Reviews

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

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keishamae85's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.0

bee__'s review against another edition

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3.0

I wanted to absolutely love this book but sadly I did not. I was so in love with the concept and idea of it that I willed myself to love the plot and story but I could not fully love it at the end of the day.

Main cons:

It was very repetitive. The beginning was a bit boring to get through but I pushed through as I was excited to read about the man who remembers her finally.

It was stupidly euro-centric. Which I guess I get to a certain extent. She’s a white writer & Addie starts off in Europe so it makes sense for her to explore European countries. But she lived 300 years???? So I find it weird she didn’t make it to a single Asian country for example. (Yeah you can imagine that she did since we only get fractions of her life but the fact that it wasn’t mentioned once? And the fact that she only knew European languages makes me doubt she went beyond Europe, US east coast, and California).

I wish we got Luc & Addie’s relationship from Luc’s perspective. But I guess she wanted us to speculate whether he truly loves her or just wants to own her. But maybe an epilogue with his perspective would’ve been nice.

Other thoughts:

I did like Henry. I know people thought he was boring & I even saw that they thought his reason to sell his soul was dumb but I think that criticism lacks empathy. Henry was very depressed and lacked any kind of self-esteem. I think Schwab did a good job of portraying his depression. I will agree that he was boring compared to Addie’s previous lovers. But what Addie craved wasn’t excitement, she craved comfort, in knowing that she wouldn’t be forgotten. Henry provided that for her.

I guess we’ll never know for sure if Addie truly loved Henry or was he her only option. Was she effected by his curse after all? Henry wanted to be enough. Addie kept saying she didn’t know if this was love but it was enough. Would Addie have started her version of a relationship with him if he didn’t remember? I would think not. They only had one conflict which is understandable because they didn’t know each other for that long and they both didn’t have anyone else? I thought their conflict was really dumb though. Henry’s take on stealing is morally wrong always no matter what is so narrow minded and stupid. Really made me question whether he loved Addie or it was just that her eyes didn’t get clouded when she looked at him? I think at the end of the day, Henry was Luc’s “boring” choice of a love for Addie and he picked him on purpose for her. If Luc didn’t interfere and Henry didn’t remember, I think Addie would never have thought twice about him.

I did admire Addie’s refusal to be a victim of her 1700s French life in Villon. To be married off to someone she doesn’t love & to wither away. Those memories on the streets of France were very heartbreaking so unfortunately she wasn’t able to escape the patriarchy completely but I admire her perseverance in rejecting what is expected of a woman.

adithyanair's review against another edition

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4.0

No book took me this long to read. But at the same time, whenever I got into a book slog I often forgot about the book. This book is one I never forgot, which is great given the subject matter.

I do have a bit of a history with Schwab. Right after finishing Mistborn, I picked up A Darker Shade Of Magic, a very popular series of hers. I didn't like that one at all, but I did notice the very remarkable writing style. The way things were presented is clever and it was a smooth read. I remember thinking that I'd like her if she weren't so derivative.

I was right. What Schwab has accomplished in these pages is astounding. The idea is ripe with things to explore. The way the fantasy elements are woven in to tell things about character. Even her writing style got an upgrade. There are sentences here I want to frame. Clever uses of grammar.

This book demands attention, but at the same time doesn't seem to need it. It's not a page turner, but you'll find yourself reading more than you intend to when you go back to it. It's a wonderful story.

About the book itself, this is a long epilogue to what would be a fairytale. The origins of Addie Larue sounds like the kind of tale that people would tell to children to scare them away from going out in the night. Schwab dares to ask, what happened next?

What happened next was a broad story of a woman who coerced history into remembering her. It is slow, methodic and never boring. Anything more would be spoilers, and I think having this introduction is better than the Goodreads blurb.