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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

32 reviews

stwriter92's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book broke my heart in such an amazing way. I have adored everything I have ready by V.E. Schwab and this was no exception. She has such a fantastic way with words and has a knack for always finding the exact right one. I don't know how she does it, but there it is!

The book itself centers on the eponymous Addie (Adeline) LaRue. Her story begins in eighteenth century France, where she lives in the small village of Villon with her parents. She grows up wild, unruly, and untamable. While this is seen as tolerable when she is a child, it quickly becomes less so when she grows into a young woman. To escape what she sees as a horrible fate of being forced into marriage and then buried in the same ten meter plot as the rest of her village, she turns to the heathen gods, begging for an escape. However, she forgets that one must never pray to the gods that listen at night. One swoops down and gleefully grants her freedom in return for her soul. However, there is a caveat. Addie LaRue will be forgotten by everyone, thus severing any and all bonds that might tie her down to one particular place. She will leave no mark and will not even be able to say her own name. That privilege will remain with the god that granted her her cursed freedom. However, three hundred years later, she stumbles upon a young man, Henry, who can remember her. Thus, the game between her and the devil grows new and terrible dimensions as she fights to keep her love and regain true freedom.

The story itself is so unique. I don't think I've ever really heard of a story like this one before. Of course there have been stories told about deals made with devils and trickster gods and monkey's paws for centuries. This was one iteration of that old story that I have not heard before, which was incredibly refreshing. I felt completely immersed throughout the entire story and found myself physically reacting to the events of the book. This story gave me hope for humanity, which is incredibly hard to come by. In all her years of loneliness, Addie never once gave up hope. She came to love humans, while Luc only saw them as playthings to be tossed at a whim. She saw that human beings are messy but redeemable. In her three hundred years, she did not become jaded. She learned, yes. She went through hardships and saw wars begin and end, empires rise and fall, kings come to power and die in rags. Instead of seeing humanity as a transient thing, to be watched from a distance in a bored manner, she sees something worth saving and loving. When Luc asks her what she sees in Henry and humanity in general and she responds, "You see only flaws and faults, weaknesses to be exploited. But humans are messy, Luc. That is the wonder of them. They live and love and make mistakes, and they feel so much. And maybe--maybe I am no longer one of them" (Part 6 Chapter 13, p. 407). In all her years, she has not grown bitter and hateful.

Even the ending,

while heartbreaking, still kept a kernel of hope alive. While she might never be able to see Henry again, she still has a plan to get out from under Luc's thumb. I think that was what I loved so much about her. There is not a single moment in which she loses all hope and gives into Luc and his demands. The book ends on an open note and we are left to wonder whether or not she will finally get out from under Luc's control and power. This ends much in the same way that Henry's novel under the same name ends. It's not a true ending because we will never truly know. I think that's how I ended the book. A goodbye, but a goodbye as described in the book. "Not a period, but an ellipsis, a statement trailing off, until someone is there to pick it up. It is a door left open. It is drifting off to sleep" (Part 6 Chapter 16, p. 419).

Some Quotes I Loved:

"What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?" (Part 1 Chapter 1, p. 15)
"March is such a fickle month. It is the seam between winter and spring--though seam suggests an even hem, and March is more like a rough line of stitches sewn by an unsteady hand, swinging wildly between January gusts and June greens. You don't know what you'll find, until you step outside" (Part 1 Chapter 2, p. 20).
"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" (Part 1 Chapter 7, p. 35).
"Day breaks like an egg yolk, spilling yellow light across the field" (Part 1 Chapter 8, p. 40).
"The day passes like a sentence. The sun falls like a scythe" (Part 1 Chapter 8, p. 41).
"Every day is amber, and she is the fly trapped inside. No way to think in days or weeks when she lives in moments. Time begins to lose its meaning--and yet, she has not lost track of time" (Part 2 Chapter 4, p. 114)
"But this is how you walk tot he end of the world. This is how you live forever. Here is one day, and here is the next, and you take what you can, savor every stolen second, cling to every moment until it's gone" (Part 3 Chapter 8, p. 202)
"Belief is a bit like gravity. Enough people believe a thing, and it becomes as solid and real as the ground beneath your feet. But when you're the only one holding on to an idea, a memory, a girl, it's hard to keep it from floating away" (Part 7 Chapter 2, p. 437)

Content Warnings

dreamchild13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

lizzie24601's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

ludmireads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is truly unforgettable story. It is sad and emotional, yet heartwarming. With that said, I was prepared to sob and ugly cry like everyone else and yes, I did cry but not as much as I expected (minor spoiler?

I thought the ending was gonna be much sadder, that it will be tragic but it was not. It was heartwarming and promising a better future. I couldn’t help but smile.

The book is slow-paced and it does not center around action, the main focus is on the thoughts and feelings. The main characters are well-developed and you can see the change in their (especially Addie’s) personalities throughout the time. I have to admit that I found Henry’s POV not exactly less interesting than Addie’s (because they definitely weren’t) but less beautiful. Addie’s chapters were filled with so many beautiful thoughts and therefore had a bigger impact on me. Don’t get me wrong, Henry’s chapters weren’t bad, there were many pages I wanted to rip out of the book, frame them and put them on my walls, but there simply weren’t enough. But this is also another thing I loved about the book. The language in Henry’s chapters was different than the language in Addie’s, which is something that not all writes can achieve. And because of that, it was easy to distinguish whose chapter I was reading and it made the reading experience even better.

edit: I forgot to mention one aspect that I was surprised I actually enjoyed, and it was that the book kinda “spoils” itself. The narrator briefly mentions something that will happen in the future and it didn’t spoil the book for me at all. On the contrary, it made me want to read faster to reach that part of the story.

Content Warnings

purplatypus's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

voxelbee's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

lectrixnoctis's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

V.E. Schwab is probably one of the most famous authors of Young Adult books of our time. She is a Bestellung authored not only "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" but many more, for example ", The Shade of Magic"-series. She is known for her beautiful writing style and her dedication to her books. I am pretty sure you already read a work of her, but be sure to pick one up.

We follow the story of Adeline LaRue, a young woman who wants to be free and live her life like she wants to. But perhaps being born in the 17th century is not ideal for her dream of living an independent life. She runs off on her wedding eve as she ought to marry another local of Villon-Sur-Sarthe, France. In the woods of Villon, she pleads to unfamiliar gods. After endless begging, a god or perhaps a devil finally answers her calls. However, now she has to make a decision that will change her life forever. Does she want to be free, even if she has to give up her soul? As the darkling, who's named Luc, intends to leave Adeline alone in the woods, she finally decides to give up her soul to be free, but under the condition that she tell him when she is done with her life, he can have her soul. The presents grant her wish, but under the condition that everyone she meets will forget her after not leaving her alone for a split second.
But after almost 300 years, she finally meets someone who can remember her even after a day. She is complete shocked by this and wants to learn more about this particular human. His name is Henry Strauss, and he is in his late twenties. Not forgetting to mention almost double of the darkness reaping souls. The only thing that secrets them from appearance-wise is their eye colour; while Luc, the darkness, has poisons green eyes, Henry's are a bright blue shade. Addie finds herself in a sticky situation after falling for Henry. What will the future hold for her? Does she finally give Luc her soul?

This novel is written in the present and from a third-person omniscient narrator. The storyline springs through the ages from Villon-Sur-Sarthe in 1714 to New York in 2014, while making some stops between them, for example, Munich in 1872 or New Orleans in 1984

This story is about power dynamics and how they can virtually change but still be imbalanced. Humans sometimes hold onto the most toxic relationships that they cannot seem to let go of even if they are hurting them even more. Furthermore, it reflects how desperate a human being can be to search for their happiness and what they will give up to be not alone. We get to see the good and the ugly. We read about the lowers points of Addie's long way to happiness and the hurt that has to build up all these centuries. It also highlights how mental health can be such a hard thing to maintain.

I am not in the LGBTQIA+ community nor BIPOC, and I do not want to speak over their voices. I believe that this book has some good representation. Being LGBT+ Or BIPOC is not the main character trait of the main/side characters, which is refreshing. They have more levels, and every character feels super fleshed out and complexed. Maybe it is because every character has flaws, which makes them seem like they're real.

One of the main themes of this book is forgetting and remembering. While this may seem quite dull: I can tell you it is not. Just imagine you remember everything while the person with who you shared mane memories cannot recognise you for the life of them. At the same time, the only one who can remember you for enuresis is you charming yet abusive devil who ought to terrorise you till you are willing to surrender your soul. V.E. Schwab has done beautiful things with the character, Luc since he is intriguing and easily romanised but still maintains his role as an abuser so well. Henry, who is feeling a lot of mental health problems like depression, seems like a beautiful broke person who wants to be loved so badly and think for once that he is finally enough. Lastly, Addie is a solid female character who knows what is worth fighting for and when to give up on a sure thing.

I am entirely overwhelmed by how I grew to love this story and how beautiful Schwab's writing style is. This book is a masterpiece, and I do not use that word lightly. Now I know why everyone loves her stories and characters so much. If all her books are like this, I am going to be extremely broke.

Content Warnings

maddycumerlato's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to fall in love with this book the way everyone else did, the way I was told I would before I began. And now that I’ve finished I’m having a hard time describing how I feel about it. I cried and laughed and followed the ups and downs of Addie LaRue’s long and eventful life, but it always felt like something was missing or out of place.

I loved Henry’s story; his family, friends, connection to Addie, and his life felt very real.

He was just a guy who did what he could to carry himself out of his storms and struck unfortunate fate as a result, but he’s also just a guy with good friends and a solid job and a girl he loves, just like any other.

Addie is interesting, but falls somewhat flat as the main character in such a far fetched fantasy. Her interactions with Luc, the charming and deceptive reaper, are the most we see into Addie’s soul even though she does her best to hide it from him.

I especially loved the decades near the end of the story where she begins to wonder whether she seeks him out solely for relief that she has a constant in her life, or whether she has developed a strange Stockholm-Syndrome-esque love for him. The latter is clearly possible, since it’s painfully obvious he has developed something similar for her.

Addie is to us exactly what she is to others: a forgettable whisper of a woman. She says it best herself, that the best parts of her 300 years is the marks she makes upon the few that allow it.

Content Warnings

runitsthepopo's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

iiselin's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

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