#visible

'Come Closer' Book Review

When I first read Come Closer, it was under a different name (The Misadventures of Celia Rose) and not only that but the description was minimal at best and said virtually nothing about the plot, only showing it's simple beginnings as a challenge from the Clubs about presenting your character with the food they hate the most (pineapple) while inside an elevator. So, as you can imagine, I had no expectations at all, thinking I was going to read a funny book that would pass a few minutes.

I read the whole book non-stop in the span of two days.

And my initial assumption was correct-Celia is a hilarious character and the predicaments she finds herself in are equally off the wall and humorous, whether it's facing off with a pineapple or throwing a funeral for a totalled car. She is overwhelmingly likable with her own brand of doing things that is weird in the utmost charming way.

But something hides under the surface and it's this element of the book that elevates it from a simple time waster into a story that actually has something meaningful to say, lessons to be taught.

It will vary by person when they will release that there's more to Celia than she's letting on. And that's because the author is amazing at leaking out little details and hints as the story goes along. It's possible to know something is up by the second chapter but if a reader isn't paying attention or doesn't know what to look for, it might be halfway through the book before they start to see the "other side" to Celia.

This "other side" is hard to talk about in a review. And that is because the author wisely does something that so many others fail to do: she does not diagnose Celia. Ever. You can read the whole book and figure out her diagnoses yourself but not once does the author completely spell it out for you. And, for me, that is something to applaud. Too many times authors fall into the trap of making a mental illness or a disability the very root of a character's existence. They could not exist without the illness/disability and the entire plot of the story revolves around it. More than that, Come Closer even acknowledges that dynamic and refutes it.

Celia, over the course of the book, learns to accept her problems as part of her while at the same time knowing that they are not all of what makes her who she is. That is a super important lesson that everyone with an illness or disability would benefit immensely by learning.

'Come Closer', in my opinion, is a masterpiece. Not just a good Wattpad book but an excellent "real" book that should be read by anyone with an illness/disability, anyone who knows someone who suffers from one, and for fellow writers who want to see how to properly write about a character with them without making it the centre of the plot. Let Celia come closer to you, she is a character that anyone can fall in love with and learn from.

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By Wiserthanthou

Author of 'The Choice of Twilight'

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You can find an original poem Lamestuff wrote for #visible in the anthology book!