Hi everyone! Welcome back to the blog! Today, I want to talk about one very specific book because I keep seeing mixed reviews on my For You Page on TikTok. Everyone seems to either love or hate it. In the beginning of the year, everyone raved about this book saying that people needed to read this or it’s going to be the best book you’ve ever read. Well, I’m here to tell you my opinion on it. So let’s get right into it.
I want to talk about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. I’ve heard so much about this book and majority of people say that they love it. But there has only been a small minority of people that say it’s not all that. And I am with the small minority, I don’t think this book has changed my life. I don’t think it’s the best book I have ever read either, and I don’t think the world is going to come to an end if you don't read it. I know shocking. While everyone is entitled to their opinion (and I’m not saying anyone is wrong), I want to give you the unpopular version before you think about buying it yourself.
For my first book of the month option, I decided to forego the monthly options (none of them were all that interesting) and went with The Invisible Life. I was so excited to read it. But I was only able to make it 80ish pages through the book. Now, this book is about 450 pages, so take into account that 1. I didn’t even make it that far in and 2. There was still a lot of potential for it to get better…. My rule of thumb is to make it at least 50 pages into a book before I call it quits; sometimes, I push it to 100 pages, but I’m sorry if nothing has happened in the first 100 pages that is captivating or worth continuing then what the hell is the point? I shouldn’t have to get halfway through a book to be like oh, now we’re getting somewhere. I absolutely hate not finishing a book. There was just something about this book that the more I read, the less I found myself not wanting to pick it up.
The plot line of the story sounds SO interesting. The whole praying to the Gods at night = cursed sounds so good and there is so much potential. However, it’s everything that comes after that is so boring. Reading about her life before the curse and reading about the curse being put upon her was good, it was entertaining and captivating. I enjoyed it. It flips between past and present, so as you read, you find out about her past life in conjunction with where she is now. And reading about her life before the curse/her being cursed doesn’t take long. It’s like the first 40ish pages of the book. It’s hearing about her life after being cursed, her adventures, her struggles that’s just so boring. I have no idea when she meets the person who actually remembers her. I literally couldn’t make it that far. And every time you think it’s going to start getting good it doesn’t. There just wasn’t enough action to make you want to continue reading, at least for me. I didn’t want a ‘coming of age’ or ‘finding yourself’ story, and that’s not how the book is marketed and that's not why I wanted to read the book, but that’s how I felt when reading it. It was like trying to get through John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. I'm not trying to be negative here, but I wanted to give the other side of the story a chance to be explained. Like I said, a lot of people love this book, and its rare when I don't love a popular book either. I just wanted to put this out here in case you are still on the fence about reading it.
Also, you can definitely tell the author is a very gifted writer. The writing itself is beautiful and flowy. I don’t know maybe I just didn’t give it much of a chance. Or maybe I was too picky and didn’t understand a key part of the book, but I don’t recommend. I have plenty of other recommendations that I can give.
If you have read it and liked it please let me know. When was the breaking point where you’re enthralled and can’t put it down? Maybe one day I’ll try again, but until then….
Thank you all for reading if you made it this far! Come back next week for another post!
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