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A review by nhnabass
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
4.0
I picked up this book recognizing the author from the Shades of Magic trilogy that I had read last year (and had enjoyed more or less) so I had already set my expectation for the author's tone and writing. I was happily surprised to find the writing in this book is *much* better. The tone feels more sophisticated and the author does an excellent job portraying that. My only qualm with it, as with the aforementioned series, is the author's heavy-handedness when it comes to foreshadowing. She will drop an interesting thing and doesn't let you wonder about it because she will bring it up seven more times to make it very clear this other thing is definitely going to be related. It wasn't as bad as before in that I didn't roll my eyes nearly as much while reading, so only knocked half a star for me.
Other than the fact the story primarily takes place in Europe + North America, which feels like missed opportunities for a character who literally can live forever, that is really the only thing I can think of that bothered me at all. This is a wonderfully interesting take on the classic "making a deal with the devil" and God is it so refreshing to see characters actually suffer a little bit with the consequences they brought onto themselves. A deal is a deal, and I like that there's no wishy-washyness about it. The love story is cute and included lovely LGBTQ+ romance again which was a plus. The story and characters felt decently well rounded and captivating and the way in which the timeline is told is fun and refreshing. Overall, this was a fun and easy read and I can certainly see myself reading it again.
Other than the fact the story primarily takes place in Europe + North America, which feels like missed opportunities for a character who literally can live forever, that is really the only thing I can think of that bothered me at all. This is a wonderfully interesting take on the classic "making a deal with the devil" and God is it so refreshing to see characters actually suffer a little bit with the consequences they brought onto themselves. A deal is a deal, and I like that there's no wishy-washyness about it. The love story is cute and included lovely LGBTQ+ romance again which was a plus. The story and characters felt decently well rounded and captivating and the way in which the timeline is told is fun and refreshing. Overall, this was a fun and easy read and I can certainly see myself reading it again.