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

adventurous mysterious tense 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

2.75

Ok clearly I enjoyed this a fair bit because it was quite long and I got through it pretty quickly, so I was at least gripped and it was easy reading. But I didn't actually think it was that good and I didn't love it. 

Firstly, I found the premise and her curse so incredibly bleak and miserable that I couldn't for the life of me understand why she didn't just give in, surrender and die. Sure I can see defiance keeping you going for a while but motivation for hundreds of years of torture? No way. So fundamentally I just couldn't identify with Addie at all or understand what was really driving her.

Secondly, the premise for Henry being immune to her curse made no sense to me whatsoever. His curse altered the way other people perceived him; it didn't actually alter him. The whole realisation of how depressing it was centred on the fact that people weren't actually seeing him clearly and were just seeing what they wanted to see. So for it to be the reason that he is fundamentally different from everyone else because that's what Addie wants was nonsensical to me.

Thirdly, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is not a symphony.