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Invisible Fault Lines
"My father disappeared on a Tuesday that should’ve been like any Tuesday, but eventually became the Tuesday my father disappeared.”
Tired of living in limbo, Callie finally decides to investigate her father’s disappearance for herself. Maybe there was an accident at the construction site that he oversaw? Maybe he doesn’t remember who he is and is lost wandering somewhere? But after seeing a familiar face in a photo from the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, she wonders if the answer is something else entirely.
Hailed by Judy Blume as a "remarkable young novelist," Kristen-Paige Madonia, author of Fingerprints of You, explores how to rebuild a life after everything seems lost.
Tired of living in limbo, Callie finally decides to investigate her father’s disappearance for herself. Maybe there was an accident at the construction site that he oversaw? Maybe he doesn’t remember who he is and is lost wandering somewhere? But after seeing a familiar face in a photo from the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, she wonders if the answer is something else entirely.
Hailed by Judy Blume as a "remarkable young novelist," Kristen-Paige Madonia, author of Fingerprints of You, explores how to rebuild a life after everything seems lost.
336 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2016
8 people are currently reading
442 people want to read
About the author
Kristen-Paige Madonia
4 books108 followersKristen-Paige Madonia is the author of Invisible Fault Lines (Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2016) and Fingerprints of You (S&S BFYR, 2012); recent short fiction can be found in Five Chapters, New Orleans Review, American Fiction: Best Previously Unpublished Stories by Emerging Writers, and the Greensboro Review. She was awarded a 2011 Sewanee Writers’ Conference Tennessee Williams Scholarship and has received fellowships from the Hambidge Center, the Vermont Studio Center, the Juniper Summer Writing Institute, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Hedgebrook, and the Millay Colony. She currently lives in Charlottesville, VA and teaches creative writing at the University of Virginia, James Madison University, and the low-residency MFA program at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. For more information, please visit http://www.kristenpaigemadonia.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
September 1, 2017
Invisible Fault Lines follows Callie as her life is turned upside down when her father goes missing. She goes through the various stages of grief, as she tries to find a new normal. It is not easy for her, but her friends are by her side to help her find her way.
This book is a light-hearted and enjoyable read about grief and coming to terms with a new normal. Some parts were a bit confusing, but overall, it still flowed well. The writing style is easy to follow and enjoy. A strong message that I got from reading this book was that you can easily fall through the cracks, but being able to come out of it is the hardest part.
To see my full review: http://www.boundtowriting.com/review-...
This book is a light-hearted and enjoyable read about grief and coming to terms with a new normal. Some parts were a bit confusing, but overall, it still flowed well. The writing style is easy to follow and enjoy. A strong message that I got from reading this book was that you can easily fall through the cracks, but being able to come out of it is the hardest part.
To see my full review: http://www.boundtowriting.com/review-...
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May 3, 2016MY THOUGHTS
I finished reading this book on the anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake on April 18. It was sort of eerie, reading the story as the news discussed the historical significance and devastation. It was even stranger that the main character, Callen, had just survived the devastating news that her father had disappeared. Cal is in her senior year of high school and thinks she has her life mapped out. She is the drummer in a rock band with her two best friends. Her mother is distraught but holding it together for Cal’s sake.
As the days count off, Cal and her band are offered their first gig and while they are practicing each day. They do take time out to canvas the neighborhood, placing “Missing” posters and calling anyone and everyone they can think that might know what happened to her dad. You can just feel Cal’s heart being broken every day her father is gone. Cal just basically shuts out her mother and goes through the motions each day to survive. In her efforts to assign blame for her father’s disappearance, she see what she thinks is a picture of her father taken during the 1906 earthquake. As she obsesses about the photo, she spins into researching every detail about the quake and those details are explained in flashbacks.
Overall, this is a nicely executed story that brings those feelings to the surface about how to cope with the sudden loss of a loved one. It was pretty heartwarming that Callen had the love of her mother and her friends. There is also a bit of a romance for her as well when an old school mate comes back to town, You need to read that part for yourself! Parents: mild sexual situations and some language, otherwise safe for most young teens.
I finished reading this book on the anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake on April 18. It was sort of eerie, reading the story as the news discussed the historical significance and devastation. It was even stranger that the main character, Callen, had just survived the devastating news that her father had disappeared. Cal is in her senior year of high school and thinks she has her life mapped out. She is the drummer in a rock band with her two best friends. Her mother is distraught but holding it together for Cal’s sake.
As the days count off, Cal and her band are offered their first gig and while they are practicing each day. They do take time out to canvas the neighborhood, placing “Missing” posters and calling anyone and everyone they can think that might know what happened to her dad. You can just feel Cal’s heart being broken every day her father is gone. Cal just basically shuts out her mother and goes through the motions each day to survive. In her efforts to assign blame for her father’s disappearance, she see what she thinks is a picture of her father taken during the 1906 earthquake. As she obsesses about the photo, she spins into researching every detail about the quake and those details are explained in flashbacks.
Overall, this is a nicely executed story that brings those feelings to the surface about how to cope with the sudden loss of a loved one. It was pretty heartwarming that Callen had the love of her mother and her friends. There is also a bit of a romance for her as well when an old school mate comes back to town, You need to read that part for yourself! Parents: mild sexual situations and some language, otherwise safe for most young teens.
May 1, 2016
I really, really wanted to like this book. I love time slip fantasy and mysteries, and the synopsis promised both. (Plus, look at that fantastic cover!) Unfortunately, while some parts of Invisible Fault Lines were interesting, I found the story as a whole disappointingly unmemorable.
In Invisible Fault Lines, Callie’s entire world falls apart when her father disappears. She’s determined not to give up, even after the police stop looking for him. But when she sees a familiar face in a photograph taken during the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, she begins to suspect that her father’s disappearance is more than just an ordinary missing persons case.
While Invisible Fault Lines is well written, it’s not written in a particularly engaging way. Madonia’s narrator describes the mundane details of her life in great detail, which is poignant at first, as she describes the thousands of tiny changes to her daily routine following her father’s disappearance, but as the story continues with very little plot development it quickly becomes frustrating. The mystery of her father’s disappearance isn’t given much page time, and neither Callie nor the reader is given any clues to follow. Instead, Callie’s social life - her romance with the new boy in town, her band, and her best friend’s boy troubles - takes centre stage. I didn’t mind these storylines, but I also didn’t feel much for any of the characters involved and I felt that they took too much time away from Callie - the one character who did feel fully realised and interesting - and her father’s disappearance - the most interesting plot by far.
While Callie’s chapters fell flat, the historical sections of Invisible Fault Lines were well-written, fast-paced and altogether far more engaging. Madonia has obviously thoroughly researched the disaster, and her knowledge and love of the city of San Francisco shows. It made me wish that Invisible Fault Lines had been written entirely as an historical novel, because I would have quite happily read a full novel-length story set during the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake.
Many thanks to Kristen-Paige Madonia and Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of Invisible Fault Lines in exchange for an honest review. Invisible Fault Lines will be published on May 3rd.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Rating: 2 stars | ★★✰✰✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd
In Invisible Fault Lines, Callie’s entire world falls apart when her father disappears. She’s determined not to give up, even after the police stop looking for him. But when she sees a familiar face in a photograph taken during the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, she begins to suspect that her father’s disappearance is more than just an ordinary missing persons case.
While Invisible Fault Lines is well written, it’s not written in a particularly engaging way. Madonia’s narrator describes the mundane details of her life in great detail, which is poignant at first, as she describes the thousands of tiny changes to her daily routine following her father’s disappearance, but as the story continues with very little plot development it quickly becomes frustrating. The mystery of her father’s disappearance isn’t given much page time, and neither Callie nor the reader is given any clues to follow. Instead, Callie’s social life - her romance with the new boy in town, her band, and her best friend’s boy troubles - takes centre stage. I didn’t mind these storylines, but I also didn’t feel much for any of the characters involved and I felt that they took too much time away from Callie - the one character who did feel fully realised and interesting - and her father’s disappearance - the most interesting plot by far.
While Callie’s chapters fell flat, the historical sections of Invisible Fault Lines were well-written, fast-paced and altogether far more engaging. Madonia has obviously thoroughly researched the disaster, and her knowledge and love of the city of San Francisco shows. It made me wish that Invisible Fault Lines had been written entirely as an historical novel, because I would have quite happily read a full novel-length story set during the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake.
Many thanks to Kristen-Paige Madonia and Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of Invisible Fault Lines in exchange for an honest review. Invisible Fault Lines will be published on May 3rd.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Rating: 2 stars | ★★✰✰✰
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd
May 7, 2016
I really liked the writing style of this book, it was quick and easy to read and the scenes flowed wonderfully. I really loved the way the flashbacks flowed beautifully, and were not confusing or out of nowhere.
Callie’s denial of her dad’s disappearance was slightly annoying at first but I guess that’s what made her more relatable as a character. I mean who really wants to believe their dad is missing. I also really enjoyed that throughout most of the book Callie wasn’t lusting over some guy. It was more about her relationships between her friends and her mom, which was a breath of fresh air in a contemporary novel.
One of my only complaints is how Callie started to get so obsessive over the past earthquake. It frustrated me when those chapters popped up. I just wasn’t very interested.
Callie’s denial of her dad’s disappearance was slightly annoying at first but I guess that’s what made her more relatable as a character. I mean who really wants to believe their dad is missing. I also really enjoyed that throughout most of the book Callie wasn’t lusting over some guy. It was more about her relationships between her friends and her mom, which was a breath of fresh air in a contemporary novel.
One of my only complaints is how Callie started to get so obsessive over the past earthquake. It frustrated me when those chapters popped up. I just wasn’t very interested.
February 8, 2017
Interesting concept but there was no resolution, which kind of drove me crazy. It just ended.
May 17, 2016
Callie's father is missing. He disappeared one day and there seems to be no trace. After a period of mourning Cassie decides to look into the matter herself. She can't find a single trace of him. While she speaks to many people nobody seems to have a clue where he could be or what could have happened to him. The only link Callie has is an old photograph of the Great San Francisco Earthquake, but that's bizarre or isn't it?
Callie doesn't have to search alone. She has her best friends Beckett and Madison who are often by her side. They distract her by discussing their love lives and they do their best to help her with her search. Callie tries to find some normalcy again, she's running, she loves her band and possibly there's even room for love, but she doesn't give up on her father. She misses him terribly and keeps remembering every small detail of their connection. Will she be able to find him again?
Invisible Fault Lines is an original story. I expected something completely different and was amazed by this special story. I was intrigued straight away as this book is unusual in a really good way and I couldn't put it down. I loved Callie, she's a sweet and loving person and she's also strong and resilient. She keeps going to school, she keeps playing music and she keeps doing her job. Her life has changed with the disappearance of her father, but she tries to make the best of her situation. The mystery around the missing father is something that made me instantly curious. I couldn't wait to find out more. There are two different points of view, Callie's and someone else, a fascinating choice that increased my interest in the story even more.
Callie needs to learn to live her life without her father and that's difficult. Fortunately she does let the good things in as well, so the story doesn't become too heavy. She learns new things and has to grow up quickly. She even meets a wonderful guy. Invisible Fault Lines is a surprising story in many different ways. I really enjoyed reading this book and finished it in one sitting. It's a quick and easy read while the topic definitely has some depth, which is a good combination. The ending is unexpected as well and very fitting. I loved Invisible Fault Lines, it's an amazing, gripping story.
Callie doesn't have to search alone. She has her best friends Beckett and Madison who are often by her side. They distract her by discussing their love lives and they do their best to help her with her search. Callie tries to find some normalcy again, she's running, she loves her band and possibly there's even room for love, but she doesn't give up on her father. She misses him terribly and keeps remembering every small detail of their connection. Will she be able to find him again?
Invisible Fault Lines is an original story. I expected something completely different and was amazed by this special story. I was intrigued straight away as this book is unusual in a really good way and I couldn't put it down. I loved Callie, she's a sweet and loving person and she's also strong and resilient. She keeps going to school, she keeps playing music and she keeps doing her job. Her life has changed with the disappearance of her father, but she tries to make the best of her situation. The mystery around the missing father is something that made me instantly curious. I couldn't wait to find out more. There are two different points of view, Callie's and someone else, a fascinating choice that increased my interest in the story even more.
Callie needs to learn to live her life without her father and that's difficult. Fortunately she does let the good things in as well, so the story doesn't become too heavy. She learns new things and has to grow up quickly. She even meets a wonderful guy. Invisible Fault Lines is a surprising story in many different ways. I really enjoyed reading this book and finished it in one sitting. It's a quick and easy read while the topic definitely has some depth, which is a good combination. The ending is unexpected as well and very fitting. I loved Invisible Fault Lines, it's an amazing, gripping story.
May 4, 2016
This book kept me guessing! From the very first page, I wondered what happened to the narrator’s father. About halfway through, I realized that it didn’t matter what happened to him because this is a story about character. It is an emotional ride through the trauma of a young girl's life after her father goes missing. I felt all of her emotions right along with her--guilt, fear, anger. I particularly enjoyed the evolvement of her friendship with her best friend Beckett. I appreciate authors who feature characters who happen to be gay--rather than making this the sole focus of a story. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy strong character development.
Teachers might consider tying this story into a study of missing persons. This investigation could go beyond children as missing persons and extend into adults who are missing. Students might research local missing persons in their area, and this could lead to advocacy efforts.
Full Review with Author Interview/Giveaway: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=9887
Teachers might consider tying this story into a study of missing persons. This investigation could go beyond children as missing persons and extend into adults who are missing. Students might research local missing persons in their area, and this could lead to advocacy efforts.
Full Review with Author Interview/Giveaway: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=9887
January 8, 2016
Life is pretty awesome for Callie. Her parents are cool, well, for parents. Lots of love in the house. She plays in a band and runs track. Great best friend. All in all, lifes good. Then one day, in a split second, the walls come crumbling down. Her dad, her rock, just disappears. Police conduct a short investigation but no signs of foul play turn up. Adults go missing every day in the country. Some question if he left on his own accord and doesnt want to be found. But Callie knows differently. Her father would never willingly leave her and her mother. Callie and her friends start their own investigation that leads to some unorthodox discoveries. Is she slowly losing her mind in her fear over losing her father or could he really....? Good read. Powerful combination of friendship, teenage romance, teenage heartbreak, the love of a family, some history and a little mystery.
June 4, 2016
On April 18th, 2006, seventeen-year-old Callie Pace's father disappears. Convinced that he's not dead, and that he didn't walk out on their family, Callie does everything she can to try to find him. Then she thinks she sees him in a photograph -- taken in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. In this lyrical novel, Kristen-Paige Madonia crafts an image of life in San Francisco in the mid-2000s with beauty and specificity. Small details evoke the time, place, and characters so clearly that readers may find themselves wanting to AIM message Callie or her best friend, Beckett. Most of all, Callie's search for her father presents readers with a thought-provoking exploration of the past, the present, and the impermanence of the ordinary. A highly recommended read.
September 4, 2019
Callie’s father inexplicably disappears one day. No one knows where he is, and she is in mourning for him. Her mind runs over possibilities: Did he have an accident at the construction site where he worked? Is he wandering somewhere with amnesia? Since authorities can’t locate him, Callie decides to investigate on her own. She stumbles across an exhibit on the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake with what appears to be a photograph of her father in it. Is this a coincidence? Did he have an ancestor living during that time? Told from both Callie’s point of view and that of the man in the photo, this novel blends historical fiction with the reality of bereaved Callie, a sixteen-year-old girl living in present-day San Francisco and searching desperately for her father.
May 2, 2016
moving YA novel of loss and hope:
"it's a treacherous and wondrous thing to be needed, to be loved by and linked to another person's happiness so severely."
author successfully walks a tightrope between the narrator's need for resolution to personal mystery/tragedy, and the ambiguous nature of the world.
keep 'em coming, KP!
"it's a treacherous and wondrous thing to be needed, to be loved by and linked to another person's happiness so severely."
author successfully walks a tightrope between the narrator's need for resolution to personal mystery/tragedy, and the ambiguous nature of the world.
keep 'em coming, KP!
January 15, 2017
A very different and intriguing book. I have a feeling quite a lot of it went over my head, but it's still making me ponder about her father, what truly happened, and how the family has to move on through life.
March 30, 2016
Real rating: 3.5 stars! I liked it! I decided to round up to 4 stars because I love this author's writing.
July 7, 2016
A beautifully written book about love, loss, & the power of hope. A 2016 must-read!
Want to read
March 16, 2016Read the first chapter here: http://www.yabookscentral.com/blog/it...
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March 27, 2016Fine writing, forgettable story.
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June 13, 2016On the Girls of Summer 2016 Reading List compiled by the Junior League of Charlottesville.
Find it at JMRL: http://aries.jmrl.org/record=b1342131~S9
Find it at JMRL: http://aries.jmrl.org/record=b1342131~S9
September 27, 2024
i want my time back.
honestly, it's an easy read but very forgettable. and it just doesn't make sense.
i thought it would be a mystery solving story but man was i wrong.
the writer literally promoted it as Callie investigating her father's disappearance and you know, you would've thought it's a thriller where the dad was taken or well, at the very worst, he left the family on his own.
nope, he vanished and time travelled to the 19th century. wtf.
i'm only give two stars because i understand what the author attempted (making ur own new normal instead of dwelling on the past because there is no such thing as permanent normal) but i just don't like that i read about 270 pages focused on the dad's disappearance and the rest focused on Callie gaslighting herself into thinking her dad was the man in the photo.
meh.
honestly, it's an easy read but very forgettable. and it just doesn't make sense.
i thought it would be a mystery solving story but man was i wrong.
the writer literally promoted it as Callie investigating her father's disappearance and you know, you would've thought it's a thriller where the dad was taken or well, at the very worst, he left the family on his own.
nope, he vanished and time travelled to the 19th century. wtf.
i'm only give two stars because i understand what the author attempted (making ur own new normal instead of dwelling on the past because there is no such thing as permanent normal) but i just don't like that i read about 270 pages focused on the dad's disappearance and the rest focused on Callie gaslighting herself into thinking her dad was the man in the photo.
meh.
May 6, 2017
When 17 year-old Callie’s father mysteriously disappears without a trace, Callie lives life through a fog. Her friends and mom attempt to help as Callie drifts away from reality and spends time searching for her father. When she and her friends go to a local museum where photos from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake are on display, Callie spots someone who appears to be her father in one of the photos. Alternating chapters describe what Callie is going through as well as an unnamed man who survived the earthquake. The chapters describing the past don’t seem to fit with the plot about Callie and distract from the main plot, however teen readers will relate to the emotions Callie is going through.
September 12, 2017
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of Invisible Fault Lines.
Callie is a normal teen with a good life, and sweet parents. But the rug gets swept under her once her father disappears completely unexpectedly. Through her friends, her mom, and her imagination Callie is able to confront the loss and cope with it to the best of her ability, while still trying to be a normal teenager.
I appreciate the premise of this book. I never experienced a great loss as a teen, so I can't even imagine how traumatizing it would be. Truth be told however, it just didn't hook me. I felt like the meat of the story was diluted with inconsequential details. I had a hard to investing or focusing on this one.
Callie is a normal teen with a good life, and sweet parents. But the rug gets swept under her once her father disappears completely unexpectedly. Through her friends, her mom, and her imagination Callie is able to confront the loss and cope with it to the best of her ability, while still trying to be a normal teenager.
I appreciate the premise of this book. I never experienced a great loss as a teen, so I can't even imagine how traumatizing it would be. Truth be told however, it just didn't hook me. I felt like the meat of the story was diluted with inconsequential details. I had a hard to investing or focusing on this one.
May 18, 2018
So I got like 150 pages into this book and then started skipping pages just to see what happens. But overall I just couldn’t get into it, not that it’s bad, just that the writing isn’t my style. Which further proves that writing it super subjective and not everyone will be pleased. Something I will say though is this books has a lot of good lines, it’s just that the rest of the book didn’t really live up to those good lines. *shrug*
August 17, 2019
This book started well, but the second half of the book was ultimately disappointing. It originally felt like a normal teenager, living her life, and then struggling to come to terms with her father's unexplained disappearance. But then, halfway through, the book started to suggest some supernatural aspects, like accidental time travel that led to the father's disappearance. But then nothing really came of that, and the end of the book felt very unresolved.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2019
This starts out as a pretty normal coming-of-age YA novel, but a few chapters in it starts to develop some almost supernatural-type elements. Unfortunately, those aren't explored deeply enough to really bring those chapters to life and they end up feeling more like distractions rather than adding to the plot. The chapters that focus on Callie and her eccentric group of friends are great, though.
January 2, 2021
I could feel Callie’s pain, but thought the storyline about her father was far fetched. At risk of being a spoiler all I will say is I wasn’t happy with the ending, but gave it an extra star because of the other storylines going on that gave strength to the characters. Read more on my blog: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress....
January 7, 2024
I liked the development of the main character over the book and the mystery aspect was fun to read about. Callie’s best friend was my favorite character because of him always quoting Presidents. I was confused on why they weren’t that focused on finding her dad because they like always go to parties and they don’t really try to find her dad. Overall good read
December 14, 2018
It's the kind of book I probably never would've picked up myself, but it was well written. I could understand the pain Callan goes through in this book, as losing a family member is never easy. Her journey is an interesting one, with lots of twists and turns. Loved it.
December 7, 2020
Maybe I related better than I could have because I read about 9 months after the pandemic changes our normal. But so much teen language, so seems better suited to younger person. Usually a YA book will appeal, but definitely written more for teens...
Was hoping for more closure.
Was hoping for more closure.
December 17, 2024
(SPOILERS) A good book just as all my friends have read it and what they have said doesn't really live up to the hype that everyone says it is but still an amazing book i found it funny how at the end the girl gets hit by a car don't Judge me...
August 8, 2017
Interesting read...insight in to living in San Francisco
January 30, 2018
It does not offer a satisfying ending.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews