Real When I'm With You

Effie is seventeen. She has both autism and ADHD. She is also utterly tired of being put on the sidelines of her best friend, Chelsea’s, romances. These are of questionable quality and there have been many.

Effie decides that she must persuade Aidan, the cute barista in the local seafront coffee shop, to engage in a fake relationship with her to prove to Chelsea that Effie can have a relationship of her own. What happens when these feelings, at first manufactured, become real? Will Effie be able to trust herself and find her own happiness with Aidan or will she let her need to be liked by Chelsea ruin a genuinely good relationship?

This book can be predictable in parts, although as Effie points out, autistic people like predictability. However, it can slow down the pace of a narrative. There are two stand out features in Powrie’s novel. One, is the absolutely brilliant character of Effie’s cat, Lady Mousington, who provides emotional comfort and support. The other, is Powrie’s eloquent and often painful description of an autistic shutdown and of the length of time and effort it takes to get out of one.

This is an own-voice novel and that could not be clearer than in the detailed description of the shutdown. This will be affirming and cathartic for autistic readers.