Review: Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan

Invisibility by Andrea Cremer & David Levithan

Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Philomel
Pages: 358
Genre: YA Paranormal
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Andrea Cremer: Website | Facebook | Twitter
David Levithan: Website | Facebook | Twitter

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.

ADD TO GOODREADS

I was super excited for this book. I loved Every Day by David Levithan and The Nightshade series by Andrea Cremer. I expected to be balling my eyes out, fanning myself during steamy scenes, and swooning for the great romance. Instead I felt nothing. My expectations might have been set too high.

Stephen has been invisible since birth. His grandfather put a curse on his mom and the only way to break it is to find him. Problem is the curse also made the grandfather invisible. Elizabeth moves into the apartment building and is the first person to ever see Stephen. They meet and fall in love and we learn there is something special about Elizabeth and why she can see him. Along with Elizabeth's delightful brother, Laurie, they decide to track down Stephen's grandfather, Arbus, and break his curse.

So Stephen and Elizabeth fall madly in love or so I'm told. I felt like the problem with this book for me was that is was all tell and no show. Like during one part Stephen is talking about how Elizabeth comes over all the time and she spends the night and they do kiss and go a bit further but no where near sex. I'm thinking can I see some steamy kisses and hear the sweet nothings you whisper in her ear. Instead I'm told weeks pass and that they are hanging out in his apartment and they go on walks to the park and that they fall in love during this time but I don't really get to see it or hear their conversations.

I expected to feel awful for Stephen being invisible the same way I felt awful for A in Every Day by David Levithan, who changed bodies. I expected a heated romance sort of like Calla and Shay as well as Calla and Ren in the Nightshade Series by Andrea Cremer but really didn't see the spark. Laurie was a great secondary character and I did enjoy his interactions with Stephen which were funny at times since Laurie couldn't see Stephen. The plot with the curses and spellseekers was interesting. I finally worked up some emotion and adrenaline at about 95% which was just in time to be let down by the open ending. So my final feelings are that it was a decent book but lacked the passion and emotion I was hoping for. I love these authors so I will still continue to check out their other books and I hope everyone else will whether or not they like this one.



"I, for one, am feeling a little left out of the magic bandwagon" Lauie proclaims. "Unless, of course, I'm really a spellcaster. I mean, I've cast spells on plenty of boys. But, wait--that wasn't magic. That was just because I'm so damn purty."

Rating: 3/5