The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Tor Books
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Note: Trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.
Cover Description
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.
TL;DR Review
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of my new favorite books of all time. It’s an incredible story that’s so well written and will leave you as a puddle on the floor (in the best way).
For you if: You are a human. Particularly, though, if you like or want to start reading magical realism or fantasy.
Full Review
A ZILLION thanks to Tor Books for granting my NetGalley request to read an early electronic copy of this book for review. I cannot wait to own a physical copy and will absolutely be buying the first print hardcover. If there’s a collector’s edition, I WILL buy it.
So first let me tell you about this story’s incredible premise. It’s about a girl named Addie who was born in the late 1600s. She desperately doesn’t want to get married and settle into the life everyone in her small French village leads — she wants to be free to see the world and really live. So on the eve of her wedding, she makes a deal with a god of darkness, who makes it so. But there’s a catch, a curse: Nobody remembers her. As soon as they leave a room, they forget everything about her. We flash through her long life and to the present day, 300 years later, when everything — finally, impossibly — changes.
I’m not sure that I can even do this book justice; even just a third of the way through, I already knew I had to own it. Finishing it, it instantly became a new all-time favorite. When it comes out in October, I’m going to read it again.
This book just feels like the book Schwab has been meant to write for her entire life. Her heart bleeds out of every word, placed with incredible care and precision. The commas slayed me. It’s all so moving, and I felt like I was in a constant state of deep exhale, the emotion on my chest was so great. There are moments of joy, sadness, passion, grief, and everything in between.
And the story — the plot is perfect, in my opinion. Everything that happens is just as it truly must be. It pulls you through the story and keeps you turning pages, but I also found myself intentionally slowing down to savor every little bit. I read it over two weeks and never ever wanted it to end.
I think you should consider reading this even if you don’t usually read fantasy books. I might even call this one magical realism. I think it’s the perfect blend of literary language, magic, and historical fiction. And it’s all just so beautiful and resonant.
Give your future self a gift and preorder this book from your favorite independent bookstore or Bookshop.org … right now!
Trigger Warnings
Suicidal thoughts
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