Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

This is a beauty of a book.

Thirtysomething Alex´s life has so, so many leaks - his only son Sam is autistic and life with this diagnose is hard and tiring. His wife Jody has just thrown him out from the house because he was not present enough in her life and the life of his son. And also there is the unaddressed pain in his heart - the death of his brother.
Alex just wants to shut out inside, to stay out of the pain. And he tries. Yet - he loves his son and his wife. And, accidentally - he finds the unusual way to connect - the videogame Minecraft.

The story is inspired (not based on) the real experience of the author and his own autistic son - and Minecraft.

How warm, beautiful and inspiring! This is not a dull inspirational book (even if the happy end is somehow predictable, but happyends are like that, right?) - but a real, touching one in the right sense of the word. It has helped me to understand (at least a bit) the reality and the troubles the parents and other relatives of the autistic children face - and why. I like Alex´s way - from tired parent who considers his son a problem - through the mutual learning and understanding - to consider his son a jewel and the source of his pride. Alex somehow secretly "loves/hates" (a bit strong word game, but it somehow describes the reality) his son - he is troubling, difficult, a source of shame. So Alex runs - from his duties, from troubles, from misunderstandings. And it is his son who somehow teaches him at the end - to understand, to forgive (himself! which is the hardest thing), to see and to appreciate what he sees. Sam with all of his troubles is the beacon of light for his father. And it is a beautiful way of explain that our troubles are in reality our teachers (and I do not want to preach the New Age here - I just realize (sometimes with hardships) how the troubles could become blessings).
Also it is good to know the educational effects of the Minecraft and possibly the videogames in general.

This book is real, funny, witty and typically British - all superlatives in my book! :)
A must read for everybody, not just the ones with autistic relatives - but everyone. It can widen both your horizon and your heart.

What a lovely, lovely book. The story of a family falling apart and how they rebuild their relationship. As the book begins, Alex is leaving the family home because he and his wife, Jody, are struggling to cope with their autistic son, Sam. This, along with the psychological issues Alex is suffering from following a traumatic event in his past, have affected their relationship to the point where they can no longer live together and Alex moves in with his old friend Dan. Feeling hopeless and useless Alex slowly begins a journey towards redemption, and a new understanding of his son, forged in the world of the video game Minecraft. I enjoyed this book so much I didn't want it to end.

A well written heartwarming father and son story cataloging the difficulties faced by the family of an autistic child. It was funny in places and made me cry at the end. Bringing up children for anyone is fraught with hard decisions and difficulties and these are magnified when you have a child on the autistic spectrum. This book covered many of these issues and I do hope Alex and Jody sorted out theirs for the sake of their son. Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the chance to read this book.

The start of the book is fairly disheartening I feel. Alex is struggling with his job. His relationship with Jody, his wife is on the rocks, he is still trying to recover from a trauma in his childhood, but the most heartbreaking part is that he seems scared of his autistic son, Sam. Alex will do anything and make up any excuse not to be alone with Sam.

This made me cry, I couldn’t help it. Can it really be that bad that a father cannot be around his own son? I don’t know any autistic families so cannot say what it’s like to like to live with an autistic child. So please don’t feel I’m judging.

When Alex and Sam discovers that they can play the game Minecraft together it makes an unbreakable bond between them. They have something in common. It brings father and son together. It also helps Sam break down his walls, he learns to interact with other children at school and make friends.

I found this story so emotional. One minute I was crying the next minute laughing. It’s a rollercoaster of a book taking you on an amazing journey of a father and son.

I’m sure A Boy Made of Blocks will help to bring awareness of autism and how hard it can be for parents with an autistic child.

What an inspiring book. A computer game can bring about such a connection between father and son and enables communication. We are so quick to make judgements about people picking out the differences but it's what connects us which is important. Very thought provoking and informative I was hooked from start to finish

This book was a privilege to read and I loved every page. I honestly didn't want it to end. I grew attached to these characters and this story. It begins with the main character, Alex, struggling in life. He is going through a trial separation from his wife, Jody, and has moved from the family home to live with his friend Dan. He hates his job, feels utterly terrified by his autistic son, Sam, and doesn’t know how to get to a point where Jody will allow him back home.

He doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong but he knows he must be because he dreads going home and dealing with Sam’s tantrums and he dreads going to work and he is losing his temper and isn’t happy. The only problem is he doesn’t know what’s causing him to feel the way he does and Jody wants him to figure out what’s causing his unhappiness and fix it because otherwise, she cannot live with him.

I enjoyed reading this book because Alex and his mindset felt so genuine. I know how frustrating it can be with autism feeling like nothing is getting through and everything being a struggle and that comes across. This book works because Alex is such a sympathetic character, he isn’t flawless, in fact, he is very flawed. Instead, he is real. He felt like I could bump into him on the street and he wouldn’t seem out of place. Every character felt real and think that was because it was inspired by Stuart’s own experiences. The mistakes which Alex makes are ones any person could make because he hadn’t thought things through and acted rashly.

I have to say, I didn’t fully appreciate the character of Alex until he made the decision to try and connect with his son properly instead of continually feeling like Sam was a challenge to be attacked he instead chose to actually speak with him and listen to what he had to say. When Alex and Sam finally connected playing Minecraft together and got to know one another, that is when I fully appreciated what a great book this was. From that point onwards I was utterly in love with the characters and their foolish decisions and poor life choices that made them human.

In the end, this is inspired by a real person’s life, sure, it’s not a biography, but instead inspired by Keith Stuart’s own experience with his son and playing Minecraft. But that small element of truth shines through this book. Minecraft doesn’t magically cure Sam of his autism, or of the tantrum’s and fears he experiences. It does allow him a way to communicate with others and allow him to build a true connection with others he had previously been unable to experience and that’s what made this book wonderful. I stayed up way too late to reach the conclusion of the book and I was in tears by the end because I am a sentimental fool. I hope everyone reads this book and has a chance to read something a little different because it is completely worth it.

This book for me was such a whirlwind of emotions and I also think probably the most important book I'll read this year so so important to me and it just had such an emotional impact on me I found myself sitting reading at 11pm crying my eyes out not with sadness but with joy.

I really connected quickly with Sam mainly because my 5 year old son is also autistic like Sam, although not on the same scale but there was so many moments throughout this book that I saw the same sort of traits in Sam as my little boy has. It was just so moving to find a book that speaks about autism and it's affects how it moulds a family life, this story is just so unique. Keith Stuart does a fantastic job of portraying what autism can be like.

I have to admit I didn't like Alex at first he was quick tempered he had no time for Sam or patience to stand back and just try and learn how things might be for him. But as the story progresses you start to see him change. There is a few other threads to this story about other characters which really just added more to the story I honestly just wholeheartedly loved this book it just touched my heart.

This book captures so much into 416 pages it was so heartwarming I couldn't recommend this book enough I highlighted so many parts it's a book filled with so much emotion I cried, I laughed, and beamed with pride and joy with Alex, Sam and Jody because I truly do believe that life is an adventure, not a walk. That's why it's difficult.

My thanks to the publishers who gave me a copy of this book via netgalley as part of the book blog tour in exchange for a honest review.

I read this book in a day and I seriously couldn't put it down until I'd finished it.

From I was ten years old until I was twenty I was involved in a social club for people with learning disabilities. There was a few kids that went to the club with autism. My sister also took care of a young boy with autism for quite a few years. He became part of our family and so for those reasons I was certainly interested in reading this book.

This is a truly amazing read. There were times I laughed and there was times I cried. I had goosebumps reading most of this story.

Alex and Jody are parents to Sam who is an eight year old boy with autism. Although Jody is coping Alex is struggling to build a relationship with his son. Jody asks Alex to move out. As time progresses Alex finds common ground with Sam- Minecraft. He finds his son starts to progress slowly and it allows him time to spend time with Sam. Their journey is certainly an eye opener.

The author pulled on his own experiences and his real feelings to write a truly beautiful heart warming story. This book and these characters are going to stay with me for quite a while.

A thoroughly wonderful book following Alex and his autistic son Sam's journey to connect with each other. Full of humour and warmth this story tugged at my heartstrings and I even shed a tear (or two).

It's a long time since a book affected me as much as The Boy Made of Blocks. Alex's honesty as he goes on his journey to understand his son and his autism. As a parent of a child with autism, I was struck by so many elements of Alex and Jody's experiences. Absolutely 5 stars from me.