The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko

3.5 stars for me personally, but I could see it be a much higher rated book for the right person. In fact, the whole time I was reading this, I was thinking of a few teenagers I know, who sometimes ask me for book recommendations, and how much they'd love this book. I think that's a sign of good YA that can actually be enjoyed, yes, by adults but also is very much suited to its target audience.

The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko is such a strong example of its genre thanks to its fantastic use of character voice. Ivan, a disabled teenager and permanent resident at a hospital for gravely ill children, is cynical, mischievous and intelligent. He is constantly questioning his circumstances and the world around him, and playing tricks on other residents or staff members at the hospital. Although a lot of what Ivan thinks about himself and his life is sad and dark, he writes with a touch of humour that makes him entirely endearing. His voice is perfect, and if only more characters in YA were written this well.

Now, the love story... Well, this is where it became clear I am not this book's target audience. I have nothing against romance novels in theory, but in practise I simply find they bore me. In books that involve a major romantic plot-line, there has to be something else going on to keep me interested. In this case, the lovey-dovey stuff got too overbearing in the second half of the book for my tastes, which is absolutely fine if you like romance, but I personally started to get bored.

None of this means I think this is a bad book. In fact I think it's a very well-down and original take on the genre, but this genre isn't necessarily to my tastes so I couldn't get as much enjoyment out of it as I think others would.

Biggest waste of time of a book in years. Main character is neither likeable nor does he grow or change from the “great love” (who's never fleshed out as a character or even given any reason for liking him, so she may as well be an object). A -3 rating is more appropriate. Wish we could give negatives.