Reviews tagging 'Grief'

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

248 reviews

helfire124's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Confinement, War, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Police brutality, Death of parent, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Violence

guessgreenleaf's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Grief, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content, War, and Suicide attempt

icarusandthesun's review against another edition

emotional hopeful slow-paced

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

3.25

addie larue was okay—honestly just okay.
i like schwab's writing style a lot; i think her ideas are smart, and so are many lines in the book.
however, the book still failed to captivate me in many ways.

the characters were nice and had their fair share of depth... like, objectively, they were good characters, but i still found myself unable to 1) fall in love with them, and 2) relate to them in any way or form. i still don't feel any special attachment to any of these characters, and that, of course, took away most of the impact of the story (since it is a very character-driven one).

the plot didn't especially excite me either, except for the few end-of-chapter cliffhangers and plot-twists. the rest was all just a little meh, you know.

my verdict: a highly readable, low-fantasy book you're surely going to enjoy if you like character-driven books and a slight 'no plot, just vibes' kinda feeling.
sadly, wasn't entirely for me, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, War, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

mmidi's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Drug use

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief

laurenbaggy's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Addiction, Classism, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Stalking

mseals's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, War, Abandonment, Death, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

boba_n_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. 

I love the personification of the devil through Luc and the Faustian bargains that took place. It was incredibly interesting and showed a lot of history. 

That being said, it took me quite a while to get into the story. It wasn't until maybe the last 50% of the book that I really got invested in the characters and their fates. It just felt TOO slow-moving sometimes, focusing on one century over the other, and rushed in others. 

I enjoyed the banter between Luc and Addie and their characters, but Henry is the one character I felt was well developed since we got to see his life played. With Henry, the reader gets a peek behind the curtain at his motivations while Addie's true motivations aren't revealed until the very end. I guess that just adds to the enigma that is Addie LaRue. 

Overall, I did enjoy this novel and will be thinking about the plot for a while. It's one I need to delve into and could definitely reread at some point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: War and Cursing

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Death, War, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Grief

thereadinghammock's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I didn't quite know what to expect when I dove into this book finally. I was surprised, curious, intrigued, satisfied, and wanting more at every stage. I loved Addie's resourcefulness and tenacity, but was frustrated by her hubris and how it took her so long to learn how fickle Luc's moods and inclination to kindness could be. I was nervous for Henry almost every step of the way. I was so afraid Henry WAS Luc or some kind of specific obstacle put in Addie's path to cause her to misstep on her deal. 

While I should have seen it coming, and eventually I did, Luc falling in love with Addie still managed to surprise me. I think the vehemence that Luc fell for her was what managed to surprise me. I thought he would fall in and out of love with her, or once he finally had her, he would quickly grow tired of her. But he didn't. Once he finally had her, he wanted her more. Wanted to keep her for himself. A Persephone to his Hades. And Addie only saw the betrayal of it; the malicious intent behind his actions, to lure her into a false sense of security and make her give up her soul to him before she was ready. 

When I realized that this book was supposed to be a version of Henry's book, telling Addie's story, I loved that plot device. Subtle and witty. I legitimately cried when Addie read Henry's dedication to her in the finished novel, "I remember you." My heart broke and mended and grew and ached for them all at once. It was truly beautiful. And I love that it was perfectly paired with Addie's renegotiation with Luc at the end. She played his game of semantics with aplomb and I'm so proud of her. And Schwab kept us on that string until the very last sentence.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death, and Toxic relationship

zg0612's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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 don’t think this book is something I could describe, but i’ll try. It was the most beautiful thing i have ever read, replacing my favorite book i’ve had for the last two and a half years. Maybe i loved it so much because i felt i related to the characters so much, longing for just a small something more in life, if it might feel complete, for just a moment even.
 The story the book wove had all kinds of emotions to. Want, love, sadness, bitterness, lust, anger, need, frustration, eagerness, hatred, and so much more. 
 The beauty of this book too, lit does not finish Addie’s story, it is not over, there is still more to it, for i don’t think it will ever be over, not really. 
 I can’t describe this book more than this, and i don’t think i want to. it deserves to be experienced, not told about. 

(It was funny too, because when i finished it, i have expected Luc to be standing behind me.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Cursing, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content and War