Invisible by DelSheree Gladden
Amazon Digital Services © 2013
Wattpad and Kindle Edition
Paranormal Fiction
Reviewed by Leah
Awesome concept.
Summary:
Olivia's best friend is not imaginary. He's not a ghost, either. And she's pretty sure he's not a hallucination. He's just Mason.
Just Mason. If only there were anything 'just' about him. At five years old, Olivia spotted a little boy on her front porch. He was alone and crying. And she was the only person who could see him.
Mason is invisible.
It took the rest of her family a few years to realize Mason was more than an imaginary friend--aided by a few flying objects and/or people to bring them around to the idea--but now he is a legitimate part of her family. One Olivia could never imagine being apart from. After all, she's taken care of Mason since she was five. Who else could do it better?
Everything seemed set in stone to the two teenagers … until new girl Robin bumps into them. When she introduces herself to Mason, time seems to stop.
Though Mason is happy to make a new friend--someone outside of his family circle--Olivia is not as welcoming. With Robin's arrival, she learns a little bit more about jealousy than she had ever had to deal with before. Again, she's never had to share Mason before.
Her suspicions are kicked into full overtime, however, when a mysterious car appears outside of her house. Now, it's high time that Robin does some talking. Or else Mason may not be the only one at risk.
Characters:
Olivia is a happy teenager. She's okay with being the 'weird' girl at school and the nightly comforter of a traumatized Mason. Despite the quirks her family has, she wouldn't change one bit of it. Especially Mason. From the age of five years old, they have hardly ever been apart. Olivia prefers to keep it that way. Even when her dad asks the surprising question, "What will Mason do when you go to college?" Olivia has only one answer, "Come with me." There was never a doubt in her mind that she and Mason would stay best friends forever.
Things change. Threats abound and Olivia has to learn to roll with the (several) punches. Between her jealousy over Robin and her worry for Mason's safety, Olivia edges into darker territory from the happy teen she was in just the beginning.
As far as her personality, I have to say that she's a little bland. One of the other characters makes a remark about her in the book that I think actually pretty much sums her up. To paraphrase: she was always just happy being left to herself.
This, of course, meaning she was always happy by herself only because she always had Mason. She didn't need anyone else. And that pretty much sums it up. Without Mason, Olivia doesn't even know who she is, really. She is his protector. His family. His caretaker. Nothing else matters, except for Mason. And that's before she realizes she's in love with him.
Mason is the moodier one of the two. His whole life he has had to be hidden without contact outside of Olivia's family. With no one other than Olivia able to hear or see him from across a room, it's a life that could lead to a lot of frustration. Lately, for him, it's been piling up. Especially since Olivia is so oblivious as to how desperately he loves her, and there are other guys trying to slide in and make their move.
With nightmares from the past meshing with fears of the future, Mason is constantly plagued with bad dreams. Some of which prove to be more prophetic than he could hope for. And all of which can be explained by the pretty new girl whom Olivia seems determined to hate.
This book being a dual narrative of both Mason and Olivia, I have to say that their voices were so similar, it was very hard to tell his from hers. What I admired most about Mason, though, was the fact that there was no 'maybe I like her, maybe I don't' with him. Right away, the reader knows how Mason feels about her, and it's actually Olivia who doesn't even think about him in that way. It's refreshing, really.
Robin was irritating. She's vague on the details she gives, a chatterbox on the ones that don't matter, and a downright pain in the arse for most of the book. But she belongs. Typically, the role of informant is given to a more sage-like character with all the wisdom and knowledge of their age. This is not so in Invisible. Here, you get Robin. That's it. No one brilliant, smart, witty, or wise. Just Robin.
And it actually makes the story work. It's believable. She's the one that puts Mason in danger, but she's also the only one that can give them answers about what Mason is. Despite her own past mistakes, she's doing everything in her power to help Mason. Not just because she thinks he's hot, but because it is her duty as a Caretaker. This is her last chance to get it right, and she's not about to fail again.
Evie was great. At three years old, Evie was the first to admit that Mason was more than her sister's imaginary friend. Growing up with Mason for the past twelve years, now she admits that he is the epitome of the perfect man--and makes a point to open her sister's eyes to that fact. Evie is spunky and passionate, with a fiery temper to match. She has no problems with confrontation, and she's willing to take on anyone to protect her family. This girl was a lot of fun to read about, though sometimes I kept thinking she was younger than fifteen.
Mr. and Mrs. Mallory (aka the Parents) were an incredible addition to the story. Now, a lot of YA novels suffer from quite a few things: lack of parents, lack of realistic responses to life-threatening situations, and a general lack of common sense in general. This book breaks all of the barriers. For one: the parents are involved. In everything. From schoolwork, to family meals, to calling the cops when shit hits the fan. They do everything they can to protect their kids, making them some of the best parents (and sometimes only) to grace YA fiction. Plus, you get a genuine connection between them and the kids. It's not that they exist just to exist. There are real and realistic conversation that take place and there is a legitimate respect for them as responsible adults.
Plot & Setting:
I have no idea where this story took place. Nor do I care. Despite the lack of details: I can see Mason's bedroom perfectly. I can see Olivia's bedroom perfectly. The house, the yard, the front porch, the park, the neighborhood… Nothing in this book was described. Yet I saw it all as clear as day. How the hell does that even happen?
The plot was one of the best parts of the whole book. For Olivia and her family, life with an invisible boy in the house has been normal for twelve years. Only now, when the great threat of college looms on the horizon, do things start to go downhill. One girl brings them all the answers, and all of the problems as a cost.
I truly enjoyed the entire concept of the plot. Granted, there were some things that felt contrived, a little forced, or served as fluff material, but none of it truly detracted from the reading experience and it all somehow worked well together to form an original and enjoyable book.
Writing Style:
Again, first person narration between Mason and Olivia was hard to differentiate between. They were both clever, independent, and worried young teenagers. If it weren't for what they experienced while apart, you might never know that this was a dual narration novel. So there is that fact.
There were enough errors to notice in the book, but not enough to make you care. With a good editor and maybe a strong rewrite, this novel could easily be fantastic.
The overall tone here was light, despite the content; meaning there weren't too many darker nuances here. I'm not sure how to describe it really, but it's almost as if the scenes where your adrenaline should be going just fall flat. For the feel of it, this is almost more of a contemporary romance as opposed to a paranormal thriller. Which is why I say that, with a stronger rewrite, it could maybe have found a more perfect balance between the two, which is what I think the book was trying to do.
Overall Opinion:
I enjoyed this book. I do plan on continuing the series. There are pretty much no complaints from me as this had an incredible concept and I'm curious to see how it expands into the next two books.
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