Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

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

37 reviews

chasingpages1's review

adventurous dark emotional 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: Violence, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, Drug use, and Sexual content

Minor: Confinement, Homophobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Self harm, War, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Religious bigotry

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

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

and get her final ending. Henry

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

sarahbiegelsen's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Grief, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Torture, Confinement, Suicide attempt, and Death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, War, Alcohol, Blood, and Death of parent

amre23's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Self harm, Stalking, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Rape

Moderate: Grief, Cursing, Suicide, Emotional abuse, War, Sexism, Terminal illness, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug abuse

Minor: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement

parfait52's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

This book barely has a plot. It is almost entirely a character study that then adds an additional smaller character study later on. If the writing were not as effortless and beautiful as it is, I probably wouldn't have finished this book. It was kind of tedious to read through over 400 pages of exposition and flashbacks and ponderings. The plot points that do exist are all very predictable and played out, so there wasn't really anything there to tantalize or excite. And I also can't exactly tell if this banal disappointment betrayed the book's themes or exemplified them. The characters were all fairly interesting and likeable and real (within the setting), with Henry being a personal highlight for me.

If you enjoy reading gorgeous, languid writing that feels almost burdensome at times, with some insightful peeks into the mind of an unfortunate soul, this is the book for you. If you enjoy a clear plot with characters that are revealed through actions instead of long ramblings, this is not the book for you. Ultimately, I am glad that I read this book but I probably wouldn't want to do it again. Kind of like life itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, War, Death, Abandonment, and Stalking

Minor: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Confinement, and Cursing

marissasa's review

mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I loved the start and central premise of this book - a woman's desperate plea to the gods in search of freedom from a life where she would belong to someone else is only answered by a devil in the dark, and she accepts a deal as her only way out. She receives immortality, for the price of her soul and the catch that no one will ever be able to remember her and she cannot leave her own mark on the world. However, the rest of the book that followed was lackluster to me. V.E. Schwab writes beautifully with rich descriptions and atmosphere, but the plot ached along so slowly and I never found Addie compelling or interesting enough to root for her. She had her clever moments, but that's a bare minimum trait for any person who lived for 3 centuries and remembered and learned from every day of it. I didn't find Henry super compelling either and didn't enjoy them as a couple since the only reason they liked each other was because he was the only one who remembered her, and she was the only one who wasn't already affected by his deal to be loved. The best character in the story was Luc, and we didn't get to see much of him until the last 10% of the book when the plot really picked up. Although I liked the beginning and the ending, the story overall left me wanting more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Violence, Mental illness, Cursing, Suicide attempt, War, Alcohol, and Confinement

decie's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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: Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: War

Minor: Death of parent and Confinement

sefab764's review

emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

I think this was a great concept and overall it was an entertaining read. It did drag in some places but Adeline's passion for art and the cruel realities she experiences gave lots of emotional depth that pulled at my heartstrings. It glossed over some details I felt should've been explored more over what was brought to the forefront but I read it in one day and would revisit it, perhaps for an anniversary ;) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Blood, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, War, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Grief

laurendenton's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and War

Minor: Blood, Biphobia, Confinement, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

emilyf333's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness