Review: A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart

A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was such a heartwarming story!  I've had this on my TBR to read and review for a very long time, but I never got around to it.  This was one of the very first egalleys I picked up from Netgalley, but it never seemed like the right book.  I found it on Hoopla last week and gave the audiobook a try.  The audio narration is excellent, and this was the perfect case of the perfect book at the perfect time.  I would not have understood the minecraft references had I not listened to Minecraft: The Island with my son a few years back.  I think that increased my enjoyment of this book because I have such good memories associated with learning about the game from my own son, much like Alex and Sam bonded over the game in this book.  Given the state of the world right now, I really needed something that wasn't violent or sad.

I think the author did a great job capturing the daily struggles of parenting and marriage.  Whether you have a child with autism or not, parenting and marriage takes a lot of work to make the machine work smoothly.  Throw in the added responsibility of having a child with autism. childhood grief that was never addressed, and a career you hate and Alex's life is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.    Alex and his wife deal with problems differently, much like most couples do, but instead of coming to an acceptable agreement on what to do, Alex has learned to run from tough situations.  It has been his coping mechanism since childhood and now he has found himself jobless, homeless, and at risk of losing the two people he loves most.

I really liked the way that Alex turned things around in his life and the way the author supported Alex with friends that called him out when he was being difficult and not facing his fears and problems.  I liked that he finally took responsibility for himself and Sam and found a way to see the world through his son's eyes and find something they could do together and ways to support Sam when he was having meltdowns. Sam was such a beautiful boy, I really loved his character.  There were some really great moments in the book between them.

While this type of fiction is not normally something I go for, I really enjoyed it and if you are looking for a book that leaves you with a smile on your face give this a read.

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