Review. (In)visible by Anyta Sunday.

Rune: Invisible
Scott: The only one who sees him . . .

A lonely boy falls in love with his closest and invisible friend.
A story about two boys struggling to be seen in each their own ways - and about friendship and love.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this story, it sounded a bit ...quirky. But I quite like quirky and I REALLY like Anyta Sunday, she's one of my all time favourite authors. So I opened it up and started reading and fell in love with this story.

We first meet Scott and Rune in their early teens when Scott and his dog save Rune from the suicide he was contemplating. By a quirk of...nature?...of something, we never really know what, Rune is invisible though animals can see him, so he is completely shocked when Scott speaks to him. Scott can see him, one lone person in the world who can.

Rune spends his time moving from place to place. He lives in abandoned buildings and uses an exchange system to get food without troubling his conscience, life is lonely and uncomfortable and he harbours a secret that hurts him to the core. He tells Scott straight away that he his invisible a fact that is easily proved when nobody else can see him but Scott. Living on a farm away from most people can be a bit lonely and Scott delights in having a friend and invites him to stay. Over the course of the summer the friendship grows, though Rune seems ready to go at the drop of a hat.

As well as friendship other feelings are slowly, slowly developing. Everything seems so idyllic - Scott even quite likes the fact that he alone can see Rune. Scott has a fabulous birthday and Rune promises him a wonderful day the next day...then disaster strikes and the two lose touch with each other. The second part of the story takes place four years down the line and after years of searching Scott finally finds Rune again.

Of course the road is never going to be completely smooth and each with their own secrets and burdens they have to learn to trust each other again. As ever Sunday's characters' and story telling are beautiful. There is a lot we didn't find out about Rune - but there at the time of reading we didn't need to know it. It wasn't relevant to the story being told - it just was.

I love her unconventional stories possibly even more than her contemporary tales. I mean this is contemporary in setting but has an almost whimsical, timeless quality to it. I would be reluctant to label it as fantasy though it certainly has fantastical elements to it. The setting - as beautiful as it was, especially the farm - is almost, almost, irrelevant to the story. It truly is a story of the interactions between the two MC's and the effect they have on each others lives. It is a story of the importance of others in our lives. It is a story of sacrifice. But most importantly it is a story about love. And love it I did.