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A review by kristi_starr35
The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko by Scott Stambach
3.0
Somewhere between 2.5 & 3. There were parts of this book that I loved. There were parts that I loathed. It was honest. And raw. Sweet. Bitter and dark. Light and hopeful. Sad. Funny. Russian. I was disgusted and I was touched. Part The Fault in Our Stars ... and I don't know what else.
It's hard to classify and difficult to place. While not quite YA lit, it received the Alex Award from YALSA for adult lit that appeals to teens. It's not a typical teen romance, though.
A physically disabled teenage boy who has lived his entire life as an orphan at the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus is detached from almost everyone around him. His life is a series of unchanging events. Then one day Polina walks in. She, too, is an orphan, but unlike Ivan, she is ill, and it soon becomes clear that she is terminal. Ivan and Polina develop an unlikely friendship - a first for Ivan - and eventually it turns to love. Polina both pushes Ivan beyond his boundaries and pulls him out of his isolation. But it comes at a cost. To love is to feel, and to feel is to hurt.
Like Ivan, be prepared to feel - though whether you feel exhilaration or emptiness at the end of this rollercoaster of a story is the question. Odds are, whether you love it or not, it will stick with you. (And if your literary background is lacking in certain classic Russian authors, you will likely be on the hunt for Nabakov and more.)
It's hard to classify and difficult to place. While not quite YA lit, it received the Alex Award from YALSA for adult lit that appeals to teens. It's not a typical teen romance, though.
A physically disabled teenage boy who has lived his entire life as an orphan at the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus is detached from almost everyone around him. His life is a series of unchanging events. Then one day Polina walks in. She, too, is an orphan, but unlike Ivan, she is ill, and it soon becomes clear that she is terminal. Ivan and Polina develop an unlikely friendship - a first for Ivan - and eventually it turns to love. Polina both pushes Ivan beyond his boundaries and pulls him out of his isolation. But it comes at a cost. To love is to feel, and to feel is to hurt.
Like Ivan, be prepared to feel - though whether you feel exhilaration or emptiness at the end of this rollercoaster of a story is the question. Odds are, whether you love it or not, it will stick with you. (And if your literary background is lacking in certain classic Russian authors, you will likely be on the hunt for Nabakov and more.)