Live forever and do cool things. Review of Addie LaRue.

 

Review of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Boy howdy. You'd think by now that people would realize that deals with the devil or with gods that only come out at night are like casinos--you can't win. Maybe you win temporarily, but in the long run the deck is stacked against you. I'm just full of cliches tonight. In The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue we have a couple of characters who sold their souls. When will they learn and what does the devil (or whoever) do with all these souls? Warehouse them? Use them as movie extras? Anyway, every time Addie thinks she finally tricks Luc (the devil-like character) it turns out he was pulling the strings all along. Addie could be a little annoying for much of the book. I know she had to steal because, due to circumstances, she couldn't hold a job, but sometimes she stole expensive clothes from innocent people and that was annoying. I felt she got more interesting when she met another lost soul and finally had someone to remember her. There was a lot of lip biting and eye rolling. If you read my reviews you'll know that's a pet peeve of mine because all current books seem to be filled with lip biting and eye rolling. It's like a shortcut to having to write emotions or dialog. And Addie LaRue had something else! All the minor elderly characters "toddled." Actually, I don't see that many elderly people toddling in real life. But, all the elderly toddled in Addie LaRue. When the elderly cat walked, even he "toddled." Despite the toddling and lip biting and eye rolling, I liked the book. I do want to know how Henry could afford to live in Brooklyn, go out to eat almost nightly, and go to entertainment venues almost daily on a bookstore clerk's salary. He was supporting Addie, too, and meals, rent, and entertainment were never a problem. I need to work in that bookstore. It's a cash cow. Moral to this story. Do not sell your soul to Luc and/or the devil unless you want to live a long life while staying young, travel all over the world, and visit cool places. Or work in a bookstore that pays really really well.