Let's Talk About Books

All right, review time. Apologies if parts of this are fuzzy. The weather's gotten warmer, plants are starting to bloom, and my allergies are acting up which means I'm all doped up on Benadryl right now. 

For those of you who don't know, Invisible Monsters is about a fashion model, who I'll be referring to as Daisy in this review, who is horribly disfigured and left mute after an accident. She then meets Brandy Alexander and travels with her, learning that nothing is as it seems. The biggest difference between the remix and the original is the chapters in the remix are out of order. There's also a few extra chapters as well. 

I read Invisible Monsters because it was highly recommended to me by several of the blogs I follow. To you who recommended it, I say a sincere thank you! This book was twisted, it was funny, and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

The plot itself didn't feel like much of a plot. Instead it felt like a bunch of backstory to add up to one key event, that being the chaos that is Evie's wedding. I wouldn't think a plot style like this could work but it does. It works so well. I loved putting together the pieces and seeing how we end up with total disaster. 

The characters were all likable as well. You don't really know much about them when the story first begins, but all the information builds up on itself until by the end you get a complete picture. All of them were unique. Not one was a character type I had seen before. They were all refreshing. Brandy was easily my favorite. She was larger than life in so many ways and I enjoyed her eccentricity. I picture my favorite substitute from high school, the one who made the "eating a brick" comment, playing her in a movie. Which is kind of odd because they don't look that much alike. Oh well. 

The best part of this book by far was the way it twisted. There were so many plot twists I did not see coming, such as how Brandy, Daisy, and Manus were all connected to each other. Each time a new twist was revealed, my stomach dropped and I was just like, "What?!" I even though I caught a few of the surprises. As soon as Daisy made it known that Evie and Manus were doing the nasty, I knew Evie had shot her. I had that twist figured out miles ahead. Except I didn't. When it was revealed who really shot Daisy, all I could do was stare at the book and say, "What the shit?" The twists are amazing. This book is like riding a roller coaster and it is so much fun. 

The format of the remix was a lot of fun. I had know idea when I would reach the end (thus why I ended up finishing it before work) and in that sense the book imitated life wonderfully. I think that was one of Palahniuk's goals, if I remember correctly. The book felt like life, and I think that's part of what makes it so enjoyable. It's real, even though the situations are somewhat farfetched. 

That all said, if you're someone who doesn't want to work for your literature, I recommend sticking with the original version. As mentioned I lost my bookmark and I had to flip through the whole book and reread chapters to find my place again. There's also a lot of flipping back and forth involved. If you want your read to be more relaxing, definitely just stick with the original. 

The only thing I didn't care for about the book, and thus why I docked half a star, is I felt disconnected for the majority of it. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it. I did very much so enjoy it from the beginning. But I just didn't find myself caring. I wanted to finish, I just didn't really care where I ended up. I think this is because it does take a while to get to know the characters. So I didn't really have much to connect to until I was well into the story. I wish I could have had that connection sooner on.

I also wish maybe a little less time was spent in Daisy's first days in the hospital. That section dragged a little for me. 

Overall this is a great book. I'd read it again easily. Kind of reminds me of a Coen Brothers movie. I read online they were thinking of adapting it. If that's the case, I think I'd want them to do so. 

Final rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars, highly recommend.