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A review by suspensethrill
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
3.0
"Deja vu. Deja su. Deja vecu. Already seen. Already known. Already lived."
It's no secret that Victoria Schwab is a well-known and widely beloved artist of the written word, and I'm a huge fan of her work, my personal favorite being [b:Vicious|40874032|Vicious (Villains, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532011194l/40874032._SY75_.jpg|19250870]. She has a way with telling stories in a lush, atmospheric manner, while keeping her stories entirely approachable to readers of all kinds, which is something I admire and respect immensely. My 3-star rating of Addie LaRue is HIGHLY subjective and a result of my own personal reading experience, so I recommend you take my thoughts loosely and experience this sweeping saga for yourself.
Initially, I was off to a good start, as I had heard the second half is much more engrossing than the beginning, yet I was entranced from the very first page. I flew through the first 150 pages at breakneck speed and found myself trying to sneak in moments with my audiobook copy (thanks Libro.fm!) as Julia Whelan is a global treasure. Much to my surprise, once the initial love interest was introduced, and the prose fell away into heavy dialogue, I think I felt like I had entered into a new story and wished I could transport back to that inceptive atmosphere I had fallen in love with. There is a twist as to why Henry can remember Addie, and it felt a bit heavy handed in how obvious the general basis of that twist would be, but I don't think that was a make or break factor in my reading experience.
At the risk of including spoilers, I'll be vague, but if you've read my bio on my profile then you know what type of a reader I am and what I generally cheer for in my stories. If you've read this book already, then you know where I'm going with this, but if you haven't, then you may want to be briefed of the controversial ending, in both content and execution. There's a bit of a love triangle that happens throughout the second half of the book, and let's just say that my ship did not set sail. *whomp whomp* This heavily impacted my final rating, as I felt my investment of 450 pages was quite extensive compared to the pay out after completing the final page.
Regardless of my selfish thoughts, I do hope you give this a chance for yourself, and that you experience the magic and poetic prose included in Addie's story. I'll be waiting eagerly for Schwab's next novel.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
It's no secret that Victoria Schwab is a well-known and widely beloved artist of the written word, and I'm a huge fan of her work, my personal favorite being [b:Vicious|40874032|Vicious (Villains, #1)|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532011194l/40874032._SY75_.jpg|19250870]. She has a way with telling stories in a lush, atmospheric manner, while keeping her stories entirely approachable to readers of all kinds, which is something I admire and respect immensely. My 3-star rating of Addie LaRue is HIGHLY subjective and a result of my own personal reading experience, so I recommend you take my thoughts loosely and experience this sweeping saga for yourself.
Initially, I was off to a good start, as I had heard the second half is much more engrossing than the beginning, yet I was entranced from the very first page. I flew through the first 150 pages at breakneck speed and found myself trying to sneak in moments with my audiobook copy (thanks Libro.fm!) as Julia Whelan is a global treasure. Much to my surprise, once the initial love interest was introduced, and the prose fell away into heavy dialogue, I think I felt like I had entered into a new story and wished I could transport back to that inceptive atmosphere I had fallen in love with. There is a twist as to why Henry can remember Addie, and it felt a bit heavy handed in how obvious the general basis of that twist would be, but I don't think that was a make or break factor in my reading experience.
At the risk of including spoilers, I'll be vague, but if you've read my bio on my profile then you know what type of a reader I am and what I generally cheer for in my stories. If you've read this book already, then you know where I'm going with this, but if you haven't, then you may want to be briefed of the controversial ending, in both content and execution. There's a bit of a love triangle that happens throughout the second half of the book, and let's just say that my ship did not set sail. *whomp whomp* This heavily impacted my final rating, as I felt my investment of 450 pages was quite extensive compared to the pay out after completing the final page.
Regardless of my selfish thoughts, I do hope you give this a chance for yourself, and that you experience the magic and poetic prose included in Addie's story. I'll be waiting eagerly for Schwab's next novel.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.