Tilly in Technicolor
Tilly in Technicolor is Mazey Eddings's sparkling YA debut about two neurodivergent teens who form a connection over the course of a summer.
Tilly Twomley is desperate for change. White-knuckling her way through high school with flawed executive functioning has left her burnt out and ready to start fresh. Working as an intern for her perfect older sister’s start up isn’t exactly how Tilly wants to spend her summer, but the required travel around Europe promises a much-needed change of scenery as she plans for her future. The problem is, Tilly has no idea what she wants.
Oliver Clark knows exactly what he wants. His autism has often made it hard for him to form relationships with others, but his love of color theory and design allows him to feel deeply connected to the world around him. Plus, he has everything he needs: a best friend that gets him, placement into a prestigious design program, and a summer internship to build his resume. Everything is going as planned. That is, of course, until he suffers through the most disastrous international flight of his life, all turmoil stemming from lively and exasperating Tilly. Oliver is forced to spend the summer with a girl that couldn’t be more his opposite—feeling things for her he can’t quite name—and starts to wonder if maybe he doesn’t have everything figured out after all.
As the duo’s neurodiverse connection grows, they learn that some of the best parts of life can’t be planned, and are forced to figure out what that means as their disastrously wonderful summer comes to an end.
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Community Reviews
Tilly’s parents have shipped her off to Europe to spend the summer working for her older sister with the hope it will inspire her to pick a college and vocation. Tilly’s ADHD has made school a struggle and she has no desire to continue her education. Tilly’s passion is writing, and while she yearns to write for a living, her mom thinks writing is only a hobby.
More than anything, Tilly longs for acceptance. She’s exhausted from trying to fit into the mold everyone else expects of her. Oliver knows plenty about feeling different, too. He’s autistic, but unlike Tilly, he’s had a more supportive family and he feels like he has a solid life plan.
Until he meets Tilly, that is.
When Oliver is Tilly’s seatmate on her flight to Europe, the two don’t exactly have a romantic meet-cute. On the surface they seem like polar opposites, but they’ll discover they’re much more alike than they know.
Oliver sees life in colors, even labeling the world around him by their Pantone name and number, which makes the reading experience even more rich. I wanted to stop and look up each color he mentions, but I also didn’t want to put the book down.
I couldn’t stop smiling while reading as Tilly and Oliver grow closer, learning more about each other and themselves. And it only reaffirmed the fact that we need more books featuring neurodiverse characters. Once again, a book has reminded me that what makes us different is what makes us beautiful.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
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That being said, there was a lot I didn't enjoy. Yes, Tilly has ADHD but she seemed so... immature I guess. Like she didn't act 18 at all or ready to now travel and live in a foreign country.
Then like, why would Tilly get an amazing job because of some blog posts and that's it? Seems far fetched. And the mom suddenly becoming great after being horrific.
And like nothing happens in this book. They go around the Europe yet they don't seem to do anything.
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