Friday, December 4, 2020

My Thoughts: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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

Publication Date: October 6th 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 442
ISBN: 08414280252-00001
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Historical
Source: Own

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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. (Goodreads)


I think The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab was at the top of everyone’s reading list for this year, and it was definitely one of my most anticipated reads for 2020. I have read and enjoyed quite a few of Victoria’s books over the years, I couldn’t wait to meet Addie LaRue. I am thrilled to tell you that I very much enjoyed this book, so, so, so much more than I expected to.

Let me warn you ahead of time that this will probably be a super ramble-y review. You’ve been warned. (I’m also going to try to write this without giving any spoilers away, so bear with me if I am super vague.)

Let’s start with the characters from the book since I loved them so much. The main character, Addie LaRue, obviously, is my favorite. What a fascinating life Addie lived. Can you imagine making a bargain that curse you so that no one remembered who you were? How lonely that would be. And it was, for Addie. You could read that plainly on the pages.

The storyline for the book was like nothing I have ever read before. To say I was hooked would be an understatement. The journey over time from the beginning of the curse to over 300 years later was both fascinating and painful, at times, to read. But I loved every minute of it.

The ending of the book was both satisfying and frustrating. It was satisfying because it was a damn good ending, but it was frustrating because I didn’t want the book to end at all. (Especially the way it did.) I’m not saying that I would love to see a sequel for this book, (I would), but I want to know more about Addie’s future, especially after the long life she has lived. I mean, of course her future was implied, or at least what she planned to do, but I really just wanted to keep reading more and more of this wonderful story.

I also really loved the settings for the book. And by settings, I mean multiple places. Addie went everywhere, and we get to go along with her throughout the book. Victoria was so detailed with her descriptions; I could visualize everything perfectly in my mind. I loved both the past and present time periods!

I should also mention that I listened to this book in audio format, and I am SO glad that I did. I’m sure the story is magical all on its own, but the narrator, Julia Whelan, brought her own brand of magic to it with her wonderful voice. I will definitely be checking out more books narrated by her in the future!

Overall; The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was not at all what I expected, but it was just the book I didn’t know I needed. I very much enjoyed the story, and I know it will be one that I remember for a long, long time. I would love to have more books like this from Victoria in the future, because it definitely left me wanting more.

1 comment:

  1. I just started this one last night! Your review is pretty consistent from what I've seen, and I'm still excited to read it and see what I think!

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