Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
“Darling, he’d said in his soft, rich way, I was the night itself.”
Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Author: V.E. Schwab
Series? N/A
My Rating: ★★★★★
Genre(s): Fantasy, Historical Fiction, General Fiction
Age Range: New Adult
Publication: 6 October 2020 (Tor Books)
CW: attempted suicide, depression, death, drugs, starvation, emotional manipulation, violence
I’ve been known to suffer from chronic book FOMO.
Let me paint the scene for you: it’s autumn 2020. I’m in my last year of what is now (un)affectionately referred to as Zoom university, finishing my degree through virtual meetings and pre-recorded lectures. I’m bored out of my mind. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue arrives on the scene on October 6. Instantly, it’s a hit. Within 24 hours, the book is on its way from an Indigo facility to my door.
Listen, if there are “influencers”, there must be an “influenced.” I am always in the latter.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows Addie, a reluctant 18th century bride quickly approaching her wedding day. In a last-ditch effort, Addie prays to the dark gods to be released from her marriage. Instead, she finds herself bound to an immortal life where she can go anywhere and do anything… But no one will ever remember her.
In present day, Addie is in NYC when her life truly begins for the first time in nearly 300 years.
Immediately, I was drawn in by this beautiful story. Addie is a sad and lonely character. Who could blame her, what with all the hardships endured as a result of her curse? Living three centuries on your own is now easy feat.
But Addie perseveres — albeit unwillingly. She is ahead of her time, an adventure-seeker which is what lands her in the predicament in the first place. Addie wants more than what an 18th century provincial life can offer a woman (cue the Beauty and the Beast song). Her strength and resilience help her to survive the bitter loneliness that follows her throughout her strange life.
Addie’s adventures take her to fascinating, pivotal, and dangerous moments and places in times.
Along the way, she encounters some interesting characters. Of course, none of them remember her and therefore these people aren’t a part of her story for long. However, one character does remain a constant figure throughout the novel: the dark god that Addie makes the bargain with in the beginning.
The dark god is cunning, dark, and chaotic. He certainly shakes things up every time he rolls back into Addie’s life. If I’m being honest, I can’t help but sort of love him. What can I say? I have an affinity for morally grey characters. It certainly helps that his physical manifestation reflects Addie’s innermost desires. In other words, he’s kind of a hottie!
And of course, who could forget Henry? Henry contrasts the other characters in Addie’s life in that he isn’t a dark god nor someone from Addie’s past. He exists in the present day and makes a remarkable impact on her life. Henry is a small bean that must be protected at all costs. Like Addie, he has a difficult life and harbours a lot of inner conflict.
Henry and Addie seek a greater meaning to life; a sense of belonging and contentment.
It meant a lot to me that both Addie and Henry are canonically bisexual characters, without their sexual identity being at the heart of the plot. While LGBTQIA2S+ novels with queer stories at the forefront are incredibly important — and thoroughly enjoyable reads — it was a nice change to have the characters’ sexuality be another character trait, as opposed to the plot itself. We need more stories where queer characters are permitted to have diverse stories, just like straight characters.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a fresh and exciting story. But it’s also a deeply sad one. Yes, it was fascinating to see Addie travel through time, an eyewitness to countless exciting moments in history. But over the course of the novel, you see her stumble, and wither, and hurt. She clings desperately to any feeling of belonging or recognition, and in many cases, those feelings are derived from her annual reunions with the dark god.
While seeking a life of agency and freedom, Addie inadvertently trades away her freedom, her independence, and most importantly, her name. Through V.E. Schwab’s beautiful writing, you see how much power a name can carry. In some cases, your name might translate into physical or material power, as seen by the aristocracy Addie encounters. In others, a name like Voltaire carries prestige and notability, and demands respect.
For Addie, her name is everything. The loss of it leaves her feeling insignificant, powerless.
In fact, Addie doesn't realize how important her name is until it's lost forever.
It was especially interesting to see Addie and Henry interact and watch their shared story develop. For three centuries, Addie lives virtually alone aside from the occasional fling and the dark god who lingers ominously in her world. For once, Addie has the opportunity to walk alongside someone’s story for a while; to have a part in someone else’s life. I won’t say too much about this aspect of the story because I think it’s best left to be discovered by the reader, BUT I will say that I loved it.
All in all, this was a beautiful book. It was easy to see why everyone raved about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I don’t think it was overhyped or overrated. The high praise of V.E. Schwab’s writing is well-earned. She’s crafted a wonderful story that feels both timeless and timely.
V.E. Schwab’s words captured the essence of the human experience; the loneliness everyone feels and the desire to be remembered.
Synopsis: 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.
Did The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue affect you like it did me? Let me know in the comments!
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