A review by blewballoon
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I struggled to finish this. I kept hoping it would get better, and I thought it might be when Henry joined the story, but the more time we spent with him the more I realized I wasn't interested in his character either.  Addie isn't the kind of person I find myself rooting for or invested in, neither was Henry. Their choices felt arbitrary a lot of the time, like their dialogue. The chapters in the past never explored anything particularly interesting, just highlighted the overall misogyny of the past in ways that I didn't want to be immersed in. The past chapters stayed fairly far back in time without exploring more modern eras like the 50s-80s, which would have been interesting considering how much Addie lamented that women had no rights and women's rights changed a lot during that period. It feels like most of the book and plot take place in 2014. In general, the book is very repetitive. Overall things were just too sad yet uninteresting for me and it was a slog from start to finish. I am glad so many people liked it and I will try another V.E. Schwab at some point, but honestly I wish I hadn't wasted my time with this book. 
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