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A review by siobhan27
Invisibility by Andrea Cremer
5.0
Where do I even start with reviewing this book? Andrea Cremer and David Levithan are amazingly talented on their own, but together they were brilliant. This book combined the issues and feelings that David is so good at portraying, with the supernatural world of the unknown that Andrea is so brilliant at creating. It was a perfect combination.
Stephen is invisible, always has been. And in his short life he has already had to become accustomed to do everything for himself. His mother is dead, and his father is nothing but a bank account. So when Elizabeth moves in across the hall, he expects that things will be as they always were. Except she can see him, and he has no idea why. It is then that the lives they both know shatter into a million pieces.
This novel had so many layers, more than some books I have read lately. On one hand Stephen is invisible on a physical level, but he also has the personality of someone who ha been ignored by those around him. And it is something that most people can identify with. Yes, Stephens is invisible because of a curse, but that does not take away the real life implications of feeling invisible. I love how David and Andrea treat these seemigly mundane teenage feelings and make them the forfront of the story. And sometimes you forget the understone beneath the supernatural element of the story.
Lets not forget about Elizabeth and her brother Laurie. I honestly feel like it would not have a true David Levithan novel if it did not touch upon the topics of gender and sexuality. This part of the story was my favouite for many reasons. One, because it showcased the bond between siblings through a horrible hate crime that rocked both Laurie and Elizabeth, and two because it allows readers to see, through Lauries personlaity and joy of life, that events like that do not define you. The book would not have been the same without their relationship.
The love story between Elizabeth and Stephen was sudden and deliberate. They needed each other in ways they never expected and I thought the added element of the paranormal world was intriguing and fascinating. It was a brilliant mash up of two authors' talents that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.
Stephen is invisible, always has been. And in his short life he has already had to become accustomed to do everything for himself. His mother is dead, and his father is nothing but a bank account. So when Elizabeth moves in across the hall, he expects that things will be as they always were. Except she can see him, and he has no idea why. It is then that the lives they both know shatter into a million pieces.
This novel had so many layers, more than some books I have read lately. On one hand Stephen is invisible on a physical level, but he also has the personality of someone who ha been ignored by those around him. And it is something that most people can identify with. Yes, Stephens is invisible because of a curse, but that does not take away the real life implications of feeling invisible. I love how David and Andrea treat these seemigly mundane teenage feelings and make them the forfront of the story. And sometimes you forget the understone beneath the supernatural element of the story.
Lets not forget about Elizabeth and her brother Laurie. I honestly feel like it would not have a true David Levithan novel if it did not touch upon the topics of gender and sexuality. This part of the story was my favouite for many reasons. One, because it showcased the bond between siblings through a horrible hate crime that rocked both Laurie and Elizabeth, and two because it allows readers to see, through Lauries personlaity and joy of life, that events like that do not define you. The book would not have been the same without their relationship.
The love story between Elizabeth and Stephen was sudden and deliberate. They needed each other in ways they never expected and I thought the added element of the paranormal world was intriguing and fascinating. It was a brilliant mash up of two authors' talents that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.