Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

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

162 reviews

zypeee's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

A lonely story of a girl who makes a deal with the devil. Bouncing back and forth across history until history and present intersect. The first half was compelling but as the pages passed I found myself waiting for something to happen. Waiting. Waiting. And nothing ever does. It started sad. It ended sad. 

Still, I’d say it was a pleasant read. Probably some major life lessons about time and relationships and being careful what you wish for, that will linger long after the details of the book fade. 

Reader beware. Big trigger warnings if that’s a thing you look for or avoid. 

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jessicadoom's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

I've put off reading this book for so long. Everyone would tell me they loved it with all their heart. That it became their favorite book after they read it. (Except my sister, who simply described it as "okay.) Hearing that kind of praise always intimidates me. I'm worried it won't live up to the hype and that somehow I'm going to disappoint my loved ones if I don't love their favorite books.

(Can you tell I'm a chronic people pleaser?)

But, we're moving soon and I'm trying to work on my physical TBR. With that, I'm trying books that I'm not sure I'll love enough to keep. This fit the bill, and the audiobook was available on Hoopla. So, I dove in.

For the first, oh, three-quarters or so of the book, I was in love. I couldn't wait to see where the narrators took us. How would their stories end? And, with this, I begun writing my own ending to their stories in my hopeful little head. (Writers....)

This is not the ending we received, however. I hit part six and all of a sudden my mood towards this book shifted a bit. Yes, the writing was still beautiful. No one can say that the style of this novel isn't lyrical, poetic, artistic, etc. However, the plot (or lack thereof) took me to a place I wasn't ready to go. So, we ended at a solid four out of five instead of that glorious five stars I planned to issue.

The highlights for me were the blatant queerness of both narrators, the history we were able to witness through Addie's eyes, and the small reveals that really did help to drive the book forward. Would I read it again? Probably not. But I'm certainly not upset that I did give this one a try. It just might not be something I take with me to my next home library.

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claire_leibovitz's review

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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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kathrynok's review against another edition

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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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hdoomk's review against another edition

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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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nineinchnails's review

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

4.0

this is definitely a no plot just vibes type of book and very slow paced so i can absolutely understand why so many people didn't enjoy this or even manage to get through it, HOWEVER i loved this. i am a sucker for pretty prose though and the prose was gorgeous in this book so i'm a little biased. most of the criticism for this book is warranted but this story and its characters really appealed to me. i wish we got more on addie's time in new orleans though, it seemed like it would have given some more insight into
her and luc's relationship + would've given luc more depth. it feels like we barely got to know him
.

it definitely could have been condensed just a little because "no plot just vibes" isn't much of an exaggeration and i'm not sure how it managed to be 500+ pages long but i can enjoy a slow book when i like the writing. the ending did feel slightly anticlimactic but it was more bittersweet than anything else to me. not sure if i would recommend this because the it really is slow but i definitely enjoyed this!!

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inkysplodge's review against another edition

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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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hazelbcap's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

It’s poetic, and heartbreaking, and inspiring, and I didn’t want it to ever end. A sweet unique read that I’ll cherish forever. 

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mrsdragon's review against another edition

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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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laurenology's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This draaaaaagged. I know it took me six months to finish it, but still. Felt like a chore to listen to sometimes, even though Julia Whelan is always a good narrator. The last quarter or so was great and kept me interested the whole time. Not bad, but not great. 

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