Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Not every book is my cup of tea – and that’s ok. Even if I didn’t like it, I attempt to find readers that would. Thanks for visiting. Let’s get Smitten For Fiction.

I requested a Netgalley arc for Tilly in Technicolor after loving A Brush With Love, Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake, and The Plus One by Mazey Eddings. They are part of an adult contemporary romance trilogy, Tilly in Technicolor is Eddings first YA novel.

“Eddings, who shares both characters’ diagnoses, brings clarity, humor, insight, and empathy to their challenges. An adjunct assortment of bright, variously divergent teens manifest kindness, affection, and acceptance.” – Kirkus

“A tender, heartfelt, and effortlessly inclusive feel-good YA romance with one of the best (read: hilarious) disaster-cutes I’ve ever witnessed, Tilly in Technicolor captures the giddy thrill of finding the person who sees you, who gets you, and who, ultimately, adores you exactly as you are. I loved Mazey Edding’s YA debut—the equivalent of a firm bear hug—from the very first page, and by the time I reached the last, I felt loved back. This is an affirming and joyful novel about rediscovering yourself outside of boxes, expectations, and comfort zones.” —Lillie Vale, author of Beauty and the Besharam

About The Book 📚

Title: Tilly in Technicolor

Author: Mazey Eddings

Publication Date: August 15, 2023

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mental Health, Autism, ADHD

Pages: 320

Content Warnings: panic attacks, foul language, sexual content, injury detail, vomit, alcohol

Mature YA: 16+ Includes profanity, sexual situations, and alcohol use.

Pre-order on Indigo Chapters

About The Author

Mazey Eddings is a neurodiverse author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to her cats, Yaya and Zadie. She can most often be found reading romance novels under her weighted blanket and asking her fiánce to bring her snacks. She’s made it her personal mission in life to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain. With roots in Ohio and Philadelphia, she now calls North Carolina home. Mazey is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Handspun Literary .

https://mazeyeddings-com.webnode.page/

My Review

› Tilly doesn’t feel heard by her mother. Tilly has ADHD and her mother treats her like a child. She wants to get out of the house away from her mom and out of Cleveland. Tilly wants to be a writer. Her mother is not happy about that and is pushing Tilly to attend University and get a “practical” degree, but first Tilly is heading to Europe with her sister, Mona, to travel around for three months helping Mona as she is trying to grow her start-up business with eco-friendly nail polish.

› Mona is five years older than Tilly. They used to be very close, but when you have a sibling that much older than you it’s natural to grow apart when they go out in the world on their own. Tilly says Mona changed after attending Yale, and I’m left wondering what kind of stress Mona must have been under that would make her change. She started her own company while still attending University with a person named Amina. They moved to London and have been working to grow their business called Ruhe which is a German word that doesn’t directly translate to English, but means nothing around you bothers you, so I suppose maybe “inner peace”. Something Tilly definitely doesn’t have.

› On the plane Tilly meets Oliver. He has an incredible ability with colour. He can look at anything and tell you exactly what Pantone colour it is. “The large poles down the runway are Pantone 15-1360”, the sky Pantone 2190, a streak of lightning Pantone 536, the blush of Tilly’s cheeks Pantone 16-1720, and also actions like Amina’s laugh would be a rich caramel Pantone 723. I find Oliver’s special interest absolutely breathtaking and would love to follow his Instagram where he takes beautiful pictures and explains all of these colours and their relationship to each other. Oliver is also working with Tilly and Amina as a colour and media specialist to help them grow their Instagram followers

› Tilly in Technicolor is told from Tilly and Oliver’s perspective. Oliver has autism. I’m an Educational Assistant and I’ve been working with kids who have autism and ADHD for about 10 years. My son has been diagnosed with ADHD. It seems like the portrayal of autism and ADHD in this book is authentic – the author has ADHD, so I feel like she truly gets it and is talented at putting those feelings and challenges into words.

“It took a global pandemic, tortuous online schooling, and me breaking down in furious sobs on a daily basis when I couldn’t get my wandering brain to cooperate for my mom to take me to a child psychiatrist.”

› That sentence made me cry. My daughter’s struggles became apparent during the covid online schooling as well.

› Tilly and Oliver struggle to communicate or read each other’s emotions, so of course Tilly in Technicolor is about the both of them learning more about themselves, each other, communication, friendship, family, and love.

› Characters: 6
I didn’t like that Mona’s first show of affection towards Tilly was when Tilly proved she was useful for Mona’s business. Stereotypical behaviour for some characters.

› Atmosphere: 7
I laughed when Tilly had to pull out a million pairs of underwear from her luggage at the airport. “Mount Fruit of the Loom” BAHAHAHA! And then the scenes on the plane with Oliver had me laughing out loud.

› Writing Style: 5
I liked the blog entries at first, but they quickly became repetitive and boring. I prefer Oliver’s perspective over Tilly’s, but I think that’s a “me” thing. There were a lot of “eye roll” moments. I feel like this should have been written and marketed as a new adult novel instead of YA. This article explains it better than I can.

› Plot: 4
I felt really bored.

› Intrigue: 5
It was only the ADHD and autism rep that was keeping me interested.

› Logic: 7
I often felt worried for Tilly, being a young woman out on her own sometimes at night and no one was calling her or checking on her. There was even a time when Mona and Amina left Tilly alone overnight. That just seemed so wrong to me. What about the broken window?

› Enjoyment: 6
Overall, Tilly in Technicolor was okay for me. I think I’ll stick with Eddings adult novels.

Average 5.7

My Rating ★★★

› Final Thoughts
• I feel like everyone should read Tilly in Technicolor just so you can gain a better understanding of what it feels like to have autism or ADHD. This is an adventurous, emotional, lighthearted, medium-paced, funny, hopeful, inspiring, informative, character-driven, diverse book with lovable characters. It’s set to be published August 15, 2023. I’m looking forward to Eddings new adult contemporary romance coming out in 2024 called Late Bloomer.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

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