Review: Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

Saffyre Maddox hasn’t had an easy life. When she was ten, something awful happened to her that changed her forever. Now, as a teen living with her uncle, she’s just trying to get by. When, after three years of therapy, she is declared ‘cured’, Saffryre knows that’s’ not the case. While she struggles to come to terms with the fact that she’ll no longer see the therapist who made her life bearable, she takes to watching and following him, in the process discovering a horde of secrets, hiding unseen.

At the same time, Owen Pick, who lives across the street from the therapist, wishes he could be invisible. Not great with women, the 30-something teacher has never had a girlfriend and is a little on the quiet side. However, when an interaction with one of his students goes badly, he’s accused of inappropriate behaviour, and his world comes crashing down around him. So, when Saffyre goes missing without a trace, the police are convinced that Owen is responsible, if they can only prove it.  

Invisible Girl is a thoroughly suspenseful book from the first page – it’s gritty, dark, and yet strangely hopeful while discussing a very real problem in society – the various types of non-traditional sexuality, and the stigmas, hurt and labels we associate with them. Not only does Jewell provide a welcome insight into a world of sexual misdeeds, but she balances this on a truly heart-warming story that centres around family, loss and acceptance. You may think it impossible for such opposing stories to marry together in a seamless wonder, but that’s exactly what Jewell has done. She’s presented a gripping page-turner that nevertheless gives you the possibility of a happy ending. It’s brilliant, and I’ve no doubt that anyone who reads Invisible Girl will fall in love, as I did.

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell is published by Century, a Penguin Random House company.