The Invisible Life of Addie Larue

Another excellent book from Victoria! A little more romance than my typical fare, but she could write a 400 page treatise on someone watching a wall of paint dry, and I would be absolutely enthralled.

I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting to like this novel at all. I picked it up a bit wearily, knowing that V.E. Schwab would at least be a brilliant technical writer but that both historical and romance are genres I tend to dodge. The bargain with a devil was the only thing that interested me, but it seemed like the least important part of a story that prided itself on being a journey throughout history, culminating in an epic romance. Honestly, had The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue come from a writer I didn’t already have loyalty to I would’ve skipped it.

I’m so glad I didn’t.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is indeed the marketed journey throughout history, but it is also deeply Faustian while being a tale about the power of your own influence over your life and the lives of those around you. Adeline LaRue grows up in rural France in the early 1700s, longing for life outside her small town while also knowing her fate, as most women during that time, is likely to end up in marriage to a man she doesn’t truly love. When her wedding day comes, rather than being sealed in a life of misery and child-rearing, she flees and prays for another, endless life, one where she belongs to no one. Her wish is granted into a parody of itself. Now cursed to wander the Earth without any way to die, doomed to be forgotten the second she leaves someone’s vision, her life becomes a lonely nightmare. Then, three hundred years later, a bookseller remembers her.

This book is a sprawling adventure throughout history, from the French Revolution to the world wars to the artist scenes of the aristocracy to the underground bars of modern-day New York. The romance was all very well and good, but to me, Addie LaRue resonates with me because of her impact throughout history, despite the fact that she is only the briefest sense of deja vu in the minds of others. The core theme of this novel is that you are important, even though you are just one person, someone who may appear for only the briefest of seconds in the lives of others, and your simple existence can have an impact on the world. Addie is someone who is doomed to be forgotten. She can’t even speak her own name. The novel emphasizes her lonely life, but Addie is remembered. Artists throughout the ages recreate the faint remembrance of a lovely young woman, the unusual pattern of her freckles, musicians sing about night that they’ve forgotten but still mean something, they remember a faint tune Addie played on their pianos. Addie herself may not be remembered, but her influence, the way she made people feel, that sticks with them. This book feels like a message to every reader that they can and already have had an impact on the world around them, even if, like Addie, they are convinced they haven’t.

In less sentimental asides, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue continues Schwab’s expertise in creating beautiful language and imagery. I was interested in seeing how she adapted her normal high-stakes action/adventure style to a more low fantasy genre, with her most popular series being full of magicians, parallel worlds, and swashbucklers, but she did it wonderfully. The main fantasy element of the novel is the devil Addie makes a deal with, alternatively a god, a shadow, or a man, who arrives almost every year on the anniversary of Addie’s deal to torment her. I had been under the impression that this devil character wasn’t going to play a big part in the novel, with so much of the marketing focusing on the romance between her and her bookseller, but I was quite ensnared by him. He is the kind of smooth-talking, sly character you would expect to trap a young girl in a terrible bargain, and yet over the course of the novel I grew to love him, not necessarily because of some tragic backstory or how cute Addie made him sound, but because of how alien he is. I adore when fantasy leans into the uncanny, and the complete inhumanity of this character was fascinating to read.

My only quibble with this book was the ending, which felt like it fell into a bizarre kind of cliffhanger. It almost was like the real climax of the book–vague spoilers follow–Addie makes a huge decision and decides to dedicate her life to a specific cause, and then the book ends. I won’t say it was a bad ending, not by any means, but it leaves a lot to the imagination and in a way that was a little unsatisfying. Addie has spent so long drifting through life, just trying to survive and pick out brief bits of joy and once she finally finds a cause, we don’t get to see her fulfill it. Yet, it didn’t feel like something that warranted an entire sequel? It really felt like the book ended a few chapters too early.

Regardless, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a surprisingly moving entry into V.E. Schwab’s already fantastic bibliography. Even though it marks a deviation from her normally higher-fantasy books, fans of her writing will still find something to love here in her memorable characters and attention to setting. Addie LaRue feels like the most mature of her novels, the most lyrical and the quietest, following a single woman among world history. Genre-blending and unique, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue will appeal to lovers of fantasy, historical fiction, romance, contemporary, and even someone who is doubting their own importance in life. V.E. Schwab continues to put out novels of the highest caliber, and I look forward to what new worlds she’ll show us next.

review blog

5/5 Stars

Addie LaRue was so desperate to avoid the life that was forced into, that she made a bargain to gain her freedom. She was given the gift of living forever but was cursed with being forgotten by everyone she met and lost the ability to leave her mark on the world. For 300 years she has been forgotten, until one day she hears the words “I remember you”.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I found it to be imaginative, heartwarming, yet also heartbreaking. Schwab did an outstanding job of painting a picture of what life would be like to be forgotten the second that you left someone’s view. The freedom that this would give you but also the struggle that you’d have to overcome on a daily basis. This isn’t your typical love story but how can anything be typical when you’ve lived over 300yrs?

This story is told from the POV of both Addie & Henry, with alternating timelines. I thought the way that this story was set up what very interesting and well thought out. I have heard some say that they thought the first 100pg was slow and could have been skipped, I honestly disagree. I thought that the beginning (while a tad slower paced) really helped to establish Addie as a character and her understanding/view on the world. It allowed us to understand why she valued the things that she did and see the struggles that she had to face being a forgotten woman in the 1700s.

I don’t think that I could possibly write this review without talking about Luc. His character was so interesting to me; he was so mysterious and aloof, yet we began to see he had some feeling for Addie. I would LOVE to see a book based on his POV so that we could get to know him and understand him more!

This book has wrecked me. It is beautiful and tragic and haunting and joyous. At the end, I am just a messy blob of emotions. This book winds through time and place and feelings until you’re so wrapped up in it you never want to leave. One of the best books I’ve ever read.

I had been hearing so much about this book and it lived up to the hype for me. I was enchanted by the premise of Addie living 300 years without anyone remembering her and being invisible. The past and present timeline worked for me as it gave me glimpses to the why and how with allowing myself to get to know Addie. I also enjoyed watching her relationship with Henry grow as he was the only one able to remember her.

An original twist on immortality. VE Schwab is a master story teller and she’s done it again. I couldn’t put this book down. I fell in love with all the characters, including the villain, Luc. Is he the devil, a demon, the darkness? Whatever, he is seductive, fantastic, evil, empathetic. Addie defiantly challenges him and is a true match. I loved this book.

The use of language was vivid and powerful. I loved her writing.

This is the story of Addie LaRue. In the year 1714 Addie is to marry a man she does not love. Growing up in a small town in France under a doting father and mother and a wonderful neighbor, Estelle, Addie is afriad of what will happen if she marries this man. So on her wedding day she runs into the woods and begs someone to save her. She has always been warned to never beg for help in the dark, but Addie is desperate. Her begging in the darkness brings the devil who promises he can save her from an unwanted marriage – as long as he can have her soul. Addie agrees.

What happens next is Addie spending 300 years invisible from the world. Anyone who meets her – immediately forgets her once they are out of her sight. She cannot hold a job, a home, a relationship. She cannot leave a trace. Cannot say her name, write, leave a footprint. Yet every time Luc (her name for the devil) visits her and asks her to turn over her soul to him, she refuses.

After 300 years, Addie walks into a bookstore and takes a book, knowing that no one will remember her even being there as soon as she is gone. But what she discovers is…..this time, that isn’t true.

This is a great book. The writing is superb, the story intriguing. The books bounced back and forth between the past – creeping forward through the decades – and the current year, 2014. The story follows Addie as she tries to make a life for herself and what that would be like if no one ever remembered you. How she can’t really have a love. How she cannot rent a room because as soon as the person is out of sight, they won’t remember she was ever there. That she has more lows and hard times than good times. I enjoy watching her fight to stay alive, keep her soul, and find flaws in the devil’s system. Finds suttle ways to try and leave her mark over the years.

It is really great and one of the best reads I have had this year. I highly recommend it.

Dark and delicious reading. This is the type of book I wish I could write.

Not sure if I cried at the end because of the story or because the journey was over! I rarely read slowly, but I didn’t want this novel to end.