“It’s all mirror, mirror on the wall because beauty is power the same way money is power the same way a gun is power.”

Chuck Palahniuk’s Invisible Monsters tells the story of a disfigured supermodel, her ex-fiancé and their queen supreme, who needs one more surgery to become fully women. Throughout the story, we jump around topics of drug trips, running from the law under false alias, photo shoots and modeling, and each characters’ pasts.

This book had my attention from the first paragraph. The book starts off at the end after a shooting at Evie’s (the narrator’s friend) wedding. You’d think it the situation would be gory and panicked, but the narrator tells the situation with such ennui, it makes the shooting run-of-the-mill and kind of funny. The voice of the narrator kept me on the edge of my seat each page as she jumped from plot point to plot point, just like a fashion magazine. She makes her point of view special by sharing her inner feelings through her internal photographer like “Give me attention. Flash. Give me adoration. Flash. Give me a break. Flash.”

My favorite thing about this book is how Palahniuk tackles LGBTQ+ problems through the queen supreme, Brandy Alexander. We are introduced to her as her and the narrator go through speech therapy. Towards the end, Brandy confesses about how she was sexually abused at home, she ran away from her family after being disowned and struggling to find a new family. The story makes LQBTQ+ people seem normal and able to be powerful leaders. Brandy, despite her many faults, inspires me to be open and honest with myself and do what feels right.

The one thing that made this book flawed was the amount of plot twist at the end of the book. Towards the end, or back to the beginning of the book, the narrator is telling Brandy their life stories. What frustrated me the most was that each plot point was twisted. Oh, your ex shot your jaw. No, it was your other friend. Plot Twist! Brandy is your long lost brother, who’s just pretending to be transgender. Plot Twist! She shot her own jaw off. Then for the last two chapters I was left confused and in awe, contemplating why she would lie and twist the truth for the whole story.

I give this book a 9/10 for a raw, confusing, and very interesting storyline with quotable lines and many, many life lessons.