WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD by Christopher Barzak

"Imagine you had the opportunity and the gift to "see", to find out who you really are and how your family history came together by the vicissitudes of life to construct your unique place in the world. Such a gift does not come without costs. The history of every family must be ripe with secrets. Some secrets are perhaps best left unstirred. But there is a strength that come with knowing if your able to survive the revelations ..." "A very imaginative and compelling read, more overtly magical than One for Sorrow and The Love We Share..., but just as wrapped up in love and death as each. Strongly recommended. Note to author: I look forward to reading your autobiography one day. There has got to be a very interesting story behind your unique vision..."

"When I settle in to read a book, I want to be taken away and entertained. I want to enjoy the language and rhythm. But most of all I want to feel the story well after I have closed the book. And this book had all of what I look for: This story continues to return to my mind often, as it brought up interesting ideas about our place in the interwoven supernatural and natural worlds, the legacy of sin, love, and the dynamic between mother and son. Wonders of the Invisible World is an intricate, many-layered tale told in well-crafted, plainspoken language about a boy on the cusp of manhood in search of the real story of his family, which turns out to be a story of long-rooted and gnarled sins that bind Aiden Lockwood’s family together more than the blood they share. As Aiden falls into the haunted center of the blackened apple tree in his family’s dead orchard, I thought about my own haunted journey of self-knowledge, and how that journey spins you through unexpected landscapes. I enjoyed the seamless supernatural and natural world that Aiden learns to see in the story, and it made sense to me. In particular, a highlight of the book was the psychic dynamic between Aiden and his mother. It is not often that I have read about a mother and son battling it out within the pages of a novel ..."

책의 초반은 조심스럽게 복선을 깔고 이야기가 전개된다. 대체 이 책은 무엇을 말하고자 하는가 하는 생각으로 계속 읽게 되는 책이다. 중반 이후에야 이 책은 게이 문학이고 YA 계열의 장르이며 환타지적인 요소를 가지고 있는 작품이라는 것을 확실히 알 수 있다. 게이 문학이 그렇듯 이 책도 직선적이고 설득적이기보다는 묘사적이고 서정적인 성격을 보여주는 것이 특징이다. 주인공 소년의 성정체성, 그런 아들에 대하여 부정하는 어머니, 가족의 비밀 등이 환타지적 요소와 잘 엮어 있다. 편견없이 게이 장르라는 점을 이해하고 읽는 다면 읽을 만하다.