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emmacartlidge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Sexual content, and War
irinalast's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Toxic friendship
kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Cancer
todorjelena's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I don't know how I feel about the art and art history elements. They sometimes feel like they were just thrown in there as filler.
For a person who has lived for 300 years she has maintained a pretty limited worldview. I find it odd that after being alive for 3 centuries and all her talk of loving to read stories and learn as much about the world as possible she has only learned some European languages and traveled to a handful of European countries and the US.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
margaret_k30's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent
Minor: Violence and War
brittaneenash's review against another edition
- 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
- As someone who fears death & the thought of missing out on my life, Addie's choices & actions throughout the book make so much sense to me. She's an entirely relatable character (though there are times where I definitely didn't want her to be relatable), who just felt so real to me despite the epic circumstances she's been thrust into because of the choices she's made.
- The personification of the devil? Luc? Perfection. It felt so close to the biblical adaption of the devil: charming, cunning, entirely too irresistible for mere mortals. Because of this, his relationship with Addie is portrayed perfectly.
- Henry Strauss. Henry fucking Strauss. I feel like that's all this point needs to say, but I'll add more. Though I predicted what would happen with his story, I found it just as intriguing as Addie's. I was utterly hooked from the moment we met Henry, until the moment their story together ended. As I've said about both Addie and Luc, he felt so undeniably real, so relatable in ways that you mightn't want him to be. All of the characters in this novel are executed perfectly, but Henry felt particularly so.
- The entire ending of the book had me bawling. Not a lot of books make me cry in the way this one did. It was equal parts the relatability of not being ready to let something go but knowing that you have to, & the beautiful writing style Schwab seems to have perfected. I don't often buy the physical copies of audiobooks that I listen to, but this one will be an exception to that rule. I will be adding it to my personal collection to annotate as soon as possible.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Sexual content
Minor: Death of parent
magic_multicolored_miracle's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
jenniee_reads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This story is like nothing I have read before. It is so unique and captivating and just phenomenal. The writing is beautiful and there were quite a few times when I had to set the book down and take a minute.
V.E. Schwab is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and I already wish I could read this for the first time again. Addie LaRue will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
chasingpages1's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Stalking
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kyra_johnson_'s review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War