Something else we learn about Ethel from the outset is that she suffers from severe acne. That fact is key to the story as it is her search for a cure that leads her to try a mysterious Chinese medicine she buys from the internet and an old sunbed. It is the combination of these two potent remedies that causes her to experience bouts of temporary invisibility. Once she discovers this, and comes to terms with it, she and her friend Elliot Boyd (another school outsider, who is teased because he is from the South and because he is overweight) seek to use the invisibility, firstly, to help Elliot in the school talent competition and, secondly, as a means of exposing the bad behaviour of school bullies Jarrow and Jesmond Knight, boy and girl twins who have been kidnapping local dogs and demanding ransoms for their return. Standing in front of the mirror, gripping the sides of the sink with my invisible hands, with my brain practically throbbing with the effort of processing this . . . this . . . strangeness, I do what anyone would do. Except, when I’m done, I’m still there, in the garage. This is one stubborn dream! So I do it all again, and again. Ethel, as a main character, is very good. She makes a lot of risky (and sometimes plain bad) decisions (which is probably why this book is titled "what NOT to do if you turn invisible"), but it keeps the story interesting and every single one bad decision adds to the plot. She's a very well-made character, with a lot of details added in. The subplot of Ethel figuring out who she really is is pretty good, if a little predictable. I find it hard to relate to Ethel, but I don't think it's because of the book. It's just because we're so different.

Stories about invisible people are plentiful and ancient. Plato, writing in Greece around 400BC, tells a story of the “Ring of Gyges” which will render the wearer invisible. This is my third Ross Welford novel. I loved the two others that I have read – Time Travelling with a Hamster and The 1,000 Year Old Boy – and have recommended them widely. What not to do if you turn invisible explores some similar themes to the other books – a child who has lost a parent and who feels slightly set apart from their peers, childhood fears and worries, dealing with bullies, and choosing to be brave. It is also set in the same north east England neighbourhoods of Whitley Bay and Tynemouth (an area I know well as I lived there for a few years) and the made-up town on Culvercot (sounds rather like real-life Cullercoats to me!). In case you were wondering: Yes, it does have references to Time Travelling with a Hamster. Once again, it's set near Culvercot, and there are even a few trips to Culvercot bay. I caught 3 references (one with a spelling "mistake"(?), as it was a name, one thing that was a small detail in TTWAH (and an even smaller detail in WNTDIYTI), and one that just mentioned the same sliproad from TTWAH. The one at the bay - if you've read it you'll know which one I mean.) These are all very minor details, though, and they're not important in the slightest to the plot. Ethel sa bene che quello che sta vivendo è un periodo difficile, si è accorta che gli ormoni stanno trasformando il suo corpo e le relazioni con gli altri coetanei sono difficili, il suo problema è che non sa come gestirli e prende decisioni affrettate e non ponderate per bene. Come comprare una lozione anti acne da un dottore cinese e un lettino solare prossimo dall’essere smaltito. Like his first, this doesn't dumb down the science for children/young people, and faces issues head on. In 'Time Travelling with a Hamster' he braved the subject of a parent's death. Here is it the angst of adolescent acne, a dead mother and even dementia.The other characters are also nicely done, especially the twins. The only bad thing about them is their names ("Jarrow"?? Seriously?! And you named the dog "Lady"?!), which I can't really blame Ross Welford for. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. I often sensed that as a reader I was being asked to think about what I would do if I were faced with Ethel’s dilemmas. Ethel is frequently presented with two options – the easy way and the hard way. For example when she hurts her friend Boyd’s feelings to save her own reputation Ethel must choose between looking after herself or boosting Boyd’s social standing at school at the risk of exposing her invisibility. As a reader you ask yourself just how far you would go to help a friend.

Los personajes son todos muy profundos y están muy bien desarrollados. Ethel es una chica muy dulce y algo solitaria que vive con su abuela, y poco a poco iremos descubriendo quién es ella. También encontramos a Boydy, un chico introvertido con quien Ethel hará amistad. Ambos se complementan muy bien y es fácil sentir empatía por ellos.

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What I quite liked was that we finally get a description of the main character, even if it's quite late in the book. What got on my nerves was how I never knew what Al looked like in Time Travelling with a Hamster. Here we get a small description. The description of Ethel's not much (hair colour, eye colour), but it's enough. It's more than we get of Al in his debut book. Standing in front of the mirror, gripping the sides of the sink with my invisible hands, with my brain practically throbbing with the effort of processing this ... this ... strangeness, I do what anyone would do. One downside of the plot, though, is how the characters both understand and don't get technology. I read once that if you make a world, you have to believe in it to make the reader believe it. Ross Welford does just that, but I overthink it too much. For example (Slight spoiler alert for the next paragraph) Another reason I can't relate to Ethel is because she's so short. I'm 1m72-ish (about 5ft 8in) so I really don't get her. I look down at my legs. They’re not there either, although I can touch them. I can touch my face. I can touch every bit of me, and feel it, but I just cannot see it.

If you are looking for a story with charming characters, a solid friendship and some shenanigans involving a sunbed and seriously dodgy alternative medicine this is the book for you. On immediately finishing the book I felt that I didn't feel this one as much as Time Travelling with a Hamster, but with a bit of distance since the time I finished it, I've decided that I'm actually more fond of the main characters of this novel than the previous. But you know what grown-ups say, in that way they have that’s designed to make them seem clever: “Ah, you see--it’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it?” I’ll be honest – there were times when I thought, fleetingly, that perhaps I was destined to write only one book. That Time Travelling With A Hamsterwould have its brief moment in the limelight and then gracefully move along the bookshelf to make room for books by other, more prolific and successful authors. What Not to Do If You Turn Invisible is an enjoyable novel full of mystery, twists and turns, and the bonds between family and friends.The concept of invisibility has been explained very well and easily for the readers and the logic used by the author to make invisibility possible are apt. Even young readers will find the story enlightening for their minds. The author has vividly captured the feel of a person physically and emotionally, who is experiencing invisibility, that the readers are bound to feel the same way. Receiving a copy of 'What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible' from the publisher via NetGalley has in no way affected my honest opinion of this book. One of the things I enjoyed most about the novel was the realistic voice of Ethel’s narration. Written in first person, it really feels as though when Ethel is telling her story she is speaking directly to the reader like a friend. The beginning of What Not to Do… is not told chronologically, instead the story stops and starts as Ethel remembers things she has previously forgotten to mention. It is an effective tool that mimics real speech. Welford also plays around with different fonts and frequently includes lists to organise Ethel’s thoughts and plans. The lists sometimes feel overused but Welford is at least consisted in their placement throughout the book. However the result is a novel that visually stands out. The main character in the book is a girl this time – 12 year-old Ethel Leatherhead; yes, it is an unusually old-fashioned name, but that is significant. Ethel lives with her ‘Gram’, a very conservative, very proper lady who has strong views about things that are ‘common’ or undesirable. We learn that Ethel’s mother died when she was young, and that she is not aware of her father. Ethel also has a great-grandmother, who turns 100 in the course of the novel. Great-gram lives in a nursing home and speaks very little until one day, after Ethel visits her, she grabs her by the arm and says to Ethel, rather mysteriously, “Tiger. Pussycat.”

Easily my favourite book about invisibility, though, is Memoirs Of An Invisible Man by H.F Saint. Published in 1987 it was a huge hit. It was made into a not-very-good film starring Chevy Chase and made H.F Saint a lot of money: so much, in fact, that he did not write another book and retired. Now I’m scared, and my breathing has become a bit rapid. I stand up and go to the sink in the corner of the garage, where there’s a mirror. Set in the Tynemouth and Whitley Bay area of the north-east of England, thirteen year old Ethel Leatherhead desperately tries to find a cure for her acne. An accidental combination of methods causes a startled Ethel to turn invisible. The invisibility proves to be temporary but that doesn’t stop Ethel from trying again, convinced that being invisible will solve all her problems.

A well-written new friendship with a fellow misfit and some interesting scientific concepts thrown in make this a smart read. Ethel's story is more than just a 'wish-fulfilment' tale, with several strands weaving together to give this depth and heart. It’s fun at first, being invisible. And aided by her friend Boydy, she manages to keep her extraordinary ability secret. Or does she…? Decisamente è temeraria quando assume la lozione anti acne cinese, ma è un gesto di frustrazione che deriva dai precedenti rimedi che non hanno portato miglioramenti alla sua pelle se non peggiorarla ulteriormente e la spavalderia viene sostituita con la paura quando si accorge dell’effetto collaterale che le accade: diventa invisibile. Accanto a lei ci sono i compagni di scuola e ognuno riporta un esempio di come i caratteri prendono forma e troviamo gli arroganti, le ochette, i nerd e quelli che vengono definiti gli ‘ultimi’. È una descrizione reale che parallelamente riporta la visione che si ha degli adulti che vengono percepiti come distanti, distratti, e non al passo.