A review by ntembeast
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

4.0

This was such a weird book.

I still don't really know what to make of it. I'm sitting here, and I don't know how I feel about this book. I don't know how I feel about the characters, or all that happened... or... anything. I think I'm a little dumbfounded, actually. Or maybe just in some kind of lingering, soft shock of a sort I've never had before.

I guess it's because I'm confused, because there's so much to this story, these characters, and this entire book that isn't tangible. When you first pick it up it strikes you almost within the first few pages. You think it's a normal teenage story, and the weird thing is that it is for all intents and purposes. But then there's this oddness to it that you can't quite put your finger on. The longer you read, the more it creeps up inside of you and wraps around you, like a fog, until you can't see anything beyond the space that you're in right now. Like there's no world that exists outside of that spot right there that you're in. And all that exists in the entire world is you and what comes into that fog. Only you have no control over what comes in there with you, into that space where you can see something--a bench or chair--or someone, someone who doesn't talk about anything outside of the fog, because nothing else exists outside of the fog, where you can't see. Outside in the fog, there is nothing else.

That's what reading this book is like. And it creeps up on you and steals over your heart and mind until you start to forget that anything else exists outside of this town in the book, outside of what happens there, outside of Ruby. Nothing else matters. Nothing else does matter. Ruby is all.

Ruby is.

Nothing else in all the world matters. She is everything.

And the scariest and best part about this book is that the author has the power to make you believe this. Not believe in it. You don't question it. It is. As sure as you live, breathe, hear, smell, feel, see, and exist, you believe.

My younger sister read this book and didn't like it. And I can't say I'm in love with it either. But holy cow is this a book that will take you on a trip. It's almost like you were on a trip. And I mean--take whatever hallucinatory drug and Insert Here--this was a trip. The amazing part is that Nova Ren Suma, the author, made it real while you read it. Her voice in his book is astounding, unlike almost any other author I've ever read. It's one thing to have a concept for a book and tell a story to someone. It's another thing entirely to pull a reader right into your story and make them feel what's going on. And Nova Ren Suma makes you feel it like no one else could. I guarantee you: No one else could ever have written this book better. No one.

This is a book that doesn't deserve to be written off as another teen story. There is sufficient material here that it borders on even a thriller or suspense title, and I'm tempted to make a new shelf just for it to place it under "Eerie" or "Creepy" because that's literally how it makes you feel. There's a sensation that is sometimes overpowering when you read this book, and it pulled me in so many directions.

I both admired and disliked certain things about the characters, but I could never peg a single one as a character I fully liked or disliked. It's almost impossible for me to make up my mind on this one, which is weird. I think I have some definite end choices tending towards the dislike of characters after a certain point, but the word "Hatred" never comes outright for me. And I can't say I downright "Loved" anyone as well.

I think the most fascinating character in this entire book was Ruby herself. This enigmatic, immensely powerful being that I actually find myself questioning the existence of at all sometimes. And other times, I wonder, much like some people ask in the book, just "What the hell is she?" Because for the life of me I can't figure it out still, and the book politely ends on a note where you half wonder if you've been mad the entire time and are mad if you believe anything that just happened.

Contrary to what I set out to expect, I think this book is stunningly stupendous and should be a book you check out and read at some point. It's creepy, and mysterious, and borders on some real psychological weight at the end that's going to make you talk about this one for a whiiiile after you've put it down and stepped away from it. For anyone that loves mild-fright, psychological books, supernatural stories and more along those lines, you should definitely check this book out. It's well worth your time. And read it all the way to the end, especially if you're a psychological lover or someone looking for a creepy new story to tell. The ending makes it especially worth it for you guys.

Happy reading!