She Is Not Invisible - Marcus Sedgwick

Blurb

TWO DRIED MICE. A FLUFFY RAVEN CALLED STAN. A SUICIDAL AUSTRALIAN BIOLOGIST . . .

Is it coincidence or something more sinister that draws them together? Many strange things collide in Laureth Peak's life one hot August weekend. Perhaps the strangest of all is the way her dad had been acting lately. And now he's disappeared. It looks as if his obsession with coincidence might have fatal consequences.

As Laureth sets off for New York with her strange younger brother, Benjamin, she has little faith in herself. But she has a burning determination to find her missing father. She has just one clue to follow; his notebook. Does it contain salvation, or madness?

My Review

Now I'm not fond of the blurb. In fact, I wasn't going to pick this book up at all because of it. The reason I did is down to my partner - who doesn't read. He said it sounded good and that intrigued me because I couldn't see it. So here I am with the book on my shelf. And let me tell you, I'm glad he made me reconsider.

'She Is Not Invisible' was a great, easy read. So easy in fact, I struggled to put it down. I read the whole thing - all 354 pages of it - in just one day. It might have been the mystery or the tone and rhythm of the narration, I don't know, but I just fell into it.

I loved Laureth's narration so I was on to a winner. The narrative jumped around in a natural chatty way that was surprisingly easy to follow. I also found Laureth realistic and relatable. By the end, I really wanted to be her friend - which happens to me a lot. However, Laureth's brother, Benjamin, took longer for me to warm up to. Perhaps that was because I felt he was too babyish for seven sometimes. But as the book went on and I got to know the character better, I realised why Sedgwick had written him that way and I took my snap judgement back.

Laureth's father is a writer and every time she mentioned him or his work or his process, I just ate it up. I love to hear about authors in books and that'll always be the case. It always has been."Maybe writers are just a bit bonkers anyway." How can you not love that?

What really blew me away though was how it all came together. The last few paragraphs particularly, made me insanely happy. I won't be able to explain it, but if you read the book, you'll know just what I'm talking about.

Let me leave you with this. 'She Is Not Invisible' is an incredibly clever book that gets cleverer and cleverer as you read it. I will most definitely remember this book for a long time.

Evaluation

Overall 9/10

Would I recommend it? Yes! It is too clever to miss and so easy to pick up.

Would I look up the author? Yes. I'd like to see what other 'diamonds and pearls' Sedgwick has written.

'She Is Not Invisible' is an insanely clever book I enjoyed every moment of.

Molly Looby

Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly.looby@hotmail.com