Absolutely masterful. The prose, the characters, the story. I've been longing for a book like this for so long, and I absolutely loved it.

I've been looking forward to this book for years ever since I first hear V.E. Schwab talk about drafting in on Twitter. I was excited to get my hands on an ARC. I've already recommended this book to my many fantasy-loving friends.

What makes this book stand out is how seamlessly the setting flits between the 1700's and modern times. Rather than telling the story chronologically, the reader is pulled between two timelines. This unique pacing makes for stronger world-building and bigger gut-punches.

Part-way through the novel, I found the rhythm becoming a little predictable. However, the unpredictable, yet incredibly satisfying ending makes this a hands-down, must-read, five star novel.

This book examines the nature of love, inspiration, identity and the marks we leave on this world. It is for book and art lovers who cherish a good love story, a bit of the supernatural, and rumination on the nature of our existence and what it means to be seen. It follows the story of Addie, a young woman who makes a deal with the devil and agrees to give him her soul in exchange for freedom and eternal life. The only catch is that no one will be able to remember her once she leaves their sight. Beautifully written it takes the reader around the world and through history as it weaves a beautiful tale of love, regret and hope.

V.E. Schwab spins a beautiful narrative that spans over nearly 300 years. We follow Addie LaRue as she evolves as a person. Watch her life unfold, and as she lives with being forgotten—and not having the ability to leave a mark on the world with her own hands. We get to see glimpses into the life of one who has lived for lifetimes.
This novel is full of beautiful imagery and metaphors that give the story a melancholy feeling—Schwab layers on the metaphors and description at the beginning of the book. As the story goes on, she evens them out, so they flow more with the story. The first 30% of the book is drawn out, slow, and atmospheric setting up the world. It took a while for Addie to make her deal with the Devil. But after that, the book picked up, and I was completely absorbed into the world of Addie LaRue. VE Schwab places the reader in France in the 18th century and immerses the reader into that world. Addie makes a deal with the Devil to live forever but is cursed to be forgotten.
Although the book is about Addie, there is some distance between her and the reader. We aren't in her head, but we follow her on her journey through her life of being forgotten by everyone until one day, someone remembers her. When she meets Henry at a bookstore, he remembers her.
This is very different from Schwab's other books, but this is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Her other books have grit and darkness, and although this book is about making a deal with the Devil, it doesn't go quite into the darkness in comparison to Schwab's other novels. Schwab shows readers as Addie clings to her mortality and immortality. How Addie longed for her independence and to escape a life where she was destined to be married off. And live and die in the same plot as her family. Which she traded to live forever and be forgotten by everyone she meets. We see Addie as she struggles with her identity as a woman, alone on the streets. Fighting to survive and the fight for her to hold onto her soul. Addie carries a part of her home in France with her over the years. Until she is stripped of that familiarity, plunging into the unknown world and truly being on her own. Despite all the hardships of her life, she still clings to her soul even with the Devil's temptations to give it up.
Addie is a survivor, by the skin of her teeth, she has survived against the odds. And against a God waiting to claim her soul. Even if people have forgotten her, she has planted seeds into other's heads. Her ideas live on, and she has left her mark on the world. I remember Addie LaRue. This is one of the best books I have ever read. Five well deserved stars.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was a magical read, with words that flowed in a lyrical almost whimsical kind of way. The synopsis grabs your attention and makes you wonder, what would you give up to live forever?

Addie was stubborn as hell and I loved it. A muse full of wonder and adventure even after years spent exploring Europe. We catch up to her almost 300 years into her life and this girl has not changed one bit from who she was in 1714. No character development happened, and I swear it was from sheer stubbornness. That and I don’t think she needed to change. She was the spontaneous friend who is warm from the start and draws you. Who looks like she knows some great secrets and you want to know them too. All Addie wanted from her life was to find love and explore the world beyond her tiny town, which she ironically never strays far from, except I always felt like while she loved exploring she always seemed to want that love more. Someone to share her explorations with.

The curse itself was so intricately designed. Schwab does a great job of outlining it, showing how it works and Addie discovering how herself through a series of flashbacks to the beginning of it. Addie cannot make an actual mark on the world, but she can plant ideas which was so fascinating and tricky. While the lives she touches cannot exactly remember her, they remember the idea of her.

Pacing wise, it was a slow read. It’s meant to be a slow read though, we’ve got 300+ years to explore with Addie. We don’t even reach the situation in the synopsis until almost 50% through the book. It’s all story and world-building. My only complaint is I felt like I was rushing towards that someone remembering her and didn’t fully appreciate the flashbacks until after that plot point occurred. The writing was just beautiful though, full of similes and metaphors. Descriptions so well written you can picture a moment perfectly in your mind down to the last detail.

Can you really be in love with someone if they’re your only option, or at that point is it just complacency? Can someone fall in love with you if they only know you for a day?

Love was what I thought to be at the core of this book. Addie for all her talk of independence and not wanting to belong to someone truly just wants to be loved for being herself. To be forgotten time and time again by those she feels she could have a connection with when they leave the room or fall asleep. I loved her dance with the darkness, the devil who holds her hostage under the curse. He was such an intriguing character and I loved their moments, years, together. While at the beginning of the book I wanted to skip the flashbacks, at the end I want to skip to them. Then we have Henry who remembers her, but is it enough to just remember? Henry was kind, sweet and so utterly lost in a world moving forward and leaving him behind. I understood him but just because he can remember Addie does that make it love or just convenience.

This is not going to be the book for everyone. From writing style to pacing and the non-ending ending I can see quite a few people being upset or disliking it. If you are not a fan of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which is the closest writing style I can come up with, maybe try a sample before straight buying it. For those who love a poetic picture being painted and don’t mind a slow pace, grab it immediately.

I don't possess the words to adequately describe this book and how it made me feel.  Schwab says that over the nearly ten years she worked on it, she put her heart and soul, teeth and blood and bones into this one.  And it shows.  It's a magnificent work of art.

Imagine if you were forgotten by everyone you meet.  In your presence, they know and recognize you, but the second they leave the room or wake up beside you, you're a stranger.  Because of this, you can't hold a job - no employer would know who you were.  With no way to earn money, you have no home.  No closet full of clothes, no belongings, no friends.  No loved ones who remember you.  It's an incredibly lonely life, but over the three hundred year span of this story, Addie really lives and experiences all the world has to offer - beauty, pain, love, hate, heartbreak, suffering - everything you can imagine.

It's difficult to review this without spoilers, but trust me when I say this book offers a profound and thought-provoking examination of life and what it means to live.  A blend of survival story, love story, historical fiction, and magical realism, you'll experience a wide spectrum of emotions.  I actually teared up at one point, and trust me - that's quite a feat. 

With beautiful writing, quotes you'll make a note of, and extraordinary character development, I can't recommend this book enough.  If I could give it more than five stars, I absolutely would.  It will linger in your mind long after finishing the last page.   

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was a bit unsure about this book as romance is not a genre I normally read. However, this is a book that catches you and doesn't let go. Imagine being alone for 300 years. Addie faces this dilemma after making a deal with the devil to save herself from an arranged marriage. As the months and years pass Addie must face a life of isolation, until Henry, in a bookstore, says her name. This is a book i will recommend to all of my patrons - a winner indeed.

Beautifully written and in interesting concept of a woman who inadvertently sells her soul to the devil to avoid getting married, becoming immortal and forgotten in seconds.
My main issue was the middle felt so long and slow that I got annoyed, up until the last 50-70 pages or so. Lol

Adeline LaRue is cursed. After making an ill-advised bargain with a Dark Power, Addie learns that her newfound freedom comes with an unexpected cost; she is forgotten by everyone she meets. So begins her foray into a crueler, wider world; far from the provincial French village of her birth. Addie sets out to wander the world, voraciously pursuing her freedom and trying her best to leave a mark, one that will last despite her curse. And then, one day, she meets someone who remembers her....

I think what I love most about Addie and her story is that, in her shoes, I think I would have made the same choices. The beginning of the book was hard for me to get through (I may have empathized a bit too deeply with Addie) and I hated to see her struggle to be free in a world indifferent to her desires. Her courage and determination floored me, and I loved that her 'joie de vivre' was insatiable and enduring. She refused to give up her hard-won autonomy, and when she found someone who truly saw her, she grabbed on with both hands and pulled! Addie's complex relationship with the Darkness was also a highlight of the novel; it kept me reading on, wondering what happened in New Orleans??? And who wears a leather jacket in that sort of heat???

Overall, I was really pleased with this piece of art. Schwab has a beautiful writing style, and her characters are so memorable, regardless of any curses! Fans new and old will not be disappointed in Addie's story, though it does have a different flavor from past novels. The magical aspect of the story seems to take a bit of a backseat to the human motivations, which dominate the pages. There's some great LGBTQ+ representation in the main and secondary characters, which is something I always look for in new fiction. And I was pleasantly surprised to find an unconventional ending to what I worried would be a straightforward boy meets girl romance. The characters are flawed and raw and so emotional, I couldn't help but see my own struggles within them. So before you dive in, be ready to ask yourself the question:

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

This was my first ever Netgalley ARC, and let me also tell you that this was the first ever book in ebook form that I have ever finished from start to finish, much less devoured within 24 hours. As a note, I LOVED this book and was hoping it’d be perfect for our junior high (7th and 8th grader) public school library, but because of a few of the more described scenes, I think it would be better suited for a high school library and general public library. I will be purchasing this book for my own personal library though!

Here's the premise:
It's July 19th, 1714 in Villon-sur-Sarthe, France, and Addie LaRue makes a desperate decision that alters the entire course of her life. She makes a deal to change the trajectory of her future but ends up grappling with the curse of her decision: a life doomed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. The only way out? Surrendering her soul to the shadows in the darkness. Three-hundred years later, everything she's come to know about her curse seems to change when a boy utters three words she's never once heard over the course of her long life: I remember you.

Now to the good bits.
This book is part star-crossed love story, part magic, part historical fiction, part "how do I describe this book?" It's a book that has every characteristic of a 6-star read for me, and it finds itself in good company among The Starless Sea and The Ten Thousand Lives of January. Matt Haig's How to Stop Time tugged at the corners of my mind at various times as well. So what are the qualities of a 6-star read? These are the big elements:
-- chapters that go back and forth between the past and the present and various locations (I love history!)
-- a variety of settings (all sorts of places in France, London, New York, Florence ... the list goes on)
-- an incredibly strong, resourceful, smart and cunning female protagonist who makes mistakes but is quick to learn and truly makes the most out of a desperate decision gone wrong
-- a truly diverse cast
-- magical elements (and incredibly magical writing -- the kind you just fall into)
-- a great combination of character-driven storyline with plot-driven elements that had me not only connecting with the characters (smiling in their joy, crying in their heartbreak) but also refusing to set the book down
-- a very present storytelling motif
-- an ending full of possibility (but in the best way)

What else is there to say really? I loved it. My heart is both broken and full, shattered yet complete.

Victoria Schwab has become a favorite author over the years, but this book seems extra special, and I'm so glad she chose to share it with us, this 10-year story in the making.

Now, off to eat my feelings and continue contemplating this beautiful story.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a novel spanning centuries and written in third person with chapters that alternate between character perspectives and timelines. There are also sections that consist of art piece descriptions. This novel tells the story of Addie LaRue who at 23 years of age, makes a deal with a dark entity to live forever in exchange for her soul. Addie is born during the 18th century and lives in a small town in France. Driven by a desire to escape the path chosen for her by those around her, she is determined to belong to no one. She soon discovers the price she must pay for living forever is never being remembered. Addie goes through centuries trying everything to undo her curse and somehow leave a mark. She eventually resigns herself to her fate until the day she meets Henry Samuel, a young man who is both like and unlike her in many ways. He changes her outlook on life and inspires Addie to want to alter both their designated trajectories. I loved this novel as an exploration of what we humans want most out of life. Some people desire to leave a lasting impression on others. Others value their independence above all else. V. E. Schwab does an excellent job of dissecting how we build memories and illuminating the power of ideas. I loved the numerous mentions of art in the book, particularly the sections consisting of descriptions of art pieces mentioned in the story. I felt these served as essential devices to show how art can combine both memories and ideas to preserve history. I also appreciated the author’s exploration of the motivations of both protagonists and antagonists. I felt by doing so, the reader is better able to understand and appreciate the actions taken by the characters. I loved the author’s prose and she had several interesting, memorable lines about being human. The Life of Addie Larue is beautifully written, brilliant exploration of the human condition wrapped up in an engrossing story spanning several countries and centuries. I highly recommend it. 4.5/5 stars

It is 1714, and it is 23-year-old Adeline LaRue’s wedding day. She has never been happy in her small village of Villon, where she is expected to marry and raise children, to live and die in the same place she has always been - and so she flees from her husband-to-be, and makes a deal for freedom, to live for as long as she chooses, to have a life that she has control over.

And the god, or darkness, or devil - whatever you want to call it - grants her her wish, but with a caveat: she is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Fast-forward to New York City, 2014: Addie has lived for hundreds of years. She’s witnessed inventions, revolutions, wars, artistic movements; she has lived in France, Spain, England, America ... and yet she has never had a home, never been able to own enough to make her place somewhere in the world, never experienced friendship or love. Once someone turns their back to her, it is like she never existed at all.

Until one day, she meets a Henry, who remembers her.

This book was a dark, twisty tale, spanning centuries, dealing with love and loss, treachery and trickery, heartbreak and happiness. Addie LaRue was a complex and fascinating character, and her life was thrilling - but I honestly really enjoyed Henry! (Not only because he owned a bookstore, although that really did help.)

I’ve been following V.E. Schwab for years, ever since I discovered the Shades of Magic trilogy, and so I’ve heard about this book that she’s had in the works for a decade. I’m always astounded by her writing style and the way she can draw me into a story - and this one definitely did not disappoint.

I don't find the right words to describe how I'm feeling right now.

Literally one of the most beautiful book I've ever read so far. I'm beyond amazed by Addie's story, her stubbornness and her strong desire to live and be FREE. Victoria again showed how powerful her writing can be. I felt so many things during my reading. I loved every single word, sentence, page.
I had CHILLS so many time.

"After all, how can a thing be real if it cannot be remembered?"

This is a must-read.
This is a 10-years-old-work that bloomed into a poetic and wonderful masterpiece.
This is Addie's story. That won't be forgotten. Forever remembered.

Thank you again, Tor, for giving me the chance to read it in advance ❤

This is a wonderful and inventive story. I enjoyed it immensely. though it was a mixture of historical fiction, the modern day love story shone though. I expected a bit more in the historical bits, and that could have been developed a bit more, which would have enhanced my overall experience - but still the book worked very well as it was.

This is a beautiful, enthralling tale that will pull you in from the first word to the very last.

When Addie LaRue makes a deal with the devil to live forever she did not know she would be cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. The deal has forced her to live the life of a wanderer, always moving from place to place and finding small ways to leave her mark on the world. She lives a lonely 300 years being forgotten until she meets a man who remembers her name and nothing is the same.

The idea of this story feels refreshing and new. It is told with fantastic descriptions, amazing character development and unfolds in ways you won’t expect. I couldn’t put it down and it’s the type of story I know will stick me long after I’ve read it. I can not recommend it enough.

Another absolutely breathtaking and unforgettable reading experience by a genius storyteller! Victoria Schwab has created a stunningly gorgeous narrative once again.

Beautiful. Brutal. Deep.

Look, this isn’t a sunshine and rainbows story. I didn’t expect it to be. Schwab is a genius. She thought out every piece of the curse and how it’d affect things.

I loved the historical aspects.

I love the intensity. The depth. The range of emotions.

Bottom line: I loved it.

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

Three hundred years after selling her soul to a sinister being in a desperate attempt to escape a quaint yet suffocating life in rural France, Addie finds herself in twenty-first century New York City, slowly losing her grip on humanity. In return for this immortality, she is cursed to be forgotten by every person she encounters the second she leaves their sight. Until one spring day, in a dusty used bookstore, when she finds a man named Henry. Henry remembers her, can speak her name and see her -- truly see her. And has secrets of his own.

What a beautiful, unique novel. Addie LaRue is a remarkable protagonist, a woman who feels familiar and brand new all at once, someone we have the privilege of remembering every time we look away from the pages. Schwab has crafted a compelling, heartbreaking story of loneliness and companionship that transcends lifetimes.

(4.5/5: For readers of fantasy, historical fiction, literary fiction, speculative fiction, and those that seek a different kind of love story.)

V. E. Schwab just gets better with every book. This story which in less deft hands could have slipped into stagnation maintained its momentum kept me interested. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of nonlinear timelines, but it was successfully managed here. The secondary characters were all well rounded, which fits this story especially well when our narrator knows them better than one would ordinarily expect.
Addie's relationship with the demon/god is complicated and kind of sexy and fulfilling.
All around I really liked it and will recommend it to customers who like both fantasy and historical fiction.

Thank you to Tor books for this E-Arc OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED 2020 READ. I was not disappointed and you won't be either.

This book felt like floating. It felt like stargazing. It felt like discovering wonder for the first time. You can tell that Schwab has carefully crafted this novel and it's absolutely exquisite.

Synopsis: Addie prays to the gods on the night of her arranged marriage and makes a deal with a devil. She's cursed so that everyone who meets her forgets her. Until 300 years pass and a boy in a bookstore remembers.

Writing:
1. The plot flips between point of view and past and present and I was never bored. I felt like we were discovering little tidbits of information until it all wove together seamlessly in the end. There were actually plot twists that had me breathlessly turning pages. There was romance and yet there was betrayal and hate and humanity and sadness. This is an incredibly raw book.

2. The characters will steal your heart. Addie was beautifully crafted; a girl cursed to be forgotten and as much as this is a fantasy that notion also feels profoundly personal. I felt like I understood her even though she'd lived for three hundred years she felt like a part of me that questions whether what I do matters and will last. It's a profound human question wrapped in magical realism and it's heart wrenching.

3. The writing was beautiful. Some of Schwabs best. In a way it reminded me of the lyricism of her first novel, The Near Witch. It felt like she was born to write this book and I'm a huge fan of Schwabs writing style but this was near perfection. It was poetic without being pretentious and it had me lingering over lines long after I had to set the book down.

I'm so thankful that I got to taste this early although I can't wait for my physical copy to arrive this fall because this is a book I want to hold, treasure, and read again and again. Anything by Schwab is a must read for me and this one didn't miss the mark.