This, right there, was my most anticipated release of the year. It’s no secret V. E. Schwab is my favourite author of all time and Vicious my favourite book. Well, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue just took its place on the podium and in my heart.

Addie is the book of a lifetime, not only because it has been the one on Schwab’s mind for years, but also because it is the kind of book that will stick with you for the rest of your life. It is full of nostalgia, melancholy, life, love, memories and everything in between. This book is truly an entire life. And by the end of it, your breath will go out and everything will stand still for a few seconds - just stuck in the air. Because that’s what Addie is, a punch in the gut, a very welcome one though.

Schwab’s writing is as sublime as ever if not more. We can feel the yearning and relief the words come with, we can feel this, this story right there, has been in the works for years. I honestly had such high expectations for this book and Schwab has blown them all away. It took me weeks to read this book as I started it just before moving but it felt like such a relief to stop for a bit and read a few pages. God. I truly and utterly fell in love with Addie’s story, Henry’s and Luc’s. And to be honest, it felt like I was finding myself, reading about myself in parts of them. Because in the end, The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue is everyone’s story in one way or another and I could not be more grateful to Victoria Schwab for putting it all into words.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I loved this book to bits and cannot recommend it enough. No matter what genre you usually like, just read it, please.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab is the story of Addie, who gains immortality, but cannot be remembered.  This is the story of her life, and her decisions, and Henry.  The only person in 300 years who can remember her besides the old god who granted her this "gift".

This is very light fantasy is beautifully written, with the trips down memory lane so well written, it feels like you are there.  It was such a lovely story and yes, there were tears at certain points, but also a lot of happiness and joy.  

 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  was published on 6th October, and is available to buy from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and your  local independent bookshop .

You can follow V.E Schwab on  Twitter ,  Instagram  and  her website .

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Titan Books .

Immortality comes with a price. Addie LaRue is the most forgettable person on the planet thanks to a deal with the devil. He's not really THE devil, but he basically is. I think.

Addie is a woman in 18th century rural France so the only way out is to make a deal. Her need to escape conjures Luc, an old God, nothing short of the devil himself. He spends the next 300 years playing with Addie's emotions until she meets Henry. Henry will make it all worthwhile.

This is my first VE Schwab and her writing is beautiful. She certainly likes a simile and REALLY likes repeating things for emphasis. Really likes it.

My first VE Schwab was a great experience. Obviously I can't say if this is her best, but it feels like it could be. Jumping around between times and places usually pisses me off, but this just worked. In the end I actually kinda wanted Luc to win, because he's gradually humanised by Addie's interactions with him.

I really enjoyed this one. Addie’s reason for making the deal and her whole mindset really engaged my sympathy, so that very early on in the book I was right alongside her. This is important, because while Schwarb goes on to describe her trials and travails in poignant and gripping detail, those very experiences could have taken her outside the everyday orbit of the rest of us and make her less relatable.

However, Schwarb’s poetic, accomplished prose didn’t allow that barrier to occur – which allowed me to continue to very much care for Addie, and later on – Henry. What I hadn’t expected, was the stunning quality of the writing. The descriptions of the span of experiences in Addie’s life – the terrible lows and the marvellous highs, are brilliantly captured on the page. Schwarb’s writing encompasses the full range of sensory experiences, so that we not only can visualise it, we can smell, taste and touch it, too. It takes serious writing chops to pull it off, such that the author not only encapsulates all of that – she does so within the confines of the narrative arc, in a way that doesn’t derail the pace and tension.

I am not a huge fan of literary fiction, as far too often the style prevails over the story. So I’m very impressed that Schwarb has managed to produce nuanced, complex characters who interact in a really complicated way with each other. Luc and Addie’s relationship is a tortured one, and the story hinges on our understanding of just how complex that becomes. I absolutely loved the whole narrative arc, particularly the final twist.

In short, this is a tour de force – a really intriguing read that has had me pondering Addie’s plight since I put it down, and executed by a writer at the height of her powers. Very highly recommended for fans of the literary end of fantasy – and those who simply love a cracking read with an interesting premise. While I obtained an arc of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

This is my first V.E Schawb book. Schawb is an author that I’ve just never gotten around to, despite her growing list of titles- but I was sufficiently intrigued by the description to seek out this one specially.

The basic premise of the book is simple but exceedingly clever. In an attempt to evade her 18th century provincial French village and an unwanted arranged marriage, the protagonist Addie LaRue sells her soul with a demon in return for temporary freedom and immortality. The consequences are desperate and disastrous consequences. The author does an excellent job of setting the motive for making the deal but also the gradual unveiling of Addie’s shocked realisation that what she signed up to is in fact not quite what she bargained for. There is always a catch, you see, even for the most experienced soul-seller. The most obvious repercussion is basically stated in the title of the book- Addie will live indefinitely but she can leave no mark. That includes on people’s memory- which has all sorts of practical implications.

The timeline flips between present day (circa 2014) New York City and Addie’s origins, taking us through chapters of her long strange travels and history over the course of 300 years. Until one day, she enters a bookshop and meets Henry.

What did I love about this? Addie is a very engaging character and despite all her struggles and occasionally morally questionable methods of surviving in a world where she slips like a ghost in and out of people’s consciousness, I found her likable. I liked how various interactions over history shaped her character and it was great fun watching her push the boundaries to see how much she could circumvent the restrictions of her curse. Her constant challenge of fending off a demon who is determined to make life as unpleasant as possible for her (so that she will agree to give up and forfeit her soul) is interesting and kept me guessing throughout. When Henry comes on the scene it becomes even more interesting as Addie and Henry’s timelines interweave and a romance begins. Henry is different, you see, and has backstory of his own- and the setup of the resulting dilemma is absolutely delicious. I was positively hooked to find out how they were going to get out of the mess they were in and the deeper you go into the book, the most twists and turns emerged. There’s a fun and diverse range of supporting characters as well, which lends extra emotional depth and range. Schawb’s prose is beautiful and she effortlessly pulls off the more supernatural aspects of her story in a seriously believable way.

What did I not like? I found the romance between Addie and Henry to be touching but also slightly tedious- it borders on insta-love although in fairness to the author there’s good reasons for setting a brisk pace with the relationship. I did not find Henry as compelling as a lead character- in fact I found him a bit of a wet blanket in places and I ended up positively rolling my eyes when certain information was revealed about his backstory. I also felt that the demon Luc was a bit of a caricature at times and it felt like he and Addie had quite repetitive interactions after a while (i.e sexy demon, ooohhh but also eeeevvvillll booo and manipulative boooo and really really not very nice, although did I mention the sexy?) I also felt the pace drooping a little toward the latter part of the book- I was very keen to find out the resolution so I kept going but by the time the end approached I was ready for a conclusion. I found the final chapter a tad clunky but the overall ending was very satisfying. On the whole, a great, fun and thought-provoking read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books (UK) for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I’ve also posted a review on Youtube, if you’d rather hear my thoughts in spoken form!

I don’t always get along with V. E. Schwab’s books. I find a lot of them to be so incredibly slow, and the only time I tend to love them is if she nails the interesting characters. Vicious and ADSOM were a lot of fun because I loved the villains, but her other books fell a little flat for me. Nevertheless, I was excited to pick up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue because I’ve recently found that I really enjoy generational stories, and this sounded like one of those but with only one person.

I have to say, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue got off to such a slow start. I didn’t even know what the plot was until a third of the way through because Schwab took so long introducing the characters and their histories. Eventually, though, the book did pick up and I started to actually care about the characters that we were so slow to be introduced to.

My friend Judith pointed out that this book is very similar to the movie, The Age of Adeline, and I have to agree. Of course, it’s not identical, but the concept being similar and the characters having the same name is… interesting.

By the time I got to the end, I was actually quite attached to the book and I got quite emotional. If you’ve read the book, it was the bookshop that got to me. Despite the slow plot, I did come to care about Addie. Not so much Henry, though.

I also really enjoyed the rep in this book. Henry, the love interest, identifies as pansexual, and Addie is definitely not straight, although I can’t remember if she ever put a label on herself.

The villain, the darkness, was super interesting. I went back and forth between finding him intriguing (in a villainous way, of course) and disturbing. I found it very difficult to read about his relationship with Addie because it was manipulative and abusive.

I think the writing style was the biggest letdown for me with this one. I bumped the book down to a four star instead of a four and a half, maybe five. I found myself growing very frustrated when Schwab would use the same descriptions for things over and over again. “Trapped in amber” was mentioned a whole bunch of times, and I’m sure there were more. This one just stood out to me because, well, it’s my name. I really didn’t like the buttery writing of this one, and I would have preferred it if it had been more blunt, or at least a bit more varied.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is definitely not an all time favourite of mine, but it was certainly enjoyable and the author does a great job of making you care for the 300 year old main character. I will be remembering it for a while, because it definitely drew some emotion from me and made me cry!

Eighteenth Century. When Addie accidentally prays to the gods who answer after dark, her wish for freedom and a life away from from her small village is granted. The catch is, no one remembers her, save for the 'devil' who granted her wish. Every year on their 'anniversary', he returns, hoping that this is the year she decides she no longer wants her soul; every year, Addie's resolve grows - she will make the most of this new, invisible life; after all, once you've seen elephants in Paris, you realise there is so much more out there to see.

They do this dance for three hundred years: Addie drifting through life, unremembered, and her devil stopping by, asking if she is ready to surrender. And then one day, in 2014, someone remembers her, and she gets a glimpse of permanence, of roots she could put down. But deals with gods who answer after dark are tricky things...

I made the mistake of starting this book just before bed, intending to read a few chapters and pick it up again the next day. Next thing I knew, it was gone midnight and I was coming to the last few pages. It is beautifully written, and such a compelling story. I fell in love with this book, with Addie and her journey, and with the writing itself. While we follow Addie through 300 years of her life, we come into contact with a host of other characters, all so compelling despite their mostly limited "screen time". Addie drifts through her life, unable to leave a mark, but inspiring those who can't remember coming into contact with her; she struggles, she blames, but she also holds out hope, and her stubborness develops into a stregnth which carries her through these trials into a place where she can embrace - to some extent - her 'gift'.

I cannot reccomend The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue enough - as soon as I finished it I was messaging friends declaring that they simply had to put this book right at the top of their TBR pile. It will stay with me for a long time, and I am already looking forward to when I come to re-read it. Absolutley stunning.

Now I’m going to try to write a review that does justice to this book and how amazing it is.

I think that this book could be summed up by simply no one is straight, they are all at least mild disasters and no one is great at making deals. But that is only if you want the briefest of information about this book. This is a story about a woman that makes a deal that both ruins her life and gives it a whole knew meaning. She might never be remembered but that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t left a mark, a few impressions, in people’s minds over the centuries.

Firstly, there’s Addie herself. She made a deal without thinking that caused her to life forever, giving her the time she wanted, but to never be remembered. When I read the blurb for this story I was instantly intrigued by this book and how Addie came to live an invisible life. As Addie moves like a ghost throughout history, always forgotten, she finds little ways to be remembered, to leave an impression, through the work of artists and musicians. She might not be able to create it herself and be remembered for it, like she would want, but she has found a way to be remembered. If only as a shadow, a ghost, nothing more than a fleeting idea.

Being forgotten, she thinks, is a bit like going mad. You begin to wonder what is real, if you are real. After all, how can a thing be real if it cannot be remembered? It’s like that Zen koan, the one about the tree falling in the woods.

If no one heard it, did it happen?

If a person cannot leave a mark, do they exist?

Part II, II
Haunt – it is the right word, for someome living like a ghost.

Part II, X
I loved reading about both her past and present self, going from being a girl that lived in a small town in the French countryside in the 18th century to a modern woman in New York in 2014. Usually when I read a book that’s set in both the past and the present I tend to prefer one over the other and find one to be much more interesting than the other. But I found that because it’s all Addie’s story I found both to be super interesting. Also they flowed together really well. Each part linked together, so there might be something that happened in the past that still effected her in the present. Or something in the present would crop up and then also be explored in the past. The swapping of time periods and years between chapters, it didn’t switch every chapter, flowed seamlessly to me. I think that this might be the best book I’ve read that does this.

One thing that I like about this book is that when you first met Addie she’s in 2014, she’s been living her invisible life for centuries by this point and has figured out how to survive and make a game out of it. She’s learnt how to read people, how long she can be remembered for and how to get what she needs to live. She might not have money, a job, friends, family, anyone or anything but than the clothes she wears, the knowledge she’s collected and her determination to survive. I liked that Addie was shown as being a very confident and capable women despite her circumstance in the present before learning why she made this deal and how she had to learn to survive everything.

Addie’s a very clever character. She’s witty, imaginative and loves her life. Her deal is both a curse and a blessing; she’s always forgotten but she can live a life of her own making. Mostly.

This book deals with how women were expected to grow up to marry, be mothers and housewives even when they didn’t want to. Many didn’t have any other choice or opportunity to do anything else. It’s something that often crops up in the chapters set in Addie’s past. Through friends, family, and having to navigate a world designed for and by men when women had little to no autonomy. I really liked that Schwab delved into this as I think way too many historical stories ignore or barely mention this struggle.

She is at odds with everything, she does not fit, an insult to her sex, a stubborn child in a woman’s form, her head bowed and arms wrapped tight around her drawing pad as if it were a door.

And when she does look up, her gaze always goes to the edge of town.

“A dreamer,” scorns her mother.

“A dreamer,” mourns her father.

“A dreamer,” warns Estele.

Still, it does not seem such a bad word.

Until Adeline wakes up.

Part I, V
One thing that I liked about this book is that there isn’t a bad guy or a fight between good and evil which tends to crop up in fantasy a lot. Sure the devil that Addie makes her deal with isn’t a good being but it’s also in his nature to be wicked and a bit of a trickster. The only fight there is is the fight over Addie’s soul. As you might imagine she doesn’t want to give him her soul and he can’t just take it either. There’s a struggle between them that’s very entertaining to read.

I actually really liked the devil, the shadows, the darkness, whatever you want to call him. And I really liked that him and Addie had a bit of a weird friendship if you can call it that. He’s the only one that remembers Addie and his visits on the day of their deal is the only constant in her life.

There is one more character that I’d like to talk about too. But I’m going to try to keep it as vague as possible because I don’t want to spoil anyone. This is the person that Addie meets that remembers her. A normal human that isn’t a devil, who manages to turn Addie’s life upside down. Addie has gone three hundred years with no human ever remembering her up until she meets them. It’s a mystery as to why they can remember her that I enjoyed reading but I’m also glad that the reason why wasn’t dragged out.

The two of them came into each other’s lives at the right moment, they had a bit of a fling and they each got to learn something new. I thought that their romance was very sweet. But I also liked reading about the romances and relationships that they’ve had in the past. They are both kind of sad and in need of someone that can understand them, which I think that they found in each other. Addie finally got to experience all the sweet and wondrous moments that she’s wished for for years, and not having any of the awkward morning afters when the person doesn’t remember her. And they also got to be seen by someone as purely their self and not feel like they aren’t enough for the other person.

This book definitely had a lot of bittersweet moments that made me sad but it also had a lot of happier, uplifting moments that made me smile and sometimes laugh.

While reading this book I felt the world melt away. I often found myself reading this book and being completely immersed in the story. For me time flew past while reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and this is the first book in a long, long time that has done this. V.E. Schwab’s writing is beautiful, romantic and gripping as she tells the story of Addie LaRue set over three centuries. This was an absolute delight to read and I’m so glad that I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book.

I would definitely recommend reading this book. This was one of my most anticpated releases of 2020 and it didn’t disappoint me. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue defied my expectations and was so much more than I could have imagined. Schwab is an amazing storyteller and this book really showcases that.

I decided to give this book 5 stars because I was absolutely blown away with this book. I thought it was truly amazing and had that 5 star spark for me!

If you’ve read and enjoyed any of V.E. Schwab’s other books then I would highly recommend reading this book. Now, I struggled a bit trying to come up with other books that weren’t by Schwab, as this book just feels so unique and unlike any other book I;ve read, but I did come up with a few. So if you read and enjoyed The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, and Stardust by Neil Gaiman I would recommend reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

There was so much to love about this book. It is languorous and melancholy and full of the bright highs of exploring three hundred years of western human history, and the lows of a life both too long and never long enough.

The whole of Addie's story is told in perfectly structured, gloriously slow way. In three hundred years of life, there's a lot to tell, so buckle in as you are here for this journey. The only reason you will be rushing through this story is because you need to know what happens, what the resolution of this hopeless situation is, and not because the author is rushing you through it. Which is something to be admired in good writing.

It's a little lyrical, and a little flowery, which might not be to everyone's taste. But it is told well. And you are swept up from Belle Époque France to modern day New York. And, through the eyes of Addie, and Henry, once he arrives, you are delicately folded up in their lives, their emotions and their despair.

In some ways, this novel is an homage to the enduring nature of art; to the desperate desire so many artists feel not to be forgotten - to write, to paint, to create something that will be seen and appreciated and remembered. (And perhaps the author's own fears and desires too).

It also has some frighteningly beautiful descriptions of the utter hopelessness and despair that comes with depression, of both fearing and being forgotten, and of never being enough. Schwab certainly has a way of writing that really captures these kinds of emotions, and you also know that she has shaved off so much of herself and spliced it into these pages.

All of that being said, this is also the most gloriously self-absorbed love triangle of a story. Addie describes her relationship with Luc, the green-eyed devil who has sealed her into this pact, as something magnetic, the pair of them drawn to each other. And over three hundred years they are still twisting and dodging each other, both stubbornly fighting for power over the other. And the older she gets, the more like an immortal Addie herself becomes (and idea that I love - can you really stay human if you have eternal life?)

The descriptions of Henry's depressive episodes are stunning - the boy with a broken heart that feels too deeply. His relationship with Addie, particularly when they realise they have more than expected in common, becomes incredibly intense, but is also the first real thing that Addie has experienced. Or at least, the first human thing. And you know it cannot end well when the devil is involved.

I found the ending of the story a little trite - the very palimpsest that had been referenced more than a few times in the course of the story. But I really don't know if there was a better way of finishing it. However, I did like the conclusion to Addie's story, if we can call it that. That, much like the mythic tales of the sun and the moon chasing each other, or Persephone and Hades, there is still this magnetic dance.

This really was a fantastic example of quality writing done well and wrapped up in a powerful, heartstring-pulling story.

I give it 4.5 stars, but happily round this up to 5.

This is the first book in a while to make me ugly cry. Am I the only person to say hat about this book? No. Is it true? YES. Honestly, I have read a small amount of V.E Schwabs work compared to some of my friends, each to varying levels of success. I was also really lucky to meet Schwab more than once and attend many of her panels at Worldcon in Dublin. This was well worth the wait.

This was sprawling and highly impressive. Everytime I saw V.E Schwab either at Dublin or online speaking to others, it was clear that this book was highly important to her. That does come across very clerly in reading this I will say and whether you believe in authorial inten or not, this is clearly a book that belongs to someones heart.

V.E Schwab really shines here in the writing, it’s wonderfully written and is densely packed with lots of metaphor and descriptive language. Now this is where I would warn that if you’re someone who desn’t like either literary fiction, or flowery writing/metaphoric prose (Lani Taylor, the Nevernight Chronicle) then this might irk you a little. The writing is kind of essential to both the plot and the world building and as a result it can seem slower in places but it is never without reason. We are following 2 timelines in Addie’s life and after she meets Henry, things do drastically change in terms of pacing, background and levels of the fantastic. This to me was kind of needed a slow, whimiscal start to this dreamy, strange world his girl has had to make for herself does work well. Then of course when she is happy and finds some solace, the shit hits the fan.

This is an old trope. We all know it. Person has want, devil/god/spirit etc has means to give want to person for soul, consequences occur and person regrets new life choice. Schwab does it justice though! She really does pull off a refreshing, dakly romantic take on both the Faustian deal legend with mixes of the death and the maiden trope. It works so well and honestly think it’s most of the books best parts are the beats that folow that story.

Addie La Rue, I will remember you. Sorry for the cheesy line but I really am not likely to forget this tragic, romantic girl any time soon. I love how we see her grow over her 300 years but mostly what I love learning is how she found different parts of herself as time went on. Something important to know is that both Addie and Henry are queer. Both have had relationships with people of the same gender and it’s neither a huge part of the book, one passing line or integral to their development. Addie out of the two of them I would have liked to seen how she lerned over the years that the curse she has would be an advantage to being in queer relationships through historially worse times but then again it was a refreshing to have them just there and queer. Henry as well is very hard to not fall for as well. He is tragic in his own way and I was very attached to him come the end of the book but without spoiling, he isn’t a man who needed Addie to bring meaning to his life. He has his secrets and flaws too like Addie. They both just anchor each other in different ways.

All in all the last third of the book is definitely my favourite. I just can’t over emphasise how enthralled I was after learning one small thing. It is also the main climax of the story and suddenly everything ramps up VERY quickly. It does have a point ad the end to the story is asolutely wonderful but this book definitely made me cry in a way I haven’t since reading Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett. I honestly think that part bumped it up a star for me and will continually sit in my mind for a while.

This is definitely a stand out for me for the year. I am however a sucker for devil stories, tragic romances, curses and very descriptive writing so I am in fact the perfect reader but I will say this is the most imprressive of V.E Schwabs books I have read so far. The ADSOM trilogy is on my TBR project list and I find it so strange I love this book when my top pick for Schwab has been The Near Witch for a year now and that is her first book, Addie being her latest.

Thank you both Titan Books and Net Galley for giving me an advanced digital copy of this for review. I am always eternally grateful to get o read my big anticipated releases in advance but this was honestly a fantastic book and definitely a favourite for this otherwise dismal year. Now if either of the physical editions I ordered would get here soon, I would be delighted. Thanks for checking in everyone, happy reading!

I received a free ecopy of this book in return for an honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity.

I should also confess that I am a massive fan of Victoria Schwab. Being offered this book had me running around the house, flapping my arms and shrieking with excitement, but it’s always a nervous moment though when you start a new book by an author you love. If it’s not up to standard, the disappointment is crushing. From the off, though, this book is in a class of its own.

Addie is born in a tiny hamlet in late 17th century France. She feels imprisoned within the confines of the village, and when her parents try to marry her off, she makes a deal with a dark god, for freedom. It comes at a steep price though. No-one remembers her and she can leave no mark on the world. She wanders through Europe and America for 300 years, drifting through people’s lives, sometimes spending months with one person, instantly being forgotten once out of sight. Meeting them every day ‘for the first time’. Until the life-changing moment, in a small second-hand bookshop, in New York, when a young man remembers her from the day before.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a beautiful and haunting book. Pathos winds through the pages like an old vine. The flow of words is easy but poignant. The narrative flips between Addie’s origin story and 2014. The language is beautiful, the past written in the present tense with peeks into the future. Addie is such a relatable character despite her situation. It was a strange feeling reading about someone who can’t hold onto anything while surrounded by books, and beloved objects. When I neared the end of the book, the tears began to flow as I feared a tragic end whilst desperately hoping for a happy ever after. I’m not going to say whether I got it.

I already know that this is a book I will reread soon, and maybe often. I can see this becoming an annual pilgrimage in a way that Schwab’s other books haven’t, as good a they are. There is just something special about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Bonus: it’s going to be a film! Excuse me, I need to go run round my house, flapping my arms a shrieking with excitement.

Good Afternoon Bookish Folk!

Today my post will be a little different than my usual review, and a wee pre-warning ‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’ was not for me sadly and rather than write up a review of sorts I am taking advice from the lovely Alex from The Martian Chronicle who advised I post my thoughts on the book instead of a flat out review.

I will still start with all the usual facts and did bits but this won’t be ranked.

A few facts about .:

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Author: V. E. Schwab
Series: Standalone
Published by Tor Books
Pages: 448

MY THOUGHTS:

Here are a few things you can expect from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue :

Love triangle;
18th century France setting;
LGBT; and
nice writing.

On to the my thoughts from reading this book…

I really don’t know how to start this post, and I am honestly a little worried I am going to just point out the bad because as I think about typing this up more and more things I found lacking about the book are coming to light.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was quite frankly an unmissable read, it teased us with a deal with the devil, a possible angsty enemies to lovers plot, a life lived over three centuries and 18th century France. I was really keen to read this book, and for once myself and my mood reader soul were walking hand in hand to this book, but alas what I expected and what I got were not the same.

Schwab’s writing is quite lovely, at times I was so swept away by it and utterly immersed. There was something about it that really kept me captivated, it was leading us somewhere and I was really excited as to where it was leading us.

For the first half of the book I was happy reading along and quite enjoying it. It was just magical enough to tickle that fancy and was hinting at some really cool things. We were seeing these beautiful episodes in the past, and seeing a young girl struggle to understand the boundaries of her life and her wanting to live it by her own rules in a time that simply didn’t allow nor approve of such.

I liked the characters when we were at the start of their journeys and I really enjoyed the whole idea of discovering something new even after so much time. The idea that so many of these creative and amazing places where from Addie planting seeds in the minds of artists and creatives alike throughout time was a lovely way to show she still left her mark on the world.

And then came the moment I realised it wasn’t getting better than what it already was..it was simply going on and on and on…Anddd this is where it goes tits up sadly! It stays like that, all the way through to the end, which fast becomes uninteresting.

This book is slow, really slow but I really didn’t mind that for the first half of the book or so, we were getting to know the world, the characters and the boundaries of Addie’s curse and with lovely teasing injections of 18th century France, but somewhere on or around the fifty per cent mark it slows even more and stays at the pace until the end.

I looked at the book percentage a few times throughout my read and thought to myself ‘ahh ok we are heading into 70% area, you still have time to shake it up a little’ and then I was at 80% it was a case of ‘ok, Schwab you have to pull this out of the park and give this an absolute epic ending‘ then at 90% I was forced to realise it for what I was, and my thought were along the lines of ‘this is it, this is the extent of the book‘ and finally 100% ‘WTF, just what!’.

What started off as quite cool characters soon became uninteresting and unchanging.

Yes, that is it I think. One of the issues I had with this book…nothing changed.

Addie who was meant to have lived through so much was the same character in all her flashbacks, the exact same. To say she was immortal and had lived an age there seemed to be no progression or development through the ages. Where was the acceptance and almost arrogance when she found the rhythm of her curse, she could be reckless and spontaneous. Where was the fear of the curse, the book hinted to her going mad on ore than one occasion but this was not elaborated on, and such madness especially could have been an amazing opportunity for further development with her and Luc.

Henry was another cool at the start character, but then showed very little progression and seemingly learnt nothing from his whole experience.

Luc, the same. Luc could have been such a huge part of this story and such a complex and utterly intriguing character but he was not, he was left to be a side piece who popped up every now and again.

This book has an incredibly smaller cast than i’m used to and in a book that could have flaunted some of histories most memorable people and moments were but mere mentions in the background. This world was not filled out, not in the present nor in 18th century France or well any other century Addie lived through.

Far more interesting storylines such as times of madness, times of war and of revolution, times so low Addie was in the bowels of a ship for weeks and more were simply hinted at and left at that. We were told of these things and then left wanting. Instead we were given somewhat repetitive episodes in rather mundane situations (compared to the above) which then had the barest injection of the devil into them. Who Addie was meant to have fallen for and have such a deep and long lasting bond with but we didn’t see any of that develop at all.

This book could have been great, could have been an absolute masterpiece but instead it lacked in its execution and sadly did not fulfil its potential.

I realise I have written quite a negative post here and I stand by my points , as these are my thoughts about this book but I do appreciate many who seem to adore this book, so I would like to push you to have look at several reviews both the that gush and those that criticise and just get a feel for if this book is for you or not..

A timeless story told in lyrical prose.

So I've had hits and misses with V.E. Schwab. I was very ambivalent about the Shades of Magic series, to the point where it put me off reading more from her for years because I didn't get the hype. When I finally continued, I discovered that I <I>love</I> the Villains duology. So when I picked up Addie Larue, it really could have gone either way.

In this book, we follow Addie, who at 23 years old, made a deal with the devil to live forever. However, as all things of this nature do, this came with a cost, and the price Addie had to pay is that she can never make a mark on the world during her long life and everyone she meets is destined to forget her.
This all changes when Addie meets Henry, a fellow lost soul who works at a bookstore, and who is the only person in 300 years to remember Addie exists after she has left the room.

This is a story that spoke to my soul, The writing is more beautiful than I've experienced from Schwab so far. It is atmospheric, heavy on the metaphor and drenched in melodrama.
Romance is also a heavy central theme throughout, although it is not what we typically think of when we hear a book is "romance". This is a very slow, beautifully written, character driven story underpinned with loneliness and longing. The romance is not a passionate, whirlwind, steamy affair, but more about two people who have been looking for something for a very long time, and finally find it in each other (in more ways than one).

This book is not for everyone, it is slow, heavy on description and is overall very sad throughout.
However, if you're a fan of a tragic love story, atmospheric storytelling and poetical writing, then this may be a hit with you too.

Oh and I cried 3 times at the end and that <I>never</I> happens to me.

This book is a quiet yet expansive story of loss, love and life. It’s intricate in ways you can’t imagine before the experience of actually reading it. Feeling overly intimate at times, but perfectly so, I was tugged along through Addie’s unfortunate existence and I devoured every second.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a thought provoking melancholy read, and Schwab somehow uses her wonderful writing to get you questioning everything you’ve ever known and everything you will ever do. It is very different from anything I’ve ever read and I’m not saying that in a light-hearted way, it is unequivocally so far from anything else. If you have a need to contemplate life itself then this is the perfect book to get you there. My head is spinning with the both devastating and joyous feelings I had while reading this book, it is not something I will get over lightly. If you don’t like slow, long winded stories spanning years this isn’t the kind of book for you. But for me it was perfection in every way and I loved every single part of this weird and beautiful story!

My one request is that you do not go into this book looking for a story about a woman in love with the devil, because this isn’t that.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sometimes it's impossible to write a review for truly unique books, and that's how I feel about Addie. It was such a great premise, with so many intriguing ideas, how would you live your life if no one could remember you?! What kind of problems does that present? If the only person who remembers you is the devil that cursed you, who do you resist forming an attachment? Addie LaRue explores all this and so very much more.

I loved the journey across time and seeing how Addie adjusted to all the advancements that have come in the 300 years her life has spanned. The settings of Paris, New York and a few other places left me with warm happy feelings, as I felt like I was walking those paths too.

Schwab's writing is lyrical and leads you to a sense of comfort, in spite of the difficult subject matters that are often explored. It honestly felt like getting a warm hug to read this book. I really liked the beautiful style she employs to tell her story, and it completely clicked with me. There are so many quotes that will stay with me, each page you come across a new one.

100% give Addie LaRue a chance, she's worth it for sure.

Addie LaRue is a young woman with a free and stubborn spirit. She’s a dreamer and wants to see what’s beyond her little village and her little life, but when she’s forced to marry and leave her freedom behind, she despairs and call on the gods that only answer after dark. This is one of the most interesting premises on fantasy I’ve seen this year, and I was very excited to pick this up! So far I’ve only read Vicious by this author and I loved it, and was curious to see how she fared with this dark, lyrical fantasy.

I will probably be in the minority when I say I was disappointed by this book, although I generally did enjoy it. The romance and the writing style reminded me of Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones, just not as charming or magical, and it’s possible that I had misplaced expectations on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The writing style did not quite work for me: it tries to be poetic, fairy-tale-like, even timeless, but I just got exhausted by how it did not feel seamless at all. It just felt so overdone. The constant use of long, unnecessary metaphors got me impatient and the author uses repetition so often I found myself skipping a few lines.

“A dreamer,” scorns her mother.
“A dreamer,” mourns her father.
“A dreamer,” warns Estele.

I also did not connect with any of the characters except Addie – they all seemed so flat and a collection of stereotypes: Estele is a wise older woman who’s considered odd and eccentric and the only one who understands Addie; her father the gentle giant who teaches her things she shouldn’t know as a woman; her strict mother who disapproves of anything Addie does; and so on and so on. Addie also took a while for me to warm to, she felt so modern in the way she thinks and acts, and so dismissive of her friend’s love for family and motherhood.

However, the story is actually very interesting and it kept me turning pages – I read this book in one sitting, despite it being a hefty 450 pages. That, too, was a mixed experience for me because a lot of the story did not really go anywhere, it was just… things happening. But not necessarily driving the plot forward or bringing any sort of emotional impact for me. The ending, however, had me holding my breath – it was just really good. This is definitely one of V. E. Schwab’s strength, finishing the book with such a high note that you think “wow, this was an amazing read!”.

I also enjoyed the difficult and toxic relationship Addie developed with Luc, the dark entity who cursed her and the only one who remembers her. I am a bit biased here because I love a good story with dark, powerful entities and their difficult relationships with humans, so I was always going to enjoy that part of the story.

This was a mixed experience for me: the writing and characters mostly didn’t work for me but I eventually warmed up to Addie and even to Henry, a bit. The strongest part of this book for me was the plot and the ending, and V. E. Schwab’s imagination really impressed me! From what I’ve seen from other reviewers, I think if you’re a V. E. Schwab fan, you’ll love this, and for non-fans I’d say if you love character-centered stories and love the premise, you’ll probably like it. My issues seem to stem from my personal expectations and taste in books, and I’ve seen that most people really adored this book. However, if you’re nitty-picky about writing and generally tend towards literary fiction or emotionally devastating books, I don’t think it will work very well for you.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue tells Adeline's story, a young woman born in the 1700s in a small village in France. The night before her forced marriage, Addie flees in search of a new life. To achieve it, she forges a deal with a dark entity who gives her eternal life. But, in return, no one will ever remember who she is. This means Adeline can't form any meaningful and lasting relationships or own anything since she has nowhere to keep it safe.

The beginning is slow, and the ending is heartwrenching. Which is expected in a book that feels like literary fiction. However, the middle section is a disappointment. You alternate between present and past, with flashbacks to Addie's life. But while the present drags, the past seems too inconsequential and boring.

The best part about this story is the writing. I can't explain precisely why or how, but it's beautiful to read and savor. The chapters are short, which also helps by moving the story in a more dynamic way.

Speaking of the ending, it's perfect. It's bittersweet, but a happy ending was never on the cards. It was also the only time I felt hyped to continue to read, and when Addie finally becomes interesting. But, unfortunately, it was the end.

The author tries to go deep into who these characters are, but they don't resonate with me. Maybe it's because it took me a long time to read this book, which affected my overall experience.

🔸 Addie lives through wars, plagues, and technological advancements, but she's stuck almost as the same girl she was initially. She learned how to read and different languages, but with 300 years, her personality barely evolved. It's hard to describe her because there are no preeminent personality traits.

Although there are so many beautiful things to see in the world, Addie lives a life of pain. She falls in love, only to be forgotten the next day. But she never forgets anything. And seeing the lack of recognition in her parent's and friend's eyes is a wound that never heals.

🔸 Henry is annoying at times, but I relate with his journey through depression, feeling unworthy, and needing escapism from life.

🔸 Luc reminds me of the Darkling from Shadow & Bone. The aesthetic is super similar. He's a force of darkness that gives, but also takes when it's due. And you're set to hate him for going against Addie, but he's right. All of his contracts know from the start what their deal entails, and its consequences.

Look, I could detail what I liked or not in all the relationships in this book. However, I saw some alleged spoilers free book reviews that mentioned details about the relationships, and they destroyed some plot twists for me. So I'm going to very vaguely give my opinion

🔹 Addie and Henry come together out of necessity and lack of human connection elsewhere. But can it truly be considered affection if you're stuck with only one person in the world? This tainted everything I could have felt for their connection.

🔹 Addie and Luc have been fighting a silent war for centuries. Their relationship is messy and complicated, but it was not explored deeply enough. Again, it got exciting right at the end, but it was too late.

There are some unpopular opinions on this The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue book review, I know. And I'm sure a lot of people will pick up this book and love it. After all, it has an interesting premise, and it's beautifully written. But the characters and their relationships felt lacking to me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an early reading copy in exchange for an honest review!

What an exquisite book this was. Surprisingly for such an avid fantasy reader, this was my first V.E. Schwab book (though I do own The Near Witch, and it has been patiently waiting on my shelf for the moment in which the stars align and I decree that its time has come), and I was not disappointed. The concept is so fresh, yet so achingly familiar, like something you were told as a child.

The Plot

Adeline LaRue lives in a small village in France in the 1700s, and for the first 23 years of her life she is happy, and wishes to become like Estele, the old woman who has managed to live a life free of marriage, free to be wild. But her parents have other ideas, and on the night of her wedding, Adeline runs into the forest, pleading to whatever god can hear her to help, and it is the darkness itself that responds. She trades an eternity of freedom for her soul, whenever she is ready to give it up, and the darkness agrees. What she doesn’t realise until later are the terms he has set, the main one being that she has been erased from the memories of all who knew her, and anyone who meets her will forget her the moment she is out of their sight. The book then follows Addie through the three hundred years of her time on earth, jumping between the present (2014 New York City) and the past, starting in 1714 and moving forward to eventually collide with the present. Luc, the name she has given the darkness, haunts her on the anniversary of their deal, and their relationship plays out over the centuries, as Luc tries to push Addie to surrender her soul, and Addie tries to get Luc to release her. When Henry comes into the picture about halfway through the story, and he sees Addie and remembers, she is suddenly thrown into a semblance of normal life, and thinks that maybe, after all this time, she has found a flaw in Luc’s magic.

Thoughts

I don’t think any review I write could do justice to this book, because the way it is written shows such skill in storytelling and word use. Every sentence has a sort of poetry to it, and invokes clear images. I can clearly see the village Addie was born in, can see the long path that leads into the wider world, can see Paris in the days before the Revolution, Venice in sunlight, New York in its hundred’s of streets, corners, hidden shops, constant thrumming. V.E. Schwab really has a gift for words. And though the story itself, especially when the characters are in New York, feels very modern and has elements of urban fantasy, the book still has a fairytale quality, like it has been around a long time. As I said, achingly familiar.

There was a moment, about three quarters of the way through, where it felt like the book was dragging, since there was a lull in the action, but this may partly be due to the fact that I was reading it as an ebook and I couldn’t gage how far into the story I was, because soon after that things truly picked up and the tension – the growing threat of Luc’s presence – came crashing in and I could not put the book down until it was finished. The tension build up is done exquisitely through the use of short chapters, the shift between past and present, and the hints throughout Addie’s story that something happened between her and Luc that may still need to play out fully. This is the kind of book, though, that needs to be read without knowing too much of the plot to truly enjoy the unfolding of it, so I urge you to pick up the book, read it, and remember.

I don’t think I can express quite how happy I was to receive an eBook of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue back in August, and I devoured it as soon as I was approved. This book leapt high above my expectations, and this review is going to be more of an ode to V. E. Schwab and her writing.

This book is a masterclass in timing and world-building. The story moves back and forth through timelines weaving its way, but I never found myself lost or confused. The transitions in the book feel effortless, and the world-building is so sumptuous you’ll feel like you’re stood in Paris or New York side by side with Addie. The pace is admittedly slow but never drags, I’m usually all for fast paced action, but it moved along at exactly the right pace for the story being told. The book is, honestly, unlike anything I’ve ever read before and I cannot wait to read it again in hardback.

Addie herself is an incredibly compelling character, a girl born in the wrong time, so desperate to be free she makes a deal with the devil.

“I want a chance to live. I want to be free…I want more time.”

She’s left to live the life of someone unseen and is unable to have an impact on the world around her, I could physically feel her loneliness on the page. Addie has to learn to adjust her life around people forgetting her as soon as she disappears from their eye-line, it leads to so many challenges and its heart-breaking watching Addie learn to cope with this new world. The book is so, so, character driven, and Addie LaRue is the perfect protagonist, she’s intriguing and vulnerable only when she chooses to be, and I loved her.

The two male main characters, one a normal human man and the other a nameless entity of darkness, were also fantastic. Henry, our normal guy, is a lovable writer with his own fleshed out story-line that twists and turns with Addie’s. Luc, our initially nameless entity, is charming and intriguing pulling you in with his mystery, but the power dynamic is what’s truly interesting about them. The balance of power is very obviously tilted in Luc’s favour and Schwab never lets the reader forget it, just as you think Addie has the upper hand Luc will show his true power. It’s a darkly fascinating dynamic, and I found myself waiting for him to make an appearance in the story again.

There is honestly so much more I could say here; the book is so cleverly executed, and I don’t think I’ll ever read anything like it again. I am passionately in love with this prose, and V. E. Schwab has written an unforgettable book about a girl who’s always forgotten.

Recommend: If you’re a lover of a slow-burn character driven romance that spans three hundred years, then this is the book for you!

I am obviously in the minority here, as every single one of my bookish friends has adored this – but I did not. I found it perfectly alright, but never compulsive enough for me to neccessitate the book’s length. It took me a lot longer to read it than I had anticipated (I usually find Schwab’s books fast-paced and unputdownable).

Schwab tells her story of a girl who made a pact with a devil and got something in return she did not anticipate (as is usually the case with deals with devils): she becomes immortal and able to see more of the world than her birth town but at the same time she loses the ability to be remembered. Told in two time lines (past and present), Schwab chose a languid, description heavy approach that worked beautifully for other readers – I, however, vastly prefered the present time line without much direct interference of the devil, who was, ad nauseum, described in the past. I enjoyed the gradual unveiling of the limits of Addie’s pact and the way it influenced her over the centuries.

Addie is a typical Schwab heroine – and as such I often found her a bit difficult to root for. Especially in the past, she is incredibly dismissive of women who choose other paths in life – she seems to grow out of this tendency over the span of her long (long) life, but her air of “not like other girls” never lets up. Henry, on the other hand, I adored. I found his backstory incredibly moving and effective – I wish the book had focussed more on him and the present day timeline. Schwab’s obvious favourite character is Luc (the devil) who is vividly described and always the focus of the chapters he appears him. I found him neither convincing as a otherwordly character nor believable as a love interest. I often adore stories featuring gods, but I do like them to be more other and thought this was a missed opportunity for Schwab to use her imagination.

Content warnings: dubious consent, death of loved ones, assault, prostitution (half involuntary)