Book Review: Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings
[ID: a white book with rainbow font and an illustration depicting a teen boy in black laying on a bed with a brown haired teen girl laughing and taking a photo of him. The book sits on a white shelf in front of a rainbow stack of purple and pink disability reads with book page confetti, fake purple flowers, and pink ribbon spread around. A palette of paints sits to the left and a paintbrush rests in front. Tiny off white roses line the stack to the right and a spiral of pink ribbon hides part of the paintbrush.]
I’ve heard many good things about Mazey Eddings’ work so I jumped at the chance to get an early look at her YA debut that features a sweet summer romance between two neurodivergent teens. Thank you, Wednesday Books!
Summary: Tilly is struggling under the weight of her parents’ expectations and suffering from ADHD burnout after high school. A summer internship at her perfect older sister’s start up offers a change of scenery and a free trip around Europe that she can’t pass up. After a DISASTROUS first meeting with her fellow intern, Oliver, their early clashes slowly turns into something more as they bond over their shared neurodiverse connection. Oliver is autistic and, in contrast to Tilly, has big plans for his future to pursue his love of color theory and design. Those plans are thrown into turmoil after meeting Tilly, but their relationship brings even more color to Oliver’s life as they become closer. After one adventurous summer, can they create a new future together?
[ID: An off white book with rainbow font spelling out “Tilly in Technicolor” and an illustration depicting a teen boy in black laying on a bed with a brown haired teen girl laughing and taking a photo of him. Small brown text reads, “He keeps everything ordered. She’s all over the place. Together they’re in perfect focus.”]
Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings
Representation: YA romance with ADHD & autism representation based on the author’s personal experience
Content warnings: discussions of sex, fade to black sex scene, bad parenting/emotional abuse, ableism, adult language.
Releasing August 15th, 2023
My review:
While it had a bit of a rocky start, I fell head over heels for this book! Tilly’s desire for independence and her struggle to figure out the future were deeply relatable, but I admit many of her adventures (especially in the beginning of the book) gave me almost paralyzing secondhand embarrassment. I’m glad I pushed through though because I was rewarded with some truly lovely disability representation and a super sweet romance.
The romance was definitely the best part of this book. It felt so adorable, natural, and definitely swoon-worthy. It was so heart-warming to see Tilly and Oliver connect and learn to communicate. They brought out the best in each other and learned from each other in a really delightful way.
The neurodiverse representation (both ADHD and autism) is based on the author’s own experiences. Seeing Oliver and Tilly bond over their shared experiences of isolation, burnout, stimming, and so on was really special to me and made this book stand out from your average YA romance.
The elements about color theory were also super fun and surprisingly romantic! I wanted a bit more detail on the Europe trip and there were elements of the plot that felt pretty contrived. I also didn’t like how rushed certain elements of the ending were. Tilly’s mom was pretty much a cartoon style villain to the point that I wanted to reach through the pages and shake her until her teeth rattled. I guess I wanted something a bit more realistic with Tilly’s family relationships and personal growth.
Even with my reservations (and that INTENSE secondhand embarrassment), I really enjoyed this book and it’s skyrocketed up my list of disability reads! Save some space on your summer TBRs for this sweet book!