This was a very dark and dismal novel which I found in the bargain book section at B&N. The story is told from two characters, Lena and Owen, alternating chapters. Lena is obsessed with finding her brother or at least finding out who he was. She finds his old camera and lots of undeveloped film. She takes a photography class to learn to develop it herself. As she sees the places and people that Hugh shot, she seeks them out looking for answers. This leads her down a dangerous trail as she skips school, becomes involved in drugs, and searches for her identity. Owen is ten and struggling with his sexual development and feelings for his best friend Danny. Some of these chapters were sexually explicit uncomfortable as they occur between two young boys and did not seem necessary to the story. At this point, I was ready to put the book down. But I continued because I was intrigued by Lena's story. Owen's story improved from there and focused on him be ostracized from his peers and he begins to pay attention to his sister and start looking for his own answers to Hugh disappearance.
I'm glad I stayed with the book. Though it was a melancholy story, it brought home the reality of what happens to a family when one of it's members is lost and what can happen if they then lose each other. Lisa Carey writes well though graphically at times but a tragic tale can not be sugar-coated. This is not a novel for the faint of heart, and not a light read but it has real depth and worth the emotional drain. ( )

This book broke my heart. I was crying the entire book. Every character was so complex. It seemed to go very fast and left me wanting more. All of her books are just amazing but this one is by far my favorite. ( )

Lisa Carey has crafted a mesmerizing tale of a family that is struggling ‘out of synch’. When the Furey’s lose one of their members, the family begins to sputter out of control… like an engine misfiring when all the cylinders aren’t functioning properly. I was especially impressed with the character development of each family member. Ms. Carey does a remarkable job of ‘getting into the head’ of each character. She is particularly successful at depicting the fears, torment and confusion of young Owen Furey. The story glides along at a reasonable pace and you are drawn into the emotional circumstances that develop. Lisa Carey is certainly a young author to watch.
Note: This mini-review was printed in the literary anthology 'hoi polloi - A Literary Journal for the Rest of Us'. ( )

Every Visible Thing is told from the point of a pre-teen (in this case, two of them). The subject matter is fairly deep - a missing sibling - but the book's realism and point of view makes the writing succeed. This isn't a great book, but it's a good one. ( )

very well writen. I was sucked in and unable to escape. This was actually one of my students books and I stole it to finish it. ( )