The Year We Became Invincible

by Mae Coyiuto

Dear Future Partner,

If you're reading this, it's either:
1. You're my future partner
2. I'm famous and my writings have been immortalized
3. You've violated my privacy and these are not meant for you

Let's hope it's not the last one. Before this year, I had my life all planned out. This book contains the story of how this year changed my life (well, my life so far). It's the year I learned how to be invincible. That wasn't really specific, but I guess you have to read on to see what I'm talking about.

Love,
Camille

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

179 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2015

About the author

Mae Coyiuto is a not-so-young-adult who loves YA fiction. She has published children’s books and YA collections with Anvil Publishing, Philippines. If she's not writing, she's usually fangirling over Beyoncé, tennis, Gilmore Girls, or all of the above.

Mae has also published under the name Samantha Mae Coyiuto.

Reviews

[Spens (Sphynx Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I say is, Mae Coyiuto has gone a LONG way from this to Chloe and the Kaishao Boys. I didn't really enjoy this one and the writing was very much juvenile. But I didn't completely hate it because it did get a couple of laughs out of me.

[Justine from Novels and Panda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad of a read for a Monday. It was written in a letter-type storytelling. I found myself drowning in Camille Li's letters! Great adventure and has awesome pacing.

[janeee :D · Rating 2 out of 5]

”You don’t know what he’s been through! His mom beats him!”

a myriad of grammar mistakes, ellipses every other sentence, a shaky foundation for a plot — mae coyiuto had one chance and she missed , but landed w chloe and the kaishao boys !!!!!!!!!!! 1.5 - 1.75

[Jay Tria · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's one of those books that hides a powerful punch behind easy, flowing, unpretentious prose. It's a quick read, but not for lack of substance or emotion. I stayed up late to finish it, and cried in the middle of the night through the last few pages, waking up to a splitting headache after. This book was worth it.

[Bibliophilic Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5 / 5

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

For such a thin book I can proudly say I learned a lot.
I can relate to ian. I think he's somehow the male version of me in terms of giving out words of wisdom and lectures people in conversations. Up to that point only. I cant be extra smart like him HAHAHA
Im somehow like Cam too, when being quiet and suddenly blurting out stuff. Bad habit.

It's a good read before you go to college (too late for me) or when you can't decide for the future or just simply lost on finding yourself. And when you need to live life to the fullest. Carpe diem

Want to go on an adventure?

"With the right people, even the simple things can feel like an adventure."

[cessthebookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Don't let the disillusion of your dreams ever stop you from dreaming."

Such a refreshingly easy read. Yet with a deep set and thought provoking life learnings. I'm glad that I have read this book at this time of my life when I needed reconfirmation of what I really want to do and where should I be going. The Year We Became Invincible is one of the few books (well that I have read) that will remain as my point reference in life. This kind of book reminds me of my own dreams and aspirations that somehow faded though the inevitable limitations of growing up. But nevertheless, don't ever stop dreaming for you may never know you might be living it tomorrow.

[Paula M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very quick read. On a broader level, this book isn’t bad at all. The writing is solid, and while the concept of using diary entries as a storytelling device isn’t particularly new, I found myself genuinely enjoying the main character’s voice. There was something intimate and endearing about how Camille Li wrote letters to her future partner.

Plot-wise, however, is where I started to struggle. The book touches on heavy topics like self-harm and abuse, and personally, I find it unsettling when such themes are used more as shock value rather than being given the weight and resolution they deserve. Yes, there were content warnings at the beginning, but I didn’t expect the story to mention these issues and then brush past them without offering any meaningful resolution or reflection. It felt jarring and left a bad taste in my mouth, especially when dealing with themes that should be handled with more care and intention.

That said, I’m still hopeful about reading Coyiuto’s other work, Chloe and the Kaishao Boys. Like I mentioned, I really did enjoy her writing style: it’s engaging, heartfelt, and shows a lot of promise. I just hope that the narrative structure and treatment of sensitive topics are given more thought in her next book (in case such themes are present.)

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You know when you're a kid, a lot of people keep telling you 'you're the future' or 'you can do anything'. I started to doubt all of that when I grew up. Reality becomes clearer when you grow up. You start to set these limits -- these limits that dictate who you should be and what you should do. These limits build up over the years, and you don't want to think beyond them. You don't want to go beyond because it's terrifying. You don't know who you become past these limits, and that's really terrifying. I felt that fear during our adventures, but I learned that it's okay to be scared. Fear is okay if you don't let it take over. When I did things despite that fear, that's when all these limits didn't matter. For the first time, I actually believe that I can do anything.. I'm INVINCIBLE. "

"I'm the type of person who likes planning. When you have a plan, it says if you follow this one direction, everything's going to be okay. The problem is life doesn't have one direction. Sometimes, you never know where to go or even how far you're going. Maybe instead of planning my life, it would be better to add life to my plan."

"There are some people who know exactly who they want to be, and there are some people who have no idea. I'm still trying to figure out which one of the two I fall under. I don't have all the answers right now (I actually have more questions than answers), but what I do know is that I'm lucky to be loved. "

[miss.anthrope_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book over a year ago, started reading it right away and stopped altogether at around the 3rd or 4th letter to her future partner. At that time, I felt like it was another one of those goody-goody love story YA books. At this moment I have to aptly say, it's not you, it's me. I was at an angry time then. So any suggestion of innocence or young love at that time will be handled begrudingly.

Thanks to #konmari, I found my copy again last weekend and decided I need to finish it before I give it away for other people to enjoy. This time, I had a great time with Cam's adventures and how she opened up to life. Unbelievably, it made me think of how clammed up I've been lately and that I need new adventures of my own. Some lines resonated so much, one of which is "maybe it's not the romantic partner that makes us complete. Maybe it's the best friend."

Read it if you want to feel like everyrhing is still possible.

[Bomalabs · Rating 2 out of 5]

True-to-Life Dilemmas that could happen to anyone masquerading as a YA book. Relatable and Straightforward, but I'm probably looking for something else.

[Meg Prado · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first impression of this book was that I felt I was gonna relate to it a lot. From trying to read segments from random pages to seeing the back synopsis, I believed I was gonna enjoy the story of a senior in high school finding her way through life.

In my own words, this book is about a senior high school student trying to make her way through her last year by adhering to her meticulous plan - get into Berkeley, study chemistry, become a doctor like her dad, and so on. But as life cuts through her plan, she discovers the importance of friendship, living life as it goes, and finding the way back through passion.

To be honest, I was not expecting the plot it had. The guy who Camille met led her to make irresponsible decisions, yet it brought her out of her comfort zone and gained her new friends.

It included many relatable moments of feeling lost, confused, burnout, demotivated, and frustrated. It was an accurate picture of an ordinary teenage life and it sends a message that you’re not alone. It expresses that it’s okay to be rejected, to start over and find your own path - the path that makes you passionate and happy, and one that also holds your strengths. It’s okay to fail because that means you tried. That’s what matters.

I knew the moments of just going through mundane moments in life but feeling as if it’s an adventure with the right kind of people. That was what this book showed.

I was intrigued. I got caught by surprise. Most of all, I felt seen. It almost felt like what I was reading were my own thoughts.

Looking forward to reading more of Mae Coyiuto’s books.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an uptight and hopeless romantic Camille myself, this book came to me as a mirror. I really felt like it reflected parts of myself back to me, from, like Camille The Li Version, being too afraid to go outside the realm of norms to taking risks and dancing around with sponteneity. As someone who's even written letters to a future partner, I was thoroughly surprised that someone out there developed a character based on me.

The book was great for what it was, a coming of age YA book with a little bit of everything - figuring out your identity, overcoming family issues, struggling with your passions, balancing school life and drama, being a good friend, and juggling a love triangle.

While I do think the book brushed off important issues such as Ian being abused by his mother, Lea being queer and having a female partner, homophobia, and escapism, the book drove positive notions of feminism and self-empowerment (that didn't rely on the idea of being tied down to anyone). At the end of the day, I felt like the book still spoke to me: telling me that I have a life outside of the future with someone special. That I am not currently in "pending" or on wait. That my life is *here* and I should take it, claim it, and live it. So, you know, this wasn't a total waste and was actually kinda a lot good.

[Jennilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Camille Li is a senior high school who one day decides to write letters to her future partner. She says she does so because she wants her future partner to really know her. From poring over into her letters, we sneaky readers get to know that Camille is a straight as an arrow student who had this whole future fantasy laid out before her. She is going to be a doctor like her dad at the age of twenty-seven, will marry a respectable guy and will have three children of her own. But more often than not, things don’t work as planned. She unexpectedly gained four friends who took her to adventures, made her shift her views about the future and let her feel “invincible” at the present.
I was initially on the fence upon finishing this one. Something in me wants to like it because the main character is a fair representation of Asians like me but there are other particular parts that I didn’t like. And when confused with my feelings with a book, one of the things that I do, albeit ill-advised because they might influence my opinion, is to peek here in Goodreads and see what other readers say about it.

First thing that I noticed among the reviews is that most of them compare “The Year We Became Invincible” to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. Well, aside from both titles being a mouthful, I think the readers can vibe the chase of feeling invincible in this one with that moment of infinity with the other. Also, the main character, Charlie, in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” wrote letters to an imaginary friend just as how Camille here writes to an imaginary future partner. Another likeness is the main characters liking a person, within the clique; but decided to go out with another person that they didn’t like who is also within the clique; and then they both broke up with the person they are dating in the most inappropriate of ways, resulting to the whole clique not talking to the main characters for a while.

Another review that I saw mentioned a similarity of “The Year We Became Invincible” with the iconic teen film, “The Breakfast Club”. The clique in the novella is an unlikely mix of friends: The It-Girl, The Jock, The Art Freak, The Smart-Ass and The Ballerina. And what do you know, the film also has its own set of five characters who cannot be more different from each other but eventually became friends: a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.
I think I am being too far-fetched but I see the love-hate relationship of the siblings from another popular teen film “10 Things I Hate About You” between Camille and her younger sister. Plus there’s this list Camille wrote near the latter part of the novella that bears semblance with the list from the said film. It’s about the things that Camille likes and doesn’t like about her love interest. She listed seven things (seven things, a reference to an old Miley Cyrus song?) that she likes about the guy but can only think of one thing that she doesn’t like about him: he doesn’t love her back.

So you get the point, the novella is a hodgepodge of stuff pulled from here and there, resulting to a watered down impact of its coming of age theme. Do not get me wrong, getting inspiration from other forms of art is not bad at all, but I guess it just did not work for me here. The main character is developed alright but the other characters are paper thin. I find it hard buying the instant closeness and friendship among the “invincibles”. The romance is ordinary. There are moments that are trying to be big or sweet but I did not feel anything, most probably because I have read or seen those already. There are sudden bursts or display of emotions from characters that seem unnatural because it lacks proper build up. One example is the part where a character is panicking and shouting at the hospital because his girlfriend was in an accident. Another example is when Camille and her sister made up in page 108.

Another problem for me are some plot elements that are not tightly woven. Camille and her childhood bestfriend had a falling out scene and a make up scene a few dialogues later (could have used a few build up also, felt unearned, TBH). The author then suddenly used the bestfriend character as a plot device to reveal a new conflict for Camille so the supposedly sweet making up scene between bestfriends just turned sour. Another instance is when Camille’s adult older sister ran away from home and Camille was like, “Where could she be?” when she could have just texted or called her sister to know what’s really going on. But no, Camille ignored her basic teenager instinct to reach for a smartphone just so the plot can go further.

To be fair, I checked out the author’s website, read some snippets of her other works and they seem more than decent. Her writing is clear and straightforward, perfect for the voice of a a young person. This novella is surely just not for me, probably because I am too old and have seen too much. I finished it in one sitting though and what kept me engaged and glued to the pages is Camille’s voice. Her naivety and innocence is charming. She shines when she is alone with her thoughts, mulling over teenager things. “The Year We Became Invincible” is an honest attempt to portray a girl’s hopes and fears and I can imagine readers of Camille’s age being able to relate with it and even be impressed by it.

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[Booksxphotographs · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Have you thought about writing a letter to your future partner?”


Reading this book made me feel like once again I am a high school student following Camille’s writing a letter to her future partner. Camille is the person who planned her life to be a doctor in college and who would not imagine that the friendship she gained during high school would give her a lot of adventures that a teenager would not have imagined. This book is so easy to read that you are hooked and can’t help but wonder, ‘What would be their next adventure?". It also focuses on family; you will really feel the Asian type of family in the story. As the story went on, I saw the character development of each of the characters, which is one of the things that I appreciated.

[Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how the book was told using a series of letters because it was easy to take short breaks while reading. Camille’s words were raw, and it felt like she was writing in a diary. The questions she asked and the confusion in her mind showed how complicated YA can be.

The Year We Became Invincible is a book I needed when I was younger. It was a joy to be in Camille’s head for a while. Her thoughts reminded me of my own, and it’s comforting in a way I can’t express with words.

Starting my 2018 with this book was a great idea. ❤

Final Rating: 4.88/5

Full review on my book blog: https://wp.me/p4gfJt-NU

[erian reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thinnest yet one of the books I read for days (I have to review for exam next week fyi lol) this was very teenish book ofc I acquired it at school when I hosted our 89th National Book Week. There was a book fair and this was the only thing I bought since the title hooked me up. I'm rating this as 3 'cause it's okay, average, romantic very-high-school-puppy-love I loved, somehow?? but not really my genre tho. This is my 12th book in January and i'm glad this is a part of my reading challenge. AND this was written by a Filipina like me as well! Wow! That's a plus!! This is my dream, to be a writer, to publish something, and I guess next life nalang? Hehe 💗

[Carla ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The truth that hurts is what people really need to hear.

It took me a couple of days to finish it but I must say that this book was such an easy read, not because it lacks essence and substance, it’s just very uncomplicated and straight to the point. It’s a very short novel but I learned so much from it.

I also love that the book is written in epistolary form. I feel like books written in letters or in diary/journal entries seem more personal and it helps the reader to be able to connect to the character in a deeper aspect.

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

the plot really interests me, letters for ur future significant other :DD i expected this to be a light read but turns out it wasn't bcs at some parts it was very... heavy for me! her dad expecting so much out of her was relatable for me as some has high expectations and hopes for what i could do and i totally related to camille T___T i also loved the friendship between the invincibles HAHAHAHAHAH found family! but i really hated how gabby cheated on ian multiple times :// i also really loved ian... and i honestly hoped that they'd end up 😭😭😭😭 but the ending was really okay so yeah

[Jhem Aquino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought I could relate this much with a book. I literally cried in the middle of a bus ride while reading this. Ughhh. It contains a lot of realizations and lessons in life. Perfect read for those who are still figuring out things about future plans and dreams. <3

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Filipino YA I have read and it's good. Not the mind blowing story but a common teenage problem that a teenager can relate. It's about discovering what you really want in your life and the struggle of finding it.

[Shiandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story took me on a trip about the future and what it means to actually live life. It made me smile but the book had its imperfections. I would say it's a great read but not perfect enough for a high rating. Nonetheless it was a quick and easy book to read.

[Viviene]

Written by a Chinese-Filipino author born and raised in the Philippines. Published in the Philippines. Has a foreword lauding the author for adding "Filipino voices" in the YA space.

Doesn't have a Filipino main character.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.25

My rating would've been higher if it weren't for the first few boring chapters, my annoyance with Camille, and the dateless letters/chapters.

[Ynah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last book I've finished for BookTubeAthon!

[ej_bookcorner · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a lot of life lesson you can learn from this book.

I feel like I wanted to know what happen to the character more and who her future partner is.

[Ailla Magcamit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars

[Samantha Yap · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a refreshing and light read! So much good vibes 🥰 can finish in one sitting!

[Ned · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read the synopsis, I knew I had to read it. It felt like the book was calling me. And, really, at this point of my life, it was exactly what I had to read.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially thought that this might be just a light, generic YA but this book had a lot more depth than I had expected, particularly regarding the family dynamics. 4 stars.