsee than on MN.

You presumably would want people to buy it anyway OP, so it would be more helpful to know of they'd be willing to pay to read it, rather than whether they hypothetically would.

haba · 13/01/2021 11:48

I have two children with autism. One is very suggestible, and easily led. The other is a poker-faced master manipulator.
Why can your lead not be manipulative, and autistic?

Original poster
CardoMondo · 13/01/2021 11:52

@haba

I have two children with autism. One is very suggestible, and easily led. The other is a poker-faced master manipulator. Why can your lead not be manipulative, and autistic?
She could be ... I’ll have a think about it.

I’m at work but basically idea is you have lead who happens to be high functioning autistic. You then have another girl who autistic girl views as the perfect human being, she becomes a little obsessed with her ... actually, I’m thinking of a new direction for this already! Thanks 😁

OP posts:
PinkPandaBear · 13/01/2021 12:08

Sounds like a YA novel. I wouldn’t pick up a book solely on the character being defined by their autism.

Original poster
CardoMondo · 13/01/2021 12:10

@PinkPandaBear

Sounds like a YA novel. I wouldn’t pick up a book solely on the character being defined by their autism.
She isn’t, she’s an artist. And yeah that might sound stereotypical but as an autistic myself I’m finding it hard not to base her on myself! Although I’m trying.
OP posts:
CaptainMyCaptain · 13/01/2021 12:14

The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Nightime by Mark Haddon

CaptainMyCaptain · 13/01/2021 12:16

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Incident_of_the_Dog_in_the_Night-Time
It won several prizes so I assume people of all ages read it.

SomewhatBored · 13/01/2021 12:22

A teenage protagonist wouldn't put me off. I'd read it if the plot was engaging - you haven't said enough about it for me to judge.

You've said one girl becomes obsessed with the other - what's at stake here?

Original poster
CardoMondo · 13/01/2021 13:00

Maybe written in two person viewpoints - Jodie Picoult style - the view of the autistic girl and the view from the other girl. Friendship which becomes too intense, one tries to get out of it which is when the other turns

OP posts: