The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Review!

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

Another Booktok book, I know. To be fair, I did get this copy from my Book of the Month subscription, so that was extra exciting. I had very high expectations for this book, and I am so happy to say that it met every single one of them.

“Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives--or to find strength in a very long one.”

Addie is a young girl who does not give two shits about what society expects from her. Growing up in 16th century France, she was expected to marry, have babies, and start a family. She, on the other hand, wanted to have adventures and live her life fully without being tied down. In one last ditch effort, she makes a deal with the devil, and she finds herself suddenly free...in the worst way. Everyone she meets forgets her. She cannot tell anyone her story, she cannot say her name, and she can't make any connections with all of the people she meets. Her only friend is the devil she made the deal with, Luc. Year after year, she gets used to her curse and figures out where she can toe the lines. After 300 years, she runs into a guy at a bookstore, and he remembers her.

“Three words, large enough to tip the world. I remember you.”

Addie is a super cool character. She has learned to evolve and to do what she has to to survive. Her ability to keep moving forward and to keep finding the beauty in adventure is so beautiful to me. We see her at her lowest points, but she keeps fighting. In the end, she has seen countless wonders, experienced many wars and tragadies, and has had such influence over art. It's really cool the way she explores and flirts with the boundaries of her curse. She's really a badass and I really enjoyed her character development.

Henry is interesting to me. I liked their loophole and how they were both immune to each other, I thought that was a cool twist. I think his backstory is really interesting as well, he is a very human character. His emotions and his troubles are really relatable and he's a very genuine character.

Luc is an enigma. He really is an asshole, but he also seems to have some human emotions that he doesn't fully know how to process. I don't think he really loves Addie, I think he really loves the idea of her. I wish to see how she enacts her revenge on him, but leaving it at such a cliff hanger was a really nice touch. He was way in over his head when he made that deal with Addie, and he's really going to realize it soon.

“Stories are a way to preserve one's self. To be remembered. And to forget.”

This book was highly enjoyable. It was a great story and the characters were super well written. The jumps between time lines were easy to follow, and the plot was so beautiful. I really recommend this book to everyone!

Overall: 9.5/10

Pages: 442

Trigger Warning: death, suicide, depression

Spice Rating: 6/10