Scan barcode
ambeesbookishpages's review against another edition
4.0
The full review can be found at The Book Bratz closer to its release date!
**Please note: I recieved an eARC from the publisher via Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own**
I saw that this was a cancer story and I automatically thought this was going to have a The Fault in Our Stars vibe to it. It didn't, thank goodness. But Invincible isn't your average cancer story. Reed created a beautiful story about a girl who now has to learn how to live her life, after she was told it was over.
Invincible is split up into two parts. Now and Then. Then was my favorite part. Evie was so sweet and caring then. She loved her friends and her boyfriend and was grateful for what ever time she had left. Now was after Evie is released from the hospital after the cancer had gone away. I hate Evie in Now. She became addicted to drugs, treated the people who loved her the most like crap. It was hard to get through the book at that point. But Evie is also such a complex character that I can understand why the changed happened. I do hope that Evie will become bearable in the next book because I did enjoy this book other then the fact of her transformation.
Some parts of this book were really deep and hard to get through. Especially in the Then part. I was up at 3 in the morning sobbing as I read certain parts. I really felt bad for what Evie was going through. Then everything surrounding Stella's death happened and it broke my heart. This book was a major tear jerker for me. I cried through at least half of it. I was disappointed in the romance part though, but I can see that this book was more about Evie then her falling in love. Which was actually quite refreshing.
Overall I really liked Invincible. If I didn't find Evie to be so unbearable in the Now part I would have given it five stars instead of four. I am excited that there is another book. Hopefully Evie will grow more in it.
**Please note: I recieved an eARC from the publisher via Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own**
I saw that this was a cancer story and I automatically thought this was going to have a The Fault in Our Stars vibe to it. It didn't, thank goodness. But Invincible isn't your average cancer story. Reed created a beautiful story about a girl who now has to learn how to live her life, after she was told it was over.
Invincible is split up into two parts. Now and Then. Then was my favorite part. Evie was so sweet and caring then. She loved her friends and her boyfriend and was grateful for what ever time she had left. Now was after Evie is released from the hospital after the cancer had gone away. I hate Evie in Now. She became addicted to drugs, treated the people who loved her the most like crap. It was hard to get through the book at that point. But Evie is also such a complex character that I can understand why the changed happened. I do hope that Evie will become bearable in the next book because I did enjoy this book other then the fact of her transformation.
Some parts of this book were really deep and hard to get through. Especially in the Then part. I was up at 3 in the morning sobbing as I read certain parts. I really felt bad for what Evie was going through. Then everything surrounding Stella's death happened and it broke my heart. This book was a major tear jerker for me. I cried through at least half of it. I was disappointed in the romance part though, but I can see that this book was more about Evie then her falling in love. Which was actually quite refreshing.
Overall I really liked Invincible. If I didn't find Evie to be so unbearable in the Now part I would have given it five stars instead of four. I am excited that there is another book. Hopefully Evie will grow more in it.
revisorium's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
aprilbooksandwine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
caffeineaddict980's review against another edition
5.0
Wow.
Just wow.
This was the best book I have read recently!
5 stars!
Just wow.
This was the best book I have read recently!
5 stars!
bushraboblai's review against another edition
4.0
This book started out really well and continued exceptionally until.... After that, I was just plain uncertain of the narrative. Looking forward to the sequel.
Spoiler
the death of Stellalaughlinesandliterature's review against another edition
4.0
*I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
This book is not your typical teenage girl has cancer book. This book is much more raw and gritty than that. This is Evie’s story about her terminal diagnosis, somehow magically going into remission. This is Evie’s story of not being able to deal.
There were will be readers who think Evie is selfish and a horrible person, but somehow I get her. It fucking sucks to finally accept your mortality, that you only have weeks to live, and then be told that your cancer has gone away. All of this on the heels of losing your best friend, and watching your other friend lose themselves every single day.
I get why Evie lost her ever-loving mind. Not to mention that her family and cancer-free friends are horribly condescending to her. If I were Evie I wouldn’t want anything to do with any of them because they treat her as if she is fragile, yet they don’t actually try to make her stronger. Her sister Jenica, is the only one who tries to treat as if she is normal and even then Jenica is undermined at every turn.
I have to spend a moment on Evie’s parents because ohmygod they are the absolute extreme’s in parenting. In the right corner, we have Evie’s mom who likes to turn a blind eye to everything that Evie does. She makes excuses for her, and then doesn’t make Evie own up to any of her bad decisions. In the left corner, we have her dad who overreacts to everything. He even does something horrible to at one point, but he never ever tries to get Evie help. I mean I know that if my kid had cancer, then got miraculously cured, and then started having issues with school, drugs, and disappearing for hours on end, I would totally lock her in her room, tell her she is disappointing, and that she has ruined their family. Except no. No, I would not. Her parents seriously need a reality check ASAP. Evie needs treatment and help, not judgement and it absolutely pisses me off that everyone in her life judges her. How about compassion, and how the hell did Evie get out of therapy? That’s some shit that her parents should have been making sure she did, except that I think her parents are actually a little disappointed they no longer have their martyr daughter.
The romance in this book was pretty light. I do have to question how Marcus didn’t see Evie’s addiction because it was pretty obvious. I liked Marcus because I felt like he was the one person who really wanted to help Evie instead of just being absolutely disappointed in her. Marcus had his own baggage though, and I understood why he couldn’t stick around and watch Evie drown in her pain.
I liked that at the end we start to see Evie really opening her eyes and seeing the reality of her choices. Realizing that she made poor choices, but she could try to be better and stop self-destructing. The book ended on a major cliff-hanger though. So I’m kind of dying to know what happens. I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. The cliffhanger cost the book about a star, because I really wanted to at least see some kind of closure.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2015/04/invincible-by-amy-reed-review.html*
This book is not your typical teenage girl has cancer book. This book is much more raw and gritty than that. This is Evie’s story about her terminal diagnosis, somehow magically going into remission. This is Evie’s story of not being able to deal.
There were will be readers who think Evie is selfish and a horrible person, but somehow I get her. It fucking sucks to finally accept your mortality, that you only have weeks to live, and then be told that your cancer has gone away. All of this on the heels of losing your best friend, and watching your other friend lose themselves every single day.
I get why Evie lost her ever-loving mind. Not to mention that her family and cancer-free friends are horribly condescending to her. If I were Evie I wouldn’t want anything to do with any of them because they treat her as if she is fragile, yet they don’t actually try to make her stronger. Her sister Jenica, is the only one who tries to treat as if she is normal and even then Jenica is undermined at every turn.
I have to spend a moment on Evie’s parents because ohmygod they are the absolute extreme’s in parenting. In the right corner, we have Evie’s mom who likes to turn a blind eye to everything that Evie does. She makes excuses for her, and then doesn’t make Evie own up to any of her bad decisions. In the left corner, we have her dad who overreacts to everything. He even does something horrible to at one point, but he never ever tries to get Evie help. I mean I know that if my kid had cancer, then got miraculously cured, and then started having issues with school, drugs, and disappearing for hours on end, I would totally lock her in her room, tell her she is disappointing, and that she has ruined their family. Except no. No, I would not. Her parents seriously need a reality check ASAP. Evie needs treatment and help, not judgement and it absolutely pisses me off that everyone in her life judges her. How about compassion, and how the hell did Evie get out of therapy? That’s some shit that her parents should have been making sure she did, except that I think her parents are actually a little disappointed they no longer have their martyr daughter.
The romance in this book was pretty light. I do have to question how Marcus didn’t see Evie’s addiction because it was pretty obvious. I liked Marcus because I felt like he was the one person who really wanted to help Evie instead of just being absolutely disappointed in her. Marcus had his own baggage though, and I understood why he couldn’t stick around and watch Evie drown in her pain.
I liked that at the end we start to see Evie really opening her eyes and seeing the reality of her choices. Realizing that she made poor choices, but she could try to be better and stop self-destructing. The book ended on a major cliff-hanger though. So I’m kind of dying to know what happens. I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. The cliffhanger cost the book about a star, because I really wanted to at least see some kind of closure.
*This review was first posted to Moonlight Gleam Reviews http://moonlightgleam.com/2015/04/invincible-by-amy-reed-review.html*
kalbone's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story about cancer. This is not TFIOS, this isn't Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. This is the story of the pieces of a person that are left when they survive. This is the story of Evie as she tries to figure out who she is when she isn't sick anymore. What happens when your friends are still sick and the ones that aren't don't understand what you are going through? It's not an easy read but it's worth reading for anyone who has ever had a friend who's been sick and gotten better. It's just as hard after the illness as it is for the person during the illness. If nothing else, this story will teach you that you need to understand that people will not be the same as they were before the illness and those of us still in their lives need to respect that. There's a sequel to the book and I wasn't expecting one but the story leaves on such a cliffhanger with Marcus and Evie that I'm definitely going to read the next one for sure. Some of the best books aren't always the easiest ones to read but this one is definitely worth the time and the tears. It's a point of view that I think more people need to see.
jang's review against another edition
3.0
There were lots of raw and tender moments in the first act that made my eyes water even if the first act was slow-paced and dragging. The second act, on the contrary, was fast-paced but really chaotic especially during the most tumultuous moments of Evie's downward spiral.
Naturally, I liked Evie more when she was a dying cancer patient making peace with death and just vying for her time because she got hold of herself more then. When she went into her self-destructive, angry phase post-cancer I just sneered at her most of the time, which I think was the intention of the book. I liked living inside her head when she was waiting for death because she was more peaceful though expectedly scared.
I thought this was going to be a full-on cancer story (which I have a soft spot for due to personal reasons), but this story was really more about addiction to prescription drugs and even self-harm. The book tackled some pretty important issues but they got tangled in the web of many other important issues that this book mentioned but never fully covered (drugs, boozing, self-destruction, bulimia). The book just got really chaotic in the end that I kind of almost gave up on reading but I was waiting for Evie's redemption.
And uh, some of the things Evie did would surely warrant her a few weeks of confinement inside the hospital. As gruesome as this sounds, cancer never really goes away even if a person is ruled out as someone who's healed, cured, or cleared. She did some pretty nasty and messy shit for someone who was supposed to be dying a few weeks ago.
I kind of like Marcus for her even though he has some severe personal demons as well.
Then the cliffhanger ending happened, and now I have to wait for book 2 for the conclusion. Drat.
Naturally, I liked Evie more when she was a dying cancer patient making peace with death and just vying for her time because she got hold of herself more then. When she went into her self-destructive, angry phase post-cancer I just sneered at her most of the time, which I think was the intention of the book. I liked living inside her head when she was waiting for death because she was more peaceful though expectedly scared.
I thought this was going to be a full-on cancer story (which I have a soft spot for due to personal reasons), but this story was really more about addiction to prescription drugs and even self-harm. The book tackled some pretty important issues but they got tangled in the web of many other important issues that this book mentioned but never fully covered (drugs, boozing, self-destruction, bulimia). The book just got really chaotic in the end that I kind of almost gave up on reading but I was waiting for Evie's redemption.
And uh, some of the things Evie did would surely warrant her a few weeks of confinement inside the hospital. As gruesome as this sounds, cancer never really goes away even if a person is ruled out as someone who's healed, cured, or cleared. She did some pretty nasty and messy shit for someone who was supposed to be dying a few weeks ago.
I kind of like Marcus for her even though he has some severe personal demons as well.
Then the cliffhanger ending happened, and now I have to wait for book 2 for the conclusion. Drat.
juicelina's review against another edition
2.0
I feel like it took me wayyyy longer to finish this book than it probably should have so I don't really have a huge grasp on how I felt about it. It was good and that's all I can really say. I really felt Evie's emotions. Like her parents were being reasonable and she was being a brat but I felt her side of things and I felt angry with everyone too even though they were just trying to help her. I'm really looking forward to the second book. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it more quickly
*UPDATE 5/17*
I read the first couple pages of the second book and found that a year later I'm no longer interested in this meh book. Plus it's in the POV of the guy. It reminded me of the If I Stay dualogy and I did not enjoy the second book of that one so I've decided not to waste my time.
*UPDATE 5/17*
I read the first couple pages of the second book and found that a year later I'm no longer interested in this meh book. Plus it's in the POV of the guy. It reminded me of the If I Stay dualogy and I did not enjoy the second book of that one so I've decided not to waste my time.