Review: Invincible by Amy Reed

Evie is living on borrowed time. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer several months ago and told that by now she’d be dead. Evie is grateful for every extra day she gets, but she knows that soon this disease will kill her. Until, miraculously, she may have a second chance to live.

All Evie had wanted was her life back, but now that she has it, she feels like there’s no place for her in it—at least, not for the girl she is now. Her friends and her parents still see her as Cancer Girl, and her boyfriend’s constant, doting attention is suddenly nothing short of suffocating.

Then Evie meets Marcus. She knows that he’s trouble, but she can’t help falling for him. Being near him makes her feel truly, fully alive. It’s better than a drug. His kiss makes her feel invincible—but she may be at the beginning of the biggest free fall of her life.

Kindle Edition, 336 pages

Expected publication: April 28th 2015 by Katherine Tegen Books

Terri's Thoughts

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  The expected publication is April 28th 2015.

I did not realize at first however this is the second story of Reed's that I have read.  You can find my review of Damaged here . Once I made the connection I can now see how similar the two stories are in style.

This is one of those stories that is hard to review because there is simply so much going on.  The synopsis of the story only gives a portion of the plot away and I feel that if I spend any time discussing it that it could be seen as a spoiler or impact someone's outlook on the story.

The story starts out as advertised with Evie in the hospital battling cancer along with her other cancer patient friends.  This part of the story is very touching as it explores the close relationship that is forged between those who are in a similar situation. It is also very sad as some of these stories inevitably are.

It is what happens after Evie comes home from the hospital that has me a little bit conflicted.  I can honestly say that she was a horrible person.  Although I can't pretend to know what it would be like to come out on the other side of an illness that you are not supposed to survive I do know what it is like to come out of an illness that limited my ability to enjoy life.  I was grateful for those that helped me through it and I felt blessed that I had family and friends who had made sacrifices to assist me.  I never once took it for granted as Evie did. 

Ok...maybe I am judging.  Others would argue that she was suffering from survivor guilt.  That she did not feel worthy.  I get it.  What I don't get is how Evie could not take the advise of her dying friends last wish for her and that was to live large.  I really couldn't see any justification for how she treated anyone in her life.  It was downright vulgar.

I am going to stop here because this is the point where I risk giving away too much.  All I can say is that the story does not end here.  There is more to it than Evie surviving an illness that was supposed to kill her.  It touches on many other socially relevant topics.

Also...it appears that there will be a part two to this sometime later this year.  I am very curious how the story will progress as there are many different directions that can be taken from where it left off.  All I hope is that we have a kinder Evie as she was too much for my sympathy in this one.

About the Author

Amy Reed was born and raised in and around Seattle, where she attended a total of eight schools by the time she was eighteen. Constant moving taught her to be restless and being an only child made her imagination do funny things. After a brief stint at Reed College (no relation), she moved to San Francisco and spent the next several years serving coffee and getting into trouble. She eventually graduated from film school, promptly decided she wanted nothing to do with filmmaking, returned to her original and impractical love of writing, and earned her MFA from New College of California. Her short work has been published in journals such as Kitchen Sink, Contrary, and Fiction. Amy currently lives in Oakland with her husband and two cats, and has accepted that Northern California has replaced the Pacific Northwest as her home. She is no longer restless.

Website:  http://www.amyreedfiction.com