The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
(Format used for this read: Print–hardback)
I have raved so many times on this blog about my Book Of The Month subscription.
But guess what….I’m bout to do it AGAIN.
I LOOOOOOVE ITTTTTTTT.
(Although I am not sure my husband loves it considering how many new books I have purchased this past year🤣 But whatevs. He has grown to accept this piece of who I am over the years and knows it will never change…and has thus built me a bigger bookshelf🤣 )
I love the multiple genres they offer and I love discovering authors who are new to the book scene…. or just new to MY personal book scene.
V.E. Schwab is one of those “new to me” authors and I CAN NOT WAIT to read more of her work!
I for real do not know HOW I have not found her books before because OMG she writes fantasy fiction that is TOTALLY right up my bookworm alley.
If you also love reading fantasy, she is an author you DEFINITELY should go find now.
Now….on to the review!
Here is the official summary of this book:
“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….”
Short and sweet and mysterious…the summary doesn’t tell you too much but I promise it’s all you need to know to become interested!
When I first started this book, I admit I kinda rolled my eyes a bit.
I thought to myself “Okay….here we go…another ‘deal with the devil’ story. where the main character regrets their decision because the deal wasn’t exactly what they thought it would be. Surprise, surprise. Heard all this before MANY times.”
I thought the story was going to just be tired, frequently used plotlines similar to many that have come before.
But I was WRONG.
It became clear a few chapters in that this story was going to have quite a few unexpected twists and turns that made this story VERY different from ones I have heard in the past.
I really enjoyed the way the author wrote the story, jumping from present day Addie in one chapter to years past Addie in the next. You were able to see the connection to how she navigates her daily life presently because of life lessons and experiences she went thru over centuries already lived.
As yall know, I do love some good time travel in my fiction. 😁
When Addie meets Henry and he is the first person in CENTURIES that remembers her, there is a predictability factor in their interactions…BUT….again, unexpected things develop that place intriguing plot developments.
(I know I’m being a bit vague here in my descriptions but I REFUSE to ruin even a smidge of this story for yall! So sorry not sorry here….vague it must be)
The most fascinating thing about this story for me though was Addie’s relationship (or maybe connection is the better term?) with “the Darkness”.
It is never specifically said who or what the being is that she makes her life changing deal with.
There are multiple concepts thrown out there throughout the story’s progression: The Devil? Another god? A magical creature? A life force?
He appears differently to each person, taking on whatever shape or form or personhood he needs to for effective communication with the individual.
To Addie, he takes on the form of a man (quite a good looking one too despite his menacing vibes) so I will just use he/him pronouns.
So you never really know for sure what exactly he “is” even though many things are alluded to….but I don’t think it really matters.
Her feelings towards him and his towards her over the centuries of their interactions cover quite a broad range of emotions which in turn leads to many different kinds of developments….many unexpected, unforeseen, and unpredictable.
Another thing I found beautiful in this book is how the author shows how vitally important artistic expression is to history. She also shows in her words how art captures such various aspects of a person’s beauty, personality and uniqueness….both artist and subject.
Many things to ponder as you read this book:
What is it that makes a life worth living? How do we live in a way that brings joy and fulfillment? How important is it to ‘leave our mark’ in the world? What is the true value of human connection? What is it that bonds us to each other? Are things ever really JUST ‘good’ or ‘evil’ or is everything an equal mixture of both? Is getting what our heart desires really as fulfilling as we think it will be? What truly matters in the world and the people that inhabit it?
In these pages you’ll find magic, history, romance, destruction, pain, beauty, sadness, joy and mystery. There is light and dark, happy and sad, terror and excitement.
There were certain sentences that just leaped off the page at me (I know that sounds so freakin’ cliche in a book review…but I can’t think of another way to describe it….so there ya go 🤣)
Just a sample:
“Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives—or to find strength in a very long one.”
“Humans are so ill-equipped for peace.”
“Everyone thinks photography is truth, but it’s just a very convincing lie.”
“The vexing thing about time,” he says, “is that it’s never enough. Perhaps a decade too short, perhaps a moment. But a life always ends too soon.”
“What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?”
This book is just fabulous, yall….the ending surprised me and left me feeling happy and hopeful, but also frustrated and sad at the same time.
It is a tad open ended as the book closes…not exactly an ending in a neat little package…which my brain equally adores AND despises, depending on the circumstance. With this story, it totally works.
Loved this book. Def will read more by her in the future.