Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Soooo this was unexpected... Not to be dramatic or anything, but this is the most well written book I have ever read... and one of the best books in general that I've read...
Everything about this was perfect! The beginning was heartbreaking, the middle was thought provoking, the ending was bittersweet and perfect!
This book tackles so much. It is about grief, grieving the life you could have had, grieving the loss of people you love. It is about love, love in humans, love for the world, love for art and the little things in life. It is about finding your purpose in life and in the world. It is about being invisible and seen. It is a book about life and everything that comes with it. It is a very slow book, nothing really happens but at the same time everything happens.
V.E. Schwabs writing is incredible in this book - it could literally be studied in school.
Addie was such a strong, cool and amazing character. AND HENRYYYYY! Oh the love of my life! Both characters are so incredibly real.
All in all, I really loved this book, and I have never read anything like it before.

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jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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korikam's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

4.0

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rainynook's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

New favorite book! Wow, loved the whole story arc, and such beautiful, memorable, luminous writing. Very well done. I read the book + listened to the Audible version - extremely well done by the talented Julia Whelan. So good.

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aruggiero49's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

I was so bored for the majority of this book, and then it took a major turn. I did find the last few chapters emotional and the story’s premise interesting, but it was very repetitive (intentional but still annoying to read) and I struggled to connect with the characters, especially Addie.

The ending also made me burst out laughing because it was just that ridiculous.

All in all, not one for me.

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kmmstutz's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Achingly beautiful. The last 25% is a 5 star for me, for sure.

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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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