NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah Magazine #1 Library Reads Pick–October 2020 #1 Indie Next Pick–October 2020 BOOK OF THE YEAR (2020) FINALIST–Book of The Month Club A “Best Of” Book From: Oprah Mag * CNN * Amazon * Amazon Editors * NPR * Goodreads * … 2020
BOOK OF THE YEAR (2020) FINALIST—Book of The Month Club
A “Best Of” Book From: Oprah Mag * CNN * Amazon * Amazon Editors * NPR * Goodreads * Bustle * PopSugar * BuzzFeed * Barnes & Noble * Kirkus Reviews * Lambda Literary * Nerdette * The Nerd Daily * Polygon * Library Reads * io9 * Smart Bitches Trashy Books * LiteraryHub * Medium * BookBub * The Mary Sue * Chicago Tribune * NY Daily News * SyFy Wire * Powells.com * Bookish * Book Riot * Library Reads Voter Favorite *
In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force.
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever–and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
more
This book. Let me tell you something. This book was amazing. I’d heard some pretty fabulous reviews about this book before I picked it up, and I thought it couldn’t possibly be worth the hype, but it really was. Addie’s characterization was spot on. She wasn’t a clearly defined heroine, she didn’t always make the right choices or aspire for greatness. There were even points where I didn’t like her all that much, but I enjoyed the story so much, that it didn’t necessarily matter to me. The same could be said for the “Hero” of the story, he wasn’t always my favorite, but I still liked him, and the way their story ended up blending together was exceptional.
The story switches between modern day New York and various times throughout history, and never once did I lose interest when the time period switched. Or felt like the author’s style didn’t suit the text. It flowed very well, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Now, I am one of those people who immediately fixate on the villain, and that definitely happened here. Luc was a true villain. There was no redemption there was no massive out of character change as time went on. His selfish desires were his motivation from the beginning to the end and I really dug it. If I could just insert a bunch of applause emojis right here I totally would.
Even though I had my suspicions on how the book was going to end, it still was incredible to see how the author brought it to life. I finished the book feeling satisfied, really feeling like I’d experienced a STORY and that’s the kind of books I’m drawn to and find myself rereading.
The only drawback, and the only reason I would give the story a half star, if I found that a lot of things ended up being too repetitive. I know her freckles are important, but I honestly don’t know if I needed to hear about them every scene. There were a few references like that, but overall, I was very glad I took the recommendation and read this book.
If you are on the fence about this book, don’t hesitate.
What an unexpected story of a girl who wanted to live with freedom. Through her naive beginning to claiming her own existence, Addie is a heroine to cheer and relish. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down.
This is one I’Il be thinking of for a while….
I LOVED this book. I read it basically non-stop for three days. The way that Addie and Luc twisted in and out of their relationship was brilliant and I really liked when it went a bit dark in places. This is a well-crafted story with a great ending. My only tiny complaint is that the author states twice that Addie speaks “Swiss”. As a Swiss citizen, I can tell you that we don’t have a language called Swiss. We have four official languages French, German, Italian and Romansh.
Read for B&N YA book club January 2021 (we choose this one since B&N didn’t make an official club pick)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a sprawling epic story that takes place over three centuries. It is the story of bad bargains, yearning for more and the will to go on when no remembers your name.
It is difficult to sum up in a review everything this books is. It is part survival story, part paranormal fantasy, part historical fiction and part love story. In the middle of it all is Addie LaRue who keeps carving out a piece of life for herself despite the perimeters and limitations of her curse.
Victoria Schwab created an amazing piece of fiction that readers will keep thinking about for years to come.
I have mixed feelings about this book. The concept was interesting, a deal with a demon, immortal life for your soul and never being remembered…until she is. There are slow parts but overall by the end (which I figured out) I enjoyed the read…
This is one of the most well written books I’ve come across in a long time. The words are lyrical and paint pictures in your mid as you read.
Everything about this book felt French. Obviously, the first half of the book was often set in France, but it wasn’t just that. It was the lyrical nature of the writing, the names, the story. Every moment you felt the emotions deeply. I most definitely cried. Can I have a sequel so I can just see the end? I need it.
I won’t be forgetting Addie LaRue anytime soon!
This was one of my last reads of 2020—and hands down one of my favorites of the entire year. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has it all: The kind of magic we’ve all dreamed about, soulmate-style love, heartbreak, a dilemma that seems to have no way out, a premise that you might think you’ve heard before but never, ever written with this level of imagination and skill and insight. I’ll just say this: Believe the hype. A brilliant, satisfying novel with vast appeal to readers across genres.
Excellent read! It kept me intrigued and I couldn’t put it down!
Absolutely LOVED this book. Highly recommend!
What is freedom worth? What is freedom, after all? Is it worth the cost of your soul? Is it worth being forgotten by everyone and anyone you’ve ever met or will meet? How do you make a deal with a god that answers after dark, and win? Or is there no winning, only a never-ending check in a game that has no possible victory? Now throw love into the mix, and all the rules change.
An amazing book; unpredictable and fresh while pulling from one of the greatest, oldest, and often-borrowed-from Faust. Read it slowly, luxuriously, savor every page. It makes you think, and feel, and you’ll find yourself torn by what is right, wrong, dark and light.
Fascinating. PERFECT book club book. Entertaining and provocative.
Damn, I love this story and these characters… It’s impossible not to relate to them…
Addie it’s a brave woman, a woman who is so much ahead of her time. And you (as woman at least) can even relate nowadays – a woman is supposed to get married, have children and so on, and those aren’t you priorities, you’re still looked sideways and like you missing something… So see Addie crave for much more, to see the world and be free, it’s so relatable.
The same thing happens with Henry – it’s a basic need of human being wanted to be loved. And then we have Luc, who made all of Addie and Henry dreams come true, although with a price, like a good old gods stories.
Through Addie’s eyes we see the changes of the world for the last 300 years, we heard some of the most memorable events of history and heard the references to so many artists through out history.
It’s impossible not to fell in love with this story and these people. Every character brings something different to Addie and Henry storyline. This is the kind of book that makes you think about life and about the relationships between you and the people around you.
This is one of the best books I have EVER read. I have read it twice and I will read it again and again and again. Do not miss this book!
Well-written fantasy about a young woman who makes a decision that will haunt her for centuries. Highly recommended!
This is one of the most original books I’ve read in a long time.
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
Sci-Fi is not usually a genre a lean towards, but I heard so much hype about this book that I had to check it out. I am so glad that I did!! It will go down as one of the most original books I have read thus far.
I had no expectations going in and V.E. Schwab was a new author for me. What I found was an alluring, tragic, emotional, and thought provoking read. A story that I didn’t want to end. The book is a slow burn as the author gorgeously builds the main characters.
Adeline flees from an arranged marriage and strikes a faustian deal to live forever, but what she didn’t bargain for was that everyone she meets will forget who she is the minute they leave the room. Even her family and her friends don’t remember her. She meets the same people over and over just searching for one person that might remember who she is. I felt for Addie throughout the whole book because she got her wish, but also had to pay the price. How many times does this happen in our own lives? It also made me think about what type and how important is it to leave an imprint on others in our lives? We all want to be remembered for something, right? What if, like Addie, nobody would remember you…how would you feel about that?
The chapters alternate between Addie’s past and present. It is very enjoyable to go with Addie through centuries of adventures full of friendships, love and loss. After three centuries, Addie meets a man that knows her and it changes her life forever.
I devoured this book in a very slow beautiful way. I found myself reading a few chapters and then reflecting on them for their deeper meaning. It is a book that will stay with me for awhile and Addie will be someone that I will not soon forget.
I highly recommend this book!
Great book, unpredictable plot turns, very satisfying ending.
Such a beautiful story…I loved the historical aspects and while I don’t typically dabble in paranormal or anything that “can’t happen in real life”, I have to admit that I loved this book. The writing was beautiful, emotional and so well done. A story I’ll never forget!