Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Was hooked at the end, last 30 or so pages. I liked the concept, it had lots of things I wasn’t expecting towards the end and I did enjoy how it all played out. The book in the end did make me reflect of the precious time on earth and time we have with loved ones. I really liked how it speaks to larger themes of women in society and what is expected of them. The cons for me were that the writing/descriptions/dialogue were very repetitive and some things seemed too much of a coincidence at times (Bea and her thesis could be a example). The characters also seemed to not have as much depth as I would have hoped/liked and there were parts in the book that were a bit meandering for me; The book was hard to read at times because of that. Another con for me was that there wasn’t much diversity and it is definitely Eurocentric, however this is more of a reflection of my own reading preferences. Overall, I give a solid 3 stars, it was an okay read for me and my tastes (I did really enjoy the ending) and I could see others enjoying this book more than I did

Content Warnings

julierambaeck's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Soooo this was unexpected... Not to be dramatic or anything, but this is the most well written book I have ever read... and one of the best books in general that I've read...
Everything about this was perfect! The beginning was heartbreaking, the middle was thought provoking, the ending was bittersweet and perfect!
This book tackles so much. It is about grief, grieving the life you could have had, grieving the loss of people you love. It is about love, love in humans, love for the world, love for art and the little things in life. It is about finding your purpose in life and in the world. It is about being invisible and seen. It is a book about life and everything that comes with it. It is a very slow book, nothing really happens but at the same time everything happens.
V.E. Schwabs writing is incredible in this book - it could literally be studied in school.
Addie was such a strong, cool and amazing character. AND HENRYYYYY! Oh the love of my life! Both characters are so incredibly real.
All in all, I really loved this book, and I have never read anything like it before.

Content Warnings

alexlynx's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Be patient with this book. It follows paths that you feel like you don't want to take. Give it time. I personally have a love-hate relationship with books that jump between time so much that at some point you can barely make out where the plot starts and where it ends. But this book has a very definitive start and end, only the middle is blurred. I got lost in it, and it was beautiful, and sad, and madning, and insane, inspiring, wonderful. Her writing is addictive to a point where I'm almost annoyed at myself for how long it took to finally continue reading this book. And I also want to scream at her for the things these characters have to go through, and for how attached to them I got.
Insanely beautiful.

Content Warnings

korikam's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

jessicadoom's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

I've put off reading this book for so long. Everyone would tell me they loved it with all their heart. That it became their favorite book after they read it. (Except my sister, who simply described it as "okay.) Hearing that kind of praise always intimidates me. I'm worried it won't live up to the hype and that somehow I'm going to disappoint my loved ones if I don't love their favorite books.

(Can you tell I'm a chronic people pleaser?)

But, we're moving soon and I'm trying to work on my physical TBR. With that, I'm trying books that I'm not sure I'll love enough to keep. This fit the bill, and the audiobook was available on Hoopla. So, I dove in.

For the first, oh, three-quarters or so of the book, I was in love. I couldn't wait to see where the narrators took us. How would their stories end? And, with this, I begun writing my own ending to their stories in my hopeful little head. (Writers....)

This is not the ending we received, however. I hit part six and all of a sudden my mood towards this book shifted a bit. Yes, the writing was still beautiful. No one can say that the style of this novel isn't lyrical, poetic, artistic, etc. However, the plot (or lack thereof) took me to a place I wasn't ready to go. So, we ended at a solid four out of five instead of that glorious five stars I planned to issue.

The highlights for me were the blatant queerness of both narrators, the history we were able to witness through Addie's eyes, and the small reveals that really did help to drive the book forward. Would I read it again? Probably not. But I'm certainly not upset that I did give this one a try. It just might not be something I take with me to my next home library.

Content Warnings

eedle_cacleberry's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

juan_adhd_reading's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I have never cried as much with any book as this one, and this is not hyperbole. This was such a lovely story; beautifully written; and it was fantastic, sad, epic, everything I expected it to be and still managed to surprise me. It is probably one of V.E. Schwab’s best works and the reason she will forever be my favorite author.
I have nothing else to say for now, as I just have finished the story. Will probably come back soon to write a full review, but for now I feel completely satisfied and very hopeful about the ending. Highly recommend!

Content Warnings

claire_leibovitz's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

More...