by
3.42 of 5 stars
Alice and Jewel have been best friends since grade school. Together, they don’t need anyone else, and together they blend into the background... read full description

reviews

Feb 08, 2008
Jess rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Yesterday I became overwhelmed by how many books I had going at once. So what did I do? Started (and finished) a new one. The Opposite of Invisible came in on hold yesterday, though, so I picked it up on my break. And stayed up past 1 to finish it. Solid contemporary YA - although I had to laugh when Alice said she only has one friend. At the Mock Printz, the teen in my group had noticed this YA trend of characters with only one friend, and she said it drove her crazy. But be appeased tee More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Dec 11, 2008
Becky rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Once you meet Alice, you'll want to either be her, or be her best friend. Okay, maybe I can't safely guarantee that. But I sure did love Alice. When we first meet Alice, we see an invisible girl. Not an outcast, not a loner. But someone usually invisible with the popular people in her school. Her best friend is a guy named Jewel. But he's not just her best friend, in a way he's her only friend. But then Simon enters the picture. He's newish. He's popular. And he notices--really notices--Alice. T More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jan 19, 2012
Carmen rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This book caught my eyes, because when i think of the opposite of invisible i think of visble (also i think of them just saying visible), so i had this little argument with myself of how the titles vary. It all started with a simple friendship between Julian and Alice. Julian is called Jewel by Alice, because it was easier to pronounce. Them two became best friends, because of their artistic skills which drawn them together with a similar interest. Alice, a pretty girl with no fashion senses. More...
Jun 06, 2010
Amy rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I am so glad I found this book. Granted, it isn't a long book, but it has a powerful message that is more important than the number of pages. I liked the character of Alice. Maybe because every teenage girl goes through a point in her high school life that she wishes she could be more than what she is. Alice wants to explore outside her cocoon that she has been living in. She has a wonderful friend in Jewel, who yes is a boy, but she has a crush on Simon. Simon is one of the popular group, More...
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Jan 14, 2010
Libro Joven rated it: 1 of 5 stars
If I were forced to describe this book in just one word, that would be BORING. Absolutely, incredibly boring. It’s so short that you would think it’s impossible to get bored in such a short amount of pages, but, hey, it’s never too late for that. You may say that it’s my fault, that I knew what this was about, that it is supposed to be a predictable book, but I disagree. A lot of 100% predictable YA books are definitely not boring. As opposed to this book.

As weird as it may sound, ev More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jun 04, 2009
Steph Su rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Alice and Jewel are the same person. Best friends since they can remember, they are both outsider artists; everyone thinks Jewel is gay because Alice is the only person he ever talks to, and Alice just doesn’t talk at all to anyone else. They both like the same quirky, gory, and eccentric stuff that can be found in Seattle. They are never apart, and yet no one else sees them. They are invisible.

However, as a high school sophomore, Alice is beginning to want something more. She has a ma More...
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Feb 10, 2009
Sara ♥ rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I liked it a lot. It was a cute story about a girl (Alice) who thinks she knows what she wants, but finds that she really wants is what she already had.

There was a pretty profound statement in the book. Something like, "The things that are 'meant' to be are the ones that feel right." That's not it, exactly, but I think that was the sentiment. When Alice's dating the one guy, something inside her tells her that it's just not... right. She doesn't pick up on it terribly More...
Oct 10, 2011
Eves rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Sentimental and lovely, although it was the tiniest bit predictable. Wish that we were given more chances to get to know Jewel (although honestly, why would you choose Jewel as a nickname for a guy?), considering that he's the best friend and all. Simon seems the sensitive jock to me, but he's cool. Vanessa's character interests me the most, her quirks and all. Alice...I'm not exactly sure what to think of her character, because she reminds me of myself at certain instances in the book.

More...
Oct 15, 2011
Beatrice rated it: 4 of 5 stars
What's the difference between a Crush and Love? between Love and best friendship?

The story is about Alice, She loves art and takes Glassblowing classes. She has a bestfriend named Jewel (I thought it's a girl, but Jewel is a guy). He is talented and weird. They've done things together and enjoyed each others company.She knows him so well and they talked about everything except for one thing.

Alice never shared to him her secret crush Simon, a football player and he's a pop More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Dec 02, 2008
Abby rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Alice considers herself to be invisible at her high school. She's not one of the cool kids, she's not freaky enough to really be part of the art crowd... Her only friend is Jewel, a boy she's known since she was in preschool. Alice wants to get out of her little cocoon and see what the world has to offer. When football hunk Simon Murphy kisses her, Alice finds herself having to choose between her crush and her best friend.

I've never been to Seattle, but Liz Gallagher makes me feel as i More...
Oct 18, 2011
Carrie rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This is a charming story about a girl who kisses a boy and then another boy and has to make a decision. This novel takes place in Seattle which is my hometown so I was amused at all the local references described in the book. I like how the art students were pitted against the jocks. The main character Alice learns that people belonging to a clique don't always fit their stereotype and finding yourself and being true to yourself is what ulitmately matters. The references to art and lite More...
Jun 06, 2011
Lauren rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This novel had a literary sheen to it, but turned out to be somewhat lighter, plot-wise and language-wise, than I expected. Still, a good solid character-driven novel, and I liked how the author captured some of those moments you have when you're a teenager when the thing you're doing right now is The Most Important Thing That Has Ever Happened Or Ever Will Happen To You.

(Also, just noting for my own interest:

major boy character's name in this book - Jewel
major boy More...
Jul 15, 2009
alexis rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Summary: What's the difference between a crush and love?
Between love and best-friendship?


Alice is very happy in her place at school in the background.

Working on projects in the art room. Or hanging out with Jewel, her best friend she's known forever.

Alice feels like she can talk to Jewel about anything.

But she knows there's one things she can never tell him, she has a major crush on a guy.

Or, that she doesn't really want to be inv More...
May 13, 2008
Emma rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This was an incredible book. It slighlty predictible but it was a good story.
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Dec 24, 2009
Shalonda rated it: 4 of 5 stars
With only 151 pages, this book is short, yet tells an awesome story. It is a cute novel about deeply loving someone and insecurities faced by the most unlikely people.

I love dynamic characters, and The Opposite of Invisible is full of them! Each of the characters faces internal conflicts that many teenagers can relate to. Am I good enough? Is she prettier than me? Will they make fun of me if they know I'm into something considered uncool?

Throughout the novel, most of the More...
Sep 19, 2008
Kelly rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Alice and Jewel face a familiar dilemma – what happens when your best friend starts to have feelings for you? Sixteen-year old Alice, a budding artist and practiced introvert, is caught between her longstanding friendship with Jewel and her surprising new relationship with football-player Simon. It seems she can’t have both. Set against the backdrop of Seattle, Washington, first time author Gallagher nicely captures the awkwardness and “what ifs” of a friendship that suddenly means something mor More...
Feb 26, 2011
Alice has been best friends with Jewel for as long as she remembers. Jewel is her only friend. Alice doesn’t think there is anything special about herself. She doesn’t wear much make-up if any, likes to wear her hair in a pony tail and prefers jeans and a T-shirt. Even though she loves art and being creative, she doesn’t think she posses the abilities to be a good artist, like Jewel is. So Alice easily blends into the background of her school population, which makes her feel invisible.

More...
May 11, 2008
Bec rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Format: 151 pages. Approx. 30,000 words.

First person narrative. Instead of a journal, fourteen year-old Alice talks to the Dove Girl, a print of Picasso's Le Visage de la Paix, and asks for a boyfriend, a real handholding, kissing boyfriend, not just her friend who happens to be a boy, someone she's known since she was three, a boy named Jewel. Alice has a crush on Simon, a football player and all around hot guy on campus, and she's delighted to find that he's interested in her too. More...
Dec 24, 2011
Jennifer rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

Alice and Jewel (Julian). That's how it's always been. A seemingly invisible pair of sophomores at their high school. They've been friends for forever and are never without the other.

Until the day Simon Murphy acknowledges Alice.

Jewel jumps all over Alice, asking what it was about, but it wasn't anything, really. Was it? Then Alice and Jewel go to a concert and Simon comes over to Alice while Jewel is in the restroom, a More...
Jun 03, 2008
Jen rated it: 4 of 5 stars
A charming little book from new author Liz Gallagher, The Opposite of Invisible follows a Seattle high school student as she struggles to find her identity away from the shadow of her best friend and the superficial labels of her classmates.

Alice goes through her days feeling invisible, except to her best friend Jewel (Julian). The two have been inseparable for years, sharing lattes, art classes, and family holidays. Jewel's attention is enough for Alice, until she catches the eye of More...
May 06, 2008
Hope rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I listened to this book on CD during a trip and enjoyed it so much that I listened to it again when I got home as part of a fiendish plot to get my 14 year-old son to "read" more. It worked. He acted like he was totally into his gameboy but when I'd stop the CD or something funny would come up, he'd ask what I was doing or laugh out loud. Sometimes he groaned at the main character's or others' cringe-worthy behavior. I think this book really captures the adolescent flip-flopping betwen More...
Aug 01, 2009
Tasha rated it: 5 of 5 stars
Alice thinks she is invisible. The only person that seems to know her is her best friend in the whole entire world, Jewel. They are the perfect pair. They both enjoy coffee and art, and life couldn't be better. That is until the blood bath dance rolls around. Alice wants desperately to go with the star football player Simon Murphy and never thinks it could happen in a million years. Then the impossible happens. Simon Murphy kisses Alice - the same day Jewel kisses Alice. Alice is overwhelmed. Ov More...
Jan 18, 2009
Anna rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I "read" this title as an audio book and thought the book was sweet. I'd like to actually read it later so that I can savor some of the imagery a little more. Gallagher has a softness to her writing that enhances the vulnerability of her characters without being corny.

I give this book three stars because it's cute and well written but nothing amazing, just a smooth easy read. It's a great book to give parents who want something safe for their children to read :)
Sep 17, 2009
Fred rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Although not my particular interest to read, the story is enjoyably written. It's the struggle a teenage girl goes through deciding between her long-time boy best-friend and the intellectual football player who's smitten with her. The story kind of speeds through the timeline to me. There's a few suggestive items of discussion but it's dealt with in a pretty mature way. This one goes in the chick lit section :)
Aug 21, 2011
Caroline rated it: 4 of 5 stars
If you've been through almost every book by Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, Elizabeth Scott and Susane Colasanti and have no idea what to read next, you should give Liz Gallagher a try! This novel was short and sweet, true to high-school life, and lots of fun. I loved the characters and she's coming out with a new companion book soon! Great for reluctant readers of the female teen persuasion :)
May 26, 2010
Susan rated it: 2 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
Jul 15, 2008
Kerri rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Those of you that know me well know that I am not into girlie-romancy-type stuff. This book bordered on that topic, but really set itself apart because of the strong female character. I completely respected Alice's maturity as she started wanting to change her artsy image in high school to a more acceptable image.

It was a really good book that shows that those stupid labels that kids (and teachers unfortunately) place on each other should only be taken for face value. That is ano More...
Jun 09, 2011
Johnp rated it: 2 of 5 stars
Girl thinks she's on nobody's radar. Girl winds up getting noticed by hot jock. Girl leaves her best (male) friend in the dust to be with jock. Drama insues. Overall, a cute look at what happens when you go from nobody to somebody. For my taste, the jock was way to understanding and thoughtful, but that's why they call it "fiction"...!
Dec 17, 2010
Anagha rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Liz Gallagher’s debut novel, The Opposite of Invisible, is a captivating story of teenage love and friendship. Alice, who is the perfect example of a teenager trying to find her identity, is satisfied to spend all her time with her best friend, Jewel, until her crush, the popular Simon, starts to notice her. Jewel also wants to be more than friends. Alice suddenly goes from being invisible to being the talk of the school. Even though the plotline is familiar, the characters are very well portray More...
Jul 31, 2010
Marina rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Artists Alice and Jewel have been each other's only friends for years. However, Alice develops a crush on jock Simon and that causes as rift in Alice and Jewel's friendship. The great descriptions of the Seattle backdrop and the messy teenage emotions make for an excellent, albeit quick, read.