The Teen #IndigoStaffPick for the month of June is:

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My Review

Invisible Ghosts

Author: Marisha Pessl

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Genre/Themes/Demo: YA, Mystery/Thriller, Sci-Fi

Release Date: June 5th 2018

Page Count: 327

Format: Hardcover via Indigo Books & Music

ISBN: 9780399553929

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Author Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Chapters/Indigo | Kobo | Book Depository | Audible

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*Disclaimer* A finished copy of Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl was provided to me by Indigo Books & Music in exchange for a post highlighting the Indigo Teen Staff Pick Of The Month! This does not effect my review in any way.

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Synopsis

Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, Beatrice Hartley and her six best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim—their creative genius and Beatrice’s boyfriend—changed everything. One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft—the seaside estate where they spent so many nights sharing secrets, crushes, plans to change the world—hoping she’ll get to the bottom of the dark questions gnawing at her about Jim’s death. But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted jokes and unfathomable silence, Beatrice senses she’s never going to know what really happened. Then a mysterious man knocks on the door. Blithely, he announces the impossible: time for them has become stuck, snagged on a splinter that can only be removed if the former friends make the harshest of decisions. Now Beatrice has one last shot at answers… and at life. And so begins the Neverworld Wake.

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“We are all anthologies. We are each thousands of pages long, filled with fairy tales and poetry, mysteries and tragedy, forgotten stories in the back no one will ever read.”

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What I Liked

The complexity. This is one complicated story. It’s one of those stories that kind of hurts your brain to think about, but you like it? I don’t know how else to explain something of this nature. Think of a movie or television show that really made you think, but was still weird as shit and maybe it didn’t all really make sense in the end, but you still loved it. This weird and complicated genre is totally my jam and Neverworld Wake totally gave me my fair share of enjoyable confusion and complexity.

The originality. Not only was this story complicated, but it was also original. Especially for a story that dealt with the element of time travel. I love anything to do with time travel and multiple dimensions, but I’ll be honest…not many are very creative. Sure, Neverworld Wake contained elements of time travel that I’ve seen in other various science fiction stories, but it also had its own unique tweaks and ideas that made it its own. For example, you know the classic “don’t ever interact with your future/past self once you’ve time travelled”…yeah, that’s not a thing here because you will never run into your “other self” for reasons I don’t want to give due to spoilers. Just little things like this that were different from the time travel norm really made this story feel original and unique to me.

The writing. I have been a fan of Marisha Pessl’s writing ever since I read Night Film a few years back now.  I’ve since been meaning to pick up Special Topics in Calamity Physics, but once I heard about this new young adult novel, I knew I needed it ASAP. Pessl’s writing is perfect and completely captivating. I could not put this book down and I think that had a lot to do with the amazing writing found within the pages.

The characters. Don’t get me wrong. Not a lot of these characters are likeable. However, they’re all complicated and real and that plays a huge part in having strong characters within your novel. The more I read about each character, the more I either loved or hated them. Characters don’t always have to be likeable for them to be strong and memorable.

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What I Didn’t Like

Started to drag a little towards the end. The book did start to drag a little towards the end. There’s a repetition theme that occurs throughout the novel and towards the end I was just a little over it. I know it plays a huge part in this story, but I think it could have been brought down a notch towards the end.

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Overall, I’m really pleased with this new story from Marisha Pessl! I’ve been waiting for this one for a while now and I’m so glad I finally had the oppotunity to pick it up and read it! I’m also so glad it is being featured as an #IndigoStaffPicks! I hope a lot of readers will pick this one up and enjoy it as much as I did!

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GIVEAWAY

Want to win your very own copy of Marisha Pessl’s Neverworld Wake? Click HERE to enter via Instagram today! Open to Canadian & U.S. residents only! Sorry!!!

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About The Author

If you’re here, perhaps you know the basics. I’m a New York Times bestselling author. My first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, was named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times. My second book, Night Film, was named a best book by NPR, Cosmopolitan and Bookpage, and is currently in development with Chernin Entertainment at 20th Century Fox. My books have been published in over twenty-five languages. I grew up in Asheville, North Carolina and currently live with my family in New York City. I attended Northwestern University, where I majored in Film, then transferred to Barnard College where I majored in English Literature with a minor in Playwriting. After graduating I was hired by PricewaterhouseCoopers as a financial consultant. In my tiny cubicle on the fifty-second floor of the Fox News Building, when my boss believed I was hard at work on PowerPoint presentations, I was actually searching the company database for cool character names for the new novel I was writing called The Anatomy of Butterflies, later retitled, Memoir of an American Girl. Two years later, after moving to London, I finished the book, which came to be known as Special Topics in Calamity Physics. My favorite part of this job is the creation—building a universe from scratch, populating the planet with characters, landmarks, and hidden tunnels. I used to plot out my books meticulously but now I start with an evocative premise and see where it leads. I’m often asked to explain what my novels are about, but I find it difficult to answer. Writing is a meditation, a brutal trek through the wilderness, and a magic trick all at once. I’m in awe of fearless people who build companies and outsiders who design worlds, anyone who isn’t afraid to break the mold or stand alone. People who never stop seeking the truth to the mysteries of their lives with courage, humor, and a healthy respect for murk. A few artists who influence my work are Agatha Christie, John Hughes, Mark Twain, David Lynch, Shel Silverstein, and Truman Capote. I love anyone who takes time out of their hectic lives to read, so I look forward to meeting you in bookstores around the world.

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Thank you for reading!