Ooh this is dark and creepy! Jacob has the power of invincibility--literally nothing can kill him--and although he's kept it a secret, when he makes two new friends, Milo and Oh (Ophelia), he finds himself inadvertently gifting the power to Oh just in time to help her avoid injury in a car accident. She figures out what has happened and the three of them become sort of teen superheroes: Oh wants to experiment with the power and use it try to save lives, but Jacob is reluctant to share his ability and doesn't want them to overuse it. Especially when they figure out that the power is gradually warping Oh in dark ways. Man, does it get really dark by the end and ventures into horror territory! Great suspenseful buildup, a little gruesome but fine for mature middle schoolers. ( )

Very clever stand alone book. Jacob is an orphan who at 16 finally found happiness with Mr Fielding, a rich , intelligent man who became a father figure only to have his carer die in a car accident. Now, a little lost without his guardian, Jacob returns to high school and his best mate Milo who has started hanging out with a new girl called Ophelia who is a bit of a wild child. Jacob writes "You are indestructible" on Ophelia's broken arm cast and then Ophelia has an accident while skateboarding that should have given her a serious head injury but she gets up unscathed.

Jacob then lets Milo and Ophelia on a secret - seconds before the impact of the car crash that killed Mr Fielding, he turned to Jacob and said the same words resulting in Jacob walking away from the accident without a scratch. This seems to be the key to a special superpower that prevents the person from dying, no matter what happens. Jacob, Milo and Ophelia start experimenting and transfering the power back an d forth, but it appears the power is most comfortable being with Jacob. Things start to go haywire when Ophelia insists that that they use the power for good - she starts listening to police radio and asking for the power so she can rescue people who are in danger of dying....but things start to go horribly wrong when she does.

Loved the back story that we are privvy to slowly as Jacob faces the truth about the accident ( he was driving not Mr Fielding) and also about Mr Fielding having lived for hundreds of years amassing an enormous amount to wealth. Also the story of the 2 rival schools was great and the bully's come-uppance when he tries to punch Jacob while he has the power. Very interesting. ( )

"You are indestructible." These are the words Jacob's adopted dad says to him before their car crashes into a tree, killing his father, but leaving Jacob virtually unscathed. Now Jacob has the power to cheat death, and the ability to transfer that power to others, but nasty consequences arise that tests Jacob's friendships and reveal secrets his father had kept from him. ( )

In the aftermath of the accident that killed his foster father, high school student Jacob Fielding discovers that he has acquired the power of indestructibility, and the more he learns about it the more he realizes that it is a heavy burden, if not a curse.

Meh.
This book was alright. It had a really interesting premise about superpowers and what one would do if they had the ability to save people. There were a lot of deep questions that were explored about playing God and yada yada yada.

So why the lack of enthusiasm? It could be because it is 3 AM and I am literally a zombie right now……. It’s been one of those nights when I’m up reading…. not because the book was so good but because I wanted to finish it. Not the most positive thing to say in a review….

Anyway. What annoyed me most about the book was (of course) the fact that the main character, Jacob Fielding, sees the hot, blonde new girl and IMMEDIATELY falls in love with her. Seriously. They kiss on like the second or third day they know each other, and by the end of the book they have known each other for…… count them….. THIRTEEN DAYS and he is so in love with her he wants to die for her… blah blah BLAH.

I don’t think it would have annoyed me as much if it was a normal relationship… but throughout the book it seemed like Oh (the girl…. I know… not the best name choice there) had some weird influence over him, and I was led to believe that she was insane or somehow connected to the superpower that Jacob had, but NOPE. He is ACTUALLY just stupidly in love with her. You know the kind of annoying “love” I mean. He swoons when she bats her eyelashes, wants to do whatever she tells him to because she says it in an adorable voice and endlessly describes how perfect she is. That’s right PERFECT. Can you get more annoying? Jacob acts more like a teenage girl than I ever did!

Despite that setback it was pretty good for the fact that it was a quick, light read. Like I said, good premise, but all in all I found the conclusion wanting. How it was wrapped up was alright but it could have been so much better with the ideas that were was tossed around in the book. ( )