I don't think I would've enjoyed this book nearly as much had it not been such a quick read--I only spent an afternoon on this one. As I'd venture is typical of Palahniuk, most of the characters are more caricature, and many loose-ends are left streaming by the ending. The ending itself is an unsatisfying bit of deus ex machina, though I can't say I was expecting much realism after the way the story had been progressing from the beginning.

In short--it's a diversion, and definitely entertaining, but don't bother with this one if you're looking for characters to connect to or an exceptionally clever plot. ( )

It's been a long time since I've read something this well written. The plot is interesting, and will have you constantly thinking, wondering and turning the pages. I would recommend this to anyone looking to take a step out of their comfort zone and into the extreme of great lit. ( )

Always entertaining to hear what gay men think about women. ( )

Three stars for the safe sex education and cool dialogue. ( )

Full twists and powerful images, Invisable Monsters was a wonderful novel by Palahniuk. The drama that he portrays through his characters is fantastic and for anyone who enjoys sarcasm and dark humor this is def. a book for you. ( )

While it hasn't been my favorite Palhniuk novel thus far, it was still a good read. I was genuinely surprised by the plot twists and felt satisfied at the ending. ( )

For me, Invisible Monsters was trying too hard to be another Fight Club. Palahniuk's writing is of course amazing, but I really didn't like the actual story. ( )

Really good even though I didn't like the ending. I still think it was an adventure worth reading. ( )

Words cannot describe the screwed up mind of Chuck Palahniuk, this was a brilliant and hilarious read. ( )

This was my first venture into Chuck Palahniuk and I must say, I was not disappointed. Invisible Monsters is the story of a young woman (the name is never given until the very end) who has just suffered the traumatic experience of having the lower half of her jaw shot off. As she travels the country (and a little bit of Canada) with her two friends, Brandy (a transgendered MTF) and an astonishing handsome man, Seth, she simultaneously goes on her own journey of self-discovery.

I loved the language Palahniuk uses in this novel. Yes, it's a bit confusing at times as the story is by no means linear, but I found it to be a very emotional, raw sort of language. He says what he needs to and no more. Palahniuk doesn't need to use any sort of poetic language to get his point across. His simple choice of words makes it nearly impossible to put the book down. It draws you in and holds on tight until the very end.

There were a lot of twists in Invisible Monsters as well. At first, they were breathtaking and amazing, making you see the story in a whole new light. However, after awhile, they got old and semi-predictable (I sort of guessed the last major twist in the story - the one of who's truly responsible for the narrator's accident). It became almost soap operaish near the end. Apart from that small complaint, though, I found the book amazing and I would definitely recommend it! ( )

This read like a first novel by an entitled first year philosophy student who thinks he's the first person to ever discover the true meaning of existential angst, and feels that his intelligence is really, really underappreciated, like, you know? Except that it was produced by a middle-aged man who should know better. A limp, predictable satire aimed at targets so easy I wondered why Palahniuk was even bothering—not even all the 'shocking', trying-desperately-to-be-edgy moments with pre-op transsexualism, disfiguring injuries and STDs could hide how shallowly didactic this book was. ( )

Chuck's books are always the easiest and quickest reads for me - they're hard to put down. Invisible Monsters is no exception. ( )

This was an intriguing book about identity and perception. I liked how Shannon gradually learned about making assumptions based on appearances and how she learned the truth about herself and others. ( )

Hideously-scarred woman goes on the run with insane pre-operative transexual. Adventures follow.

Let's face it, Palahniuk doesn't write great female characters. Especially when one of them's a man. Still, this book contains enough energy and imagination to more than make up for it. ( )

another very strange book with all sorts of twists and turns, but for a youngin' of 18 this is exciting stuff!
not his best... ( )

Well, I suppose there's always another way to tell a story.

Having not ready any Palahniuk before, I didn't go into this book with much in the way of expectations. In spite of this, Invisible Monsters was not what I expected.

The novel begins actually seeming like a caricature of itself. It takes the idea of hitting the ground running, grabbing you reader's attention in the very first opening lines, and carries it far beyond its logical extreme. Like if the R&D team for the opening chapter took all the most outlandish ways to open a book, threw them together, and said, "if that doesn't grab 'em, nothing will."

It made me think I wasn't going to enjoy the book, but after the beginning, it sort of calms down. I ended up really liking it. The scenes when the narrator is at home with her parents are hilarious.

Of particular interest to me is the way in which Palahniuk releases superficially unconnected bits of the story here and there, irrespectively of chronological order, in such a way that you don't quite know what's going on in any of them until you have the final piece.

The book is narrated in a conversational tone, the grammar(lessness) of which bothered me a lot until I stopped mentally arguing with it and submitted.

Keep your eyes open for crises of identity (sexual and otherwise, but largely sexual), the meaninglessness of life, the ubiquitous obsession with self, drugs, family bonding(?), and of course The Search for Meaning.

This book draws you in and makes it really hard for you to put down. I read it over the course of three and a half hours and just couldn't get enough. Envy and pride are the driving forces behind our main characters. The need to be something, anything, other than what they are. ( )

This is a short novel with Palahniuk's characteristically punchy style, describing the connected realms of plastic surgery, transgenderism and the continuum between deformity and beauty via three larger-than-life characters on a drug-induced road trip. To me this was almost like two novels. The first two thirds are a little slow by Palahniuk's standards, but then it races to the end with incredible vigour, helped along by an almost hallucinatory set of wild plot twists and revelations. While for me the ideas in Fight Club worked beautifully, here they seemed just a little over the top. Despite this, I definitely paused for thought on many occasions, and very much enjoyed the ride. ( )

Being my first eye-to-text encounter with Palahnuik, I was pleased. If you are as I was, knowing this author solely through seeing the film "Fight Club" than put aside any worries you have as Palahnuik as a novelist. I thoroughly enjoyed his masterful approach to the non-linear form and to the syncopated cadence of the narrative that compelled this reader to march step by step with Shannon through exquisite Pynchonesque frivolities, stop to enjoy the parties; and yet when the shit hits the fan (about every other page), I somehow felt able to stand aloof and ponder the pain and hostility with animal curiosity instead of really feeling with the character. This novel also has great fun with words, with lots of quotable variations, saying in effect in very inventive ways, "life is just ridiculous." The plot, then, being itself ridiculous (and marvelous), then reinforces this point. If the book had been able to deliver a richer, more philosophical message it would definitely earn the fifth point. I recommend and absolutely concur with kjarcand's review. Even more, I recommend reading this book. ( )

Maybe it is because I'm older or because I've read too many of his books but they don't seem to stand out anymore. His themes of ugliness, man-boobs, and doing what isn't expected to reach a "real life" seem stale to me now. I could relate much better when I was in my early twenties. It was an alright book with some amusing passages but nothing terribly exciting. Not something I would reread. ( )

Invisible Monsters is one of my favorite books. It tells the story of a beautiful girl who becomes a supermodel because her parents pay more attention to her gay brother. She gets in a tragic accident and looses her ability to talk. She meets the amazing Brandy Alexander who is one surgery away from becoming a real women. They set off on a road trip to find who they are going to become.
I love the way this book is written, it's very raw and uncensored.
my favorite quotes:
"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known."

"When it's time to reintroduce me to solid foods, their words again, it's pureed chicken and strained carrots. Baby foods. Everything mashed or pulverized or crushed. You are what you eat."

"Hysteria is impossible without an audience. Panicking by yourself is the same as laughing alone in an empty room. You feel really silly."

"Another thing is no matter how much you think you love somebody, you'll step back when the pool of their blood edges up too close."

"The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person."

I'm making my sister read this book. ( )

One of Chuck Palahniuk's best novels to date. He tells the story of a beautiful girl that is shot in a tragic accident and has a mutilated face. This turns her world upside down in a series of events that will make you laugh, and shock you at the same time. A great novel and a very fast, easy read. ( )

Invisible Monsters opens on our nameless main character standing in the middle of a scene that is ten shades of chaotic. The lavish mansion they are in is on fire, pools of blood are creeping ever closer, and the end is near.

Flashback to the beginning of the entire mess.

The narrator, a former model & somewhat actress dependent on her beauty is in a hospital after a horrific accident. The young beauty is informed that half of her jaw is missing after a stray bullet hit her on the freeway, sending her and her car careening into a brutal mess.

While in the hospital, our now mute narrator befriends Ms. Brandy Alexander, a woman with oddly mannish hands and a thing for prescription drugs and gaudy jewelry. The two become three when a young man, Manus, joins them when Brandy take the narrator under he wing. Brandy is a thief. The trio takes on pseudonyms and live in a fantasy world touring mansions that are for sale, stealing everything from Valium to codeine, and fleeing to Canada to sell the drugs and make a profit.

Bits of the main character’s life fall in to place throughout the book; her missing brother who vanished after coming out to the family that he was gay, an estranged ex-boyfriend and the mysteries surrounding his departure, not to mention family facades and the pressures of having to beautiful all the time.

Palahniuk sets up a unique heroin for the reader. Unable to speak, we see everything in honest, dark hues through the thoughts and emotions of the main character. The character development will keep any reader enticed and turning the pages, begging for more. The reader is shown the ugly side of humanity, as is the case in most books by Palahniuk, in a way that will make them think hard about who they are as a person.

The relationships built with the characters and the dark, honest, holds-nothing-back narration will draw in any reader looking for a hero in the less-recognized grotesque. This book twists every time you think you have it figured out. The end and the way Palahniuk weaves together the final pages of his novel will stun.

Favorite Passages/Quotes

“If I can’t be beautiful, I want to be invisible.”

“…no matter how much you think you love somebody, you’ll step back when the pool of their blood edges up too close.”

“Hysteria is impossible without an audience.”

“When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat?”

“When we don’t know who to hate we hate ourselves.”

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I’ve ever known.”

“First your parents, they give you your life, but then they try to give you their life.”

“All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring.”

“What I really hate is myself, so I pretty much hate everyone.”

“The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person.”

Opinion

This book is an all-time favorite, and will be forever. My copy is underlined, highlighted, dog-eared, and pretty well beaten up. I have referred to this book dramatically as my grotesque bible. The way Palahniuk holds nothing back in his writing is very appealing to me, but I can easily see how some readers might think this haughty of him, and be turned off. All of his works lead down the path of the anti-hero and examine those issues we are far too reserved to speak of ourselves. I was entirely surprised with this book. It was nothing that I expected it to be, and that made me ecstatic. Use this book to look deeply at yourself and what you hold dear and try to see why and how and for what. The things we love the most are often times the things we are trying to run away from.

When I finished this book, I was mad. Mad that I didn’t see it coming, mad that I didn’t figure it out… And mad there wasn’t more to read.

Rating: On a scale of 1-5 stars, this book is a 4.5. If you’re into dark heroes and twist-in-plot novels that examine the human condition, this book is a must read. If you’re a bit squeamish or don’t like suspense, try some Nicholas Sparks. He’s about as opposite of Palahniuk as it gets. ( )

This book is a bowl full of crazy! I want to know what Palahniuk was smoking while he was writing this one! ( )

This is a wonderful Palahniuk book. The characters are twisted, the story is bizarre and comes together beautifully at the end. It speaks to the superficial nature of society and the struggle we all endure to create an identity separate from that which is imposed upon us. ( )