👶👶 The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko, by Scott Stambach

It has been said that “impropriety is the soul of wit”, and this must be the main reason that this novel has received such rave reviews. Marketed as a YA novel, this story was far too edgy and inappropriate for any young adult I know. Although witty and infused with dark humor, what the novel offered in terms of insight into the lives of teens with disabilities and/or terminal illness, did not outweigh the constant unnecessary references to sexual acts.

Hailed as “The Fault in our Stars” meets “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, I expected much more. It baffles me when newer novels such as these are compared to classics, when they are nowhere in the realm of such works.

Overall, it was a glum story, with little to offer in the way of redemption. I gave the work 2 stars for the mere fact that it did open my eyes to the tragic post-Chernobyl birth defects that I knew little about.

Read 12/21/16