Overall, a solid, enjoyable read but there were lots of elements that I felt I had read before. This is a book I would recommend but it just didn't 'grab' as I had hoped. Something that stood out for me was the lack of diversity in the characters. Throughout the many years how does Addie not meet anyone of colour? I know this is a fantasy and you have to suspend your disbelief but this grated on me. This is a lengthy novel and I think it could have benefitted from a closer edit and perhaps being reduced by 50-100 pages.

This is such a beautiful, magical book that had me drawn into the story and the world and the characters from the very first page. I truly felt like I lived a lifetime with Addie and my heart got so happy when she finally found someone who remembered her. I loved her story.

I don't have words to describe how much I loved this book. The atmosphere is perfect. Even when nothing is happening the pages just kept on turning themselves. I've also never seen myself in a character as much as I have in this book, so it really hit me in the feels. It's very much vibes over plot but I cannot recommend it enough.

Ok, so I've got to be honest and say that I really did not get on with this book. It was beautifully written and the premise was a strong one, however, I felt that it wasn't handled as well as it could have been.

Firstly I went into this book not realising that at its heart it is a romance, I was hoping for more honestly. I felt that we just didn't get enough about the different historical times Addie lived through, we would get something about her having to stow away on a boat but then none of the interesting details. I felt these elements of the story were just missing and they were what I was looking forward to reading. I also felt that I wanted more detail about Luc, who or what he is, maybe some more of the people he had deals with. I found myself tiring of the love story elements very quickly which is a real shame.

Overall, this was not the book I thought I had signed up to read, now whether that is my fault or the fault of the publishers and their blurb I'm not sure. It certainly wasn't the fault of the author as this was a beautifully written story, just not what I was wanting.

Absolutely loved this - a departure from VE Schwab's usual style but no less wonderful. I remember Addie!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is an emotionally charged story of loss, love and life. V.E. Schwab creates an intimate connection between the reader and the protagonist Addie, as she traverses time, visiting and inspiring figures in literature, art and history, desperately seeking to make her presence felt in a world that keeps forgetting her. As we delve deeper into Addie's story, her sorrow is palpable.

Schwab handles a delicate theme of life, death and memories with the utmost care and deftly combines multiple genres with engaging prose and unexpected plot twists. With complex characters, imaginative worldbuilding and moments of pure joy, this novel is a must-read. It's a heart-warming journey of love, loss and discovering what matters in life, even when life itself seems out of reach.

This was such a beautiful book, I got totally and utterly lost within the pages. I think this is a story that is so rich and detailed that I will have to do a reread soon.

Beautiful, lyrical and emotive, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a tour de force of bewitching, engaging narrative that was a joy to read from start to finish. V.E. Schwab never disappoints!

A beautiful story with a wonderful premise - what if you could live forever, but without leaving any traces? It's a fascinating premise and the author plays around wonderfully with it, as Addie desperately tries to find a way to leave an imprint on the lives she passes through.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a captivating story that combines elements of contemporary and historical fantasy. Addie LaRue, a 24-year-old woman who has been cursed with immortality for 300 years after striking a deal with the devil (?), is the protagonist of the novel. Everyone she meets has forgotten about her over the centuries, leaving her to deal with the consequences of her decision.

With a compelling plot and interesting characters, the story is well-crafted and beautifully written. Addie is a dynamic and sympathetic protagonist who yearns to be remembered and loved, and the author does an excellent job of capturing her struggle as well as the bittersweet feeling of her immortality. Addie discovers new moments of joy and beauty to savour throughout the story, as well as the sadness of never being able to leave a lasting mark on the world.

The novel also has a richly detailed setting, with vivid descriptions of both eighteenth-century France and modern-day New York City. Schwab brings the city to life in a way that is both familiar and unfamiliar, and the setting serves as an excellent backdrop for the story.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is an imaginative and captivating story that will stay with readers long after the last page is turned. It's a thought-provoking look at the power of memory, the joys and sorrows of immortality, and the significance of creating your own life. The romance element is also fun in a twisted kind of way which to be honest I really like so well worth a read.

One of the most fantastic books I have ever read. I truly think Schwab is one of the best writers of our age.

There was a lot of hype around this book - I can see why, and I did enjoy it, but... (there's always a but) the characters didn't particularly appeal to me. The phrase 'too cool for school' springs to mind, although I did appreciate the focus on art and understood Addie's obsession with leaving her mark in a world where she's forgotten by everyone she meets.

I got a little frustrated by the lack of historical action as well. A whole 300 years or so and she only travels to a handful of places, and just as we think we're going to get some tension and action during the Second World War she's whisked away. It felt anticlimactic at times and slightly repetitive. I found Henry a more empathetic character and Luc I had mixed feelings over (think I'd have preferred him to just remain an enigmatic dark god character as I didn't feel there was enough development from distant darkness to angsty love interest, and if you like the whole dark god trope I can recommend Katherine Arden's Winternight trilogy, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow, and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin.)

I liked the ambiguous ending, it felt fitting, and I plan on reading more books by V.E. Schwab.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

I absolutely ADORED The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Magical, emotional, romantic, dark and compelling, it's an epic tale of a girl who is destined to never be remembered. A special book that made me cry and smile at the same time, it's hard not to love Addie and sympathise with her situation. 4/5 stars!

Despite being warned to “never pray to the gods that answer after dark”, in her desperation to escape an arranged marriage, Adeline ends up doing just that, and what good could possibly come with promising your soul to one of these dark gods?

By now I’ve read most of V.E. Schwab’s books and I’d consider her one of my favourite authors, and with that I think I can safely say this is one of her best publications. It’s going to have to be a very special book indeed to take the top spot from Vicious in my opinion but this sure does come close. It’s a beautiful story both in narrative and storyline; but the best thing about it is just how engaging it is. I think I read this in about a day, I simply didn’t want to put it down! Given Addie’s “curse” there are only really three main characters in the book, but they’re so intriguing and well developed that I didn’t feel like anything was really missing from that. And Addie was the perfect protagonist; sometimes in literature you’ll see hundreds even thousands of years-old characters who don’t seem to mature or learn, but Addie is clever, resourceful, and incredibly determined, and I loved reading about her story.

The way the multiple timelines, and even artistic references, are woven into the current narrative is seamless and provides even more reasons to love Addie as a character; seeing just how far she has come and all on her own, in almost 300 years.

There was so much hype around this book, I’m incredibly glad that for me it lived up to expectations; it is a slow burn book, but I think more recent books by V.E Schwab are more inclined to be that way, but it’s the way she is able to use this time to fully engage the reader which is just wonderful. I am also a detail-oriented person and so really appreciate finer details and snippets of information to help build the world in my head. It’s beautifully rich in detail and paints such a vivid picture of Addie’s world you simply can’t help but to keep reading just one more chapter…

Overall I’m giving this book an 8.5/10 for a beautifully detailed narrative, and a story so engaging and unique it very nearly threw me into another reading slump (don’t worry I found another awesome read shortly afterwards so I was fine). But once again V.E. Schwab has delivered a masterpiece.

This is a lot more literary than V's usual prose style, and I think that has been fairly divisive for a lot of people. I ended up adoring it, but I see why people may struggle. For me, her language is just as carefully (and beautifully!) chosen as always.

Addie is a book of many parts. It's a little bit of a slow start, but it's hard not to feel for Addie and the life she inhabits. As much as I like the start, the book really begins when she gets to New York, 300 years after her deal, and Henry remembers her. The relationship between them is stunning.

The time jumps helped flesh out Addie's story and her feelings. They can be quite hard to navigate but I think it was done very well. They also really lent into the relationship between Addie and Luc. It's messed up, and toxic, but also kind of understandable.

The ending is perfection. Sad, but beautiful. I love the element of hope mixed with the pure chaos of what Addie sets off to do :D

4.5 stars.

I’m still a bit numb from finishing this book. It was amazing and emotional, and tragic and brave and bold. I was worried I was hyping this book up too much in my head, but I’m so glad to say it was worth it. We follow Addie who makes a deal with the devil, one that leaves her in a world where no one can remember her, not her family, her friends or anyone knew she meets. This is such a desolate idea of life to me and I felt her sadness seep through the pages, alongside her other emotions as she comes to terms with her new life. Addie sees time pass her by as she lives through the 1600s and up to the present day in 2014 when this book is partially set.

I really enjoy the change we see in Addie throughout the pages of this book, she is so different in the present-day chapters, as you would expect. You can see the hardships that she has gone through in her actions even if you can’t see it in her face and body. Her situation is so unique and is something I’ve never read about before. The idea of people being able to forget her as soon as they leave her side, it’s just so isolating. I want to know more about how this works, she talks about men she spends the night with, but do they not forget her if they leave to go to the toilet? Do they really not go to the loo the whole evening? I had a few questions about how this life would work, but in general, the sadness of being forgotten seems to both haunt Addie and be familiar to her in a very sad way. This book certainly looks at the idea of being rememebered vs living life to the full and having experiences and what these characters value the most.

I loved how varied the settings were in this book, one minute we were in Paris, the next London, then New York. It felt exciting and worldly and left me feeling constantly hooked. I think this was also aided by the shorter chapters, Schwab’s writing style meant I was constantly being passed along the story and desperate to read more. This book is the downfall to those of us live by the ‘just one more chapter’ way of life because the chapters are so short and easy to whizz through.

Luc is such an interesting character, the devil, the darkness, the shadow that haunts Addie throughout her unusual life. He’s certainly the antagonist, he is Addie’s fated hubris but their relationship is so much more complicated than that. First off, I love how she names him Luc, Lucifer, a new literary representation of the devil brought to us by Victoria Schwab, not a red monster with horns, but the darkness moulded into a man that Addie created in her head. I suppose the argument here is do we create our own devils, are we our own hubris? God, there’s so much to unpack in this book, I feel it warrants another read.

Henry is such a cinnamon roll, truly he is. A bookseller and my type down to a tee, I love him. He is so real and genuine, he is not perfect, he doesn’t have unrealistic expectations of the world, but he has somehow got swept up in a life that seems to involve Addie LaRue. I want to read so much more about Henry, his life, his family, his friends, the bookshop, Book the cat. I want to know him and have drinks with him. I thought he was such a lovely character to read about, he felt like cosiness on the page whenever I read about him. He represents so much more than that too, but I want to keep this spoiler-free and not give anything away about his storyline. Henry wants the most from his life, I love this quote about his way of seeing life.

“After all, life seems very long sometimes, but he knows it will go so fast, and he doesn’t want to miss a moment.”

Victoria Schwab’s writing style throughout this book is just exquisite. She has some truly excellent lines and beautiful moments that I felt I was making notes at almost every page. Some favourite quotes of mine would be:

“She is sunshine. She is clear blue skies.”

I love this description of Addie, what a lovely idea that someone would be sunshine and skies, how beautiful is that?

“Humans are capable of such wondrous things. Of cruelty, and war, but also art and inventon.”

Humans are always under fire for being so terrible, but we also create and have beauty in us and I feel like Schwab really expresses this in this quote.

“The worst part of every meal is when it ends.”

I mean this one is just plain relatable really isn’t it? Especially when it’s such a lovely meal!

This book amazed me and wowed me in so many different ways, an instant favourite that I want to read again and again!

This was my final go at a V.E Schwab I find here writing beautiful but the lack of plot frustrating. Also i found it very hard to believe that through all through Europe past and present it dealt with non of the history or even had one POC character unfounded. completely took me out of the story

I was so scared of finally reading this book. V. E. Schwab has been one of my favourite authors ever since I read Vicious years ago. I requested an ARC of this book on Netgalley even before it was published. BUT I NEVER GOT TO IT. Why? Because I kept seeing all these mixed reviews. But you know what? I liked it. I liked it quite a lot.
The thing is, I've read so much fantasy up to this point that it's difficult to surprise me with plot twists. This one did.
Not all of them were unexpected, like Henry's situation. But I certainly did not anticipate every single bomb that came afterwards. Thank you, Victoria, for blowing my mind once again.

This is the first book I've ever read by V. E. Schwab and it certainly won't be my last. The writing in this book is so lyrical, I enjoyed every second and didn't want it to end.

Addie makes a deal with the devil, one that will make it impossible for anyone to remember her. For 300 years we follow her across the world, through so much heart break and struggle, until one day she walks into a bookshop and finds Henry...

I really don't want to give anything away because you need to be able to experience every second of this book yourself, but Addie is a dream heroine. She is fierce but vulnerable, a bad ass woman with a longing for love. I absolutely adored every inch of her as a character.

You will experience a whole load of emotions reading this! I became so invested in Addie that I felt every one of her emotions as if it were my own (that is how good the writing in this book is!!)

Thank you to Titan Books and Netgalley for gifting me a copy of this book.


OK, I read this last year but never got around to reviewing it and as I'm trying to be really good and decrease my Netgally percentage, I thought it was a good time to put it up. I have no idea why I didn't review it at the time, because it was one of my favourite books last year.

I love any book that deals with immortality and this provides such a twist to the topic. Set in France in 1714, Addie is so desperate not to marry the man her parents have chosen for her that she makes a Faustian pact with a twist - immortality but added with a curse to be forgotten by everyone she meets. You may thinks that's OK, she gets to lives forever, but eternity can be pretty lonely if no one ever remembers you or grows to love you. Addie has to work hard to find a way into people's memories, usually through the arts. Maybe a song about her, or a painting. But then one day she meets somone who doesn't forget her.

This book is breathtakingly beautiful from the start and is by far my favourite V.E. Schwab book ever. The whole set up of this story is unique and intoxicating at the same time. I loved Addie and her struggle to be remembered. She never gave up even though her decision in the first place may have been seen as rash and stupid, but she was young. She didn't realise how tough it would be.

It reminded me a little of How To Save a Life by Matt Haig but with a much better plot and well paced tension. I couldn't put this book down. I was addicted to it from start to finish and I felt so sad to say goodbye to Addie. The ending is really clever. I'm just so sorry it has taken so long to review it.

If you like your magic with a twist, you will love this.