Show Us Who You Are

Author: Elle McNicoll

Show Us Who You are is about an autistic teen, Cora, who is dealing with a newer autism diagnosis and grieving the loss of her mother, along with her father and brother, at the same time.  After being forced to go to a party by her family, Cora meets a boy, Adrian, who is also neurodivergent, and two end up becoming best friends.  Adrian’s dad is the CEO of a company called Pomegranate Technologies, which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to re-create people who have passed away. However, Cora starts to notice a dark side to the company and it’s up to her to stop its plans before it’s too late.  I had read McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark in March and loved it, and I especially love that this author is autistic herself!  So, when I found out Show Us Who You Are was available, I got it right away.  This book was just as good a read as A Kind of Spark!  It’s very well written, has great characters/character development and lots of funny and heartbreaking moments.  There is discussion on neurodiversity, grief and eugenics, all of which are dealt with very well.  I loved Cora and Adrian’s friendship and how Adrian, who had ADHD, could tell when Cora was getting burnt out.  There are lots of great quotes throughout the book as well and I took as many notes as I could.  Autism and grief are not discussed very often and when it is it’s usually the stereotype that autistic people don’t have feelings when someone dies. which is definitely not the case.  People, autistic or not, all process grief differently and that should be understood.  My favorite part of the book is where Adrian and Cora are having dinner with Adrian’s parents and Adrian’s dad says something like, “Son, don’t let your condition define you.” And Adrian says something like, “Ok, dad I won’t let my brain, the most important organ in my body, define who I really am. I’ll just define myself by my pancreas instead.” I thought that was hilarious and very true. It’s up to the neurodivergent person to define who they are, and people (especially neurotypical and/or allistic people, which means non-autistic people) really need to not try to tell the neurodivergent person how to view themselves. Yes, I am autistic/neurodivergent and I consider it a core part of who I am. I am not going to let other people tell me how to view my brain, especially since I feel like autism makes up my whole personality. Overall, Show Us Who You Are celebrates neurodiversity (which is not just autism and ADHD) and disabilities and shows that both should be respected. We really need more rep like this!