Invisible

by Marni Bates

[Angie]

Invisible was pretty cute. This time we're following Mackenzie's best friend Jane. Jane is the ultimate pushover. She can't seem to say no to anybody and she certainly doesn't stand up for herself. Whenever she tries to, she just gets roped into some sticky situation that she has to navigate herself out of. The latest one is the front page story of her school's newspaper. Jane just wanted to propose an idea for a fiction section, but the staff adviser took her speaking up as wanting to write a story rather than just correcting grammar. Now, it's write an awesome story, or be stuck in Grammarville forever.

I liked Invisible, but it was way too predictable. The blurb mentions that Jane writes something that catches the attention of celebrities. Well, Jane only knows one set of celebrities, so obviously her article winds up being about the band ReadySet. And what secret is the band harboring? Tim is gay and dating Jane's best friend! Clearly that's the story that gets published (on accident) and it was just a matter of waiting for it to get out, and have Jane and Corey have a fight about it. While it was predictable, I did like how the story focused on Jane's friendships rather than the romance. Jane loves her friends, but they also treat her like she's invisible until she makes one mistake and it's the end of their friendship. I was proud of Jane for standing up to her friends, since that's usually harder to do than standing up against enemies or acquaintances.

The romance in Invisible was pretty good, too. When Jane is assigned the cover story, she's also going to need a great photograph to go with it, so Scott tags along wherever she goes. He's also working on his portfolio and decides Jane will be his subject. Of course, Jane is annoyed by all of this, so there's bickering. Then they somehow start fake dating! I love fake dating! Although there really wasn't enough page time spend on developing their real romantic feelings toward one another, since a lot of the story is mainly Jane finally standing up for herself as well as on her friendships.

In the end, I did like Invisible. It wasn't quite as cute and funny as Awkward, but it was still a fun, light read. I just wish there had been something surprising in it. I knew exactly how the story would go, and it just followed that path, so I felt like I just waiting for it to get to the happily ever after.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.