Author: Lauren Bjorkman
No. Of Pages: 229Release Date: 29th September 2009
I recieved this book through International Blog Tours
With Roz and Eva everything becomes a contest—who can snag the best role in the school play, have the cutest boyfriend, pull off the craziest prank. Still, they’re as close as sisters can be. Until Eva deletes Roz from her life like so much junk e-mail for no reason that Roz understands. Now Eva hangs out with the annoyingly petite cheerleaders, and Roz fantasizes about slipping bovine growth hormone into their Gatorade.
Roz has a suspicion about Eva. In turn, Eva taunts Roz with a dare, which leads to an act of total insanity. Drama geeks clamour for attention, Shakespearean insults fly, and Roz steals the show in Lauren Bjorkman’s hilarious debut novel.
My Thoughts:
This is a very good debut book.
My Invented Life tells the story of Roz and her fantasies during a period of time at high school. Roz is a wannabe actress and imaginary extraordinaire.
Roz is a very funny character and extremely likeable. She is completely outrageous in her notions, actions and accusations. She is also a very confused person and one that is very easy to relate to. At times you want to shake her for the things she says even though for some odd reason she turns out to be right in some things. A couple of these revelations left me thinking “What?!” there wasn’t even a sign that that could be possible.
It all starts with the assumption that her big sister is a lesbian, to try and make it easier for her to “come out” she decides to pretend to be a lesbian, to pave the way as it were. The consequences of her decision ensue.
My Invented Life is fast-paced and realistic. Everyone in the story is a real character, easily high-school friends and Roz isn’t overly well-spoken or even really sane, and slipping into her fantasies while confusing at first become extremely funny.
Roz’s voice is unique, we go through the confusion of labels and teenage sexuality and how not everyone fits in with a certain group. I loved the dashboard analogy about how someone doesn’t have to be fully gay or fully straight or even smack bang in the middle, because everyone is different.
This book is thought-provoking as well as being laugh out loud funny and is not something that is easily put down-able. The relationships between the characters are well fleshed out and believable, not everyone has to have a life-time best friend and it is normal to drift from group to group yet still be part of a bigger picture.
My Invented Life was written to be taken two ways, either a funny romp through high-school involving odd people and normal high-school problems. Or as a journey through the confusions we face when plunging into that gray area that is sexuality.
All in all I found it extremely funny, insightful and although at times confusing a thoroughly enjoyable and quick read.
Trillian Books
Available at:
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Book Depository
2 comments:
Can't wait for the up-coming reviews!
Glad you enjoyed it!
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