Review: My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman

My Invented Life by Lauren Bjorkman

With Roz and Eva everything becomes a contest—who can snag the best role in the school play, have the cutest boyfriend, pull off the craziest prank. Still, they’re as close as sisters can be. Until Eva deletes Roz from her life like so much junk e-mail for no reason that Roz understands. Now Eva hangs out with the annoyingly petite cheerleaders, and Roz fantasizes about slipping bovine growth hormone into their Gatorade.

Roz has a suspicion about Eva. In turn, Eva taunts Roz with a dare, which leads to an act of total insanity. Drama geeks clamor for attention, Shakespearean insults fly, and Roz steals the show in Lauren Bjorkman’s hilarious debut novel!

Review:

My Invented Life was a humorous and unique debut that was a refreshing and honest look at homosexuality, sibling rivalry, and relationships in general. Roz was a fantastic main character who never ceased to bring a smile to my face with her reckless attitude and witty, sarcastic comebacks. She didn't care what other people thought of her and when her perfect older sister challenges her with a dare, Roz accepts with full force.

Eva was an interesting character and I liked reading about her and Roz's changing relationship. Especially when Roz starts to explore a different side of her sexuality in the hopes that it will encourage her older sister to open up about her own (or at least Roz suspects) homosexuality. My Invented Life is definitely one of the best LGBT novels I've read and proved that not everyone knows who they are all the time. Roz learned a lot about herself and what she felt for others after accepting Eva's dare and I enjoyed reading about her trials and triumphs over the course of the novel. While some people were down right mean to Roz, others were accepting of her and Roz even learned some surprising things about some of her peers as well.

I loved how Shakespeare was woven into the plot. The main characters were all part of the drama club and they were putting on a Shakespearean play. Not only that but Roz and Eva bantered using Shakespearean phrases and Roz used a lot of Elizabethan insults that were unique and fun (albeit confusing at times!).

My Invented Life is full of laughs and Roz is a main character most readers will love. She is far from perfect, and her snark, wit, and courage to find herself will leave readers cheering for her.

Lauren Bjorkman's debut novel proved how wrong labels can be and how far one person will go for the person they love. She introduced sexuality in a refreshing and contemporary way and her writing style was light hearted and fun. I am eager to read more by Lauren in the future and definitely recommend this to all contemporary YA fans!

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

September 29, 2009/Henry, Holt, and Co./232 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Author

Other books by this author: Miss Fortune Cookie (2012)