Scan barcode
A review by littlebookterror
Invitation to the Blues by Roan Parrish
slow-paced
5.0
reread 2023
- still one of the few books that can make me cry
- I want to quote so many scenes from this omg. Like this quote from Faron that made stop and just breathe for a minute: "You don't want to choose. Choosing feels hard because it could always be a mistake. And if it's a mistake and you choose it, then it's your fault. You don't want it to be your fault, you already feel guilty enough, you don't want to feel anymore."
- currently considering how weird it would be to gift this to both of my sisters to show them I do love and appreciate them even if I suck at communicating it and if they would understand
- only a depressed person could listen to Jude going through all of this and think "this is all so true (but does not apply to me)" and isn't that ironic
- did the audiobook this time around, Greg Boudreaux did a great job
original review:
I kind of don't want anyone else to read this book. Is that a strange thing to say about something I loved so much?
I knew this story would be it me when we first get introduced to Jude through Christopher's letters in Small Change. Now he's back home after his release from the hospital, his life is a mess and Jude is not really in the state of mind to make any big decisions. The exhaustion he feels at just making the slightest of efforts (eating, dressing, finding work) - I felt that. There is also a larger subplot about his past relationship that went terribly wrong which was equally harrowing to read about, especially when you can see how his depression still twists things around in his mind (that no matter what mistakes he has made, he did not deserve what he got but he cannot see it).
The story is slow, emotional; barely anything happens. But I was captivated. The way Jude's depression manifests in his life, how it influences his thoughts, how it controls his words - it was like looking in a mirror. Seeing the problems it causes in his life as well as the kind of people he had to put with was heartbreaking to read about but it also made every moment with Faron so much more precious.
And speaking of Faron. I love characters like him; who are very deliberate and present at whatever they are doing. While is the stable counterpart to Jude, he's never made out to be this all-perfect, unflappable superhuman coming in to save the day, it's just clear that he has figured out through trial and error how he wants to live his life. (p.s. If you liked him, I suggest you might try Courtship, Ibrahim Carter has many of the same qualities.)
The book has a happy ending and I could not imagine it ending any other way but I love it's not all sunshine and roses at the end and that the time skip in the epilogue was just three months. As much as I want both of them to have it all it would not have fit the overall atmosphere of the book and since depression is not something that will vanish, I feel it would have left the wrong impression if it was all wrapped up.
I also loved that we got to see more of Philly crew (Ginger and Daniel have my heart). And Christopher is still the best younger brother one could have.
(There were a few things I would have loved to come full circle from a story perspective, (view spoiler) but lives are messy and imperfect and don't always wrap up nicely. And I feel like Jude and Faron's relationship ends up at a good stopping point for readers.)
- still one of the few books that can make me cry
- I want to quote so many scenes from this omg. Like this quote from Faron that made stop and just breathe for a minute: "You don't want to choose. Choosing feels hard because it could always be a mistake. And if it's a mistake and you choose it, then it's your fault. You don't want it to be your fault, you already feel guilty enough, you don't want to feel anymore."
- currently considering how weird it would be to gift this to both of my sisters to show them I do love and appreciate them even if I suck at communicating it and if they would understand
- only a depressed person could listen to Jude going through all of this and think "this is all so true (but does not apply to me)" and isn't that ironic
- did the audiobook this time around, Greg Boudreaux did a great job
original review:
I kind of don't want anyone else to read this book. Is that a strange thing to say about something I loved so much?
I knew this story would be it me when we first get introduced to Jude through Christopher's letters in Small Change. Now he's back home after his release from the hospital, his life is a mess and Jude is not really in the state of mind to make any big decisions. The exhaustion he feels at just making the slightest of efforts (eating, dressing, finding work) - I felt that. There is also a larger subplot about his past relationship that went terribly wrong which was equally harrowing to read about, especially when you can see how his depression still twists things around in his mind (that no matter what mistakes he has made, he did not deserve what he got but he cannot see it).
The story is slow, emotional; barely anything happens. But I was captivated. The way Jude's depression manifests in his life, how it influences his thoughts, how it controls his words - it was like looking in a mirror. Seeing the problems it causes in his life as well as the kind of people he had to put with was heartbreaking to read about but it also made every moment with Faron so much more precious.
And speaking of Faron. I love characters like him; who are very deliberate and present at whatever they are doing. While is the stable counterpart to Jude, he's never made out to be this all-perfect, unflappable superhuman coming in to save the day, it's just clear that he has figured out through trial and error how he wants to live his life. (p.s. If you liked him, I suggest you might try Courtship, Ibrahim Carter has many of the same qualities.)
The book has a happy ending and I could not imagine it ending any other way but I love it's not all sunshine and roses at the end and that the time skip in the epilogue was just three months. As much as I want both of them to have it all it would not have fit the overall atmosphere of the book and since depression is not something that will vanish, I feel it would have left the wrong impression if it was all wrapped up.
I also loved that we got to see more of Philly crew (Ginger and Daniel have my heart). And Christopher is still the best younger brother one could have.
(There were a few things I would have loved to come full circle from a story perspective, (view spoiler) but lives are messy and imperfect and don't always wrap up nicely. And I feel like Jude and Faron's relationship ends up at a good stopping point for readers.)