Review of ‘Invisible, as music’ by Caren J. Werlinger

Damn this was good! I have enjoyed every book I have read by Werlinger especially her last few releases in a row which have been great. I have just come to expect great things when I pick up a Werlinger book and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. If you have read her books before you will know what I mean. She writes beautifully. Her books instantly transport you to another time or place and you become so involved and comfortable in the book that you don’t want it to end. If you haven’t read Werlinger before… it’s time to jump aboard, you won’t be disappointed.

Different is a word that can be pretty broad, but when you read six books a week, year after year, you crave finding a book that fits the meaning of different. I’m happy to say this was completely different than anything I have read in a long time and I could not be happier. I guess you can put a literary fiction tag on this. I don’t like the name of that category so I think I might call this a drama. Drama as in this is a book about life and dramatic things that can and will happen.

Werlinger mentions that this is not a romance, but it is a lesbian love story book. That is the perfect description of this book and after you read it you will completely understand that difference. I do have to point out that this does have a huge age-gap. It might be either the largest or tied for the largest I have read. It’s actually 30 years between a young college professor who is 23 and an artist who is still dealing with the effects of polio (from when she was a child), now at the age of 53. Surprisingly, it completely worked. I won’t give away any spoilers but I promise you that you will finish the book absolutely believing that these two women loved each other.

This book takes place in the 80’s so there is some homophobia, sexism and even racism. However, this is not what I would call a dark or depressing book. There are some villains in this story but there are plenty of great characters that make this book more “feel good” than I expected. Although, I do warn you to still keep the tissues handy. I cared so much about the characters and what they were going through that I kept tearing up. This book made me feel because Werlinger writes so well that she got to me. And I love it when that happens.

This is a book that I easily recommend. I really enjoyed her book ‘When the stars sang‘ and her last one A bittersweet garden, but for me, this book was even more special than both of those. This is the best I have read by Werlinger so far, and it makes me itch with excitement for what she could possibly come out with next. If you are looking for something extremely well written, different, and will make you feel, this book is for you. 4.50 stars.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.