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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Whoa. This was a wild ride. I really loved this novel. The characters were so incredibly cool and the plot was twists and turns galore.
I liked that thrown into the mix were pages of working notes that their author father was using to research his novel on coincidence. I felt like I was enjoying a fictional brother/sister duo solve a mystery, but also being educated on works of people like Einstein, Jung and Poe. This was such a cool book.
I liked how while Laureth is visually impaired, it is not her only defining characteristic. You were not told right away, though you could deduce it as it went along. I really enjoyed when she said: "(...) why it is that in books and films and comics there are only two kinds of blind people. There are the pathetic helpless figures of woe, only in the plot probably because the writer thought it would be really heart-breaking to have a poor blind person not see something terrible happening right under their nose. Sometimes the author seems to go to great lengths to demonstrate that blindness is worse than death. (...) Either their sight is miraculously restored, hooray! Or they die. Well at least then they’re not blind anymore. (...) And then there are the superheroes. Like Daredevil." I loved how self aware this girl is. She knows that she is not helpless but does not have "enhanced senses" like fictional stories often depict people with her affliction. I enjoyed her perspective of the world and her first time in New York.
This was a wonderful book. But I am not surprised, considering the Sedgwick kick I have been on.
I liked that thrown into the mix were pages of working notes that their author father was using to research his novel on coincidence. I felt like I was enjoying a fictional brother/sister duo solve a mystery, but also being educated on works of people like Einstein, Jung and Poe. This was such a cool book.
I liked how while Laureth is visually impaired, it is not her only defining characteristic. You were not told right away, though you could deduce it as it went along. I really enjoyed when she said: "(...) why it is that in books and films and comics there are only two kinds of blind people. There are the pathetic helpless figures of woe, only in the plot probably because the writer thought it would be really heart-breaking to have a poor blind person not see something terrible happening right under their nose. Sometimes the author seems to go to great lengths to demonstrate that blindness is worse than death. (...) Either their sight is miraculously restored, hooray! Or they die. Well at least then they’re not blind anymore. (...) And then there are the superheroes. Like Daredevil." I loved how self aware this girl is. She knows that she is not helpless but does not have "enhanced senses" like fictional stories often depict people with her affliction. I enjoyed her perspective of the world and her first time in New York.
This was a wonderful book. But I am not surprised, considering the Sedgwick kick I have been on.
Laureth Peak is a blind 16-year-old who is convinced her father is in trouble because he hasn't contacted her in a few days and an intercepted email indicates he is in America instead of in Austria (or Switzerland) where he's supposed to be. When she can't convince her mom to take her concerns seriously, she lovingly abducts her 6-year-old brother Benjamin and flies to New York to find her father, a once successful author, who has become obsessed with the idea of coincidence (and the number 354).
While some of the plot is unrealistic, Sedgwick excels at characterization. Laureth is smart and capable but also very aware of her vulnerability. Benjamin is an adorable wing man, helping Laureth get through life without revealing that she's blind, and also lifting her spirits with his sense of humor and adventure.
A quick, enjoyable read, despite the somewhat abstruse exploration of coincidence.
While some of the plot is unrealistic, Sedgwick excels at characterization. Laureth is smart and capable but also very aware of her vulnerability. Benjamin is an adorable wing man, helping Laureth get through life without revealing that she's blind, and also lifting her spirits with his sense of humor and adventure.
A quick, enjoyable read, despite the somewhat abstruse exploration of coincidence.
I only read this book for class, and I wasn't the biggest fan of it. I thought the generic idea was really good, but then other elements were thrown in that took away from that idea.
I'd recommend to anyone that knows someone who is blind.
Warnings:
Drugs: no
Sex: no
Rock & Roll: a girl is blind, some supernatural elements
Violence: yes
Language: slight
I'd recommend to anyone that knows someone who is blind.
Warnings:
Drugs: no
Sex: no
Rock & Roll: a girl is blind, some supernatural elements
Violence: yes
Language: slight
I liked, but didn't love, She Is Not Invisible. It's a quiet book centered on an interesting main character and her search for her father -- and a search for meaning among the coincidences and patterns of life. The writing is lovely, but some sort of "oomph" was missing.
Sedgwick is such a talented writer so every one of his books makes for a fluid, engaging read. While this one has some similarities to last year's "Picture Me Gone" by Rosoff, it's not quite as successful in terms of the mystery. Perhaps it's unfair to compare the two, but it was that similar hook that made me pick this one up. And like Rosoff's novel, I loved the characters primarily. Laureth is understandably prickly but also independent and vulnerable in equal measures. Benjamin is realistic and charming, and their parents are well-captured through the perspective of a young teen just becoming aware of the failures of the adults in her life. The writing, while engaging, didn't have those moments of beauty that I loved so much in Rosoff's novel, and I found myself skimming over the journal sections. But it still made for a thrilling page-turner, up until the end when everything got a bit too crime-novel for my taste. I was hoping that the solution to the mystery would be something a bit more plausible or at least in keeping with the grounded tone and human scale of the novel, but in the end, it was all a bit too sensationalized to be satisfying. I also can't speak to the plausibility or authenticity of Laureth's abilities and her perspective on her visual impairment - I'd be curious to hear how realistically it is depicted. Overall, it's unfair to compare it (unfavorably) to a completely different book, especially since it's an entirely engrossing read. I stayed up late to finish it in one sitting, which I haven't done with a book in awhile. Hand this to mystery fans and any teen looking for a quick (but high-quality) page-turner.
I dont know what I expected but it wasnt this..
Took me almost 8years to get this book off my shelf and actually read it and still actually enjoy it and just for that I am knocking my 3.5* rating to a 4*
Took me almost 8years to get this book off my shelf and actually read it and still actually enjoy it and just for that I am knocking my 3.5* rating to a 4*
Low 3 because of decent writing. I didn't care for the story line.
I thoroughly enjoyed this little jaunt into the world of a blind girl.
Laureth Peak is blind, though she tries desperately to hide her inability to see, because she has discovered that knowing she is blind makes people treat her as if she is invisible because they don't know how to interact with her. She wants so badly to be independent and seen as a whole person, so when her father goes missing, she takes her seven-year-old brother with her on a trip to find him.
Life has been tense between her parents, but Laureth can't believe her mother isn't worried about her father disappearing in New York City. She knows something is wrong, and relies heavily on her younger brother Ben for help, lying to reassure him despite her concerns.
Her father, a writer, has been working on a book about coincidences, a book that isn't going well at all. But as they will discover, coincidence is a bog part of the family's world--and people can find connections that are wonderful and strange, or dark and dangerous.
Laureth's world is richly detailed despite her blindness, and her struggle to achieve her goal of finding her father shows how difficult navigating a world intended for the sighted can be. Yet she never gives up, and rarely despairs, though she feels some understandable anger for parents that have let her down. The excerpts from her father's journal sometimes distract from the story instead of supporting it, but much of the math of coincidence is interesting, reminding us that the world is less random than we think.
Life has been tense between her parents, but Laureth can't believe her mother isn't worried about her father disappearing in New York City. She knows something is wrong, and relies heavily on her younger brother Ben for help, lying to reassure him despite her concerns.
Her father, a writer, has been working on a book about coincidences, a book that isn't going well at all. But as they will discover, coincidence is a bog part of the family's world--and people can find connections that are wonderful and strange, or dark and dangerous.
Laureth's world is richly detailed despite her blindness, and her struggle to achieve her goal of finding her father shows how difficult navigating a world intended for the sighted can be. Yet she never gives up, and rarely despairs, though she feels some understandable anger for parents that have let her down. The excerpts from her father's journal sometimes distract from the story instead of supporting it, but much of the math of coincidence is interesting, reminding us that the world is less random than we think.
It started with such an interesting premise, and so much potential to be compelling, but it really went nowhere.