What would it be like, to belong to no one, to truly be free? Freedom and the ability to belong to no one is exactly what Addie LaRue wants, and is what exactly makes her invisible. V. E. Schwab builds a whimsical and exhilarating story that begins with just one woman's desire to say no, and to make her own path. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is not only inspiring, but heart-breaking and genre-bending, following one woman's path through three hundred years, and also the paths of so many women before and after her. If you are looking for a story that spans years but takes only days to read, if you are looking for a story with a slow-burn romance and love-at-first-sight, then you will find it all within the pages of V. E. Schwab's newest masterpiece.
Victoria "V. E." Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades of Magic series, the Villains series, and the Monsters of Verity duology. Her work has received critical acclaim; been featured in The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, and more; been translated into more than a dozen languages; and been optioned for television and film. When she's not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is usually tucked in the corner or a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @veschwab, or on her website veschwab.com. You can find more of my reviews of Schwab's work here.
"Never pray to the gods that answer after dark." France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman named Adeline meets a dangerous stranger and makes a terrible mistake. As she realizes the limitations of her Faustian bargain--being able to live forever, without being able to be remembered by anyone she sees--Addie chooses to flee her small village, as everything she once held dear is torn away. But there are still dreams to be had, and a life to live, and she is determined to find excitement and satisfaction in the wide, beckoning world--even if she will be doomed to be alone forever. Or not quite alone--as every year, on her birthday, the alluring Luc comes to visit, checking to see if she is ready to give up her soul. Their darkly thrilling game stretches through the ages, seeing Addie witness history and fight to regain hersefl as she crosses oceans and tries on various lives. It will be three hundred years before she stumbles into a hidden bookstore and discovers someone who can remember her name--and, suddenly, everything changes again. In the vein of The Time Traveler's Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab's genre-defying tour de force.
Our main character, Addie LaRue, is definitely her own force to be reckoned with. Her life, while long, is full of really poignant, heart-breaking, exhilarating, and devastating moments. I don't know exactly what I expected from her, but was glad that she was a stubborn and strong heroine, always doing what was best for her. She doesn't have a traditional character arc, but rather an arc to her understanding of her curse. It was fascinating watching how she moved through the world, contrasting how she did so in the 1700s versus the 2010s. The ways in which she bent the curse, and thus bent to adapt to the world around her, was fascinating. What was inspiring about Addie was her constant ability to reject Luc--it wasn't always easy, but she stayed true to herself. That can be seen as stubborn, but I will always see it as strong. I also like how we didn't focus so much on plot as Addie moves through the years, but on Addie's experiences and mindsets at specific points in her journey. That decision kept each chapter more captivating, and pulled me into the story a lot more.
Learning about Henry and Henry's story was definitely a turning point in the book. Being the only one that can remember Addie made him instantly intriguing, as everyone was asking, why? how? The second we meet Henry, we know something is up just by how one person apologizes too profusely to him. I spent so many pages wondering exactly what Henry did, or what someone did to Henry, and then trying to understand why Henry agreed to such a deal. And then, another plot twist about the timing of his detail just had me wrecked. Henry is a character I think everyone can relate to in at least one way, especially if they couldn't find themselves relating to Addie as much. Henry just wants to be enough, and what a loaded desire. To be loved for being yourself is something really special, and rare. I think in today's day and age it's really hard to have the patience to find that rare thing, especially since we're all so used to instant gratification. This is how I find myself relating to Henry and his motivations. And also, how he feels like if he took the cat home, it would crumble to dust. Some of the small things that he says and does, I found myself nodding along to. I think that is the best way to relate to characters.
Now, of course, the thing that everyone's been waiting for: the devil. One of the big "one-liners" describing this book is basically "French girl makes a deal/falls in love with the devil" and both of those things kind of drive the book. Addie does make a deal with the devil, and everyone's curiosity about the "love" comment drives them to keep reading. It is hinted at often that there might be something there, but what is actually revealed is a lot more powerful than love. Because Addie has spent so many years rejecting Luc, it is difficult for anyone to believe some type of love could be there. But again, after we spend more time in Addie's head, understanding how her curse has changed her, we can understand deeper and hidden subtleties of love. Maybe there is some kind of love between them, or one-sided but on both of their sides. Since we don't actually get to be inside Luc's head the same way we do with Addie and Henry, we might never know. That's part of what kills me at the end: is that we can never be inside his head, or understand his motivations. Maybe that's the whole reason we can't pray to the gods that answer after dark, like Estelle says. Either way, Luc did shake up the story, and constantly keep both me and Addie on our toes.
The book does take a while to start up, only because Addie's backstory is important in understanding her motivations for praying to the darkness. Without understanding her life in 1714, we can't truly understand why she would be so compelled to run out of the wedding. Despite the slow start, I did fall in love with Schwab's writing style rather quickly. Her attention to detail made me look forward to the mystery of New Orleans early on. The slow start also allows readers to get acclimated to the story, and to the subtleties of Addie's curse, the same way Addie does. Plus, we were able to really fall into the time periods. New York felt real to me because I could picture all the apartments and night clubs Addie frequents, the same way that Villon felt real because I was in the garden with Addie and Estelle. When the pace of the book picked up, around when we finally understand what deal Henry made, I couldn't stop flipping the pages. I think that was really reflective of their respective curses: for Addie, time dragged, and the story took longer to pick up for her. For Henry, time kept flying by, and the story couldn't help but go faster as we neared the ending. The balance of the pacing, along with the balance of Addie's backstory with the present, was masterfully done. I didn't get lost in the present or past, and I kept wanting to figure out what happened in New Orleans, what happened to Henry, and why.
While the ending of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue felt a little meta, and a little unsatisfying (what? I need more!), I am ultimately a huge fan of this book and how the story went down. It has been a while since a story has felt so all-consuming, and where I seriously wondered, could something like this actually happen in real life? If I can ask myself that question seriously, then I know it was a great read.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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