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A review by ladyminda
Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris
3.0
2.5 stars - Rounded up for Goodreads.
I had a difficult time rating this book. The story is groundbreaking for the time period and moves the reader to feel sympathy for the protagonist, Raymond, because he is a closeted gay man who is "living the invisible life" which is certainly detrimental to the well-being of any human. The struggle with the book for me likely comes from the fact that I first read it a couple of years ago and it seemed dated. This caused me to struggle to connect with the narrative in the way that I had hoped I would.
There seemed to be a dismissal of bisexuality and an acceptance of dishonesty toward women. In addition to that, I did not find the book to particularly well written. There were instances where the word choice left the door open for miscommunication and there were many times when the author seemed to be "info dumping." It was a miss for me which was disappointing.
I had a difficult time rating this book. The story is groundbreaking for the time period and moves the reader to feel sympathy for the protagonist, Raymond, because he is a closeted gay man who is "living the invisible life" which is certainly detrimental to the well-being of any human. The struggle with the book for me likely comes from the fact that I first read it a couple of years ago and it seemed dated. This caused me to struggle to connect with the narrative in the way that I had hoped I would.
There seemed to be a dismissal of bisexuality and an acceptance of dishonesty toward women. In addition to that, I did not find the book to particularly well written. There were instances where the word choice left the door open for miscommunication and there were many times when the author seemed to be "info dumping." It was a miss for me which was disappointing.