Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

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

133 reviews

msradiosilence's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

TLDR; 4.5 rating rounded up, I love monkey’s paw wishes, I love queer women, and I’m not gonna lie this book almost had me crying.


Full review to come. :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Addiction, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Classism, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Biphobia, Sexual assault, Violence, and War

Minor: Kidnapping, Stalking, Cancer, Confinement, Rape, and Religious bigotry

esme_may's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Misogyny

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, War, Classism, Drug use, Blood, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death and Cancer

maries_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I really loved this book. I was heartbroken for Addie this whole story. Her quiet desperation to be something to someone, her brilliance is circumventing Luck’s plan, her desire to leave a mark, I just found her whole story gut wrenching. 

Then Henry comes along. A boy who just wants to be loved. I really enjoyed how he was woven into her story and became a part of her just as much as she became a part of him. 

Plus the ending? UGH MY HEART.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Drug use and Addiction

espressoreader's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

It started off with so much promise and then got stuck with everyone having sex with everyone.  I got bored around half way through and it never recovered.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

magic_multicolored_miracle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Is forever worth your soul?
That is the question at the heart of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The novel follows a girl who trades her soul, and unknowingly the ability to be remembered, to a man who might be the devil or might be a Old God in exchange for an immortal life of freedom. 
Full of romance and art and clever turns, the novel starts slow but soon builds into a crescendo. Alternating chapters between her modern life in New York City in 2014 where she meets and falls in love with the enigma of Henry Strauss and flashes of the life she lived over the last 300 years, mostly tangled with "anniversaries" with Luc, the being that she promised her soul to, the book does an excellent job of telling two stories twined into one. And though it is a complete piece on it's own, the story coming to a beautifully bittersweet ending, it teases a third at the close, promising that forever goes on and there is still hope yet.
It does not shy away from the horrors facing a woman alone through history, but reminds the reader that Addie is clever and strong and will make it through, and that no matter where and when she is, there are beautiful things to be find when she looks. 
A definite must read for fans of trickster fae tales, doomed love, and the timeless power of art and stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Self harm, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death, War, Alcoholism, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ericius's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

a bit too long, somewhat slow to read and a bit sad, but i forgive it because it was an emotional journey it made me cry and smile and i loved it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

FRANCESCA- HOZIER

A bit predictable at times but made me cry and felt original plot wise

‘History is a thing designed in retrospect’

‘"It did not feel like courage… it felt as if I had no choice.”’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Body horror, Misogyny, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts

takarakei's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

Re-read. This remains one of my favorite books of all times. Sobbed just like I did the first time reading it. I also did a combo with audiobook (narrated by the queen Julia Whelan). The ending of this book makes me feral.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, and Misogyny

Minor: War, Addiction, and Sexual harassment

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

A girl in a book club I'm in told me this was her favorite book and that she cried when she met the author, and it finally pushed me to read a book I had been meaning to for a while. 

This was a beautiful read that made me feel many complicated feelings. Addie, as a character, was not the perfect heroine, she didn't always make you feel like she was doing the right thing, but her motivations were fleshed out, thought out, and clearly based in the character. She felt real. As a character, Henry was also thoughtfully written, although I wish his obvious lifelong depression had been called that because I think naming things takes some of their power, but still, his was a beautifully written tale. 

Together the two characters created this beautiful love story with Addie's 300-year-long invisible life that intertwined so well with the history around her. She wasn't the main character in the history, my pet peeve in anything historical, but was, instead, a piece of many parts of history on the sidelines. 

I loved the ending, I enjoyed that we didn't see Addie

Spoiler

beat Luc at his own game, instead, we have to hope that Addie will win

and get her final ending. Henry

Spoiler

writing the book, in the end, was so inventive, I always love a book inside a book plot.

 

This type of fantasy, especially women-led and woman-written fantasy, is always so wonderful, I only wish it wasn't reduced to tropes. I've seen this called a romance novel many times, and at the end of the day, it is many, it is everything, it is wonderful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: War and Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Alcohol, and Confinement

throwback682's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense

• 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? Yes

5.0

I was so scared to finish this book. I almost quit because I couldn’t bear the idea of the sad ending I imagined.

Spoiler

I’m so glad that I stuck it out. The ending wasn’t what I expected at all (although some might see through it more easily) and it wasn’t happy but it was very satisfying. Henry’s last pages had me near tears.

I think the concept of the plot is really creative, and the author keeps track of a thousand little details of Addie’s curse that could’ve created a thousand plot holes. 

At times it was predictable, but not in a way that spoiled my enjoyment.

Spoiler

I knew almost right away that Henry had also made a deal, but there were plenty of details I didn’t foresee, too.

This book made me  want to savor every moment of life and love. It was entertaining but also thought provoking and heart-fire stoking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Addiction, Mental illness, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Drug use, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gaslighting, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cancer, Classism, and Dementia