Thursday, August 8, 2013

Review: Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan


Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan
Publication date: May 7th, 2013
Pages: 358

Synopsis:
A magical romance between a boy cursed with invisibility and the one girl who can see him, by New York Times bestselling authors Andrea Cremer and David Levithan.

Stephen is used to invisibility. He was born that way. Invisible. Cursed.
Elizabeth sometimes wishes for invisibility. When you're invisible, no one can hurt you. So when her mother decides to move the family to New York City, Elizabeth is thrilled. It's easy to blend in there.
Then Stephen and Elizabeth meet. To Stephen's amazement, she can see him. And to Elizabeth's amazement, she wants him to be able to see her--all of her. But as the two become closer, an invisible world gets in their way--a world of grudges and misfortunes, spells and curses. And once they're thrust into this world, Elizabeth and Stephen must decide how deep they're going to go--because the answer could mean the difference between love and death.


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Review:
When I saw this book adorning the shelves of my local library and spotted the two well-known authors who collaborated to create it, I made a mad dash to the checkout line, bouncing on my toes in excitement and muttering soft 'come on, come on, come on' encouragements to the doddering librarian. I could not get it home fast enough. Unfortunately, I had some review books I had to read before I could sink my teeth into this story. I had never read anything by David Levithan, but I had read a few by Andrea Cremer. I found myself constantly wondering who wrote what throughout the story. There were moments of humor that I suspect was David's touch, and some swoonworthy confessions of love that had the distinct Andrea air to it.

This story is essentially a well laid tale about a cursed invisible boy and the love affair he has with the only girl who can see him. Why is she the only one who can see him, you may ask? You will only find the answer in the pages of this book. I am not one for spoilers.

Elizabeth and Stephen, together, learn that the world is not what they once imagined it to be. There is actual magic running rampant through the streets of their NYC home, as well as around the world. This realization spurs the pair into action where, with the help of a creepy "witch" and Elizabeth's jokster of a gay younger brother, they seek out an end to Stephen's invisibility plight. This means tracking down Stephen's malicious grandfather who's only ambition is to cause as much suffering and strife as possible.

To avoid giving away too much I will keep the generalization of the book to a minimum. It is an adventure the reader must take for themselves. Trust me, it won't be a waste of time.

I think what I liked best about this book was the WAY it was written. Don't get me wrong, the story was splendiferous as well, but in most romance driven books it is hard to balance the humor. It either falls flat or turns the book into a mockery. There is a fine line and these two authors navigated it perfectly. However, I did sometimes find Elizabeth and Stephen's romance a bit forced at times. They were together for a short period of time and were already in love and willing to die for each other? Very Romeo and Juliet. Stephen seemed a little too meek for me at some points. I wanted him to "man up" a bit (that's right, Laurie... I said 'man up'!). Those are only a small (microscopic really) part of the book that was so-so for me.

This book read like the beginning of a series. Dare I hope that this may be true?!

Invisibility is the perfect combination of humor, romance, adventure, and magic. It sweeps the reader into a world where unlucky situations or unfortunate circumstances may actually have a reason behind the existences. David Leviathan and Andrea Cremer are a dynamic duo worthy of worship. We're not worthy, David and Andrea! We're not worthy!