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

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

by V.E. Schwab

October 6, 2020

442 pages

Goodreads Summary:

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.

Review

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was a thought-provoking read. Despite a slow beginning, I savoured my time learning of Addie's life. It's unforgettable and full of emotions. I can see why it has affected readers worldwide.

Addie's story is one that's best experienced on one's own. I feel I cannot do this book justice with anything I say therefore I will share all the quotes I found profoundly relatable. They made me feel so much.

"Henry would rather be a storykeeper than a storyteller." (p. 92)

"...But if you only walk in other people's steps, you cannot make your own way. You cannot leave a mark." (p. 179)

"Do you think a life has any value if one doesn't leave some mark upon the world?" (p. 179)

"...There is a chasm between sustenance and satisfaction... So much of life becomes routine, but food is like music, like art, replete with the promise of something new." (p. 201)

"If it's not a choice, it isn't real." (p. 290)

"Nothing is all good or all bad. Life is so much messier than that." (p. 418)

"And this, he decides, is what a good-bye should be. Not a period, but an ellipsis, a statement trailing off, until someone is there to pick it up. It is a door left open. It is drifting off to sleep." (p. 419)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was beautiful and wistful. It's a story that'll stay with you long after you've finished reading it. No one writes like V.E. Schwab and as long as she's writing, I will be reading.

*I purchased a copy of this book but have also received an early copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the finished copy I purchased.