Book Review 

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer, David Levithan

 

Stephen has been invisible for practically his whole life — because of a curse his grandfather, a powerful cursecaster, bestowed on Stephen’s mother before Stephen was born. So when Elizabeth moves to Stephen’s NYC apartment building from Minnesota, no one is more surprised than he is that she can see him. A budding romance ensues, and when Stephen confides in Elizabeth about his predicament, the two of them decide to dive headfirst into the secret world of cursecasters and spellseekers to figure out a way to break the curse. But things don’t go as planned, especially when Stephen’s grandfather arrives in town, taking his anger out on everyone he sees. In the end, Elizabeth and Stephen must decide how big of a sacrifice they’re willing to make for Stephen to become visible — because the answer could mean the difference between life and death. At least for Elizabeth.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler Warning:

I just didn't like this book. Too many plot holes. It started off alright. I didn't like the twist with the spellcasters and cursecastes and spells and curses plus the whole devil-spawn grandpa. I guess Stephen is invisible and what could you expect. And talk about disappointing endings they didn't even cure Stephen of his curse. I don't understand what the stupid caster thing was if not to cure him. Wasn't that the point of the book? 

And yet another novel with a bad case of insta-love. Stephen and Elizabeth kissed and they felt they belonged together. That's just a cop out, seriously why couldn't you just take the time to develop the characters and the relationship between them? It would make the novel much more enjoyable not to mention a more interesting plot.

The overall writing was rather bland and left me wanting. To me the real problem was the transition from the contemporary world to the paranormal world. Obviously any story about an invisible boy is going to have some undertones of paranormal writing. But this story wasn't thought out enough. At one point the only bit of paranormal plot was the fact Stephen was invisible, and then the major plot twist of curecasters and spellkeepers it was one extreme to another. What started off as a young adult romance turned into a sloppy paranormal novel. I thought the plot was going in a whole other direction when Stephen's evil grandfather Arbus, the most evil and powerful curescaster ever was factored in. 

The ending was lackluster and extremely disappointing not to mention confusing. Laurie, Elizabeth, and Stephen were successful in vanquishing evil ideology, but failed to accomplish the main goal they set from the beginning. Make Stephen visible. It almost makes the whole novel a waste. The whole point was to allow Stephen to be seen and yet nothing. It also left readers wondering if there would be a follow up. Personally I'm way past caring, and there is no way I'll read a second novel.

A.B.