Bonjour Bibliofriends,

This review of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab was one of the hardest ones I’ve ever written. I still cannot believe I had the chance to read this as an e-arc from Netgalley and Titan Books (⭐️THANK YOU⭐️ – if I could have written it in flashing neon, I would have done!). It’s my first time reading anything by Schwab and what a way to do it! 

*warning: insane bookish declarations of love will follow…* 
Reading this book put me into a bookish hangover that lasted almost two weeks – I just couldn’t bring myself to read anything else as I was so sad the book had finished – and the way it finished had me crying into my pillow at stupid AM 😂 And even though that sounds like a terrible thing to say about a book – this is the kind of book that I’m living for –
I want to have those lasting impressions
I want to feel that THIS is a story I just cannot live without
I need to have my heart a little broken by the characters and it needs to inspire such a reaction in me that it leaves an imprint on my bookish soul… *I did warn you it’d be a little bit mushy!* 

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Synopsis (from Goodreads)

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.

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 #1 New York Times Bestselling Author genre-defying tour de force.

My Musings

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has completely encapsulated and bewitched my heart!

I absolutely love a gimmick, or a motif/symbol/talisman which contributes to a wider plot (especially when they’re birds). In The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the artworks at the start of each section did this perfectly – so perfectly in fact that I was looking all over the internet just to see if they are actually real world pieces. These additions reiterate the importance of artwork, creativity and the kind of need humans have to leave some sort of impression or legacy of themselves behind, just to let others know of their existence. Identity is such a powerfully resonating theme in Addie LaRue and this was a wonderful way to bind the whole plot of the novel together whilst also driving it forward both through chronological time and the story’s plotline. 

The timing in the novel is not always linear and sometimes it does jump a little backwards and forwards. I didn’t mind this at all as it added to the build up and mystery of trying to work out where the story was going, but also allowed for me as a reader to be led through the story at Addie’s pace.

I absolutely adore every single character: Henry, Luc, Estele, Bea – they all have their individual quirks and personalities, but I especially love Adeline. Her rawness and vulnerability are perfectly balanced with her fierceness and determination. I felt like I was going through her rollercoaster of emotions in my own head. Her character goes through such a turning point towards the end of the story and that kind of growth and sacrifice was satisfying to read. I picture her almost like a love-child between Blake Lively in The Age of Adaline and Drew Barrymore in Fifty First Dates.

The whole tone of the book is romantic – and I don’t mean romantic in the kind of ‘romance genre’ sense; I mean it in the pre-Raphaelite painting style sense. The whole book is just beautiful – I can’t describe it in any other way. From the way it has been written, to the way the settings are meticulously crafted and contribute to the plot, to Addie’s personality and her supporting characters, to the structuring of the artwork – it is so clear to see how much this story means to its writer, to feel the heart and soul poured into every part of Addie’s story. It is beautiful, exquisite, beguiling and tons more adjectives that I can’t even get out of my brain.

In short, there isn’t a single thing that I don’t love about this book, except the fact that it ended! And the greatest part of all, particularly considering the fate of our main character, that after closing the final page and putting the book down, even after weeks of reflecting upon this novel and this review…
I still remember Addie. 💙

Favourite Quotes:

Why Should I Read This?

For the exquisite, heart-stopping storyline.
For the the way artwork, history and a quest for identity are told seamlessly around a plot.
For the sheer tour-de-force and beauty of The Invisible of Addie LaRue.

This book has officially entered the ‘God Tier’ on my bookshelf; it is one of my favourite stories of not just 2020, but my entire lifetime! Please read this book! ☺️

Find out more about this book here:

Amazon | Titan Books | Author’s Instagram | Waterstones | NetGalley | Macmillan / Tor – Official book Website

Connect with me here:

Twitter | Goodreads | Book Sloth: @thebiblioshelf |Email: thebiblioshelf@gmail.com