Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

234 reviews

jourdanicus's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.75

What... was this book about? So much breath and hardly any depth. There was so much beautiful prose that I started becoming desensitized to the language, and couldn't appreciate it anymore. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to relate to or sometimes even understand the characters' motivations, and the lack of depth of the magic/lore of the world left me wanting.

If you are a light reader and this is the only book you read in a year, it could be good. But this one just wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

claire_leibovitz's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: War and Biphobia

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

hdoomk's review

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

tbwhite23's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Alcohol

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: Alcohol and Emotional abuse

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

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

wombat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, Toxic relationship, War, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Suicide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting

carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious

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

5.0

Having read two V.E. Schwab books now, there is just something about her plots/characters/writing that's hard to describe. Just like with ADSoM, there was something missing. Unlike ADSoM, it didn't really matter. This book should have been boring, there is basically zero plot besides "girl lives 300 years of a slightly different day." If you asked me why I gave it 5 stars, I'm not sure I could answer in any logical way. It just did not feel like 400 pages. I think the concept of two timelines is a really interesting literary device, but it's really hard to make the two timelines equally as interesting. Schwab was really clever to make the switches between timelines as often as she did. It made it difficult to choose a point in the story to put the book down because I always wanted to know how the story in the other timeline would continue.

I hate to say this because

he literally traded his soul for one year of being loved

, but I really think Henry was my least favorite part of this book. Sorry bro.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Mental illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Sexual assault

Minor: Kidnapping, War, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

meowata's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, War, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide attempt and Terminal illness

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 use, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug abuse

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