The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
BOOK REVIEW
Five massive stars for Addie LaRue. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was my first read from V.E. Schwab, and as of today, there is a second one sitting on my counter.
I sat with Addie for several days, and with how excited I was to read this story based on the hype, the cover, and the synopsis (yes, I read up on this book first), I found I was terrified to start it. What if it was just garbage? What if it was completely boring, contrived nonsense – I read this in one of the reviews. BORING. DRAGS. SLOW. I am really curious to know what kind of action packed adventures these people are reading because Addie is NONE of these things.
The night I started it, I honestly did not get that far in 50 or so pages, but I was already in love. That night I had the most vivid dreams of being stuck in Addie’s life, being forgotten, and erased at every move, losing everyone I loved. I ended up having this dream several times throughout the book, and each time it left me feeling so anxious and sad.
Part of me wonders if this is why I loved Addie so much because I felt so much fear and pain. If in her place, could I have pushed on for 300 years?
The strength that V.E. Schwab gave to Addie made her the ultimate heroine. The way she took on the Dark, who is a genuinely terrifying character and stands strong throughout everything she experiences. She has to steal, sell her body, and become an outright criminal to survive, but she survives.
I stopped around 100 pages from the end and thought out different scenarios for endings, as I had also read that the end would break your heart.
I came up with three strong possibilities, and I was so incredibly wrong across the board.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is an enchanting, heartbreaking story.
It is anything but a predictable story, it is unique and imaginative, and I hope everyone takes the time to read it and enjoy it.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER
THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah Magazine
#1 Library Reads Pick―October 2020
#1 Indie Next Pick―October 2020
BOOK OF THE YEAR (2020) FINALIST―Book of The Month Club
A “Best Of” Book From: Oprah Mag * CNN * Amazon * Amazon Editors * NPR * Goodreads * Bustle * PopSugar * BuzzFeed * Barnes & Noble * Kirkus Reviews * Lambda Literary * Nerdette * The Nerd Daily * Polygon * Library Reads * io9 * Smart Bitches Trashy Books * LiteraryHub * Medium * BookBub * The Mary Sue * Chicago Tribune * NY Daily News * SyFy Wire * Powells.com * Bookish * Book Riot * Library Reads Voter Favorite *
Synopsis
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.