A review by maddycumerlato
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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. 
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