Review: Perfectly Invisible by Kristin Billerbeck

Perfectly Invisible (A Universally Misunderstood Novel)
By: Kristin Billerbeck
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 978-0-8007-1973-9

About the book:

It's Daisy Crispin's final semester of high school, and she plans to make it count. Her long-awaited freedom is mere months away, and her big plans for college loom in the future. Everything is under control.

Or is it?

Her boyfriend is treating her like she's invisible, and her best friend is selling bad costume jewelry in the school quad--and hanging out with her boyfriend. To top it off, Daisy's major humiliation for the year will be remembered in the yearbook for all eternity. It's enough to make her wonder if maybe being invisible isn't so bad after all.

Can Daisy get her life back on track? Or is she stuck in this town forever?

Review:

With three months left in high school, Daisy Crispin knows she has little time if she hopes to permanently reverse her reputation as the school's social pariah. She has a partial scholarship to an elite university lined up and the interest of a handsome foreign exchange student. Life is look up - or did she speak too soon? Before Daisy can say "Class of 2011," her crush is ignoring her, her job falls victim to the recession, and her ultra-conservative, flaky parents squash her dreams of making university a reality (and move her into their garage). Her quest to be known is succeeding for all the wrong reasons in a spectacular fashion. Before the year ends, Daisy has some eye-opening lessons to learn on the subject of perception versus reality if she has any hope of a normal life post-high school.

Daisy's introduction in Perfectly Dateless was a fresh, funny, and authentic slice of teenage angst and drama shot through with solid truths. Her second adventure, while retaining much of Daisy's fresh, honest voice, gets bogged down by an increased dose of negativity and whininess. I love a healthy dose of snarky humor, but Daisy seems to have lost all the personal ground she gained in Dateless, instead reverting to levels of self-centeredness and self-pity that are more than a bit off-putting.

Despite my issues with Daisy's near-constant and unproductive moaning about her unfortunate lot in life, Perfectly Invisible isn't without its charms. The pacing and story flow are noticeably improved in comparison to its predecessor. Billerbeck maintains her gift for capturing a realistic, snarky-but-(generally) likeable teen voice. And while Daisy's parents are so ultra-conservative they unfortunately border too often on caricatures, when it comes to her teenage heroine Billerbeck is a master at balancing cultural relevance with genuine faith. One hopes that if we get to follow Daisy's adventures to college, some of the lessons she learns here stick.

Review: Perfectly Dateless by Kristin Billerbeck

Perfectly Dateless (A Universally Misunderstood Novel)

By: Kristin Billerbeck
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3439-8

About the book:

Daisy Crispin has 196 days to find the right date for the prom. There’s only one problem – her parents won’t let her date or even talk to a guy on the phone. Oh, and she’s totally invisible at school, wears lame homemade clothes, and possesses no social skills. Okay, so maybe there’s more than one problem.

Can she talk her parents into letting her go to the prom? Or will they succeed at their obvious attempts to completely ruin her life?

Perfectly Dateless is hilarious, shocking, and totally real. You’ll fall in love with Daisy’s sharp wit and resourcefulness as she navigates the world of boys, fashion, family, and friendship.

Review:

Daisy Crispin has spent most of her life invisible to the popular crowd. She’s extremely smart but has zero social skills, is forced to wear horribly unfashionable homemade clothes by her cheap parents, adnd isn’t allowed to even talk to boys. Her parents believe in courtship and have decided that she should go to Bible College and marry a preacher. When senior year arrives, Daisy decides this wallflower needs to shake things up and determines that she’ll have the perfect date for prom – the perfect picture, the perfect memory to redeem all the years she’s lost in social obscurity. But doing a complete social makeover comes with a price, and Daisy’s quest for the perfect date sets her on a journey with unexpected consequences, learning more about herself, her family, and what really matters than she ever expected.

Perfectly Dateless is a fast-paced, hilarious read. I really enjoyed Daisy’s character – she’s alternately sweet and sarcastic, but above all she comes across as very real and relatable. While for most of the novel her parents are the most extreme, cringe-worthy caricatures of Christian parents that I think I’ve ever read, Daisy’s exasperation with her parents’ “quirks” and good intentions is completely understandable, and is sure to bring back high school memories to anyone who ever remembers being frustrated with parental restrictions. My favorite aspect of the novel are Daisy’s journal entries, where she vents about everything from her parents to boys – Billerbeck nails the teenage angst perfectly. Between parents, boys, and best friend drama, Daisy is in for a roller coaster ride as she attempts change her life, not compromise her faith, and learn some surprising lessons about her perceptions versus reality.

My only qualm with this book is that there just wasn’t enough of it. At times events felt a little too rushed, particularly regarding Daisy’s work life and growing relationship with Max. The school year in Daisy’s world passes in quite literally a blur. However, that’s a minor issue compared to how much I enjoyed Daisy’s whirlwind life. Billerbeck has the snarky-but-likable teen voice down perfectly. Daisy’s faith is also integrated into the storyline extremely well – while I don’t know how much non-Christian YA readers would enjoy reading about Daisy’s life with her ultra-conservative, Christian parents, Billerbeck never crosses the line into preachiness. Daisy’s a great example of a character who’s culturally relevant (at least she wants to be) and a believer. Fresh, funny, and real Perfectly Dateless is hopefully just the first of many Universally Misunderstood Novels.