Book Review :: Invisibly Breathing, by Eileen Merriman

Invisibly Breathing by Eileen Merriman
ISBN: 9780143772859
Published by Penguin Books New Zealand
on 2019-03-05
Genres: Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 288
Source: Penguin Books NZ
Goodreads

A moving story about unconventional love, bullying and being true to yourself.

‘I wish I wasn’t the weirdest sixteen-year-old guy in the universe.’

Felix would love to have been a number. Numbers have superpowers and they’re safe – any problem they might throw up can be solved.

'If I were a five, I’d be shaped like a pentagon … there’d be magic in my walls, safety in my angles.'

People are so much harder to cope with. At least that’s how it seems until Bailey Hunter arrives at school. Bailey has a stutter, but he can make friends and he’s good at judo. And Bailey seems to have noticed Felix:

‘Felix keeps to himself mostly, but there’s something about him that keeps drawing me in.’

Both boys find they’re living in a world where they can’t trust anyone, but might they be able to trust each other, with their secrets, their differences, themselves?

Last updated on 14 October 2023

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What is Invisibly Breathing by Eileen Merriman about?

Felix lives with his parents and his little brother Alfie in Wellington, New Zealand, but his family dynamics are on the rocks. His parents are fighting and it’s not looking good. Meanwhile, Felix is counting his steps to school (numbers reign supreme in his world), attending classes, dealing with rough teens, and catching the eye of Bailey, the new kid at school with a stutter. Having recently moved to Wellington from Auckland, Bailey is trying to settle into life in Wellington, but the family situation is more than rough at home.

Felix doesn’t like people – they mock him for his love of numbers; Bailey struggles with bullies who tease and mock the ever-growing stutter. Both are on the outside, but they find each other in this sweet story of friendship and first love, of horrific home situations and abuse, of mental health, of growing up.

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My thoughts on Invisibly Breathing

I haven’t read anything by Merriman before (although I keep seeing Pieces of You around the place), but I really enjoyed this book. There were definitely aspects to it that I thought didn’t quite sit right in the Wellington context (a few phrases here and there that I don’t think Kiwi teens would use, no matter what year this is meant to be set in), and the whole idea of ‘invisibly breathing’ and it being an anagram of Bailey Hunter (and adding the missing letters) a little far-fetched, but on the whole, an enjoyable read.

If you’ve read any of Merriman’s other stories, then definitely pick up Invisibly Breathing. It’s out now in stores!

Have you read Invisibly Breathing?

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I received this book from the lovely people over at Penguin Books NZ, as part of a box of goodies that delivered to my door to help promote the beginning of their new Goodreads group, Turning Pages. Thank you, Penguin, for the book!