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kez91 's review for:
Invisible Boys
by Holden Sheppard
This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, because it has received so many accolades already (and of course I love to support local authors) so I had pretty high expectations- and Invisible Boys didn't disappoint. I could not put this book down, I picked it up this morning and just kept reading until I finished it. I absolutely loved so many things about this book. I love Charlie and Zeke and Hammer and how they're so different but at the same time not really that different at all. I love the way Sheppard has really nailed that almost claustrophobic small-town atmosphere, and the stifling weight these boys feel just trying to live with themselves in a place that doesn't make it easy. I love the writing style, it's very Aussie and just so relatable, I could visualise everything so clearly. I love the humour, and the pain, and most of all the hope that this book made me feel. I'm not gay, so I can't personally relate to that aspect of Invisible Boys, but many of my friends are, so I've seen a lot of different coming-out experiences through knowing them and standing alongside them during those times. And having a lot of family living rural I have also witnessed some of the prejudices and the responses and behaviours that are explored in the novel. I am just happy to have been able to understand even a small part of what some people experience in their own journeys towards self acceptance through reading this book, and it's made me realise the importance of supporting people, whether they be family, friends, or complete stangers, because you just don't know who might need it. All in all, I think this is a fantastic book, I laughed, I cried (quite a lot) and I recomend it 100%.