Olivia Gray will not Fade Away by Ciera Burch

Seventh grade has just started, but Olivia Gray already knows this year is different. Her brother ignores her for his crush, and all her friends talk about is who likes who, something Olivia has never cared about—even when Robbie, the most popular boy in school, asks her to the fall formal. After unknowingly rejecting him, Olivia goes viral on the social app KruShh. As the chatter about Robbie and dating grows, Olivia starts to feel left out to the point of feeling invisible—literally.

Seen only by her new librarian and a friendly kid named Jules, Olivia flickers in and out of sight whenever the topic of romance comes up. As she begins to realize she might be asexual, Olivia struggles to actually use the label because of the negative perception behind it. All she wants is to be normal, but can she really fit in without disappearing completely?

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What if feeling invisible at school… made you actually disappear?

Pre-Reading Thoughts

The premise hooked me immediately — social invisibility turned literal is SUCH a perfect metaphor for early teenhood. I was expecting awkwardness, feelings, maybe some magical realism shenanigans, and a lot of secondhand “oh no, not middle school” empathy.

Post-Reading

As I thought…

• It absolutely nails that seventh-grade emotional chaos where everyone suddenly speaks Romance™ and you’re standing there like you missed a memo.

• The friend dynamics feel painfully real — the drifting, the new crush obsessions, the way your people become strangers overnight.

• Olivia’s internal voice is spot-on: observant, dry, a little defensive, very “I swear I’m fine actually” (she is not fine).

• The asexual rep is handled with a lot of care and gentleness. It feels exploratory and uncertain in a very authentic way, not neat or preachy.

It surprised me by…

• How hard the invisibility metaphor hits. Flickering out whenever romance comes up? That’s SUCH a sharp, clever device. It’s funny and then suddenly it’s devastating.

• How emotionally raw it gets. This isn’t just “cute magical quirk” — it’s loneliness, isolation, that gut-punch feeling of everyone else got the handbook and you didn’t.

• Not fully explaining the magic. Which… mildly annoyed me brain-wise, but emotionally? It kind of works. Middle school doesn’t explain itself either. Things just happen to you and you deal.

🎵 Music Pairing

Featured Song:
“Liability” – Lorde
Tender, isolated, very “I’m too much / not enough / both at once.”

Vibe Album:
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? – Billie Eilish
Whispery, anxious, bedroom-dark, big feelings in small spaces.

Artist Recommendation:
Girl in Red – soft, messy, diary-entry honesty.

Vibe Check

• Colour Palette: locker grey, notebook blue, highlighter yellow, disappearing pale

• Soundtrack: hallway chatter, phone notifications, the fluorescent buzz of the library

• Season: early autumn semester

• Mood: lonely but hopeful, awkward, tender

• Scent: pencil shavings + library books + cafeteria pizza

Tarot Pull

Honestly? The Hermit immediately jumped out.
This is such an inward, self-discovery story — stepping back, figuring yourself out while the world rushes past. Not isolation as punishment, but as reflection. Quiet truth-seeking.

For fans of

• El Deafo

• Rick

• Eighth Grade (same “please let me evaporate” social anxiety realism)