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I Am the Ghost in Your House
From the author of Some Kind of Animal comes a wildly unique story about an invisible girl struggling to see herself in a world obsessed with appearances.
Pie is the ghost in your house.
She is not dead, she is invisible.
The way she looks changes depending on what is behind her. A girl of glass. A girl who is a window. If she stands in front of floral wallpaper she is full of roses.
For Pie’s entire life it’s been Pie and her mother. Just the two of them, traveling across America. They have slept in trains, in mattress stores, and on the bare ground. They have probably slept in your house.
But Pie is lonely. And now, at seventeen, her mother’s given her a gift. The choice of the next city they will go to. And Pie knows exactly where she wants to go. Pittsburgh—where she fell in love with a girl who she plans to find once again. And this time she will reveal herself.
Only how can anyone love an invisible girl?
A magnificent story of love, and friendship, and learning to see yourself in a world based on appearances, I Am the Ghost in Your House is a brilliant reflection on the importance of how much more there is to our world than what meets the eye.
Pie is the ghost in your house.
She is not dead, she is invisible.
The way she looks changes depending on what is behind her. A girl of glass. A girl who is a window. If she stands in front of floral wallpaper she is full of roses.
For Pie’s entire life it’s been Pie and her mother. Just the two of them, traveling across America. They have slept in trains, in mattress stores, and on the bare ground. They have probably slept in your house.
But Pie is lonely. And now, at seventeen, her mother’s given her a gift. The choice of the next city they will go to. And Pie knows exactly where she wants to go. Pittsburgh—where she fell in love with a girl who she plans to find once again. And this time she will reveal herself.
Only how can anyone love an invisible girl?
A magnificent story of love, and friendship, and learning to see yourself in a world based on appearances, I Am the Ghost in Your House is a brilliant reflection on the importance of how much more there is to our world than what meets the eye.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published April 19, 2022
36 people are currently reading
4423 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews
July 11, 2022
Creepy, gorgeous, disturbing cover matches the weirdness and extra eeriness of the book!
Imagine a girl named Pie who in invisible. This is not a gift or superhero power that you can turn it on and off! Nobody in the world has seen her actual face! She sees herself made of glass or water! Insubstantial! A girl who might break and wash away!
Anything she touches also disappears. To solve this problem, she wears gloves to grab things to steal or move out but if anyone accidentally sees her, she gets into trouble because they see objects fly in the air and start screaming!
Her mother is also suffering from same condition but she wasn’t born this way like Pie! And now she starts disappearing and re-emerging out of nowhere.
Pie drags her mom to Halloween celebrations in Pittsburgh. This is the only day, she can walk around the real people with her double mask and feel a little like normal young girl!
The real reason to go to a Pittsburgh by train ( without someone is sitting on their bodies) was a girl named Tess. Pie met her two years ago and fell hard!
The mother and daughter need a place to stay for the night. Pie convinces her mother to follow a teenage girl called Neele.
Her mother gets sick and disappears again. But this time she doesn’t come back! Of course Pie gets shocked because she doesn’t have any person in the world sharing the same condition with her. Without her mother, she has no idea how she could move on with her life!
At the house she hears Neele goes to a party. Pie’s curiosity gets the best of her. She joins the party and surprisingly releases Tess is also at the same location. And then…
I’m stopping right here! That’s the point where things get weirder!
The concept of the book and creepiness level truly picked my interest! At first third the story was dragging, wobbling. I patiently waited to find out what’s gonna happen. In the middle things get a little changed and when we learn more about the past of mother- daughter, the pacing picked up! The conclusion was also good!
It took too much time for me to get into the story. Several times I question myself if I should stop reading. It was still above the average, unique, weird reading experience.
I liked the bleak, dark, irritating story concept. I wish it wasn’t slow burn. But I still give extra half star to round up 3.5 stars to 4 for the originality!
Definitely different, interesting YA fantasy/ mystery novel: you should give a try if you like ghostly, spine tingling stories!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s / Delacorte Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
Imagine a girl named Pie who in invisible. This is not a gift or superhero power that you can turn it on and off! Nobody in the world has seen her actual face! She sees herself made of glass or water! Insubstantial! A girl who might break and wash away!
Anything she touches also disappears. To solve this problem, she wears gloves to grab things to steal or move out but if anyone accidentally sees her, she gets into trouble because they see objects fly in the air and start screaming!
Her mother is also suffering from same condition but she wasn’t born this way like Pie! And now she starts disappearing and re-emerging out of nowhere.
Pie drags her mom to Halloween celebrations in Pittsburgh. This is the only day, she can walk around the real people with her double mask and feel a little like normal young girl!
The real reason to go to a Pittsburgh by train ( without someone is sitting on their bodies) was a girl named Tess. Pie met her two years ago and fell hard!
The mother and daughter need a place to stay for the night. Pie convinces her mother to follow a teenage girl called Neele.
Her mother gets sick and disappears again. But this time she doesn’t come back! Of course Pie gets shocked because she doesn’t have any person in the world sharing the same condition with her. Without her mother, she has no idea how she could move on with her life!
At the house she hears Neele goes to a party. Pie’s curiosity gets the best of her. She joins the party and surprisingly releases Tess is also at the same location. And then…
I’m stopping right here! That’s the point where things get weirder!
The concept of the book and creepiness level truly picked my interest! At first third the story was dragging, wobbling. I patiently waited to find out what’s gonna happen. In the middle things get a little changed and when we learn more about the past of mother- daughter, the pacing picked up! The conclusion was also good!
It took too much time for me to get into the story. Several times I question myself if I should stop reading. It was still above the average, unique, weird reading experience.
I liked the bleak, dark, irritating story concept. I wish it wasn’t slow burn. But I still give extra half star to round up 3.5 stars to 4 for the originality!
Definitely different, interesting YA fantasy/ mystery novel: you should give a try if you like ghostly, spine tingling stories!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s / Delacorte Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
Want to read
July 29, 2021I'm legally required to read this when it comes out because I have NEVER encountered another book with a character who has the same name as me
May 29, 2022
Wasn’t what I thought! DNF Skim
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
May 19, 2022
I feel like I was led astray by the marketing. The cover is amazing and it’s marketed as horror but this is nothing close to horror at all. I would call this YA magical realism which is fine but if I knew this I wouldn’t have requested this one sadly.
Pie is an invisible 17 year old girl who is only seen by her mother (who’s also invisible), until she mysteriously disappears. Pie is left even more alone and has to figure out what to do next. Pie begins to make friendships, gives herself a new name and reaches out to her dad for help. Loneliness is a big element in the book as Pie longs to be loved. It’s a little YA and dramatic at some times but easy enough to read.
I liked the concept of how Pie and her moms invisibility worked and how they managed day to day life. Their travels throughout the US were really fun to read but other than that this got boring and repetitive. I didn’t have high hopes but still was disappointed.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!
Pie is an invisible 17 year old girl who is only seen by her mother (who’s also invisible), until she mysteriously disappears. Pie is left even more alone and has to figure out what to do next. Pie begins to make friendships, gives herself a new name and reaches out to her dad for help. Loneliness is a big element in the book as Pie longs to be loved. It’s a little YA and dramatic at some times but easy enough to read.
I liked the concept of how Pie and her moms invisibility worked and how they managed day to day life. Their travels throughout the US were really fun to read but other than that this got boring and repetitive. I didn’t have high hopes but still was disappointed.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!
December 17, 2021
"Out in the world, everyone tells you to just be yourself but then punishes you when you are."
I've never been stopped in my tracks by a book cover before. That all changed when I spotted this one. It's beautifully grotesque, the phantasm just takes your breath away. Probably one of my favorite book covers. Sadly the cover and the concept were the best things about this book.
This had one of the most interesting concepts but I felt as if I was chasing my own tail most of the time. Things just happened in this big continuous loop and it got old after the third time. At first, I was glued to the pages to find out what was going to happen next and then it kept happening and kept happening. Then the authors threw some side elements into the mix that took a lot of attention away from the main objective.
I enjoyed the interaction between Pie and Denise but really didn't like it between Pie and her parents. Her parents were selfish and not loving at all. Some may see her Mom as a caring and wonderful Mum but she was nothing of the sort. And please don't get me started on that character that Pie called Dad. *puke* So this book was really a double-edged sword for me. I enjoyed this and then I didn't. While it was interesting, I wasn't fully invested.
Denise, Jules, and Pie were the absolute cutest and no one can change my mind about that. Their instant bond with one another was so sweet. Instead of Denise being judgemental, she learned the full story before she made a choice. It was endearing.
I Am the Ghost in Your House was okay. It was more disappointing than anything. While I liked Pie and her willingness to accept who she was, she forgot all about her Mum once she made friends. Which is really weird once you know the extent of their relationship. While I liked some of this book, it wasn't the book of the year like I thought it was going to be. I do recommend this one because it was really unique.
I've never been stopped in my tracks by a book cover before. That all changed when I spotted this one. It's beautifully grotesque, the phantasm just takes your breath away. Probably one of my favorite book covers. Sadly the cover and the concept were the best things about this book.
This had one of the most interesting concepts but I felt as if I was chasing my own tail most of the time. Things just happened in this big continuous loop and it got old after the third time. At first, I was glued to the pages to find out what was going to happen next and then it kept happening and kept happening. Then the authors threw some side elements into the mix that took a lot of attention away from the main objective.
I enjoyed the interaction between Pie and Denise but really didn't like it between Pie and her parents. Her parents were selfish and not loving at all. Some may see her Mom as a caring and wonderful Mum but she was nothing of the sort. And please don't get me started on that character that Pie called Dad. *puke* So this book was really a double-edged sword for me. I enjoyed this and then I didn't. While it was interesting, I wasn't fully invested.
Denise, Jules, and Pie were the absolute cutest and no one can change my mind about that. Their instant bond with one another was so sweet. Instead of Denise being judgemental, she learned the full story before she made a choice. It was endearing.
I Am the Ghost in Your House was okay. It was more disappointing than anything. While I liked Pie and her willingness to accept who she was, she forgot all about her Mum once she made friends. Which is really weird once you know the extent of their relationship. While I liked some of this book, it wasn't the book of the year like I thought it was going to be. I do recommend this one because it was really unique.
June 18, 2022
This was such a great concept and overall really well done when it came to creating the ways in which this invisibility is controlled, what Pie & her mom can get away with, how they navigate life, how they avoid interactions with visible people, etc. I really enjoyed the story as a whole. However, there were several scenes that felt like they were just included to make the book unnecessarily longer, and there were also several aspects that didn't seem to be resolved and questions that lacked answers by the end of the book. Otherwise, it was a super fast read and a solid coming of age story.
September 1, 2022
Okay but this was SO GOOD.
Do you remember that episode of Buffy where the girl turns invisible because no one talks to her and forgot about her? Then at the end she goes to invisible kid spy school?
Wish there was a whole book about her but also that she was gay? This is the book you didn’t know you needed.
I loved the end so much it was such a crazy wild ride
Do you remember that episode of Buffy where the girl turns invisible because no one talks to her and forgot about her? Then at the end she goes to invisible kid spy school?
Wish there was a whole book about her but also that she was gay? This is the book you didn’t know you needed.
I loved the end so much it was such a crazy wild ride
August 24, 2023
This book. Ugh. My heart. I could empathize soooo much with Sam/Pie. 🥺🥺
December 1, 2022
2.75 stars
It was...fine, I guess? Just a book I picked up on a whim, without any expectations, so I can't say I'm disappointed, but it also didn't do anything for me.
Even though the idea sounded original at first, pretty soon I had a feeling I was reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, just less poetically written.
I also couldn't connect to the characters and didn't really care about the stakes and what would happen to them.
Loved the title and the book cover, though!
It was...fine, I guess? Just a book I picked up on a whim, without any expectations, so I can't say I'm disappointed, but it also didn't do anything for me.
Even though the idea sounded original at first, pretty soon I had a feeling I was reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, just less poetically written.
I also couldn't connect to the characters and didn't really care about the stakes and what would happen to them.
Loved the title and the book cover, though!
June 9, 2022
3.5
as an invisible person, pie goes through life unnoticed. though she’d like to have friends, she knows she’d just scare people and her (also invisible) mom has drilled into her head she’d probably be taken away for testing, too. however, when she and her mom go back to pittsburgh—a place her mother said they’d never go again—she goes with the plan of reuniting with the girl she crushed on from afar two years ago. soon after reaching the city, her mother falls ill, and pie follows home someone she thinks is her crush. however, the people whose house she inhabits might be more welcoming.
the premise of this book sounded pretty interesting. i did expect this to be a horror, however her invisibility felt like something that was just there to make her quirky? this book read like a contemporary in which the main character happened to be invisible, if that makes sense. there was also quite a bit of infodumping, with too much tell and not enough show. it was a pretty quick read, though, despite its page length!
as an invisible person, pie goes through life unnoticed. though she’d like to have friends, she knows she’d just scare people and her (also invisible) mom has drilled into her head she’d probably be taken away for testing, too. however, when she and her mom go back to pittsburgh—a place her mother said they’d never go again—she goes with the plan of reuniting with the girl she crushed on from afar two years ago. soon after reaching the city, her mother falls ill, and pie follows home someone she thinks is her crush. however, the people whose house she inhabits might be more welcoming.
the premise of this book sounded pretty interesting. i did expect this to be a horror, however her invisibility felt like something that was just there to make her quirky? this book read like a contemporary in which the main character happened to be invisible, if that makes sense. there was also quite a bit of infodumping, with too much tell and not enough show. it was a pretty quick read, though, despite its page length!
June 12, 2022
3/5 stars.
An interesting story, but I think my expectations for this were too high because it wasn't as good as I had hoped for.
Pieta, or Pie for short, was a sweet character, and I felt for her and her plight of being utterly invisible to everyone when all she wanted was to be seen. I liked that we got to see glimpses of her life growing up, and how she and her mother got by, as well as seeing how her life was now that she was alone. I do think that the pacing for the book was slow, and there could have been fewer flashbacks that didn't add to the current storyline.
Pie herself felt somewhat like a wooden character, though she did grow into herself by the end of the novel. I know that she was still figuring herself out - how was she to know who she was, when she had spent the entirety of her life unseen - but unfortunately this made the beginning 1/3 of the novel feel bland because it was hard to be invested in her character.
I did enjoy the last 1/3 of the book, where the plot finally picked up and the stakes were much higher, so I'm glad I did not stop reading the novel. While there were some shaky parts to the novel, it did deliver a satisfying ending.
An interesting story, but I think my expectations for this were too high because it wasn't as good as I had hoped for.
Pieta, or Pie for short, was a sweet character, and I felt for her and her plight of being utterly invisible to everyone when all she wanted was to be seen. I liked that we got to see glimpses of her life growing up, and how she and her mother got by, as well as seeing how her life was now that she was alone. I do think that the pacing for the book was slow, and there could have been fewer flashbacks that didn't add to the current storyline.
Pie herself felt somewhat like a wooden character, though she did grow into herself by the end of the novel. I know that she was still figuring herself out - how was she to know who she was, when she had spent the entirety of her life unseen - but unfortunately this made the beginning 1/3 of the novel feel bland because it was hard to be invested in her character.
I did enjoy the last 1/3 of the book, where the plot finally picked up and the stakes were much higher, so I'm glad I did not stop reading the novel. While there were some shaky parts to the novel, it did deliver a satisfying ending.
April 25, 2022
Rep: bi/pan mc, Black lesbian li, lesbian, nonbinary & trans side characters, Black side characters
CWs: implied child sexual abuse, child neglect
CWs: implied child sexual abuse, child neglect
November 12, 2025
Pie is invisible. So is her mom, though she wasn't born that way. The two of them have spent Pie's whole life on the road, stealing, living in other people's houses, talking to no one especially since nobody else is invisible. At the same time that they're returning to the town where the girl Pie fell in love with lives, her mother disappears, even to Pie.
I read this in a video where I read the least read books on my Goodreads TBR. You can watch that here!
I have nearly taken this off of my TBR so many times. Honestly, were this not available from my public library, I would've done just that (genuinely confused why my small system has it). I don't read YA as much anymore, it didn't have great or many reviews, etc. But I ended up being really glad that I gave this one a shot.
I do have to say first: this is NOT a horror book. This is a magical realism/fabulism coming of age story. It is very much tied to the real world and is no way scary. While I love this cover, the marketing of this book doesn't do a great job of actually letting you know what it's about.
There's a few things I think were pulled off flawlessly. First, the amount of rules and worldbuilding surrounding invisibility scratched my brain so well. It was just so fun! Second, there are vignette chapters showing her life with her mom before the start of the book. They felt so poignant. I also really enjoyed the metaphor behind the invisibility, it reminded me of Shark Heart by Emily Habek. Specifically with her mother, it's about having a parent suffering from mental health struggles and the weight that comes with taking care of them.
I at first was worried that the romance part of this book was going to be too much of it. Then, as the book evolved, that plotline evolved into something that I could get behind more and that rang true to life. I think my major critique of this book is that even though Pie's relationship with her mom is the catalyst and crux of the story, we see nearly none of her in the present timeline. Instead, we spend time with the teens and even Pie's dad a bit. I think this book could have been more effective if we paired down some of the antics in exchange for more time with the mom.
Overall, this was such a solid coming of age story. I have a feeling if I read this as a teen I would've been obsessed. I would definitely recommend this to YA readers.
I read this in a video where I read the least read books on my Goodreads TBR. You can watch that here!
I have nearly taken this off of my TBR so many times. Honestly, were this not available from my public library, I would've done just that (genuinely confused why my small system has it). I don't read YA as much anymore, it didn't have great or many reviews, etc. But I ended up being really glad that I gave this one a shot.
I do have to say first: this is NOT a horror book. This is a magical realism/fabulism coming of age story. It is very much tied to the real world and is no way scary. While I love this cover, the marketing of this book doesn't do a great job of actually letting you know what it's about.
There's a few things I think were pulled off flawlessly. First, the amount of rules and worldbuilding surrounding invisibility scratched my brain so well. It was just so fun! Second, there are vignette chapters showing her life with her mom before the start of the book. They felt so poignant. I also really enjoyed the metaphor behind the invisibility, it reminded me of Shark Heart by Emily Habek. Specifically with her mother, it's about having a parent suffering from mental health struggles and the weight that comes with taking care of them.
I at first was worried that the romance part of this book was going to be too much of it. Then, as the book evolved, that plotline evolved into something that I could get behind more and that rang true to life. I think my major critique of this book is that even though Pie's relationship with her mom is the catalyst and crux of the story, we see nearly none of her in the present timeline. Instead, we spend time with the teens and even Pie's dad a bit. I think this book could have been more effective if we paired down some of the antics in exchange for more time with the mom.
Overall, this was such a solid coming of age story. I have a feeling if I read this as a teen I would've been obsessed. I would definitely recommend this to YA readers.
May 5, 2022
3 stars. The plot of this is so cool and unique but the execution wasn’t the best. You can definitely tell that this is a debut novel because of the writing. The characters were pretty one dimensional and forgettable but the plot was entertaining and I can say that I was never really bored while reading this. I’m interested to see what this author does next because the book had a lot of potential and I have my fingers crossed that the next book by Moore will be better.
March 26, 2023
4.5✨
This book flew by. It took me only two hours to finish and I was wrapped in so fast. The characters, the story and the overall unique concept is so entertaining and such a different story that digs even deeper than just an invisible girl. Heavily recommend
This book flew by. It took me only two hours to finish and I was wrapped in so fast. The characters, the story and the overall unique concept is so entertaining and such a different story that digs even deeper than just an invisible girl. Heavily recommend
March 11, 2022
Read an eARC from the publisher
Content warning: absent parent (father), child sexual assault (Chapter 43, not depicted, heavily implied), mental illness, kidnapping, home invasion
Pie isn’t a ghost, not exactly. But no one can see her, except for her equally invisible mom. All her life, they’ve been traveling across the United States, and Pie’s special treat holiday is Halloween. She chooses Pittsburg as the destination in the hopes that she’ll see the girl whose house she squatted in a few years before.
Melancholy, tender, and spooky, this novel is a great examination of family born and chosen with a dash of boundary setting in more ways than one.
A blog interview will be going up with the author on release day, April 19, 2022.
The structure of this book lends well to giving a full spectrum look at the deep loneliness Pie experiences. Almost every chapter ends with a memory or an anecdote. So, we get to see her distance from people both in real time and the isolation it has caused in the past. The compassion the narration shows Pie’s mother is also incredible. Truly, a woman doing her best to protect her mother, and I would gladly read a spinoff story about her adolescence.
There are some moments which flex the suspension of disbelief, such as some of the robberies that take place. Pie’s father is an absolute scoundrel and while her supernatural abilities make it seem that he’s always going to be successful. The way this storyline unfolds as Pie learns to trust herself and others is truly heart-wrenching and I really like the open-endedness of it. Nothing is tidy, but it’s super hopeful, especially given the sadness that preceded this particular episode in her life.
If you’re looking for a read that features both loving support and stern accountability, the depiction of messy friendship is not something I’ve seen in fiction yet. While there is a happy for now, apologies don’t erase the upset. It’s an important depiction that conflict is inevitable but not relationship-threatening, especially among teen girls who are still in the process of discovering themselves.
Content warning: absent parent (father), child sexual assault (Chapter 43, not depicted, heavily implied), mental illness, kidnapping, home invasion
Pie isn’t a ghost, not exactly. But no one can see her, except for her equally invisible mom. All her life, they’ve been traveling across the United States, and Pie’s special treat holiday is Halloween. She chooses Pittsburg as the destination in the hopes that she’ll see the girl whose house she squatted in a few years before.
Melancholy, tender, and spooky, this novel is a great examination of family born and chosen with a dash of boundary setting in more ways than one.
A blog interview will be going up with the author on release day, April 19, 2022.
The structure of this book lends well to giving a full spectrum look at the deep loneliness Pie experiences. Almost every chapter ends with a memory or an anecdote. So, we get to see her distance from people both in real time and the isolation it has caused in the past. The compassion the narration shows Pie’s mother is also incredible. Truly, a woman doing her best to protect her mother, and I would gladly read a spinoff story about her adolescence.
There are some moments which flex the suspension of disbelief, such as some of the robberies that take place. Pie’s father is an absolute scoundrel and while her supernatural abilities make it seem that he’s always going to be successful. The way this storyline unfolds as Pie learns to trust herself and others is truly heart-wrenching and I really like the open-endedness of it. Nothing is tidy, but it’s super hopeful, especially given the sadness that preceded this particular episode in her life.
If you’re looking for a read that features both loving support and stern accountability, the depiction of messy friendship is not something I’ve seen in fiction yet. While there is a happy for now, apologies don’t erase the upset. It’s an important depiction that conflict is inevitable but not relationship-threatening, especially among teen girls who are still in the process of discovering themselves.
April 17, 2022
“It reminded me of ants or bees. Cells. All these individuals moving together, becoming one large organism. Part of something larger. I was never part of anything.”
A reinvention of the Invisible Man trope that brings to mind that meme “If the world was blind, how many people would you impress?” This book explores the idea of invisibility without the superhero nuance, as something that simply exists like any other realistic “problem novel”.
Pie and her mother are invisible. To survive they are always actively working to make all evidence of their existence disappear. She and her mother travel on public transportation (avoiding other people sitting on them), living in empty vacation houses, sometimes in large houses with empty rooms while families are still there. Always existing in the tension between having anything you want - just by taking it correctly- and never having enough of what they truly want - authentic human interaction. Pie can take anything but it doesn’t have value because no one knows she has it. “”I’d held real diamonds in my hand before,and yet here I was, getting choked up over the gift of a disposable straw.”
The plot is driven by a trip to Pittsburgh. Pie desires to connect again with Tess, a girl she became infatuated with the last time they were in the city. This time Pie’s mother, and only companion, winks out of existence and Pie works at developing true friendships, discovers more people are invisible and comes to terms with herself.
I enjoyed the world building, the explanation of how the invisibility could be transferred to objects large and small, sometimes with disastrous consequences. But, the loneliness resonated most intensely, the desperate ache for connection, visibility, authentic human contact.
This book gave me similar vibes to the movie Parasite. The idea of people moving in the intimate spaces of others without acknowledgement or authentic connection. This book feels rich with meaning and opportunity for book discussion
Thanks #netgalley for the opportunity to preview this book. Look for it April 19th, 2022.
A reinvention of the Invisible Man trope that brings to mind that meme “If the world was blind, how many people would you impress?” This book explores the idea of invisibility without the superhero nuance, as something that simply exists like any other realistic “problem novel”.
Pie and her mother are invisible. To survive they are always actively working to make all evidence of their existence disappear. She and her mother travel on public transportation (avoiding other people sitting on them), living in empty vacation houses, sometimes in large houses with empty rooms while families are still there. Always existing in the tension between having anything you want - just by taking it correctly- and never having enough of what they truly want - authentic human interaction. Pie can take anything but it doesn’t have value because no one knows she has it. “”I’d held real diamonds in my hand before,and yet here I was, getting choked up over the gift of a disposable straw.”
The plot is driven by a trip to Pittsburgh. Pie desires to connect again with Tess, a girl she became infatuated with the last time they were in the city. This time Pie’s mother, and only companion, winks out of existence and Pie works at developing true friendships, discovers more people are invisible and comes to terms with herself.
I enjoyed the world building, the explanation of how the invisibility could be transferred to objects large and small, sometimes with disastrous consequences. But, the loneliness resonated most intensely, the desperate ache for connection, visibility, authentic human contact.
This book gave me similar vibes to the movie Parasite. The idea of people moving in the intimate spaces of others without acknowledgement or authentic connection. This book feels rich with meaning and opportunity for book discussion
Thanks #netgalley for the opportunity to preview this book. Look for it April 19th, 2022.
April 17, 2023
3.5. I definitely expected this book to be more of a horror story, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! The concept was unique and its roots in friendship and queer desire were so lovely. Such a sweet and thought-provoking read!
April 1, 2023
Cool concept, but I should've read this when I picked it up last year and not now, further removed from my YA era.
October 3, 2022
I'm a sucker for a good found family story and this was it. It's a great story about all aspects of growing up. Even though we aren't invisible like Pieta, we feel that same loneliness and sadness that she does in crowds of people sometimes. It tackles a lot of issues young adults (and if we're being real, older adults too) face such as: questioning our worthiness in friendships, not seeing our elders through rose colored glasses as we age, and learning to better yourself over time and not overnight.
I loved reading how they tackled her "condition" and that the author did well to both respect and challenge the rules created. Overall such a delightful read!
I loved reading how they tackled her "condition" and that the author did well to both respect and challenge the rules created. Overall such a delightful read!
June 23, 2022
A very creepy fantasy novel.
January 29, 2022
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
January 5, 2023
I really liked this book!! It was a very unique concept and its a really easy to read story that really sucks you in (:
January 13, 2024
I loved the idea of invisible people and enjoyed some of the imagery. The world itself needed a little bit more building and fleshing out. There was so much more the author could have done with the invisibility aspect. I didn’t feel like the laws of nature or reasons behind things were that clear. I guess it could be considered magical realism though. But ultimately, it was just another YA romance book.
March 29, 2024
Started out slow, got better towards the middle, but then had a weak resolution. Two thumbs up for concept and writing style though.
April 30, 2022
Une lecture très originale que j'ai dévoré ! Je ne m'attendais pas à être autant à fond dans ma lecture, mais il va falloir que je me rende à l'évidence, toutes les parutions des éditions Slalom me font cet effet 😱 Des page turners !
Nous qui suivons ici Pie qui voyage depuis sa naissance avec sa mère ; leur particularité est qu'elles sont invisibles. Complètement et de façon permanente ! Elles s'incrustent donc pour vivre avec des familles très riches, et volent pour vivre. La règle est simple : ne jamais trahir leur présence. Jusqu'au jour où la mère de Pie disparaît, même aux yeux de sa fille. Plus une seule trace d'elle. Pie va tout faire pour essayer de la retrouver. Même révéler sa présence à deux jeunes de son âge...
C'est une histoire métaphorique autour de l'anxiété sociale et des traumatismes. Qui n'a jamais voulu devenir invisible dans telle ou telle situation ? Pour éviter la honte, le drame, pour fuir, pour disparaître ? A force de vouloir disparaître, la mère de Pie l'a vraiment fait. Pie, elle, est née comme ça. Mais quels mystères tournent autour de cette faculté ? On le découvre petit a petit, c'est très bien amené et très bien construit.
On découvre aussi des personnages avec une identité unique : Denise, Jules, Tess... Un roman ouvert sur la représentation LGBTQ+, avec de belles personnes mais aussi des plus sombres... Un vrai panel de personnages qui m'ont amusé, effrayé, agacé, ému. Gros attachement pour Jules et sa personnalité ✨
Je ne me suis pas vraiment attachée à l'héroïne en revanche, mais ça ne m'a pas empêché d'apprécier cette histoire, et surtout de vouloir aller jusqu'à la dernière page ! Un roman qui fait réfléchir en tout cas, préparez vos méninges 🤗
Nous qui suivons ici Pie qui voyage depuis sa naissance avec sa mère ; leur particularité est qu'elles sont invisibles. Complètement et de façon permanente ! Elles s'incrustent donc pour vivre avec des familles très riches, et volent pour vivre. La règle est simple : ne jamais trahir leur présence. Jusqu'au jour où la mère de Pie disparaît, même aux yeux de sa fille. Plus une seule trace d'elle. Pie va tout faire pour essayer de la retrouver. Même révéler sa présence à deux jeunes de son âge...
C'est une histoire métaphorique autour de l'anxiété sociale et des traumatismes. Qui n'a jamais voulu devenir invisible dans telle ou telle situation ? Pour éviter la honte, le drame, pour fuir, pour disparaître ? A force de vouloir disparaître, la mère de Pie l'a vraiment fait. Pie, elle, est née comme ça. Mais quels mystères tournent autour de cette faculté ? On le découvre petit a petit, c'est très bien amené et très bien construit.
On découvre aussi des personnages avec une identité unique : Denise, Jules, Tess... Un roman ouvert sur la représentation LGBTQ+, avec de belles personnes mais aussi des plus sombres... Un vrai panel de personnages qui m'ont amusé, effrayé, agacé, ému. Gros attachement pour Jules et sa personnalité ✨
Je ne me suis pas vraiment attachée à l'héroïne en revanche, mais ça ne m'a pas empêché d'apprécier cette histoire, et surtout de vouloir aller jusqu'à la dernière page ! Un roman qui fait réfléchir en tout cas, préparez vos méninges 🤗
Want to read
September 14, 2021Legit thought something was wrong with my computer screen when I came across this cover...So trippy! Automatically added to my read list just for that
May 22, 2022
Okay first, I love the cover. I also loved this story. I loved Pie. Being lonely can feel like a curse and this book did such an amazing job with it. Seeing Pie find where she belonged and her found family had me wanting to cry. Deff a favorite.
April 24, 2023
The premise was intriguing and I fully expected to like this book. However, the writing lacked something. Maybe more emotional depth? More personality? It just didn’t seem very interesting when it had so much potential ): It just seemed pretty slow and boring from the start.
April 20, 2022
Thank you to Delacorte Press, the author, and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was released on April 19, 2022.
It’s probably cliché to call this book haunting, but how else are you to describe a novel where the main character is invisible? Pie (short for Pietà) and her mother are utterly transparent, and move through the world like phantoms, living in people’s houses and stealing whatever items they need or want for survival. They’ve also been exorcized more than once, and don’t put down roots, as staying in one place too long will get them noticed. And for Pie’s mother, that’s the worst possible thing she can imagine—so much so that she has been completely disappearing, flickering in and out of our plain of existence, to cope with that. When mother and daughter return to Pittsburgh two years after Pie became enamored with Tess, the girl whose house they were squatting in, Pie wants to see her again despite the way their brief, unlikely friendship ended—and this time, reveal her real self.
I really loved how much this book was about not only being visible or invisible, but the risk inherent in being seen, and how that colored the lives of the characters and their choices when interacting with the world around them. A major part of that is explored through Pie’s mother, who was actually not born invisible; Pie theorizes she developed the condition as a kind of camouflage in order to avoid her father’s abuse. This is a bit of a spoiler, but The book isn’t just a commentary on appearances—it goes a whole level deeper than that in its exploration of how we perceive others and ourselves and does so in an extremely inventive way.
Another thing I appreciated was the book’s structure, and how the reader was bounced from the main narrative to moments in Pie’s past that were tangentially or directly related to events in the present. I also absolutely did not expect this book to end as gently as it did, in what I felt was such a wholesome outcome. Pie does some messed up things which are second nature thanks to the lack of consequences in her upbringing (you never have to worry about following someone or stealing if you can’t be seen), but when she becomes aware of the ways in which her behavior is problematic, she takes steps to fix what she’s done—except in the case of Tess, which is left unresolved. This does make sense for the narrative, but I wish there had been a little more overt closure on that front. Similarly, I don’t think the scenes with Pie’s father did as much heavy lifting as they could have; between his career as an art thief and all the revelations related to where Pie’s mother has slipped away to, I thought there could have been just a tiny bit more elaboration, because they were so intriguing and had so much potential to have a larger impact.
Overall, this is a lovely and strangely tender book with a unique perspective on our appearance-oriented world, and it takes its power from its willingness to be patient.
It’s probably cliché to call this book haunting, but how else are you to describe a novel where the main character is invisible? Pie (short for Pietà) and her mother are utterly transparent, and move through the world like phantoms, living in people’s houses and stealing whatever items they need or want for survival. They’ve also been exorcized more than once, and don’t put down roots, as staying in one place too long will get them noticed. And for Pie’s mother, that’s the worst possible thing she can imagine—so much so that she has been completely disappearing, flickering in and out of our plain of existence, to cope with that. When mother and daughter return to Pittsburgh two years after Pie became enamored with Tess, the girl whose house they were squatting in, Pie wants to see her again despite the way their brief, unlikely friendship ended—and this time, reveal her real self.
I really loved how much this book was about not only being visible or invisible, but the risk inherent in being seen, and how that colored the lives of the characters and their choices when interacting with the world around them. A major part of that is explored through Pie’s mother, who was actually not born invisible; Pie theorizes she developed the condition as a kind of camouflage in order to avoid her father’s abuse. This is a bit of a spoiler, but The book isn’t just a commentary on appearances—it goes a whole level deeper than that in its exploration of how we perceive others and ourselves and does so in an extremely inventive way.
Another thing I appreciated was the book’s structure, and how the reader was bounced from the main narrative to moments in Pie’s past that were tangentially or directly related to events in the present. I also absolutely did not expect this book to end as gently as it did, in what I felt was such a wholesome outcome. Pie does some messed up things which are second nature thanks to the lack of consequences in her upbringing (you never have to worry about following someone or stealing if you can’t be seen), but when she becomes aware of the ways in which her behavior is problematic, she takes steps to fix what she’s done—except in the case of Tess, which is left unresolved. This does make sense for the narrative, but I wish there had been a little more overt closure on that front. Similarly, I don’t think the scenes with Pie’s father did as much heavy lifting as they could have; between his career as an art thief and all the revelations related to where Pie’s mother has slipped away to, I thought there could have been just a tiny bit more elaboration, because they were so intriguing and had so much potential to have a larger impact.
Overall, this is a lovely and strangely tender book with a unique perspective on our appearance-oriented world, and it takes its power from its willingness to be patient.
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