#the invisible life of addie larue review

[httpschrys]

“I want to be free. Free to live, and to find my own way, to love, or to be alone, but at least it is my choice, and I am so tired of not having choices, so scared of the years rushing past beneath my feet. I do not want to die as I’ve lived, which is no life at all.”

[dramalama69]

"Don't be a stranger" - V.E Schwab.

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review 37 – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

I picked this up for my still-somewhat-theoretical bookclub with some friends, and honestly probably wouldn’t have looked at it otherwise. (The only previous work of Schwab I’d read was Vicious which I was, honestly, not particularly impress by.) So chalk one up for book clubs I suppose, because I’m incredibly happy I gave this a try.

The book follows the eponymous Adeline “Addie” LaRue, a peasant girl in late 17th century southern France who, desperately trying to escape marriage and a life limited to one tiny farming village, and just generally being a peasant, makes a deal with the devil. (Or primordial darkness. Or some ancient pagan god she learned about from the old witch living in the woods that comes standard with every peasant village – it’s somewhat vague, and doesn’t really matter regardless. He goes by Luc.) The deal is for her freedom – she will get to live life untethered and according to her own desires, until she is sick of it, and when she is, her soul will be his.

What this means is that she is a) immortal, and eternally 23 years old, and any change to her body reverts in a matter of moments, but also b) incapable of leaving a mark on the world. People literally forget her the moment she is out of their sight, any letters she writes fade before she finishes a word, she is quite literally incapable of saying her own name out loud and has to pick a pseudonym out of the air with each new interaction, and so on. Reality also conspires against her having more than she can carry on her person – stashes are discovered or accidentally destroyed by what seems like random chance.

The book’s divided more or less in half, with a singular narrative in 2014 New York where Addie has a meet cute with Henry – a 28 year old bohemian bookstore clerk whose made his own (much, much worse) deal with the devil, and as a happy unintended consequence is actually able to remember her – being intercut with flashback chapters telling the wider story of Addie’s three-hundred-year life, how she adapted to her blessing/curse and figured out how to have a life of something other than endlessly freezing and starving in Parisian gutters, and her relationships with Luc.

To lay my cards on the table – Henry is charming, and the book’s New York is fun and appealing, but the historical vignettes really do make the book and elevate it a bit beyond pleasant but forgettable fluff. Partially just because the nature of Addie’s anonymous immortality is so specific, the book has a lot of fun with how she learned to navigate and make the most of it. The utter misery she’d been stuck with and endured also grounds (..maybe not the right word, given the immortality, but you know what I mean) the generally pretty fluffy New York narrative a bit.

Also, given how much I loathe the whole ‘death is what makes life meaningful!’ cliche, I really do appreciate that even after spending however long buried in a snowbank in a Parisian slum perpetually one second away from freezing to death, Addie’s reaction to ‘would you make the same deal again?’ is ‘fuck you, I’m immortal!”.

The plot of the present day New York chapters...exists. If mostly as connective tissue for cute dates and descriptions of bars and art shows; this is really overwhelmingly a character piece, and after that the focus is still more on making specific scenes and vignettes vivid more than any sort of overarching drama. Which isn’t any sort of complaint, to be clear – adding action or high stakes politics or a cosmic battle between good and evil or anything else would have ruined this. The fact that the book keeps its stakes limited to a few specific souls is a huge point in its favour.

The novel’s organized around a romance (I mean, a love triangle, technically), though given the ending I’m not sure it technically qualifies for the weirdly specific criteria for a Romance Novel I’ve been yelled out about in the past. It’s not exactly the sort of love story that’s going to set the world on fire, anyway; though Henry was charming and sympathetic and inoffensive enough to effortlessly vault into my top tier of least annoying romance male love interests.

Luc I think I would have absolutely despised if either Addie had ended up buying into his bullshit or if the narration ever really tried to make you sympathize with him. As is, it’s incredibly to read him as actually sincerely falling sincerely in love with Addie at a certain point, and she basically never stops hating him to the point of going all unreliable narrator and always framing his actions as more Machiavellian and monstrous than they are. It’s great.

It’s not exactly surprising how studiously apolitical the book is, but it did still kind of strike me? Given the span of history involved, I mean – the French Revolution and World War One both intrude on the narrative exclusively as ‘bad news Addie gets out of Paris/Europe to evade’. The only active political stance she’s shown as taking in the entire modern era is returning to France during WW2 to be an anti-nazi spy out of a vague sort of patriotism.

On the one hand oh my god a version of this book that went ‘she’s queer and was alive at the time, so obviously Addie would have been at Stonewall’ would have just been, so so bad lol. But the part of me that loves drama and books that get internet hate campaigns dedicated to them does kind of wish the book had done a bit more with what she (immortal 23-year-old early modern bohemian aesthete runaway peasant girl) actually believes or thinks of the world.

Though the book’s restraint on involving historical events vanishes entirely in the cultural sphere – Beethoven makes an appearance, having sold his soul for artistic genius. I don’t mind this too much, honestly; Addie learning that even if she can’t leave a direct mark she can still inspire people and indirectly shape the world that way is a pretty central theme to the whole book, so it more or less fits. When she justifies why she considers her life worth living, the central element is beauty, she lives for songs and fine meals and paintings and books and films. The occasional intrusion of names I recognize just feels like it fits.

Speaking of: quite possibly my favourite bit of the book is how, at the beginning of each part, there’s a page with a sketch and an auctioneer’s description of a different piece of fine art that Addie had inspired over the course of her long life. Nothing much intelligent to say about them specifically, just that I adored the little touches it added.

Unfortunately, the ending of this was the weakest part of it by leaps and bounds. Just – it would have been damn near perfect, if it just ended two chapters before it did! As is, re contextualizing the entire book as an artifact that exists in universe just makes the entire thing make no sense at all (also, my god, can you imagine being Robbie or Henry’s family and reading how you’re portrayed in his ‘novel’?) But even beyond that, it felt like the book had reached a natural, nicely bittersweet ending, and then spent the last ten pages furiously trying to backtrack and make it as unambiguous and upbeat as possible. A damn shame.

Anyway, not a revelatory read or anything, but with that exception very fun and well-put together.

[hellomisst]

I'm never moving on from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The angst. The yearning. Incredible.

Adeline LaRue was a young girl from a small town dreaming of a world bigger than what she sees. Then, out of desperation, she made a deal with the devil.

Or is he the devil?

“I am not some genie, bound to your whim." He pushes off the tree. "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.”

And so her wish of freedom was granted... with a price. She has all the time in the world to enjoy life and to not be bound by anything. Being unbound, then, means no one would remember her. Such is the price when you make a deal with the gods that answer after dark but you do not know what you want and you do not clear up your own conditions, rules, and limitations.

Spoilers past this line.

Addie named Luc, and by doing so, she humanized him.

I CANNOT MOVE ON from their dynamic. For years, decades, centuries, no one can remember her. No one can mention her name, not even Addie herself. Only Luc who has been taunting her, pushing her to give up her life.

Now, let me clear this up: I DO acknowledge that the power dynamics between them play a huge role in their relationship. Her craving love and attention stemmed from the fact that no one else can know her deeply enough to create a legitimate human connection, affection, and relationship. Thus, her growing feelings for Luc became inevitable. Luc had full control over her and her life, while all she wanted was freedom to live. With this, let me expressly say that I fully understand and support Addie's scheme in the end (...but I cannot deny that I'm rooting for Luc once and for all admitting defeat, and Addie and Luc having a healthy relationship 😭).

OKAY. So. WHEN THEY STARTED FLIRTING??? I KEPT WANTING TO THROW THE BOOK TO THE WALL!!! Like, DAMN!!! WHY CAN'T Y'ALL JUST BE TOGETHER???? Luc's rizz is undeniable as fuck. And Addie's stubbornness mixes well with his smoothness, thereby successfully intoxicating me.

Luc lifts his glass. "Happy anniversary, my Adeline." She looks at him, lips parting with their usual retort, but then stops short. If she is his—then by now he must be hers as well. "Happy anniversary, my Luc," she answers, just to see the face he'll make. She is rewarded with a raised brow, the crooked upturn of his mouth, the green of his eyes shifting in surprise.

Now, I know that when she was with Henry, they were really healthy. Sure, even Addie does not know if it was love or if it was all just because he was the first human to ever see her as she is. I thought they would be together and overcome Luc's deals. But no.

Even then, Luc can really sweep you off your feet. One thing I hate is how they blame Luc for everything. He is the darkness. In our current world, he is what we call the devil. Of course he is an opportunist. Of course he would always take the upper hand. The bad side of their deal came up because they would not look into the intricacies of the deals they are making. I also acknowledge that Luc always comes in times when one would not really be in the right mind to make a serious deal... so there's that.

BUT. The angst really comes in to take over you. It was chapters in the making. It's a slow burn you wouldn't notice

"You told me once that we were alike," he says, almost to himself. "Both of us... lonely. I loathed you for saying it. But I suppose in some ways you were right. I suppose," he goes on slowly, "there is something to the idea of company." It is the closest he has ever come to sounding human. "Do you miss me," she asks, "when you are not here?" Those green eyes drift up, the emerald even in the dark. "I am here, with you, more often than you think." "Of course," she says, "you come and go whenever you want. I have no choice but to wait." His eyes darken with pleasure. "Do you wait for me?" And now it is Addie who looks away. "You said it yourself. We all crave company." "And if you could call on me, as I call on you?" Her heart quickens a little. She does not look up, and that is why she sees it, rolling toward her on the table. A slim band, carved of pale ash wood. It is a ring. It is her ring. ... "Put it on, and I will come." Luc leans back in his chair, the night breeze blowing through those raven curls. "There," he says, "Now we are even."

The way my stomach erupted with butterflies! The slow confession. The subtle dropping of hints of their feelings here and there. Everything keeps you on your toes. "Will they or will they not? Is there something or not?"

"At least he keeps me company." Those emerald eyes trail over her skin. "So would I," he says, "if you wanted it."

And so I was kept thinking. Will Luc ever confess? Will Addie ever... agree to it? Accept it? Forgive him?

What's been keeping them apart is the fact that Addie sees Luc as the devil. As the one who made her life miserable. Which is true, to be fair. So I won't ever blame her. Trauma is there and they are bonding.

Like I said, I understand Addie and I understand that there's power play here. Her walls are up, she keeps her guards up, she's hostile towards him, and she's very suspicious because he does not play fair. He never did. But then he started to open up. He started equalizing their position and power.

From what I understand, throughout time, Addie became less and less human, and she learned to hate more and more because the only one who became constant in her life is Luc. On the other hand, Luc became more and more human, and he learned to love and understand more and more because (probably) the only person he has ever spent time with constantly is Addie.

THEN.

"Even if everyone you met remembered," Luc says, "I would still know you best." She searches his face. "Do I know you?" He bows his head over hers. "You are the only one who does." ... His voice, molded to the hollow places in her as he says, "I want you." And then, again, "I have always wanted you." Luc looks down at her, those green eyes dark with pleasure, and Addie fights to hold her ground. "You want me as a prize," she says. "You want me as a meal, or a glass of wine. Just another thing to be consumed." He dips his head, presses his lips to her collarbone. "Is that so wrong?" She fights back a shiver as he kisses her throat. "Is it such a bad thing..." His mouth trails along her jaw. "...to be savored?" His breath brushes her ear. "To be relished?"

I SCREAMED. Internally. BUT IF I WAS LIVING ALONE, I SWEAR TO GOD. If I didn't care about the book and if it wasn't so expensive (fuck inflation), I WOULD'VE THROWN THIS TO THE WALL SCREAMING.

Anyway, Addie's stronger than me because I would've fallen for him and his tactics over and over again...

"I love you." They are in New Orleans when he says it, dining in a hidden bar in the French Quarter, one of his many installations. Addie shakes her head, amazed the words do not turn to ash in his mouth. "Do not pretend that this is love." Annoyance flashes across Luc's face. "What is love, then? Tell me. Tell me your heart does not flutter when you hear my voice. That it doesn't ache when you hear your name in my lips." "It is my own name I ache for, not your lips." The edge of his mouth curls up, his eyes now emerald. A brightness born of pleasure. "Once, perhaps," he says. "But now it's more." She is afraid that he is right.

I TOLD YOU????? BUT. Does that mean... that is how Luc feels when Addie says his name... when he hears Addie's voice...?

BUT. It also means Addie already feels something. Again, it might be because he's the only constant thing in her life. He's the only one who remembers and that's because he made it that way. But, he did offer to change the terms... Only that there was a misunderstanding because of everything that has happened and how she understands he, and his actions, works.

In the end, Addie's suspicions are justified. Sad for Luc, yes, but Addie has been suffering and it's because of him. If he can change—if he's willing to change—and he grants Addie's freedom with no consequences, no strings attached, and Addie gets to choose her own life in her own terms and who she wants to be with, then maybe when she chooses Luc, it can be healthy...

"I will give you what you want," he says. "If you will do one thing." "What?" she asks. Luc holds out his hand. "Dance with me," he says.

This part was very sad for me. It was clear that Luc has real feelings for her, yet Addie can no longer trust. Damage has been done. Their lines intersected, and from here, they'll only grow apart... Not physically, but emotionally.

But I think it's fitting. Luc is not human, though he is growing more human. Addie is human, but she is becoming more scheming... less human. They really cannot be together because Luc will always hold power and Luc is (or was?) manipulative. And Addie cannot find it in her to trust him again. Though Luc might change, to Addie, he is only the devil. And that is justified (though sad).

"What a hard lesson it must be for you," she says. "That you can't have everything you want." "Want?" he sneers. "Want is for children. If this were want, I would be rid of you by now. I would have forgotten you centuries ago," he says, a bitter loathing in his voice. "This is need. And need is painful but patient. Do you hear me, Adeline? I need you. As you need me. I love you, as you love me." She hears the pain in his voice.

Before we continue, may I just say one thing. LUC ALWAYS CALLS HER "ADELINE". Not "Addie" but "Adeline". And I think that means something.

Addie has always wanted to be "Addie", the name Estelle gave her. Since before, she did not want to be "Adeline". But, as she lived her immortal life, she kept wanting to go back to her old life. She yearned to be remembered again, even if it meant being tied down... But then she kept remembering she never wanted to be married and to just stay there forever. So even if she kept yearning for her life as "Adeline", she would still always want to be "Addie".

And Luc... calls her "Adeline". Easy explanation: Luc always says that she's always been his. That's because she traded her soul for freedom. This means she is really his, her whole being and life, whether as "Adeline" or "Addie"; but her birth name is "Adeline", and so her real, purest, and barest being is "Adeline". "Addie" came from "Adeline", whether it's just her name or her being.

But in my head: Being "Adeline" is being home, and Luc offered her just that :))

Another interpretation in my head (sad): Luc only sees her and/ or he keeps her as her former self, when Addie wants to be "Addie" aka free. He keeps her as "Adeline", the person who was desperate and in need, when she wants and needs to be "Addie", a person who is free. Thus, Luc is the shackles that hold her back from being free; they had a deal and she is still bound to him. As long as she is kept within a deal, she can never be free. Addie has to be free from Luc to be truly free.

"They can have the story," he says. "So long as I have you."

The ending. Henry did not have a happy ending with Addie because Addie is now with Luc. Yet, in the book's ending, Addie is scheming to make Luc hate her so that he would (unintentionally?) set her free, based on the new deal they had.

Should her plan work, then it will be true to her character: stubborn as a rock, and only wanting freedom. By extension, it highlights her true freedom as no man will ever own her or have her; fitting as she wanted to escape marriage long ago.

However, let us remember that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, in the book, was written by Henry... and he never knew the true ending. Of what happened to Addie. Where she is. How she is now with Luc. How she and Luc treat each other. So we can also interpret that as Henry attempting to make a good and open ending for Addie :))

For me, I'll try to think and think about this because I'm clearly never moving on!! Maybe Luc can change and Addie can accept that. Maybe not. Maybe she will be free but Luc will still try to pursue her. Maybe after a long time, she can realize that he really has changed. Maybe they can be together. Maybe not because they have been toxic.

Who knows :))

[paperbaacks]

review:

“What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?”

trigger warnings: period typical misogyny, really brief allusions to suicide a girl: immortal, curious, forgotten; that’s addie larue but she is so much more than the ghost she thinks she is. what i liked — ☆ the words, the feelings are so beautiful and the way it weaves through the past and the present is very smooth-flowing. it gripped me from the very first line and broke my heart with each one thereafter. ☆ it’s a unique mixture of historical fiction and fantasy which gives me major light academia vibes. the shades of melancholy are lovely. ☆ the characters feel so well rounded and three dimensional that i couldn’t help but like even luc. what i didn't like — ★ n/a

[thetypedwriter]

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Book Review

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

This is the best book by Schwab that I’ve read, hands down. 

I’ve read a few of her other books and if you’ve been following me and happened to read them, my responses range from meh to bleh for every one of her novels. 

Until now. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a Faustian tale in which Addie makes a deal with a devil. Desperate to leave her small town of Villon, Addie exchanges her soul for true freedom. However, deals with devils are never what they seem. While Addie does get to leave Villon and the small life destined for her, she also leaves behind any kind of semblance of companionship and memory.

 Because the devil hasn’t just freed Addie from her mundane life, he’s made sure that any person who ever meets her forgets about her as soon as she leaves their vision, he’s made sure that Addie can’t leave any imprint behind, whether in writing, art, or otherwise, and he’s made sure to drive Addie to the brink of giving up her soul in order to escape this so-called “freedom.”

Except that it doesn’t work. Instead of succumbing to hopelessness and loneliness, Addie finds the beauty in every moment, person, and situation. She learns that she can leave an imprint—in the form of inspiration, ideas and passions, and in lingering thoughts and feelings. She travels and sees the world and experiences lifetimes worth of history, culture, and art. 

Instead of creating an individual so desperate to be remembered that she’d willingly give up her soul, the devil, self-named Luc, instead creates an equal in his own right, someone stubborn and headstrong enough to battle it out with him over centuries. 

This all changes, however, when Addie comes across Henry, an unimpressionable young man living in New York. Nothing about Henry should stand out. He works at a bookshop, failed out of Theology school, and is victim to depression and anxiety, seasonal “storms” that never seem to go away. 

Nothing about Henry is special. 

Except that he remembers her, remembers Addie. 

What unravels is Henry’s own tale of making a deal with Luc, a deal born out of the bone-crushing desperation to be loved. Henry and Addie find solace and companionship in one another, something that both of them have craved and needed. 

A love between them grows, a connection so strong that Addie will do anything, including changing her own deal with the devil, to make sure Henry is okay and will have the long life he deserves. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue isn’t a particularly noteworthy idea, Faustian bargains have existed for decades, but Schwab does it well. 

Switching back and forth between time periods, readers get to see Addie in Villon 1714 as she claws her way out of her predetermined life, witnessing wars, revolutions, and renaissances along the way, juxtaposed with present day Addie in New York City, having just met Henry and having her life flipped upside down. 

Swapping back and forth might seem irritating, but Schwab did a great job of intermixing the past and present so that any chapter built and scaffolded the others. It didn’t feel like I was reading two different stories side-by-side, but instead one seamless tale where each chapter filled in a missing blank of Addie’s life. 

I do prefer the past chapters slightly more because I love the historical elements included in it. Each time we see Addie in the past, we also get a little taste of what Paris was like in 1725 or Germany during World War II, or Florence at the height of the Italian Renaissance. 

This intermingling is fascinating to read about and every chapter left me both interested in Addie’s choices and development, but also the period at the time. 

Each chapter is also incredibly short, making reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue easy and addicting. It was effortless to say, “Oh, I’ll just read one more chapter” and before you know it, you’ve been reading for two hours and you’re halfway done with the book. 

I loved seeing all the different settings Schwab took us to while regaling Addie’s journey to get to the present. While the New York chapters were similar, earmarking the best and most interesting sights and eateries New York has to offer, I don’t think it held a candle to the historical segments. 

In terms of actual plot, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is solid. I do think the novel was predictable and as I said earlier, the idea of a Faustian bargain isn’t unique, but the journey Addie takes is breathlessly beautiful and immensely fun to experience. 

Henry’s chapters, while also engaging, did drag on a bit as I thought they felt more tedious than any of Addie’s chapters. 

That brings us to what I believe is the only flaw of the book: repetition. 

While The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue had a lot of stark and raw moments that left me emotionally battered but satisfied, there were several chapters, especially towards the end, where I felt like the theme or takeaway of each chapter was the exact same thing over and over again. It goes like this.

1. Addie experiences something horrible about humanity 

2. Addie experiences something lovely about humanity 

3. Addie realizes that life is ugly and painful, but always worth living 

Rinse and repeat for…pretty much the whole book. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s a great message to have. However, Schwab sort of beats you over the head with it. A lot of the New York chapters were simply Henry and Addie doing something fun together and realizing how great life is. 

While I liked these chapters, it seemed more like a New York tour recommendation blog than an in-depth insight into Henry and Addie’s relationship which went from zero to one-hundred in only a few short chapters. 

Given the circumstances of both of their deals, it wasn’t unwholly unrealistic, but I still would have preferred more time to develop their relationship versus advertising an art installment on The High Line. 

I think the book could have been around fifty pages shorter and still packed the same punch that it did, without the repetitiveness of sight-seeing around New York and lamenting about their bargains and yet ecstatic to have found each other. 

That being said, I still really enjoyed this book. Reading those unvaried chapters was still enjoyable, even if I think the book would have been fine (aka even better) without them. Addie, Luc, and Henry as characters are all well-developed and fleshed out. 

This is a good thing as they’re really the only three characters who matter. There are some side characters, especially Henry’s friends and family who make an appearance, but overall the novel revolves around those three.

The theme of this book is well done and cemented: live your life to the fullest. Enjoy every moment. Cherish every day. 

Again, while not necessarily new, the theme did make me appreciate the small things as I was reading—the sunshine dappling my legs, the sweet tang of iced tea on my tongue, a fluffy cloud slipping overhead. And while Schwab came across a bit heavy-handed with this theme at times throughout the novel, it made an impact on me. 

There is no better marker of a good book than the realization that it’s made an impression on me and my life. 

Recommendation: As Addie spends the whole novel trying to leave impressions on others, there is no greater compliment I can give to Schwab other than saying that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has left its imprint on me and my heart. 

Score: 7/10

[raisedfromperditions-blog]

just finished “the invisible life of addie laurie” & it absolutely ruined me yet completed me all at once. it was so beautifully & tragically written & filled with so much humanity. there’s nothing more meaningful that someone cursed to be forgotten yet still trying to desperately to leave their mark on the world. this book is captivating & suffocating & relentless & beautiful & tragic & simply everything i ever needed.

how am i supposed to sleep at night knowing that i’ll never be able to experience this for the first time again?

[shotbyshe]

Unpopular Opinions on Popular Books | My take on Bunny, The Silent Patient, Ninth House and more

[eva-reviews]

The Invisible Life of Addie LeRue by V. E. Schwab -- A Review

Trigger Warnings: Death, starvation, suicide attempt, depression,  drug addiction, alcoholism, mentions of sex, mentions of oral sex, mentions of rape, prostitution, emotional manipulation, abusive relationship, war, imprisonment, mentions of WWII, sexism, grief, homelessness, family trauma, mentions of homophobia. 

My Rating 

10/10. My best friend has been telling me to read this for 3 years, and I finally got around to it. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint at all. The way that I felt Addie's pain, joy and fear was incredible, and the little twist at the end was so good. The characters developed and evolved so well. Since Addie has lived 300 years, it does give you a lot to work with, with how she can change, grow and develop. Same with Luc, he was such an amazing character. He is definitely the epitome of chaotic neutral, satisfying his own needs before others, but by no means evil. He has his rules and he plays within them. Luc is neither a villain nor hero. I really love morally grey characters, they are so much fun, and because they are neither good nor bad, you don’t really know what they will do next. 

Overview

Addie LeRue asks for a wish she doesn’t understand the consequences of. Being able to live forever and be remembered by no one, is a sure way to become a living ghost. Still determined to find adventure and love, she wanders around in the big wide, ever-changing world, completely alone. Well, except for Luc, who asks every year if she has had enough, asks if she is ready to rest in exchange for her soul. And every year, Addie declines, continuing on to spite Luc. Their back-and-forth game of lies, testing, and gentle touches goes on for three hundred years, until, someone remembers her. And her once lonely existence is not so lonely anymore. 

My Thoughts 

This whole book revolves around time and feeling like you don't have enough of it. Addie asks for more time saying “... so scared of the years rushing past beneath my feet. I do not want to die as I’ve lived, which is no life at all … I want more time” (pg 46). Luc comments how humans need more time when he is showing Addie how different they are. He states “The vexing thing about time is that it’s never enough. Perhaps a decade too short, perhaps a moment. But a life always ends too soon.” (pg 333). This is something I think everyone can relate to, I’m constantly hearing, ‘Time is flying’, ‘I can’t believe how fast they grow’, or ‘It's already been a year?’. Even for myself, it feels as though every year is passing faster than the last. You always need more time, more time to learn, to love, to live. There will never be enough time “God, what he would give for just another day” (pg. 422). It can be really depressing to think about, how, we as humans only have a little to accomplish so much. But it can also be so invigorating because we don't have a long time we have to do things that matter, that we enjoy. After all, we won't always have the time to do so. 

“Because happiness is brief and history is lasting, and in the end, everyone wants to be remembered” (pg 351) 

Everyone can relate to this quote. No matter who you are or what you do. People want to be remembered. Whether it is through graffiti, books, inventions or art, people want to leave a lasting impression. 

Luc is neither a demon nor a god, Luc has no gender and he is absent of appearance. He simply appears how you want him to appear. For Addie, he is tall dark and handsome. We first meet Luc when Addie feels as though her life is falling apart, she prays after dark and he is the one who answers. When Addie says what she wants, he originally declines “I am not in the business of charity. You ask for too much. How many years until you’re sated? How many, until I get my due?” (pg 47). This deal does nothing to benefit him. It isn’t until Addie says he can have her soul once she is done with it, that he agrees to it. Every anniversary, Luc shows up. Whether or not he makes his presence known, he is always there in the shadows. It originally starts so he can ask if she is ready to give him her soul, to make her cave, saying “Come give me what I want, and the deal will be done, this misery can end” (pg 117) Addie denies him, just to spite him. This continues on for years until it is no longer just to taunt Addie, but it becomes a form of a relationship. Not only is Luc the only person who remembers her and sees her once a year, but Addie is there for Luc. Whether Luc realizes it or not, he desires connection, and Addie has been there for multiple lifetimes, much longer than his normal deals last. 

Henry's curse is for people to see what they want to see. I think that this is something that so many people can relate to. We want to fit in, we want people to like us, and especially, we want the people who we love to be proud of us. Henry goes through his life, before Luc, becomes a disappointment, his brother is a doctor, his sister is an art critic, and Henry dropped out of college. He is the black sheep of the family. His ex-boyfriend, whom he loved and deeply missed, wants him back, Robbie says “You were different, we weren’t a fit … You didn't know what you wanted … You have to know who you are. Back then, you didn’t” (pg. 276), but Henry knows that his feelings are not his real feelings. We all want love, and the things that we will do for love can be drastic, “You want to be loved. You want to be enough” (pg.248). When you know that they don’t love you, they love the idea they have created for you, sure, it feels nice in the beginning. But it doesn't last long, it is not real, and sometimes it can hurt more than not being loved. Because it isn't you. “Henry has no idea who he is, and now, neither does anyone else” (pg 276).  

Throughout Henry and Addies time together, Henry made a point to record Addies life. So people could remember her and speak her name. A year after Addie's disappearance, Henry published her biography as a work of fiction. Not only was he able to keep the memory of Addie alive, so people could, in a way, know her, but he also found something to do. Instead of feeling like he is existing for no reason, just taking up space. I thought it was such a cool idea to have us read the whole book, looking at it as if it was all fantasy. And having that reveal that it was a biography. It really makes us as the audience feel as though we could be part of this world, as we would never remember seeing Addie, and this is a book we just read. And we can really resonate with Bea’s anger at the end of the book when Addie just disappears, we also feel that anger/loss that Addie and Henry are not able to stay together. 

Conclusion

I loved this book. I thought it was so interesting how it jumped around from times. Sure it was a little confusing at times, but it was able to make us understand why Addie would react a certain way, or how it affected her. I think this would be a great first book for someone new to fantasy, as it is low fantasy. Meaning it takes place in our world, with our history. You should definitely read this.

[httpschrys]

“Attraction can look an awful lot like recognition in the wrong light.”

[sarahstudieschem]

26th of December 2022

After a month of reading, I finally finished The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. This book was just beautiful. The writing style was amazing and the story as well. I ugly cried through the last few chapters because V.E. Schwab wrote the characters and their emotions so well.

I loved it & I already bought Gallant from the same author :)

Xoxo Sarah

[noemyreads]

the invisible life of addie larue - v. e. schwab

rate: 5/5 love it <3

"What is a person if not the marks they leave behind?"

This was my second time reading and it still hits me the same.

[nats-reads-reviews]

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab 4/5 ⭐️

This was a pretty good book! I’ve never read a fantasy book like this before. The story was unique and interesting, heartbreaking and really beautiful in unexpected ways. Addie’s lived a million lives to only not be remembered by a single person she meets after making a deal with a god. She’s floating through life on her own for 300 years until she meets Henry, a man who made a deal with the same god, who remembers her. Through Henry, she finally lives like a human and finds peace with her existence, finds love, and a way to have her life remembered by others - leaving her mark on the world.

[bookishlyvintage]

The First Bright Thing, JR Dawson

"You are your own story, not a character in someone else's."

☆☆☆☆☆ | full review

[horsesarecreatures]

Book review - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (second picture is stolen from google because my copy of the book didn't have the jacket cover). 

I haven't read a fantasy book in forever so I wasn't sure if I would like this one, but I wound up loving it. The author doesn't write in prose per se, but has a really masterful use of syntax and repetition. Thematically, the book is kind of like a combination of The Age of Adeline and Faust. The main character, Addie LaRue, is born in the late 1600s in small village in France called Villon-sur-Sarthe. Her father is a woodworker, and her favorite memories growing up are of traveling to the nearest city with him when he sells his wares at the market. Her world is very small, and going to the city is her only opportunity to experience life more fully. However, when she reaches puberty her mother decides that it is no longer appropriate for her to make the trips there. Addie feels her world growing smaller by the year, when it should have been expanding. She puts of marriage for a time, but when she is 23 another opportunity presents itself, and her parents will not let her turn it away. 

There is an old unmarried woman in the village named Estelle who worships the old gods instead of the new. While many pity her, she is a role model to Addie because she has lived her life according to her own will. Since praying in church has not led to any results for her, Addie starts leaving offerings to the old gods, praying to be free and not die in the village without seeing more of the world. On the eve of her wedding, she runs into the woods to try one last time to ask the gods for help in escaping her marriage. She does not notice as dusk slips into night, and Luc, the the God of Dark, answers her. 

She makes a deal with him, promising her soul in return for freedom and more time. He agrees, and she becomes immortal. The catch is that “true freedom” in this case means not being remembered by anyone, and not being able to leave a mark. People forget Addie the moment she leaves their sight, and she cannot say her own name, write, hold on to things, or leave permanent marks on them. Addie does not know about this part when she makes the deal. 

As she explores her new life, Addie enjoys the beauty of all the things she sees while traveling, but also suffers immensely. Since she cannot hold a job, she is forced to steal. She also has no permanent home, and is often unbearably lonely. The only one who knows her is Luc, who visits her on the anniversaries of their deal and urges her to surrender her soul. She never does and is angry at him, yet relies on him as the one constant in her life.

Life goes on for Addie for 300 years. She has lived in many cities, learns many languages, and comes to know plenty of people, but they never get to truly know her. She is also unable to leave a trace of herself, expect abstractly by influencing the ideas of artists and other people. That is, until one day in New York City in 2014, when she meets a bookshop keeper named Henry who remembers her for stealing a book. She does not know why he is able to remember her. She invites him out for dinner, and they begin to know each other. Obviously Addie does not want to let him go, but it seems inevitable due to the curse that their relationship cannot last. 

[folk6crows]

Currently rereading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and I don’t recall all the heart-wrenching stuff V.E. Shwab introduced in this book.