This book. Wow.

I was starting to get really concerned that it couldn’t live up to hype. I follow V on social media, and every time she told us that she’d poured her heart out into it I was equally desperate to finally read the book and terrified that I wouldn’t love it. Well, dear reader, love it I did.

So much, in fact, that I put it down at the 90% mark and took three days – THREE DAYS – to pick it back up again. I don’t do this, I really don’t, but I didn’t want to face the end (in case it disappointed – it did not), and I wasn’t willing to read it when I was tired or only had five minutes. Finally I had a half hour to focus and… wow.

There. I have – I hope – conveyed how much I *loved* this freakin’ book!! 🙂

Adeline LaRue was born in 17th Century rural France. She wants a life full of small joys, of drawing and freedom to roam. So when it is announced that she is to marry an older widower and look after his children, she ends up making a pact with a devil for that freedom. He grants her eternal life and youth, but with a twist: no one will ever remember her.

And so Addie spends 300 years unable to be much more than a ghost. As soon as she is out of eyeline everyone forgets her instantly. It means being thrown out of rooms she has paid for, having to steal to survive as jobs are impossible. And of course the worst: never being able to have more than a day’s relationship. Until…

Well, I’ll leave that to the reader to discover. I had feared the hype was too high, but it was not: this book, this story, is amazing and so well told. We flit back and forth between Addie’s ‘now’ and flashbacks to her past, both her normal life and then the dance with her devil through the centuries

I maybe took a little while to settle in. I wished V had chosen any name but ‘Adeline’ (it reminded me too much of a movie with a few parallels) and if there was one thing I didn’t like it was the discomfort of that ‘duties of a woman’, which was the point. But the words are so well strung together, the pictures start to form so well, and it was impossible not to get caught up in not just Addie but other characters and their lives and loves and just how it all fits together so perfectly.

Ironically, this is not a book you’re likely to ever forget. Read it now! 🙂

4.5 Stars

There is no doubt this is a V.E. Schwab book. It screams it through and through. Therefore I suspect if you have not been a fan of her previous works, particularly her female characters, you are not going to enjoy Addie. There is a lot of similarity in the feeling and personality of Addie and that of Lila Bard and for me that is not a bad thing. I love Schwab's writing style and this just has a beautiful lyrical quality to it. I will admit I absolutely fell in love with Henry, he was just such a beautiful soul and I really loved how we got his story. I also really loved the interactions between Addie and Luc and the mix of emotions each scene brought.

The plot is just as beautiful as the writing. it is slow paced and completely character driven, and it really drives home those emotions. I will say the ending was a little predictable but only in the way we got to know the characters so well. There really were great moments of joy as well as those of despair and Schwab did an excellent job of drawing you in with those moments and making you feel them.

Another thing I truly adored is how much art played a role in this book. At a time in the UK where art and the artistic industry is suffering to be reminded on how much art plays into life and history in such a beautiful way. I loved how each section in the book reflected on a piece of art that would be an echo of the part of Addie's life we were exploring. It was just a really nice touch.

The only reason this couldn't be a 5 star for me was the continual use of the word 'palimpsest' to describe Addie. It just appeared to be the authors favourite word in this book and whoever edited could have cut out at least 50%. While, it was a great description when first used it turned the character of Addie into one note. Every time it came up it made me groan and it kind of spoiled my enjoyment a little as it would pull me out of the story and emotion.

Otherwise I really adored the book. I can see myself rereading it, I can see why it already has a movie deal and I can see why Schwab fans will be raving about this one.

What a book. Addie LaRue feels like a timeless novel and one that I could happily read over and over again. It felt so lyrically beautiful and I loved being able to explore the world throughout different times that Addie passed through.

It's really difficult to put my thoughts into words for just how much I enjoyed this book. It's definitely a 5 Star read and I know it's one I'll be rereading again and again for years to come. When I finished it, I had to take a long moment to just let it settle so it definitely had an impact. I'd absolutely recommend this one. In fact, I already have to some of my friends!

I’ll be honest here, this is possibly one of the hardest reviews I think I might ever write. I was slightly amazed when I got an email to confirm I’d been given an ARC of Addie LaRue. It was just after we moved house, so I had no internet in our new flat. My boyfriend was in a work meeting in our old flat (thankfully with wifi and right across the road from our new place) so I had a whole silent screaming fit of excitement in the corridor, downloaded it, and raced back to start it. I was supposed to be working that day, and instead, I read, and read, and read. I read through dinner, and I finally finished it around 8pm. It was dark by that time, and I’d been reading it by fairylight and candlelight, with a glass of wine. And when I put it down, I had that bittersweet empty feeling you get when you finish a brilliant book for the first time, and you wish you could somehow erase it from your mind so you could read it again and have it be new. In fact, I was very tempted to immediately start re-reading it.

Obviously, I’m probably a little bit biased. V.E. Schwab is one of my all-time favourite authors, and I’ve never not enjoyed one of her books. And I’ve heard a lot about what the author went through writing this one- she’s mentioned it many many times at conventions and author signings I went to. I’ve been fascinated with this book long before holding it in my hands, because when the author spoke about it, I could see the hope and fear and excitement she clearly felt about it. Schwab has been writing this book for a long time (nine years, I believe) and for that reason I was a little bit afraid to start reading it. As much as I knew I would probably end up enjoying Addie, I was slightly worried that it wouldn’t quite live up to the hype and expectations. And trust me, a book that has been brewing for that long, is expected to knock it out of the park. From the little I knew about it, that it was a book about a girl who makes a deal with the devil to live forever, and is cursed to be forgotten, it sounded like something I would adore. And even so, I hesitated to turn the first few pages.

I needn’t have worried. Part of the reason that this review is so hard to write is because every bit of me just wants to scream about how fucking good The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is, and if my brain had it’s way I’d just be making excited, incoherent noises translated into something like words on the page. It’s not often you come across a book that seems to fit your personality so perfectly. I hope I don’t sound horrifically arrogant when I say this, but I really connected with this book.

Okay, now that I’ve got some of the gushing fangirl stuff out of the way, I wanted to start by talking about the cover. The forget me nots are so perfect. I also kinda like that we get a different colour scheme for this book. Schwab’s books, up until this point, have mostly been red, white, and black. Those colours work brilliantly with the more action-y fantasy she’s written, but Addie is distinctly different from anything else Schwab has published, and I’m pleased the cover designers went in a different direction to make it stand out from the rest of her oeuvre.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is more literary than anything else Schwab has published to date. It’s still got fantasy elements, things that are touchstones to what readers might be familiar with, but the writing style is definitely different. There’s a lot of description, and the writing is a little flowery– which is something that I personally love, but which might be a bit of a shock to people who are used to the pacey, punch fight scenes in novels like Vicious or A Darker Shade of Magic. This obviously makes the pacing a touch slower too, although again I think this actually benefits the book, rather than being a drawback. After all, Addie is a girl who has lived hundreds of lives over hundreds of years, and I think the dreamy, ponderous tone reflects this well. Unsurprisingly, given this theme of living forever, it’s also not a very linear book, in terms of chronology. It flips back and forth, sometimes leaping over decades, sometimes dwelling on moments and scenes that define Addie. Quite a big chunk of it is set in present day New York, which I loved, but there’s also scenes that go all the way back to before Addie made her deal. It’s quite clear when this happens though, and I was never caught off-guard or left confused and trying to figure out what was happening. These scenes are well signposted, which I really appreciated, since I often struggle when books do this.

Addie was an interesting character. She’s stubborn, clever, and someone who yearns for so much more. I thought her motivations for why she made the deal made a lot of sense, and the book repeatedly explores her ambitions for adventure and life. She’s probably again going to be something of a shock to some readers- I know I am kinda used to brash, loud protagonists such as Lila Bard or Kate Harker, but it was refreshing to see a protagonist who was so realistic. Addie feels like a real person, she feels like the girl you walk past in an art museum or in a cafe. She’s not in the spotlight, but you do notice her, and you want to know more about her. And I think, ultimately, that she’s a character that a lot of readers will probably relate to. It’s funny, because in some ways Addie is a little bit like one of those ‘I’m not like other girls’ girls, but at the same time, I think she’s someone people will be able to see a bit of themselves in, too. She’s maybe a hair’s fraction away from being a bit of that cliche at moments, but Schwab’s understanding of how people think, and feel, and fear, really saves her from being that person.

Which brings me to my absolute favourite thing about the book- the themes. I did wonder if I wanted to go too much into this, since it’s both something I’m likely to waffle on about for god knows how long, and something that might edge slightly into spoiler territory (if you count discussing themes as spoilers, please look away now). But I think it’s really hard to separate my thoughts on this book without touching on the themes. My ebook is now heavily annotated and highlighted for this very reason. One of my favourite lines perfectly sums up what Schwab explores through this book: Because time is cruel to all, and crueler still to artists. Because visions weaken, and voices wither, and history is lasting, and in the end…everyone wants to be remembered.” Addie is a girl who can live forever. The book is a bit about that, and it does certainly look at moments in history where Addie got to live through revolutions and wars, through celebrations and moments of wonder. But it’s also very much about what it means to live forever. Addie’s curse, that she will be forgotten by everyone, initially sounds simple. Yet when Schwab begins to explore what this really means further, it’s actually heartbreaking. In reality, none of us will ever really get to live forever, there are no deals to be made with the devil, there’s no magic that will keep us alive through hundreds of years. And yet, there is a real kind of immortality- creators get to live forever through their art, but only if it is preserved long enough. Addie LaRue really picks at this thread, and I think what I truly, truly loved about it, is how much it shows the vulnerability and fear that often lie behind art. It reminds me a little of a conversation Schwab had with Jay Kristoff on her ‘No Write Way’ Instagram videos, where they talked about the author’s fear of only ever being as good as a book they’ve already written, and never getting better. For this reason, I’m a little bit reluctant to say that this is Schwab’s best book ever (although I am a little bit more confident in saying this is my favourite book by her to date). Even so, I can see that conversation in the threads of this book- Addie gets to live for hundreds of years, but is she even alive if she cannot leave a mark? Is it really living if nobody can remember you and what you’ve done? I still don’t really know how to answer that, but trust me when I say that I’ve been thinking over these questions ever since I finished the book almost a month ago.

Honestly, there’s really not much I can say about Addie LaRue at this point. A few times, during reviews, I’ve said: once in a while, a book comes along that you just struggle to say anything about, because it’s so good. I do keep saying that, and often those books turn out to be my favourite books of the year. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue goes a step further, I think. It’s probably my favourite book of the decade.

Overall, I’m giving The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue a 10/10. Of course, I have to. It’s not very often when I have nothing bad at all to say about a book– my academic career has taught me how to be critical even of the things that I love, but there really is nothing negative I can say about this book. I suppose some readers may find it a little too literary compared to Schwab’s other novels, but I really urge people to give it a chance. The book is officially out tomorrow (6th October)!

I knew I was going to love this book when I read the blurb. It sounded right up my street. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue reminds me a lot of The Time Traveller’s Wife and Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (which I read for an Open University course a couple of years ago. I loved the idea of it. Thankfully, this stunning book is everything I hoped and more. I fell in love with Addie who makes a pact in a moment of desperation, unaware of what she’s really agreeing to or what the cost will be. I loved the way the book moves back and forth in times showing key moments and events from her long life. The book gets even better when she meets Henry, an unassuming bookshop owner who remembers her. Why can he remember her? What does this mean? What’s his story? I didn’t want to put this book down. It’s incredible.

Curses, devils, doomed loves. What’s not to like? I mean you really should be careful what you wish for…

Addie is born in a small village in 17th century France. She doesn’t want to marry the man she is supposed to marry and ends up making a deal with that comes with a price. People won’t remember her and that can be difficult and not an ideal situation to have a relationship. Until she meets a boy that changes all that.

The story flips between Addie’s story through the years and the year 2014. The story starts a bit slow getting the back story, but it does pick up soon-ish. There’s no adventures and action like in Shades of Magic series.

My one problem was that nothing really changes with Addie. You would think that in 300 years she would change and grow up, but she doesn’t. I still loved the book but that was something I wish was explored better. I must say though that I liked the devil. But despite all that, I did like the book.

This, right there, was my most anticipated release of the year. It’s no secret V. E. Schwab is my favourite author of all time and Vicious my favourite book. Well, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue just took its place on the podium and in my heart.

Addie is the book of a lifetime, not only because it has been the one on Schwab’s mind for years, but also because it is the kind of book that will stick with you for the rest of your life. It is full of nostalgia, melancholy, life, love, memories and everything in between. This book is truly an entire life. And by the end of it, your breath will go out and everything will stand still for a few seconds - just stuck in the air. Because that’s what Addie is, a punch in the gut, a very welcome one though.

Schwab’s writing is as sublime as ever if not more. We can feel the yearning and relief the words come with, we can feel this, this story right there, has been in the works for years. I honestly had such high expectations for this book and Schwab has blown them all away. It took me weeks to read this book as I started it just before moving but it felt like such a relief to stop for a bit and read a few pages. God. I truly and utterly fell in love with Addie’s story, Henry’s and Luc’s. And to be honest, it felt like I was finding myself, reading about myself in parts of them. Because in the end, The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue is everyone’s story in one way or another and I could not be more grateful to Victoria Schwab for putting it all into words.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I loved this book to bits and cannot recommend it enough. No matter what genre you usually like, just read it, please.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E Schwab is the story of Addie, who gains immortality, but cannot be remembered.  This is the story of her life, and her decisions, and Henry.  The only person in 300 years who can remember her besides the old god who granted her this "gift".

This is very light fantasy is beautifully written, with the trips down memory lane so well written, it feels like you are there.  It was such a lovely story and yes, there were tears at certain points, but also a lot of happiness and joy.  

 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  was published on 6th October, and is available to buy from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and your  local independent bookshop .

You can follow V.E Schwab on  Twitter ,  Instagram  and  her website .

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  Titan Books .

Immortality comes with a price. Addie LaRue is the most forgettable person on the planet thanks to a deal with the devil. He's not really THE devil, but he basically is. I think.

Addie is a woman in 18th century rural France so the only way out is to make a deal. Her need to escape conjures Luc, an old God, nothing short of the devil himself. He spends the next 300 years playing with Addie's emotions until she meets Henry. Henry will make it all worthwhile.

This is my first VE Schwab and her writing is beautiful. She certainly likes a simile and REALLY likes repeating things for emphasis. Really likes it.

My first VE Schwab was a great experience. Obviously I can't say if this is her best, but it feels like it could be. Jumping around between times and places usually pisses me off, but this just worked. In the end I actually kinda wanted Luc to win, because he's gradually humanised by Addie's interactions with him.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows a young woman, born at the end of the 17th century, who makes a deal with the devil on the night of her wedding to escape what is expected of her and for a chance of freedom. But freedom has a cost; in order to escape her circumstances and have more time, Addie will be forgotten by everyone she meets. Until three hundred years later, she isn’t, and a boy in a bookshop remembers her. Thus, starts a story that spans centuries and continents, but at the heart of it is about the loneliness of one girl, and what she will do to maintain her agency and leave a mark on the world, however she can.

This book is the definition of a slow burn, deliciously unfurling itself before the reader in small increments that could make it feel like a drag, but to me it was the perfect way to tell this story. It’s slow pace makes us as readers feel perhaps a sliver of the time that Addie endured; you can feel the years she has wandered the world, it’s lingering moments hit home the loneliness that permeates deep within the protagonist. Although the scale of this story is grand in its scope, spanning hundreds of years and multiple countries and continents, it feels incredibly intimate in its examination of Addie’s strength and survival.

Addie is an interesting character, and I can see how some may not like her. She is not particularly brash or flirty or charming but has a quiet strength to her that I came to admire more and more as the book went on. She loves stories and art and uses these forms that she loves to try and leave some mark on the world in any way she can, even if nobody will remember it was her mark. She is not immediately resourceful and smart but learns to be so because of her circumstances – she has to in order to survive and has the time to perfect these skills. She is not particularly proud of her actions, but she will not apologise for them either. I can see how some readers have picked up on her having an air of ‘not like other girls’ that often crops up in V.E. Schwab’s heroines, and I understand this to an extent, but think this iteration is far more muted than others I’ve seen. At the beginning of her life, Addie notes that she does not want to settle in her small village and marry because it is expected of her. She has been to the city with her father to visit the market and has had a taste of the world she wants to explore. She notes how she cannot be happy with such a life, unlike her friend Isabelle who happily settles at a young age for marriage and children. I personally never felt like these comments were made with an air of superiority, more so just a frustration with her circumstances. It never felt like Addie was judging Isabelle explicitly for being happy to settle, but that is my own interpretation, and I can see how other readers could become annoyed with Addie’s character, but her quiet resilience truly grew on me and won me over by the time I turned the final page.

A character that I loved instantly, on the other hand, was Henry Strauss, the boy in the bookshop who remembers Addie. I related to Henry so much; he works in a bookshop, loves learning, is in his twenties and feeling rather directionless, and struggles with depression. I truly cannot express how much his character has come to mean to me and how seen I felt by him. He completely lit up every scene he was in and I loved the way he fit into Addie’s story, which I will not spoil! But I particularly had an emotional reaction to him and I know he will probably live in my mind rent free for a long time.

Our other main character is Luc, the devil himself. Initially, I had thought this story was about Addie falling in love with the devil, which made me hesitate as that’s not particularly a premise I am interested in personally. I have always been someone who champions and adores heroes and finds villains complicated and difficult at best. Luckily, that’s not really what this story really is, and Luc is every bit the devil, but not romanticised as I feared. He is charming and attractive and frustrating, but V.E. Schwab never shies away from addressing the various ways that Luc emotionally and mentally abuses Addie throughout this story. He uses his leverage of being the only one who remembers Addie against her constantly, tormenting her and manipulating her for years, sometimes openly and sometimes in the guise of love and attraction. I cannot speak from personal experience, but I so appreciated the different ways that Schwab addressed how someone could abuse another, particularly when it seems like love. But Addie is smart and learns Luc as much as her learns her; and it was those moments where she resist him or outsmarts him where I admired her most.

I could not talk about this book without address how gorgeous the writing is. It’s been a while since I read a Schwab book, and I remember always liking their writing, but this is on another level. The prose is so gorgeous you could pick out almost any page and find a beautiful phrase on it. This style of writing can be hit or miss for me, but I think again it suited this story perfectly, immersing us truly into Addie’s world and her story.

Finally, I wanted to address the ending. It is not a guns ablaze affair, but a quiet build for a quiet story that is both heart-breaking and a perfect end to this story. There were a few details that were a little on the nose that I won’t spoil, but needless to say I was sobbing for the last 6% of this book – I haven’t had such a visceral emotional reaction to a story in a long time, which proved to me just how much it got under my skin and nestled there.

This story definitely isn’t for everyone – it is not about a girl who falls in love with a devil, but about how a girl defies the abuse of one for centuries and finds ways to leave her mark regardless of his curse. The passages of loneliness and mental health will be ones that stay with me for a long time, and it truly is a story I will not forget for a long time.

I really enjoyed this one. Addie’s reason for making the deal and her whole mindset really engaged my sympathy, so that very early on in the book I was right alongside her. This is important, because while Schwarb goes on to describe her trials and travails in poignant and gripping detail, those very experiences could have taken her outside the everyday orbit of the rest of us and make her less relatable.

However, Schwarb’s poetic, accomplished prose didn’t allow that barrier to occur – which allowed me to continue to very much care for Addie, and later on – Henry. What I hadn’t expected, was the stunning quality of the writing. The descriptions of the span of experiences in Addie’s life – the terrible lows and the marvellous highs, are brilliantly captured on the page. Schwarb’s writing encompasses the full range of sensory experiences, so that we not only can visualise it, we can smell, taste and touch it, too. It takes serious writing chops to pull it off, such that the author not only encapsulates all of that – she does so within the confines of the narrative arc, in a way that doesn’t derail the pace and tension.

I am not a huge fan of literary fiction, as far too often the style prevails over the story. So I’m very impressed that Schwarb has managed to produce nuanced, complex characters who interact in a really complicated way with each other. Luc and Addie’s relationship is a tortured one, and the story hinges on our understanding of just how complex that becomes. I absolutely loved the whole narrative arc, particularly the final twist.

In short, this is a tour de force – a really intriguing read that has had me pondering Addie’s plight since I put it down, and executed by a writer at the height of her powers. Very highly recommended for fans of the literary end of fantasy – and those who simply love a cracking read with an interesting premise. While I obtained an arc of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

This is my first V.E Schawb book. Schawb is an author that I’ve just never gotten around to, despite her growing list of titles- but I was sufficiently intrigued by the description to seek out this one specially.

The basic premise of the book is simple but exceedingly clever. In an attempt to evade her 18th century provincial French village and an unwanted arranged marriage, the protagonist Addie LaRue sells her soul with a demon in return for temporary freedom and immortality. The consequences are desperate and disastrous consequences. The author does an excellent job of setting the motive for making the deal but also the gradual unveiling of Addie’s shocked realisation that what she signed up to is in fact not quite what she bargained for. There is always a catch, you see, even for the most experienced soul-seller. The most obvious repercussion is basically stated in the title of the book- Addie will live indefinitely but she can leave no mark. That includes on people’s memory- which has all sorts of practical implications.

The timeline flips between present day (circa 2014) New York City and Addie’s origins, taking us through chapters of her long strange travels and history over the course of 300 years. Until one day, she enters a bookshop and meets Henry.

What did I love about this? Addie is a very engaging character and despite all her struggles and occasionally morally questionable methods of surviving in a world where she slips like a ghost in and out of people’s consciousness, I found her likable. I liked how various interactions over history shaped her character and it was great fun watching her push the boundaries to see how much she could circumvent the restrictions of her curse. Her constant challenge of fending off a demon who is determined to make life as unpleasant as possible for her (so that she will agree to give up and forfeit her soul) is interesting and kept me guessing throughout. When Henry comes on the scene it becomes even more interesting as Addie and Henry’s timelines interweave and a romance begins. Henry is different, you see, and has backstory of his own- and the setup of the resulting dilemma is absolutely delicious. I was positively hooked to find out how they were going to get out of the mess they were in and the deeper you go into the book, the most twists and turns emerged. There’s a fun and diverse range of supporting characters as well, which lends extra emotional depth and range. Schawb’s prose is beautiful and she effortlessly pulls off the more supernatural aspects of her story in a seriously believable way.

What did I not like? I found the romance between Addie and Henry to be touching but also slightly tedious- it borders on insta-love although in fairness to the author there’s good reasons for setting a brisk pace with the relationship. I did not find Henry as compelling as a lead character- in fact I found him a bit of a wet blanket in places and I ended up positively rolling my eyes when certain information was revealed about his backstory. I also felt that the demon Luc was a bit of a caricature at times and it felt like he and Addie had quite repetitive interactions after a while (i.e sexy demon, ooohhh but also eeeevvvillll booo and manipulative boooo and really really not very nice, although did I mention the sexy?) I also felt the pace drooping a little toward the latter part of the book- I was very keen to find out the resolution so I kept going but by the time the end approached I was ready for a conclusion. I found the final chapter a tad clunky but the overall ending was very satisfying. On the whole, a great, fun and thought-provoking read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books (UK) for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I’ve also posted a review on Youtube, if you’d rather hear my thoughts in spoken form!

I don’t always get along with V. E. Schwab’s books. I find a lot of them to be so incredibly slow, and the only time I tend to love them is if she nails the interesting characters. Vicious and ADSOM were a lot of fun because I loved the villains, but her other books fell a little flat for me. Nevertheless, I was excited to pick up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue because I’ve recently found that I really enjoy generational stories, and this sounded like one of those but with only one person.

I have to say, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue got off to such a slow start. I didn’t even know what the plot was until a third of the way through because Schwab took so long introducing the characters and their histories. Eventually, though, the book did pick up and I started to actually care about the characters that we were so slow to be introduced to.

My friend Judith pointed out that this book is very similar to the movie, The Age of Adeline, and I have to agree. Of course, it’s not identical, but the concept being similar and the characters having the same name is… interesting.

By the time I got to the end, I was actually quite attached to the book and I got quite emotional. If you’ve read the book, it was the bookshop that got to me. Despite the slow plot, I did come to care about Addie. Not so much Henry, though.

I also really enjoyed the rep in this book. Henry, the love interest, identifies as pansexual, and Addie is definitely not straight, although I can’t remember if she ever put a label on herself.

The villain, the darkness, was super interesting. I went back and forth between finding him intriguing (in a villainous way, of course) and disturbing. I found it very difficult to read about his relationship with Addie because it was manipulative and abusive.

I think the writing style was the biggest letdown for me with this one. I bumped the book down to a four star instead of a four and a half, maybe five. I found myself growing very frustrated when Schwab would use the same descriptions for things over and over again. “Trapped in amber” was mentioned a whole bunch of times, and I’m sure there were more. This one just stood out to me because, well, it’s my name. I really didn’t like the buttery writing of this one, and I would have preferred it if it had been more blunt, or at least a bit more varied.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is definitely not an all time favourite of mine, but it was certainly enjoyable and the author does a great job of making you care for the 300 year old main character. I will be remembering it for a while, because it definitely drew some emotion from me and made me cry!

Eighteenth Century. When Addie accidentally prays to the gods who answer after dark, her wish for freedom and a life away from from her small village is granted. The catch is, no one remembers her, save for the 'devil' who granted her wish. Every year on their 'anniversary', he returns, hoping that this is the year she decides she no longer wants her soul; every year, Addie's resolve grows - she will make the most of this new, invisible life; after all, once you've seen elephants in Paris, you realise there is so much more out there to see.

They do this dance for three hundred years: Addie drifting through life, unremembered, and her devil stopping by, asking if she is ready to surrender. And then one day, in 2014, someone remembers her, and she gets a glimpse of permanence, of roots she could put down. But deals with gods who answer after dark are tricky things...

I made the mistake of starting this book just before bed, intending to read a few chapters and pick it up again the next day. Next thing I knew, it was gone midnight and I was coming to the last few pages. It is beautifully written, and such a compelling story. I fell in love with this book, with Addie and her journey, and with the writing itself. While we follow Addie through 300 years of her life, we come into contact with a host of other characters, all so compelling despite their mostly limited "screen time". Addie drifts through her life, unable to leave a mark, but inspiring those who can't remember coming into contact with her; she struggles, she blames, but she also holds out hope, and her stubborness develops into a stregnth which carries her through these trials into a place where she can embrace - to some extent - her 'gift'.

I cannot reccomend The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue enough - as soon as I finished it I was messaging friends declaring that they simply had to put this book right at the top of their TBR pile. It will stay with me for a long time, and I am already looking forward to when I come to re-read it. Absolutley stunning.

Now I’m going to try to write a review that does justice to this book and how amazing it is.

I think that this book could be summed up by simply no one is straight, they are all at least mild disasters and no one is great at making deals. But that is only if you want the briefest of information about this book. This is a story about a woman that makes a deal that both ruins her life and gives it a whole knew meaning. She might never be remembered but that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t left a mark, a few impressions, in people’s minds over the centuries.

Firstly, there’s Addie herself. She made a deal without thinking that caused her to life forever, giving her the time she wanted, but to never be remembered. When I read the blurb for this story I was instantly intrigued by this book and how Addie came to live an invisible life. As Addie moves like a ghost throughout history, always forgotten, she finds little ways to be remembered, to leave an impression, through the work of artists and musicians. She might not be able to create it herself and be remembered for it, like she would want, but she has found a way to be remembered. If only as a shadow, a ghost, nothing more than a fleeting idea.

Being forgotten, she thinks, is a bit like going mad. You begin to wonder what is real, if you are real. After all, how can a thing be real if it cannot be remembered? It’s like that Zen koan, the one about the tree falling in the woods.

If no one heard it, did it happen?

If a person cannot leave a mark, do they exist?

Part II, II
Haunt – it is the right word, for someome living like a ghost.

Part II, X
I loved reading about both her past and present self, going from being a girl that lived in a small town in the French countryside in the 18th century to a modern woman in New York in 2014. Usually when I read a book that’s set in both the past and the present I tend to prefer one over the other and find one to be much more interesting than the other. But I found that because it’s all Addie’s story I found both to be super interesting. Also they flowed together really well. Each part linked together, so there might be something that happened in the past that still effected her in the present. Or something in the present would crop up and then also be explored in the past. The swapping of time periods and years between chapters, it didn’t switch every chapter, flowed seamlessly to me. I think that this might be the best book I’ve read that does this.

One thing that I like about this book is that when you first met Addie she’s in 2014, she’s been living her invisible life for centuries by this point and has figured out how to survive and make a game out of it. She’s learnt how to read people, how long she can be remembered for and how to get what she needs to live. She might not have money, a job, friends, family, anyone or anything but than the clothes she wears, the knowledge she’s collected and her determination to survive. I liked that Addie was shown as being a very confident and capable women despite her circumstance in the present before learning why she made this deal and how she had to learn to survive everything.

Addie’s a very clever character. She’s witty, imaginative and loves her life. Her deal is both a curse and a blessing; she’s always forgotten but she can live a life of her own making. Mostly.

This book deals with how women were expected to grow up to marry, be mothers and housewives even when they didn’t want to. Many didn’t have any other choice or opportunity to do anything else. It’s something that often crops up in the chapters set in Addie’s past. Through friends, family, and having to navigate a world designed for and by men when women had little to no autonomy. I really liked that Schwab delved into this as I think way too many historical stories ignore or barely mention this struggle.

She is at odds with everything, she does not fit, an insult to her sex, a stubborn child in a woman’s form, her head bowed and arms wrapped tight around her drawing pad as if it were a door.

And when she does look up, her gaze always goes to the edge of town.

“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.

Part I, V
One thing that I liked about this book is that there isn’t a bad guy or a fight between good and evil which tends to crop up in fantasy a lot. Sure the devil that Addie makes her deal with isn’t a good being but it’s also in his nature to be wicked and a bit of a trickster. The only fight there is is the fight over Addie’s soul. As you might imagine she doesn’t want to give him her soul and he can’t just take it either. There’s a struggle between them that’s very entertaining to read.

I actually really liked the devil, the shadows, the darkness, whatever you want to call him. And I really liked that him and Addie had a bit of a weird friendship if you can call it that. He’s the only one that remembers Addie and his visits on the day of their deal is the only constant in her life.

There is one more character that I’d like to talk about too. But I’m going to try to keep it as vague as possible because I don’t want to spoil anyone. This is the person that Addie meets that remembers her. A normal human that isn’t a devil, who manages to turn Addie’s life upside down. Addie has gone three hundred years with no human ever remembering her up until she meets them. It’s a mystery as to why they can remember her that I enjoyed reading but I’m also glad that the reason why wasn’t dragged out.

The two of them came into each other’s lives at the right moment, they had a bit of a fling and they each got to learn something new. I thought that their romance was very sweet. But I also liked reading about the romances and relationships that they’ve had in the past. They are both kind of sad and in need of someone that can understand them, which I think that they found in each other. Addie finally got to experience all the sweet and wondrous moments that she’s wished for for years, and not having any of the awkward morning afters when the person doesn’t remember her. And they also got to be seen by someone as purely their self and not feel like they aren’t enough for the other person.

This book definitely had a lot of bittersweet moments that made me sad but it also had a lot of happier, uplifting moments that made me smile and sometimes laugh.

While reading this book I felt the world melt away. I often found myself reading this book and being completely immersed in the story. For me time flew past while reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and this is the first book in a long, long time that has done this. V.E. Schwab’s writing is beautiful, romantic and gripping as she tells the story of Addie LaRue set over three centuries. This was an absolute delight to read and I’m so glad that I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book.

I would definitely recommend reading this book. This was one of my most anticpated releases of 2020 and it didn’t disappoint me. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue defied my expectations and was so much more than I could have imagined. Schwab is an amazing storyteller and this book really showcases that.

I decided to give this book 5 stars because I was absolutely blown away with this book. I thought it was truly amazing and had that 5 star spark for me!

If you’ve read and enjoyed any of V.E. Schwab’s other books then I would highly recommend reading this book. Now, I struggled a bit trying to come up with other books that weren’t by Schwab, as this book just feels so unique and unlike any other book I;ve read, but I did come up with a few. So if you read and enjoyed The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, and Stardust by Neil Gaiman I would recommend reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

There was so much to love about this book. It is languorous and melancholy and full of the bright highs of exploring three hundred years of western human history, and the lows of a life both too long and never long enough.

The whole of Addie's story is told in perfectly structured, gloriously slow way. In three hundred years of life, there's a lot to tell, so buckle in as you are here for this journey. The only reason you will be rushing through this story is because you need to know what happens, what the resolution of this hopeless situation is, and not because the author is rushing you through it. Which is something to be admired in good writing.

It's a little lyrical, and a little flowery, which might not be to everyone's taste. But it is told well. And you are swept up from Belle Époque France to modern day New York. And, through the eyes of Addie, and Henry, once he arrives, you are delicately folded up in their lives, their emotions and their despair.

In some ways, this novel is an homage to the enduring nature of art; to the desperate desire so many artists feel not to be forgotten - to write, to paint, to create something that will be seen and appreciated and remembered. (And perhaps the author's own fears and desires too).

It also has some frighteningly beautiful descriptions of the utter hopelessness and despair that comes with depression, of both fearing and being forgotten, and of never being enough. Schwab certainly has a way of writing that really captures these kinds of emotions, and you also know that she has shaved off so much of herself and spliced it into these pages.

All of that being said, this is also the most gloriously self-absorbed love triangle of a story. Addie describes her relationship with Luc, the green-eyed devil who has sealed her into this pact, as something magnetic, the pair of them drawn to each other. And over three hundred years they are still twisting and dodging each other, both stubbornly fighting for power over the other. And the older she gets, the more like an immortal Addie herself becomes (and idea that I love - can you really stay human if you have eternal life?)

The descriptions of Henry's depressive episodes are stunning - the boy with a broken heart that feels too deeply. His relationship with Addie, particularly when they realise they have more than expected in common, becomes incredibly intense, but is also the first real thing that Addie has experienced. Or at least, the first human thing. And you know it cannot end well when the devil is involved.

I found the ending of the story a little trite - the very palimpsest that had been referenced more than a few times in the course of the story. But I really don't know if there was a better way of finishing it. However, I did like the conclusion to Addie's story, if we can call it that. That, much like the mythic tales of the sun and the moon chasing each other, or Persephone and Hades, there is still this magnetic dance.

This really was a fantastic example of quality writing done well and wrapped up in a powerful, heartstring-pulling story.

I give it 4.5 stars, but happily round this up to 5.

This is the first book in a while to make me ugly cry. Am I the only person to say hat about this book? No. Is it true? YES. Honestly, I have read a small amount of V.E Schwabs work compared to some of my friends, each to varying levels of success. I was also really lucky to meet Schwab more than once and attend many of her panels at Worldcon in Dublin. This was well worth the wait.

This was sprawling and highly impressive. Everytime I saw V.E Schwab either at Dublin or online speaking to others, it was clear that this book was highly important to her. That does come across very clerly in reading this I will say and whether you believe in authorial inten or not, this is clearly a book that belongs to someones heart.

V.E Schwab really shines here in the writing, it’s wonderfully written and is densely packed with lots of metaphor and descriptive language. Now this is where I would warn that if you’re someone who desn’t like either literary fiction, or flowery writing/metaphoric prose (Lani Taylor, the Nevernight Chronicle) then this might irk you a little. The writing is kind of essential to both the plot and the world building and as a result it can seem slower in places but it is never without reason. We are following 2 timelines in Addie’s life and after she meets Henry, things do drastically change in terms of pacing, background and levels of the fantastic. This to me was kind of needed a slow, whimiscal start to this dreamy, strange world his girl has had to make for herself does work well. Then of course when she is happy and finds some solace, the shit hits the fan.

This is an old trope. We all know it. Person has want, devil/god/spirit etc has means to give want to person for soul, consequences occur and person regrets new life choice. Schwab does it justice though! She really does pull off a refreshing, dakly romantic take on both the Faustian deal legend with mixes of the death and the maiden trope. It works so well and honestly think it’s most of the books best parts are the beats that folow that story.

Addie La Rue, I will remember you. Sorry for the cheesy line but I really am not likely to forget this tragic, romantic girl any time soon. I love how we see her grow over her 300 years but mostly what I love learning is how she found different parts of herself as time went on. Something important to know is that both Addie and Henry are queer. Both have had relationships with people of the same gender and it’s neither a huge part of the book, one passing line or integral to their development. Addie out of the two of them I would have liked to seen how she lerned over the years that the curse she has would be an advantage to being in queer relationships through historially worse times but then again it was a refreshing to have them just there and queer. Henry as well is very hard to not fall for as well. He is tragic in his own way and I was very attached to him come the end of the book but without spoiling, he isn’t a man who needed Addie to bring meaning to his life. He has his secrets and flaws too like Addie. They both just anchor each other in different ways.

All in all the last third of the book is definitely my favourite. I just can’t over emphasise how enthralled I was after learning one small thing. It is also the main climax of the story and suddenly everything ramps up VERY quickly. It does have a point ad the end to the story is asolutely wonderful but this book definitely made me cry in a way I haven’t since reading Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett. I honestly think that part bumped it up a star for me and will continually sit in my mind for a while.

This is definitely a stand out for me for the year. I am however a sucker for devil stories, tragic romances, curses and very descriptive writing so I am in fact the perfect reader but I will say this is the most imprressive of V.E Schwabs books I have read so far. The ADSOM trilogy is on my TBR project list and I find it so strange I love this book when my top pick for Schwab has been The Near Witch for a year now and that is her first book, Addie being her latest.

Thank you both Titan Books and Net Galley for giving me an advanced digital copy of this for review. I am always eternally grateful to get o read my big anticipated releases in advance but this was honestly a fantastic book and definitely a favourite for this otherwise dismal year. Now if either of the physical editions I ordered would get here soon, I would be delighted. Thanks for checking in everyone, happy reading!

I received a free ecopy of this book in return for an honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity.

I should also confess that I am a massive fan of Victoria Schwab. Being offered this book had me running around the house, flapping my arms and shrieking with excitement, but it’s always a nervous moment though when you start a new book by an author you love. If it’s not up to standard, the disappointment is crushing. From the off, though, this book is in a class of its own.

Addie is born in a tiny hamlet in late 17th century France. She feels imprisoned within the confines of the village, and when her parents try to marry her off, she makes a deal with a dark god, for freedom. It comes at a steep price though. No-one remembers her and she can leave no mark on the world. She wanders through Europe and America for 300 years, drifting through people’s lives, sometimes spending months with one person, instantly being forgotten once out of sight. Meeting them every day ‘for the first time’. Until the life-changing moment, in a small second-hand bookshop, in New York, when a young man remembers her from the day before.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a beautiful and haunting book. Pathos winds through the pages like an old vine. The flow of words is easy but poignant. The narrative flips between Addie’s origin story and 2014. The language is beautiful, the past written in the present tense with peeks into the future. Addie is such a relatable character despite her situation. It was a strange feeling reading about someone who can’t hold onto anything while surrounded by books, and beloved objects. When I neared the end of the book, the tears began to flow as I feared a tragic end whilst desperately hoping for a happy ever after. I’m not going to say whether I got it.

I already know that this is a book I will reread soon, and maybe often. I can see this becoming an annual pilgrimage in a way that Schwab’s other books haven’t, as good a they are. There is just something special about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Bonus: it’s going to be a film! Excuse me, I need to go run round my house, flapping my arms a shrieking with excitement.

Good Afternoon Bookish Folk!

Today my post will be a little different than my usual review, and a wee pre-warning ‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’ was not for me sadly and rather than write up a review of sorts I am taking advice from the lovely Alex from The Martian Chronicle who advised I post my thoughts on the book instead of a flat out review.

I will still start with all the usual facts and did bits but this won’t be ranked.

A few facts about .:

Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Author: V. E. Schwab
Series: Standalone
Published by Tor Books
Pages: 448

MY THOUGHTS:

Here are a few things you can expect from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue :

Love triangle;
18th century France setting;
LGBT; and
nice writing.

On to the my thoughts from reading this book…

I really don’t know how to start this post, and I am honestly a little worried I am going to just point out the bad because as I think about typing this up more and more things I found lacking about the book are coming to light.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was quite frankly an unmissable read, it teased us with a deal with the devil, a possible angsty enemies to lovers plot, a life lived over three centuries and 18th century France. I was really keen to read this book, and for once myself and my mood reader soul were walking hand in hand to this book, but alas what I expected and what I got were not the same.

Schwab’s writing is quite lovely, at times I was so swept away by it and utterly immersed. There was something about it that really kept me captivated, it was leading us somewhere and I was really excited as to where it was leading us.

For the first half of the book I was happy reading along and quite enjoying it. It was just magical enough to tickle that fancy and was hinting at some really cool things. We were seeing these beautiful episodes in the past, and seeing a young girl struggle to understand the boundaries of her life and her wanting to live it by her own rules in a time that simply didn’t allow nor approve of such.

I liked the characters when we were at the start of their journeys and I really enjoyed the whole idea of discovering something new even after so much time. The idea that so many of these creative and amazing places where from Addie planting seeds in the minds of artists and creatives alike throughout time was a lovely way to show she still left her mark on the world.

And then came the moment I realised it wasn’t getting better than what it already was..it was simply going on and on and on…Anddd this is where it goes tits up sadly! It stays like that, all the way through to the end, which fast becomes uninteresting.

This book is slow, really slow but I really didn’t mind that for the first half of the book or so, we were getting to know the world, the characters and the boundaries of Addie’s curse and with lovely teasing injections of 18th century France, but somewhere on or around the fifty per cent mark it slows even more and stays at the pace until the end.

I looked at the book percentage a few times throughout my read and thought to myself ‘ahh ok we are heading into 70% area, you still have time to shake it up a little’ and then I was at 80% it was a case of ‘ok, Schwab you have to pull this out of the park and give this an absolute epic ending‘ then at 90% I was forced to realise it for what I was, and my thought were along the lines of ‘this is it, this is the extent of the book‘ and finally 100% ‘WTF, just what!’.

What started off as quite cool characters soon became uninteresting and unchanging.

Yes, that is it I think. One of the issues I had with this book…nothing changed.

Addie who was meant to have lived through so much was the same character in all her flashbacks, the exact same. To say she was immortal and had lived an age there seemed to be no progression or development through the ages. Where was the acceptance and almost arrogance when she found the rhythm of her curse, she could be reckless and spontaneous. Where was the fear of the curse, the book hinted to her going mad on ore than one occasion but this was not elaborated on, and such madness especially could have been an amazing opportunity for further development with her and Luc.

Henry was another cool at the start character, but then showed very little progression and seemingly learnt nothing from his whole experience.

Luc, the same. Luc could have been such a huge part of this story and such a complex and utterly intriguing character but he was not, he was left to be a side piece who popped up every now and again.

This book has an incredibly smaller cast than i’m used to and in a book that could have flaunted some of histories most memorable people and moments were but mere mentions in the background. This world was not filled out, not in the present nor in 18th century France or well any other century Addie lived through.

Far more interesting storylines such as times of madness, times of war and of revolution, times so low Addie was in the bowels of a ship for weeks and more were simply hinted at and left at that. We were told of these things and then left wanting. Instead we were given somewhat repetitive episodes in rather mundane situations (compared to the above) which then had the barest injection of the devil into them. Who Addie was meant to have fallen for and have such a deep and long lasting bond with but we didn’t see any of that develop at all.

This book could have been great, could have been an absolute masterpiece but instead it lacked in its execution and sadly did not fulfil its potential.

I realise I have written quite a negative post here and I stand by my points , as these are my thoughts about this book but I do appreciate many who seem to adore this book, so I would like to push you to have look at several reviews both the that gush and those that criticise and just get a feel for if this book is for you or not..

A timeless story told in lyrical prose.

So I've had hits and misses with V.E. Schwab. I was very ambivalent about the Shades of Magic series, to the point where it put me off reading more from her for years because I didn't get the hype. When I finally continued, I discovered that I <I>love</I> the Villains duology. So when I picked up Addie Larue, it really could have gone either way.

In this book, we follow Addie, who at 23 years old, made a deal with the devil to live forever. However, as all things of this nature do, this came with a cost, and the price Addie had to pay is that she can never make a mark on the world during her long life and everyone she meets is destined to forget her.
This all changes when Addie meets Henry, a fellow lost soul who works at a bookstore, and who is the only person in 300 years to remember Addie exists after she has left the room.

This is a story that spoke to my soul, The writing is more beautiful than I've experienced from Schwab so far. It is atmospheric, heavy on the metaphor and drenched in melodrama.
Romance is also a heavy central theme throughout, although it is not what we typically think of when we hear a book is "romance". This is a very slow, beautifully written, character driven story underpinned with loneliness and longing. The romance is not a passionate, whirlwind, steamy affair, but more about two people who have been looking for something for a very long time, and finally find it in each other (in more ways than one).

This book is not for everyone, it is slow, heavy on description and is overall very sad throughout.
However, if you're a fan of a tragic love story, atmospheric storytelling and poetical writing, then this may be a hit with you too.

Oh and I cried 3 times at the end and that <I>never</I> happens to me.