Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

179 reviews

kathrynok's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

hdoomk's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

nineinchnails's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this is definitely a no plot just vibes type of book and very slow paced so i can absolutely understand why so many people didn't enjoy this or even manage to get through it, HOWEVER i loved this. i am a sucker for pretty prose though and the prose was gorgeous in this book so i'm a little biased. most of the criticism for this book is warranted but this story and its characters really appealed to me. i wish we got more on addie's time in new orleans though, it seemed like it would have given some more insight into

her and luc's relationship + would've given luc more depth. it feels like we barely got to know him

.

it definitely could have been condensed just a little because "no plot just vibes" isn't much of an exaggeration and i'm not sure how it managed to be 500+ pages long but i can enjoy a slow book when i like the writing. the ending did feel slightly anticlimactic but it was more bittersweet than anything else to me. not sure if i would recommend this because the it really is slow but i definitely enjoyed this!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child death, and War

Maternal mortality/Death during childbirth

inkysplodge's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Classism

hazelbcap's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It’s poetic, and heartbreaking, and inspiring, and I didn’t want it to ever end. A sweet unique read that I’ll cherish forever. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, and War

mrsdragon's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

I like magical realism, pretty prose, and slow burn stories so this one has popped up in a lot of places as I book I might like. And I did greatly enjoy the pieces of it, but it just didn't quite live up to what it could have been.

The author uses flashbacks and dual story lines to slowly dole out information and uses that mechanic well to up the intrigue and the mystery of the book.  Unfortunately, sometimes she got so wrapped up  in the details that even I started to wish she would move it along already. There were also "mysteries" that were so obvious it was painful how long it took for the truth to be recognized/explained. 

I was here for the "dark mysterious god of the woods, maybe devil, kinda conjured from your drawing" trope, but aspects of Addie's relationship with the dark seemed forced, illogical, or contradictory. Despite the prose, there was a heavy-handed bit of "telling instead of showing".

And then there's the fact that while the main story follows Addie, a large chunk of the story follows another main character who is never mentioned in the jacket descriptions which...isn't really *wrong* but did seem weird. 

The author also sets up a narrative device within the story that mimics the structure of the book (clever!) but which makes the first couple of chapters in the last section seem weirdly navel-gazey and self-referential. And the final chapter left me...sad.

Addie, saves Henry and instead give herself over to tormenting Luc. And yes, I get the "finally free!" arc, but there is nothing that says that counteracts her first contract, she didn't renegotiate for her soul, so she will still be cursed to be invisible?

I also just, generally had a lot of questions about

Addie + Henry (300+ year old + 29 year old find love because...they are curse compatible?), Addie's humanity (is she turning into a god? If that's true, how does the whole Henry thing square?), Luc's nature (he's a god not a human! No, but he loves her! No but he's incapable of love!).

I can squint and see answers, but I think it could have been handled more gracefully in the story.

That said, the conceit was a fun one, the "holes" the author found in the curse, she did a fabulous job with how the dark both granted and twisted wishes in a way that felt both natural and inevitable once the downsides were understood. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and War

laurenology's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This draaaaaagged. I know it took me six months to finish it, but still. Felt like a chore to listen to sometimes, even though Julia Whelan is always a good narrator. The last quarter or so was great and kept me interested the whole time. Not bad, but not great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Grief

alivotta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual content

barbarianmissy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Took me a while to fully get into this book cause I didn’t understand why some of the characters acted the way they did and suddenly EVERYTHING CLICKED and oh my gawd is this book amazing. So beautiful and unique and tragic. It was an excellent, excellent read. So GOOD!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and War

smleeth93's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexual violence, and War

Minor: Addiction