Search This Blog








2022 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (5)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho
- Illinois (1)
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (2)
- Massachusetts (4)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (1)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (7)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (2)
- Utah (2)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (4)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.* (1)
International:
Antarctica (1)
Australia (2)
Egypt (2)
England (12)
Greece (1)
Italy (1)
Nepal (1)
Romania (1)
Scotland (3)
Sweden (1)
Wales (1)








The 52 Book Club's Reading Challenge 2022

2022 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

Friday, December 20, 2019
Hard-Hitting Family Drama Highlights Dangers of Opioid Abuse
8:20 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Still grieving the loss of her stillborn daughter, 46-year-old Sylvie Snow keeps her sadness at bay by staying busy. Very busy. She scurries around making meals, cleaning messes, chauffeuring her son to and fro, working full-time, and lately, playing nursemaid to her needy husband as he recovers from a broken ankle he sustained while on a rigorous bike ride he never should have attempted. Add to her already overloaded schedule the planning of her son's upcoming bar mitzvah—the one he cares zilch about—and she's about ready to explode. When the three-year anniversary of her daughter's death dawns, Sylvie realizes she just can't handle another day of her frenzied life. Not without some help.
Paul Snow refuses to take the Hydrocodone his doctor prescribed for his ankle. Sylvie's in pain, too, so she decides to pop one of his pills, just to see. The results are almost instant. Her sadness blurs a little; she feels kinder, more patient, calmer. Amazing! Before she realizes it, Sylvie has become a bona fide junkie, willing to do anything—risk everything—for another hit. The more desperate she gets, however, the more her life really starts to fall apart. Soon, the truth will out and Sylvie must face some startling truths about herself before she loses everything that means anything to her.
With opioid abuse constantly in the news, Invisible As Air by Zoe Fishman, is a timely, affecting novel about the holes in our hearts and the alarming ways in which we sometimes try to fill them. Sylvie is a relatable Everywoman whose utter normality makes a hard-hitting statement about just what a junkie looks like these days. With his own "harmless" coping mechanism wreaking havoc on the family, Paul's is an additional cautionary tale about the destructive nature of burying feelings, hiding pain, and seeking help in all the wrong ways and places. Stuck in the middle, Teddy represents all the innocents damaged by people trying to get by instead of getting real. As you can tell, Invisible As Air is not a happy read. It's heartbreaking, eye-opening, and depressing. Compelling and ultimately hopeful, yes, but also not the most uplifting or mood-boosting read in the world.
(Readalikes: Reminds me of Heroine by Mindy McGinnis)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language, sexual content, and depictions of prescription drug abuse
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Invisible As Air from the generous folks at HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
2 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)




Reading
Farm to Trouble by Amanda Flower

Listening
The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs



Followin' with Bloglovin'



-
Spell the Month in Books ~ July 202249 minutes ago
-
Friday Fives - July TBR57 minutes ago
-
Feared by Lisa Scottoline1 hour ago
-
-
June Monthly Wrap-up1 hour ago
-
-
-
The Paris Apartment5 hours ago
-
-
-
New to Me Authors: June 202215 hours ago
-
Cookbook Review: The Mac + Cheese Cookbook17 hours ago
-
Monthly Round-Up: June 202218 hours ago
-
-
June Reflections19 hours ago
-
-
June 2022 Reading Wrap Up1 day ago
-
-
Tiny Tidbits1 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fear No Evil by James Patterson3 days ago
-
-
Review: Scrubbed by Dr. Nikki Stamp1 week ago
-
-
-
-
-
May Reading: Highlights & Disappointments4 weeks ago
-
-
An Honest Lie by Tarryn Fisher2 months ago
-
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova3 months ago
-
-
Cybils Awards 2021: The End4 months ago
-
Back to the Classics 20225 months ago
-
-
-

Grab my Button!



Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ▼ 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
This sounds like a very timely story, but also heartbreaking. Not sure if this is for me or not, but wonderful review.
ReplyDeleteThere are more and more opioid-based books coming out and I think it's important.
ReplyDelete