Seventeen-year-old Ivan Isaenko is a life-long resident of the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. For the most part, every day is exactly the same for Ivan, which is why he turns everything into a game, manipulating people and events around him for his own amusement.

Until Polina arrives.

She steals his books. She challenges his routine. The nurses like her.

She is exquisite. Soon, he cannot help being drawn to her and the two forge a romance that is tenuous and beautiful and everything they never dared dream of. Before, he survived by being utterly detached from things and people. Now, Ivan wants something more: Ivan wants Polina to live.

 

This book ended up being more mature and older than I thought, which ultimately made it a more powerful novel with lasting thoughts.

 

It took me several chapters to really get into this book. Ivan initially didn't draw me in and I found him kind of annoying; however, once I did fall into this, I found it terribly heartening and hard to put down. Each scene seemed to have a purpose, and I liked that I was getting over my initial discomfort with how hopeless Ivan's whole life seemed.

 

I loved the narration style of this book. It was incredibly unique and made me feel as though Ivan were actually a real person. His cynicism about the world was incredibly amusing, and though he was a teenager, he initially felt quite young. The way he talked about the nurses around him and his environment was incredibly heartening.

 

Though this book might seem initially a little removed from the world of most readers, I thought it gave an important perspective to what living with severe disability might be like, and how one can still have hope and one can still have a purpose, and I found that to be very important.

 

I'm glad I was reading this review because otherwise I likely wouldn't have continued reading this book. The first part was slow and hard for me to get into. But ultimately, this book was so worth it and I highly recommend it.

 

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"I’m seventeen years old, approximately male, and I live in an asylum for mutant children."

Every once in a while, I like to read something that is out of my comfort zone. I’m not even entirely sure why I requested this one from NetGalley, but I liked the title and the cover, so what the hell, I gave it a shot. I am glad I did. I enjoyed this one a great deal.

Ivan is a great character, deformed, sarcastic, scheming, with extremely dry and sardonic humor. He is also a compulsive reader and masturbator. What’s not to like about this kid? Enter Polina. A new patient at the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children. She is beautiful. She will rock Ivans world and make him reevaluate all of the personal tenants that he holds dear.

A touching and funny adventure with a sprinkle of sadness and a hope of redemption. My only peeve was that it felt a bit rushed at the end. And I was awaiting a huge tear-jerking breakdown. I am talking about big, man, crocodile tears. It didn’t really materialize and strangely enough I was pretty disappointed. You know the kind of tears I am talking about? The movie E.T…those kind of tears. Where the Red Fern Grows, uh huh, now we’re talking. F’n movie Rudy, man!! Now, you get what I’m saying.

Whoops. Got off track there momentarily. It didn’t need the tears, but it did lose a little juice for me for whatever reason with the seemingly hurried ending. Still a very good and well written tale with an interesting and unique protaganist. 4 Stars and Highly Recommended.

Thanks, NetGalley!

#INVISIBLELIFEOFIVANISAENKO   What a beautiful story. Not necessarily for the characters but for the readers. This story hit every emotion that I had. I felt so much just reading this story. Apparently this was a true story and I felt so much just living life through Ivan's eyes. We sometimes forget how much we have to be thankful for and this story so opened my eyes to so much that I have that others don't. I loved this story. It was both funny, sad and poignant and I loved every minute. Ivan is my hero and I so much want others to read to read about him. It's such a great story!

Thanks St. Martins's Press and Net Gallery for giving me a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review. This book has truly made a huge impression on me.

Ivan Isaenko is trapped. Trapped in his mutated body, trapped in the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children, and trapped in the world he has built in his mind. He is well-read, self-deprecating, and intensely practical. Never having known any life other than that inside the hospital, Ivan develops a dry, dark sense of humor that rivals Frank McCourt’s. He also concocts routines that help him pass the boredom of his existence and help him to process the continuous horror of being surrounded by radiation-poisoned, mentally deficient, dying children. The only person he can really talk to is Nurse Natalya, who brings in books. His world is turned upside down when an orphaned leukemia patient is admitted in his 17^th year. She’s smart, pretty, and a bit of a thief.

 

The addition of Polina and the inevitable love story that follows will remind many of The Fault in Our Stars. These teens, however, are unattractive, intensely awkward, and starkly alone without each other. There will be no wish-making, no answers, and only a bit of lyricism; just a few stolen moments that might make leaping into the abyss a little less terrifying.

 

If you liked One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Angela’s Ashes, you’d like this, too.

 

Very rarely does a book speak to me to the point where I will start recommending before I finish it. I have finished this and believe it fully deserves the 5 stars I'm giving it. This is an uncorrected proof, so the printing wasn't perfect, and was only slightly irritating, but not enough to take away the stars. A final print copy would not have that as an issue.
I loved Ivan. At times acting like a spoiled brat, other times trying to find his place in life as he knows it. The setting is an asylum for children with disabilities and illnesses, set in Belarus after it separated from Russia. The theme is universal, though; simply by being born different he is separated from being treated like a full human being. Scott Stambach brought Ivan to life beautifly, with an intelligent, independence hungry teen personality looking to be accepted by the outside world. Wonderfully written.

****I received this uncorrected bound manuscript from St. Martin's Press in exchange for a fair review.****