I’m struggling with my feelings about Molly’s character. She’s a walking stereotype of autism in a borderline offensive way. Why does she need to act like a child to get the point across that she is naive and lacks social skills? Neurodivergent representation is important but it’s not representation when the author is infantilizing the character to get their point across.

I think the thing that’s bothering me most about the stereotypical portrayal is that we’re constantly being told that Molly has certain autistic traits over and over again (such as being unable to read facial expressions). Show don’t tell is something this author would probably benefit from greatly.

TL;DR the portrayal of autism (whether on purpose or by accident) is lazy and lacks proper research into actual autistic experiences.

What a raw chapter about the realities of not only married life, but also how much strain the stress of a job can place on personal relationships.

I found myself thinking “Doug wtf??” throughout this chapter but his response to their fight was exactly the point of being married. “We can’t turn on each other.” Even when times are hard, you are a team. You’re both going to royally fuck up from time to time and hurt each other the way Doug did to Kamala in this chapter. Especially in a situation as stressful as they are in. But how are you going to come together after that happens? How are you going to fix the problem?

I’m so glad she included this vulnerable look into her life.