The Story Siren: Out of Sight, Out of Mind by Marilyn Kaye

Out of Sight, Out of Mind by Marilyn Kaye

Monday, December 7, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Out of Sight, Out of Mind by Marilyn Kaye

Release Date: February 2, 2009
Publisher: Kingfisher
Age Group: Middle Grade
Pages: 222
Overall:

Source: Blue Slip Media
Interest: Premise
Buy the Book/Associate Links: Amazon/Indiebound

Thirteen year old Queen-of-mean Amanda Beeson, wakes up one morning in the wrong body. She's become lonely, unfashionable Tracey Devon - one of Amanda's targets for bullying. Amanda discovers that Tracey, ignored at home and at school, has the ability to turn invisible. Amanda sets out to rescue her one-time victim from obscurity - as well as rescuing herself from Tracey's life!

Three words; one-mean-girl

This novel just wasn't my cup of tea. I tried to and really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get into it.

The writing was good, but the plot and characterization was lacking.

Amanda really didn't not learn anything from her experience, and she's not a likable character, there are some moments of sympathy toward her, but those become mute at the end of the book, when it seems like she's back to her old ways. I know this is part of a nine part series, but I just felt like there was a lot of character introductions without any information... there was nothing there that made me want to continue to read the series and discover the other characters.

The plot seemed to drag at times, and the over-all revelation was sort of laughable.... *spoiler alert* " use your powers and tell me the winning lottery numbers!" I mean really...?

I would recommend this series to a younger reader, but with all the other great ones out there, I probably won't continue to read the rest of this series. Although I will most likely pick up future titles by the author.

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View an in depth look into my Star Rating.

12 comments:

Rebecca Herman said...: I read this author's Replica series when I was younger... good series but terrible ending in the final book. So I'm not sure I'd pick up another series by her.; December 7, 2009 1:19 AM
Samantha LeAnne said...: I thought the premise seemed pretty interesting, like a supernatural Freaky Friday kinda thing or something, but I don't think this is something I'll pick up. I don't like unlikable characters lol.
Good review, as always :); December 7, 2009 2:02 AM
alterlisa said...: I despise that movies, reality TV and books have made "mean girls" the new hero. I don't like that it is now considered the "norm". Might read the book but only if I felt that the character is going to mature and learn from this out of body experience.; December 7, 2009 8:47 AM
Andrea said...: Yeah, I can't deal with a 9 part series right now and certainly not one with a bad main character. Thanks for the review!; December 7, 2009 9:40 AM
Nicole said...: Hmm. I have this in my pile, but I don't think I'll be picking it up anytime soon. T'anks for the review.; December 7, 2009 12:49 PM
Girl on a Mission said...: I just recently finished this one, and I agree that Amanda was a complete snob, especially at the end. However, I will continue to read the rest of the series to learn about the other characters' point of views.; December 7, 2009 1:03 PM
...MY NAME IS ELENI AND I AM A BOOKAHOLIC... said...: I haven't read any books from this series, and I doubt I will, thanks for the honest review!; December 7, 2009 1:45 PM
Anonymous said...: This is the Gifted series? Yeah I tried to read one of the earlier books and it was awful.; December 7, 2009 2:18 PM
Emma said...: The plot does seem pretty unoriginal. I'm not going to waste my time with this one.; December 7, 2009 3:56 PM
The Book Owl said...: Wow, a nine part series? I definitely don't have time for that. That's too bad that the main character doesn't change :/ Good review; December 8, 2009 7:29 PM
Leslie said...: hmm idk what to think now.. was thinking about getting it but meh now im not too sure... thanks for the review; December 15, 2009 6:21 PM
Emma said...: Oh I've read this book and overall I thought it was pretty great. It seems odd at first, but once you read the other books, the plot really starts to develop. The characters each have a really neat side too. Overall I loved it!; August 4, 2010 5:22 PM