A review by sbelasco40
Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible by Suzanne Kamata

2.0

I'm conflicted - I would say the concept/potential of this book make it more like 3-4 stars, but actual execution = 2. It's awesome to have a book where the protagonist is disabled, and also where she's a talented artist who happens to be multi-racial. But the voice of Aiko is so flat it's hard to relate to her except in her most poignant moments, such as when she learns the truth about her absent father or feels self-conscious in front of the hot boy she's crushing on. Even though the point of the book seems to be that Aiko is more than her disability, on the page that's mostly what she is - her personality is almost nil. The other characters are similarly undeveloped, with the odd exception of her mom's bf Raoul, who has an almost tangible warmth to him.

Also, how cool would it have been if this was illustrated with Aiko's manga comic? The cover is so amazing I wanted more of it.