Blurb:
Normal is just a setting on the dryer.
High school graduate Jeremey Samson is looking forward to burying his head under the covers and sleeping until it’s time to leave for college. Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.
But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When his untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.
As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head over heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is a healing force, and love can overcome any obstacle.
High school graduate Jeremey Samson is looking forward to burying his head under the covers and sleeping until it’s time to leave for college. Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.
But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When his untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.
As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head over heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is a healing force, and love can overcome any obstacle.
Review: 5 Stars!
This book is a quiet, heartfelt book about learning how to love and support someone, even if you experience the world very differently from them. It is the third book I've read recently about having a relationship with someone on the autism spectrum; the other two being Puddle Jumping and The Rosie Project. Carry the Ocean is written from both MC's (Jeremey and Emmet) perspectives. It also has the added elements of Jeremey's disability (clinical depression and anxiety) and the fact that the two MCs are in a same-sex relationship.
You can tell that there was a lot of research (or personal experience) behind this book. The thoughtfulness in describing how the disabilities affect the MCs is clear.
My depression will tell me things are bad, really bad, and I can say I don’t believe it for a while, but at some point it’s the same as the game you play with kids, where you say “yes” and they say “no” and after a few rounds the adult switches but the child doesn’t catch on and ends up saying yes because they were tricked.
It gives a realistic portrayal of life for these two young men. I also feel like the author included information that could be helpful to readers experiencing similar issues (or knowing others with similar issues). Not only are certain techniques for dealing with the disabilities discussed, the author also incorporates online resources in the storyline.
What you can do is learn to manage your emotions. To learn how to tell yourself your feelings are not facts. That they seem real, are real, but that does not make them laws and truths.
It's my first m/m relationship, but that aspect is very secondary to other challenges the MCs face. I appreciated that homophobia was not a significant issue in this book.
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