Now You See It... Book

Wendy is practically blind without her glasses, so when her normal pair breaks she gratefully turns to a pair she randomly finds by the side of the road. Weirdly, the glasses are exactly her prescription--and even stranger, she sees ghosts, fairies, and even magical portals through them. After running through one of these portals, she accidentally finds herself embroiled in a quest to save an elvin prince, assisted by a lecherous spreenie, a rambunctious dog, her time-travelling grandmother, and the coolest girl in school (who is actully an ancient hag when seen through the glasses).

Oh Vivian Vande Velde, how could you do this to me? You have always written the most wonderful YA, full of unexpected twists and gender play and trope reversals. And yet this book is so bland and boring! Wendy is a terrible character: cowardly, not particularly bright, not particularly kind or empathic, and whose main concern is looking cute for popular boys. In the end, her main concern is *still* looking cute for boys. She is the most unlikable character ever. She's not even detestable, like Uriah Heep or the Bastard of Bolton. She's just very, very mediocre. There's a kernal of an interesting story here: Wendy gets to meet her grandmother when she was young, before she started suffering from Alzheimer's. And her grandmother is a fantastic person in every way...but making her interact with bland Wendy drove down my enjoyment.

I am definitely not the target age group for this book--think tweens--but still, it was so disappointing!