God I love Addie Larue so much
I've seen some say they don't understand the point of Addie defying the villain at the end by continuing to live on. To that, I'd like to point out that the villain—the entire story really—fell heavily in line with depression. If her story seemed a bit bleak and pointless, I must emphasize how intentional I believe that was. The fact that she did not die at the end, nor break her curse, yet still decided to live was the most meaningful way to get the full impact of what the story was trying to say:
Sometimes it doesn't just go away. Sometimes you have to learn to work with it, not against it.
But that does not mean you should just die. That does not mean you should hand your soul over to the "gods that answers after dark". That does not mean life isn't still worth it.
No one could remember Addie. But she lived on anyway. She refused to give her soul to the monster that wanted it, because there is beauty in this world, she said, and it is worth living for. Even if she can't rid herself of this curse.
She wasn't meant to find a grand purpose or happily ever after or have everything fix itself. By the end of the book, it leaves you questioning whether she was still living because actually wanted to or because she wanted to spite Luc. It was both, I believe.
The themes were soaked in resistance and autonomy as much as depression—Addie will continue to live her life, regardless of how miserable Luc tries to make it, because it is hers. Even if she, herself, does not see the point in it anymore, she refuses to give in to Luc because she knows he does not have her best interests at heart. He screwed her life over he cursed her to live in pain, forever alone (with the exception of him, of course), and now he wants to take her soul as well?
"I want to be free. Free to live, and to find my own way, to love, or to be alone, but at least it is my choice, and I am so tired of not having choices, so scared of the years rushing past beneath my feet. I do not want to die as I’ve lived, which is no life at all.”
Addie may be living out of spite half the time, but the story wants you to know that is okay. Because it gets her to the next day, to the next moment of her life that she knows could be beautiful. Nothing and no one is going to take that chance from her—not marriage, not Luc, and not herself.
The story's main message was that life is worth it for even the littlest things and to find beauty wherever and whenever you can, no matter how small or short lived they may be. It's a story about evil gods and curses—but no. It's a story about depression and loneliness—but no.
It is a story about living. It is a story about hope.
