I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the Invisible Things could also be known as Be true to Yourself. All the Invisible Things is a powerful story about a girl who is afraid of showing who she really is and how she feels. The important message is "Don't be afraid of who is the person you love and the sex of the person".

Collins's main character, Helvetica - aka Vetty - returns to London after being away since her mother died. There she will notice how she is not the same girl she was when living there, and also how everyone has changed.

A great young adult genre read.
Powerful, raw and honest
Talks about topics that need to be brought to the forefront
Mental health, personal identity and sexual identity
🌟🌟🌟
Thank you to both NetGalley and Orglah Collins for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

I didn't like this as much as I hoped from the blurb. I thought Vetty was quite annoying and I wish that the word 'bisexual' had been used before 3/4 of the way through the book. It isn't very good representation

I didn’t get quite what I expected from reading All The Invisible Things and that’s exactly why I loved it. I can’t get into specifics because that would spoil the story for the rest of you, but this review contains some of my thoughts.

First of all, though, my brief summary of All The Invisible Things goes like this: When Vetty returns to her childhood home in London after four years away, she can’t stop thinking about seeing Pez, the boy across the street who was her best friend before she and her family moved away. But things have changed from what she remembers because he’s moody and distant, and when he makes a comment to another guy that Vetty is “not like the other girls,” she begins to question what that means. Who is she? Is she ever going to be able to have that close relationship with Pez, or anyone else? How does she help her younger sister understand things when she has no idea herself? And what is she going to do about the glamorous, cool girl March Pez is into? Not to mention all her confusing feelings she keeps inside.

When I first read the blurb on Goodreads, I was expecting a typical YA romance to blossom between Pez and Vetty. That’s not what happens and I much prefer it that way. Vetty and Pez’s relationship and their personal feelings that are revealed when they finally open up to each other was beautiful to read. I loved reading about their friendship when they were younger and how it developed after nearly four years of silence between them. It was all really touching seeing them re-connect and help each other through their personal issues. They were adorable.

Orlagh Collins carefully and bravely explores many relevant issues about sexuality through Vetty, Pez and many other characters in a way that I found really unique. Some of Vetty’s thoughts such as about what girls are “meant” to be like bed or Pez’s personal fears open up really important discussions that I wish I’d seen more of in YA when I was a teenager. I really admire Orlagh for opening up these dialogues and making an attempt at letting readers know they aren’t alone.

My favourite thing about this book was Vetty herself. I know many young adults today will relate to Vetty as she comes to grips with who she is, what she wants and what all her feelings mean. Her different relationships with the other characters in the book were all wonderful and helped Vetty come to terms with who she is and the real-ness of her needs and desires. She had such a warm voice and to me always acted with a devotion to being the best she could be, to own up to her mistakes and feelings and to find a home in her own body.

While I sometimes found the writing a little clumsy (it is an ARC after all) and that there some little rambling sections that could’ve been cut out, this book was full of thoughts about seeing the beauty in the world, understanding love and having the nerve to be yourself, so I very easily took no notice of those little imperfections and enjoyed every minute reading.

I wanted to like this. The premise sounded interesting, the early reviews are great. I was excited to start reading.

Four days later and still at 23%, I decided to DNF, my first DNF this year.

I liked the characters well enough, what I'd seen of them so far. But nothing seemed to be happening plotwise. Time jumped forward awkwardly between chapters, and dialogue was inconsistent. There's a scene near the start where the main character and her father have a conversation. His side goes, roughly, "You've had to take on too much responsibility lately, and you'll have to take on more after we move. I'll make sure you don't have too much on your plate."

This wasn't the book for me, but other people will probably adore it. I hope they do, because there's a good story under there. Thank you for letting me read it.


Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

All The Invisible Things is a powerful and warm YA novel about finding real connections with people and being honest. Helvetica—Vetty—moved from London to Somerset after her mum died, leaving behind her best friend Pez and her ability to feel comfortable as herself. Now she's seventeen and moving back to London with her dad and younger sister, but she's hiding the secret of the fact she likes boys and girls, and she's not spoken to Pez in years. Back in London, Pez seemed different, their connection isn't what it was, and Vetty finds herself navigating a new friendship too.

This is a great YA read that shows there's not one way to be and that it isn't always easy to be yourself, even when you find the people you can be yourself around. Vetty is a bright and complex narrator and Collins weaves in a lot of elements of her life, from her role looking after her younger sister to her lost passion for photography, to give her a real sense of authenticity. What is quite refreshing is that the real focus on the novel is about Vetty reforming old friendships and gaining new ones, and though her coming to terms with her bisexuality is important, it is one element of her life amidst other parts. The power of character-focused YA fiction is that it can depict three-dimensional protagonists that show the amount of things people have to balance in real life.

All The Invisible Things is the kind of book for older YA readers that we keep needing more of: ones that looks at issues such as sex, identity, mental health, and the realities of the internet whilst staying witty and character-driven.