After sitting on this for a few days I am no closer to deciding whether or not The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue will be even placed one the self-next to my favourite books of all time or at the top of that list. And I’m hoping by writing about it now perhaps ill come to a conclusion. This shouldn’t be something that is questioned, because the minute it is questioned typically the book does not go on the shelf. However, days after finishing The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, I found myself crying in the shower of a scene not even majorly consequential to story. So, although to me the overall book is not flawless, it has still left a massive imprint on my mind, my thoughts and my feelings. 

Let me start however with why on StoryGraph my current rating is only 4.75 stars. There are three, first I understand that V.E. Schwab would have a built proof reason for repeating the same word/s over and over again the same row. However, I didn’t enjoy reading this and it did grate me the wrong way (minor but memorable). Also, so many descriptions are repeated about Luc’s appearance and other details, it felt like I was reading the same lines throughout the book… again I’m sure there’s an element to this that is deliberate, it just didn’t sit well with me. Secondly as the book progressed before the midway point, I found myself thinking this isn’t a five-star book, its so slow, and I can enjoy a book with no plot. But something about the middle just didn’t keep me one hundred percent engaged. And that surprised me because I love how detailed and poetic Schwab is in her writing. I nearly have a tab on every fourth page for simply a line that I loved. I have an inclining however, that this is a book that I would perhaps enjoy reading more the second time round, knowing now how the middle of the book is structured, and expecting the trickle of the flow to simply be a stunning tale of a woman’s life. And finally, the ending, and this is purely very personal I don’t mind the game but I’m not into this specific game. (if you’ve read it you know) I wish those lines were left out. I’m sure that is potentially a very unpopular opinion. I don’t want to give any spoilers hence being vague. It just didn’t sit right with me I nearly wish it was just completely left blank and left up to the reader, or just not that…

Now the reasons despite all of the above why I’m still considering placing this book next to my most treasured reads. We circle back to, crying in the shower days after finishing this book. Music, art and expression play a huge part in this story from the very beginning to the end. And music is something that I connect to above all else, there are multiple points in this story where music is introduced and it hits every chord touching my soul from the theatre, to dancing in the speakeasies or just hand in hand in a park. But none more so than “Dream Girl”, that’s what had me sobbing in the shower. 

Second to this and more importantly is the fact that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is about depression and it was about Henry... Being “tired of his storm filled brain” and everything that came with these storms, it is such an important story to be told. I believe everyone should read this book, whether or not they had or have or haven’t even been affected by depression. You never know when you or someone you know is going to have a day when it just feels like too much, and getting to the end of this story is a journey that you walk away from with a grasp on surviving, fighting and living in the moment. And that is a gift to be able to read about and experience through such a vivid story. It might be gut wrenching but it’s also beautiful. There are hundreds of lines I could quote. There are a dozens of lessons that could be expressed, but I just wanted to finish with “do you know how to live three hundred years?” … - “the same way you live one. A second at a time.”
And now that I’m crying again, I’ll be adding The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue to my favourites and changing my star rating to five stars. Because even though there where aspects of this book I didn’t love. The take always and what V.E. Schwab has made me feel and think about outweighs everything else in comparison.