The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | By V.E. Schwab | Book Review
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Contents
Book Blurb
My Review
About the Author
Book Blurb
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.
“The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonlight on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price. And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.”
My Review
This is one of the best books I’ve read all year and I rate it six stars out of five — it’s that good! I’m not even sure what to write to do this book justice. It is an epic read that is masterfully written and one I know I will remember for years to come.
Plot
The plot meanders through time as we follow Addie’s story in both the past and the present. Adeline’s journey starts in France, 1714, and at the same time, we see her in New York, 2014. Slowly the blanks are filled in with wonderfully detailed stories of Addie’s trials and triumphs throughout history.
Adeline longs to escape the fate society chose for her — getting married and being trapped in her small French village until she dies (cue Belle’s song from Beauty and the Beast- “There must be more than this provincial life!”).
“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.”
Adeline was warned not to pray to the gods that answer after dark. But she doesn’t listen and makes a deal with darkness itself — a deal to live forever. The only catch is no one will ever remember her, and one day, Luc will come to claim her soul. She leaves her small village and travels the world like a ghost, doomed to be forgotten everywhere she goes, and unable to leave her mark on the world
But she is determined to live her life and to draw out the battle with Luc to collect her soul. She seeks to find all the beauty and excitement the world offers. She discovers the limitations, as well as the loopholes to her curse, and for three hundred years she wanders the earth as a thief, a free spirit, a liar, a nomad.
Until one day she meets a boy, and for the first time in three hundred years someone remembers her name.
I loved everything about this plot. It is so well constructed and so complicated with all the different dates and places, but it is brilliantly put together and seamless to follow. I stayed hooked and wanted to keep reading the entire time.
The pacing is quite slow due to all the detail and snippets in time, but I loved every minute of it. I could just keep reading forever about all the places Addie went to throughout history, and I wouldn’t have complained if the book doubled in size because of it. I preferred the historical scenes to the modern ones, but since so many key plot details were tied into every scene, the whole thing was interesting.
The ending (no spoilers), was one of the most satisfying endings in a book I’ve come across in a while. I was thrilled with the way everything wrapped up. There were a few great twists towards the end that I had suspected, but was somehow still surprised by it. So many good moments and the ending is so clever! I didn’t want it to be over and I may have been rather emotional at the end. I wanted to read more!
Characters
Addie is one of the most lifelike characters I’ve read in a while. Her curse forced her to turn into this morally grey character living on the fringes of society. She is compelled to find ways to survive and get creative, and over three hundred years we see her change from an innocent village girl to a woman of the world.
You don’t just learn about her back story as you read — you live it alongside Addie through all her low points and struggles to see how she came to be the person she is at the end. Though she was dislikable at times, it was hard not to sympathise with her and long for her to find a place in the world.
Luc was my favourite character. He’s mysterious, dark, and dangerous, but also witty, playful, and charming when he wants to be. Though Luc was the one who cursed Addie in the first place, he was also the only one who knew her name, the only one who remembered her. I loved the moments when he popped up, always showing different sides of himself, but never giving much away.
“Nor am I some petty forest spirit, content with granting favors for mortal trinkets. I am stronger than your god and older than your devil. I am the darkness between stars, and the roots beneath the earth. I am promise, and potential, and when it comes to playing games, I divine the rules, I set the pieces, and I choose when to play. And tonight, I say no.”
Luc reminded me a lot of the Darkling from Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, and I kind of imagined him as the Darkling through the whole book. I would love to read a follow on from this book just from his point of view. It would be so good!
“Don’t you remember, she told him then, when you were nothing but shadow and smoke?
Darling, he’d said in his soft, rich way, I was the night itself.”
I didn’t get attached to any characters from the modern times part of the story, but I really liked Estele from the start. I liked how she stuck with Addie throughout the story in her memories and remained her link to her past. It was the times when Addie thought of Estele that her vulnerabilities peeked through and make her question her decisions.
Setting
The historical French settings were my favourite. Right from the start I was imagining Adeline in a small town much like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I loved the image of her travelling to the market in the larger walled town for the first time, sitting alongside her father on their cart drawn by their horse Maxime.
I loved the scenes set in Europe the most. You could feel the differences between places with the sounds, smells, and small historical details that made it feel real.
V. E. Schwab flicks effortlessly between scenes set in historical Europe, to scenes in modern day New York. The story flows well between these vastly different places and fits together like a perfect puzzle.
Other thoughts
I liked how the theme of art and artists resounded through the book. Addie’s desperate want to be remembered drew her to arts and culture, and in the smallest ways she left her mark on the world — an anonymous woman in a painting, a blur of motion in a photo, a song about a memory of an unknown girl.
This book spotlights the deep, human desire to be remembered and to be loved. Addie desires what most people take for granted, and this unique perspective makes you appreciate just how much you have in this world. It makes you think, how will I be remembered?
“There are days when she mourns the prospect of another year, another decade, another century. There are nights when she cannot sleep, moments when she lies awake and dreams of dying.
But then she wakes, and sees the pink and orange dawn against the clouds, or hears the lament of a lone fiddle, the music and the melody, and remembers there is such beauty in the world.
And she does not want to miss it—any of it.”
Summary
I don’t know what else to say about this book, other than you should just go read it!
After finishing this book, I felt like I’d lived hundreds of years alongside Addie. I felt the world change as time went on, and I felt her perpetual loneliness and determination to live on.
If you want to be emotionally drawn into a book and live several lives throughout history, this is the book for you. It is both historical fiction an urban fantasy all in one, and I feel like this book will become a popular classic in years to come.
This is a book you will never forget (#rememberaddie).
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
“What she needs are stories.
Stories are a way to preserve one’s self. To be remembered. And to forget.
Stories come in so many forms: in charcoal, and in song, in paintings, poems, films. And books.
Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives—or to find strength in a very long one.”
About the Author- V.E. Schwab
Author V.E.Schwab
Victoria “V.E.” Schwab is the #1 NYT, USA, and Indie bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and This Savage Song. Her work has received critical acclaim, been featured by EW and The New York Times, been translated into more than a dozen languages, and been optioned for TV and Film.
The Independent calls her the “natural successor to Diana Wynne Jones” and touts her “enviable, almost Gaimanesque ability to switch between styles, genres, and tones.” She is represented by Holly Root at Root Literary and Jon Cassir at CAA.
Check out V.E. Schwab’s Website
Buy The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
About the reviewer- Jenny sandiford
Hi I’m Jenny. I am passionate about promoting new authors and sharing any amazing books I find with the world. I am a book blogger, bookstagrammer, YA fantasy writer and travel writer.
I’m also a lover of nature, hiking, Harry Potter, cats, fantasy lands and quiet places.
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