The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was one of the best books I have a read in a while. Absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking.

This is the first novel I've read from V. E. Schwab, but it will not be the last! Although the storyline is somewhat similar to that of the film The Age of Adaline, this story is much richer -- and not just because of the medium. The character of Addie LaRue resonated with me more than the Adaline of the film. As a young woman in France in 1714, Addie does not want to belong to anyone, so she makes a deal with The Darkness, with the result that anyone she interacts with completely forgets her once she's out of their sight. Intertwined with Addie's story is that of Henry, the one who remembers.

I look forward to recommending this book to friends when it's published on October 6. Thanks to V. E. Schwab, Tor Books, and Net Galley for providing an early copy for me to review.

This book was absolutely INCREDIBLE. The writing was some of my favorite I've read all year. It completely sucks you into the story, and it only helps that the concept is just so fascinating. Multiple I found myself stopping to say, "Wow, this idea is so COOL." I've never read anything like this it's not often you say that with literature being as expansive as it is.

Then the characters. Personally, I'm a very character based reader and for that this book did not disappoint. Addie LaRue is a BAD. ASS. BITCH. The way she handled her situation, the absolute pettiness she held on to, remarkable. She was so smart and resilient, a character that I can say made me look at my own life and struggles and see how I've handled things, see how hey, maybe I'm kind of bad ass for getting through it, too. Then there's the "boys," the Dark and Henry. Henry was such a sweet cinnamon roll. I want to tuck him into bed and feed him soup. As for the Dark, the Devil, the Monster, whatever you want to call him, I found myself oddly attracted to him. I say oddly because I'm normally not a villain gal at all. But I liked that the Dark never tried to redeem himself, nor did the narrative or Addie try to either. And for once, a villain/protagonist relationship made sense to me. I don't know, Miss Schwab really did something here to get me to feel this way is all I'm saying.

There were a few parts, around the 25% and 70% marks, where things got a little slow. I know we had to establish Addie's relationship with the Dark and her curse, but I think it dragged just a bit a few times. However, those minor negatives are far outweighed by all the positives. I spent the last 10% of this absolutely sobbing. And the way it ended was so bittersweet. But I will say it again, ADDIE LARUE IS A BAD ASS BITCH and everyone needs to read this.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. Beautifully written, it follows Addie LaRue, who made a deal with the devil to live life freely, but it comes at the cost of living in a world where she is doomed to be forgotten. There were moments when the story dragged a bit and there were some things I felt could have been addressed. However, the amount of feels and MY HEART CLUTCHING ITS HEART moments made it memorable.

Hauntingly beautiful. Tragic in places and triumphant in others, a celebration of love and fierce living. I loved this, especially the writing which is gorgeous, but I cried quite a bit at the end and I feel like I need to go read some light adventure fantasy just to clear my mind now! Content warning for potential readers: abusive relationship, suicidal ideation, sexual assault. The ending didn't quite resolve the internal conflict I had about some of those things. Still beautiful and definitely worth reading, but be forewarned.

1714, Addie LaRue dreams of life beyond her small French farm village. Her parents decide it's time for her to marry, but she will do anything ....including making a deal with someone who could be the devil to get out of the marriage. She finds herself living a life where no one remembers her. As soon as a person leaves a room or the area she is in they don't remember her. This makes it impossible to find a place to live, make friends, fall in love, etc. She has lived for centuries this way, always the same age but never remembered. Every year "the devil" comes to find out if she is ready to give up her soul, but she stands strong against him no matter her quality of life.

A very thought provoking book! I received this as a galley from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What an absolute delight this book was! I loved every single second of it. If I could give it all the stars in the world, I would. This was only my second time reading a V.E. Schwab book and now I definitely need to go back and read the rest of her work. Addie LaRue was one of those books that I was head over heels invested in. With beautiful writing and lovable characters, it was SO hard to put this book down. I loved the overall message as well. Life may feel long and stormy but it goes by in a blink of an eye. You have to live every moment to the fullest.

I will 100% recommend The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue to everyone!

Fun, fast-paced and magical, but not without its flaws. With interesting twist on immortality and old gods, this novel follows the life of a young girl who makes a deal more complicated than she realizes. Romance, history and magic are woven throughout the story that more or less falls to a love triangle with some more unusual stipulations. I appreciated the fluid and diverse sexuality of the characters, particularly Addie and Henry, who could've fallen within many labels, but were allowed to just simply like boys and girls and whoever else without any unnecessary explanation or backstory.

I enjoyed the author's treatment of the old gods as things that also are just simply what they are without rules or reasons, but it seemed strange to me that two characters have encountered this primordial, powerful being without having any other interactions with magic, folklore, etc of any kind, so that's a hit against world-building for me. The characters even bring up being away of existing folklore, but it never makes its way into the story further. I think this is a fun beach read, but it falls short on the characters, too -- even the main three characters feel a bit stilted, like hand puppets casting too-dark shadows, lacking deeper characterization. I always struggle with characters that are just too likeable, and both Addie and Henry fall into this category. The ending feels more set up for a sequel than anything else; I love an open ending where the author walks out the back door, but this one sort of feels like a cop-out. I also struggled with the god character - I am always here for ancient beings that act more like fickle humans than benevolent gods, but the one depicted here feels more like stereotype of a dark and moody boy than anything else. I'll stock this and I'll probably hand-sell it, as I do think ultimately it's just a fun ride -- and sometimes all you need is to leave the real world behind for a few hours!

I had some mixed feelings about this book. There are parts of this book that are inventive, delightful and intriguing. V.E. Schwab has delivered a novel that sweeps you into its world and carries you off with her imagination and prose. However, it's stalls out for a while on account of too much repetition and some other issues.

The book's premise is whimsical and likely to inspire curiosity in most fantasy lovers. Addie LaRue makes a deal with the devil, and now she lives an invisible life. She can't be remembered by anyone after she leaves their presence, can't own possessions, can't make new things or even leave marks on the world. However, she can steal to survive and inspire others to do things. (The logistics of how these rules function are a little fuzzy, but Schwab more or less makes it work.) Addie has lived for 300+ years, but all she really wants is to be remembered.

It's a strong start out of the gate, as Schwab uses vivid imagery and precise metaphors to tell her fantastical tale. However, just as you're ready for the plot to take off, it feels like the book is just <em>stalling</em> for a long stretch. A large bulk of the plot is packed into the first fifty pages and the last hundred pages. And while it's a really interesting plot, there's a lot of filler in the middle.

By the halfway mark, the plot still hasn't progressed past the point described on the book cover. The first few chapters start with her explaining how she sleeps a man who doesn't remember her the next day, which was good, but then it continues to describes in detail her meeting someone else and then then another, all of whom don't remember her, and I started getting impatient.

Also, the character of Addie LaRue feels a little juvenile. According to the book, she has lived for over 300 years, but her personality don't reflect it. There was just a weightlessness to her where I wish she would have had a fuller personality, with more specific interests or desires.

It seems strangely childish to me that such an old soul spends all her time yearning for familiar embraces with handsome men instead of things like family, children, societal progress or an occupation. She seems to have made peace with giving up all the rest of it, but for some reason can't stop pining after men. She just doesn't seem like an adult, much less someone with the wisdom of 300+ years.

That all said, I think on the balance, fans of V.E. Schwab will likely be able to see past these things and enjoy this story for what it is -- a tale that is whimsical, romantic and intriguing. Even with some less-than-exciting parts in the middle, the plot is constructed in a way that will make most people curious for what comes next.

<b>Read it or Skip it?</b>

There's a lot to like about this book, but it also seemed like there were easily a hundred or more pages that should've been cut and the story would be basically the same. The repetitiveness of it really dulled my enthusiasm for it early on, but in the last hundred pages, the story gathers a lot of steam and gets good. Of course, the book ends at that point, so you'd have to read the sequel to find out what happens next.

A part of me is curious to find out what happens next. But I'm also a little resentful that I read through 400+ pages only to find out it ends when the book hits its stride. It's not a cliffhanger, but it feels a lot like one. I'd say I'm a "maybe" for whether or not I'll read the follow-up.

Beautiful portrait of what life means and the time we have. I loved the idea of leaving your mark in the world and how art is such a powerful and amazing part of life.

This is the first book I've read by V.E. Schwab and it went off like a an explosion in my brain. I just get it now. I want to read everything else she's ever written. This book is EXTRAORDINARY. I never wanted it to end. It's surprising and sad and romantic and so full of life and passion and beauty. It makes you want to travel. It makes you want to listen to music at 2 AM and see the stars on a pitch black night and dance until you can't feel your feet. It makes you want to fall in love. I truly felt like I spent years with Addie growing and learning and struggling yet always finding something new and exciting to live for. You fall for each lover as she does and feel each heartbreak. And then there's Luc. I have made my love of Dark Lonely Boys well known and Luc may be one of my favorites. Their dance throughout the decades wasn't surprising, but it felt real and substantial. I love and fear him in equal measures. This book comes out in October and it's going to be tortue not having anyone to scream about it with until then.

"Never pray to the gods who answer after dark."

First of all I am very thankful for the publisher for providing me with an E-ARC of the book in exchange of an honest review.
It is no longer that I am a big fan of Victoria Schwab because she's simply a great human and author. I loved her ADSOM series, The Villains series and even her Monsters of Verity series. I am planning to go back and read the rest of her backlist books but when I knew that I have a chance to read her upcoming book, I didn't think twice and jumped right into it.
As usual, Schwab has the weirdest, most creative synopsises and the idea of a girl falling in love with the devil is something I simply couldn't resist. when I got into this, it was a bit of a weird experience because it is unlike anything I have ever read by Schwab. I am kind of used to her mystical world-building and action scenes. This was kind of different!
“You know,” she’d said, “they say people are like snowflakes, each one unique, but I think they’re more like skies. Some are cloudy, some are stormy, some are clear, but no two are ever quite the same.”

The book starts kind of slow and I was a bit confused and did not know where things were going but at some point, everything felt into place and just clicked in my mind and I had an overwhelming wave of emotions crushing me because it was so good and it made me happy.
The book does tell us the story of Addie and we follow her through her life and see her growing as a character, and although I liked Addie and enjoyed reading about her, it was the story of Henry that really got into me. Simply he was one of the characters I related to most in my 5 years of reading books. The experience of just reading and seeing yourself in a book is not something you get to experience occasionally so I was just so happy when Henry was introduced and growed more and more. I do believe Schwab's success is due to her character-writing skills and this time was not different at all.
The world building was not extensive because it takes place in our world but it certainly has the magical spark that Schwab's has given us in her previous books. Mix this with the killer prose (I know it is either a love or hate kind of prose and fortunately for me, I do love it) and you get this excellent book. I was hesitant at first and a bit pessimistic after the fist few chapters but then this ended up being one of my favorite books by the author. 
“You are not capable of love because you cannot understand what it is to care for someone else more than yourself. If you loved me, you would have let me go by now.” Luc flicks his fingers. “What nonsense,” he says. “It is because I love you that I won’t. Love is hungry. Love is selfish.”

And if you were wondering about the devil romance then yes, it is there and it is not just a clickbait from the synopsis. Actually the devil was excellently written too. The plot takes a bit of time to develop but it certainly is there and certainly is good. The book works both as a standalone and I believe it could be extended into a series. (I have learned that it was a standalone after finishing it)
“But a woman must take responsibility for her own education, for no man truly will.”

Summary: Although this is different from Schwab's other books, it ended up being up one of my favorites as it has the usual magical prose, world building and plot and most importantly characters that I would die for. The story takes some time to develop but it is worth it. The simple cover is kind of an abstract to what the story is hiding and although I wasn't a fan of it initially, I do like it more now and I am planning of buying a copy when the book is released. And I am certainly waiting on my tiptoes for whatever Schwab comes out with next!!

We received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This book was like a beautiful symphony of words, with an adagio here, a crescendo there, harmonies and discords...

It's hard to describe the beauty of a work of the heart, which I believe this is. But it's about the characters and the story, and nothing is simple. It's beautiful, but it's also heartbreaking. The story is slow and meandering - much like I imagine Addie's 300 years were - but every step is important in developing the whole picture.

I cared about these characters - even the supporting ones. Addie and Henry, Bea and Robbie, Luc. They are so unique, so real, so relatable. Even the ancient god.

I was intrigued by the idea of Bea's dissertation, and would love to read an entire book about that.

Overall, this is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Okay wow I am STILL crying over this book!!
“Do you think life has any value if one doesn’t leave some mark upon the world?”

This book hit me in all of the feelings. If I wasn’t laughing, I was crying. This is one of those books that will stay in your heart and your mind LONG after you’ve finished it. Maybe even for life. Being a VE Schwab book, I had high expectations that were beyond blown away. She’s raised the bar AGAIN.

This book is about Addie LaRue, a French girl born in the 1700s. Despite being warned not to pray to gods who answer when it gets dark, Addie becomes desperate and does it anyway. Addie ends up making a pact with the devil— now she will live forever, but she will be forgotten by everyone.

Everything changes 300 years later when a boy says “I remember you.”

It’s so much easier to tell you what this book is about vs what it made me feel. This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and now I’m worried nothing else will live up to this phenomenal novel. Please, pick this book up once it comes out. Read it. Tell your friends and family and pets about it.

“Do you know how you live three hundred years? The same way you live one. A second at a time.” This book was possibly the most beautiful book I have ever read. I will definitely be thinking about this book for a long time.

This book was WONDERFUL! I actually slowed down the pace of my reading and broke away from it for a couple of days (with great reluctance) because I wanted to enjoy every word and action. I know when I go to handsell this to family, friends, library patrons, bookstore shoppers, fellow book buyers, etc... I found myself excited to read another book where Lucifer or Death is portrayed so wonderfully - the only other book I've come across so far is Zusak's Book Thief which is in my top 5 favorite of all time. Addie LaRue is another book that will fall into my top favorite reads. Thank you to Tor/MacMillan and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this delightful book.

I am a big fan of V.E Schwab and I have been looking forward to reading this book ever since she mentioned it on an author panel. A story about a woman who made a deal with the devil to live forever but to always be forgotten by everyone she meets, sounded wonderful. And it was! I loved the whole story of Addie, desperate to live a life beyond the boundaries of the world she was born into. The writing was beautiful, haunting, lyrical and I couldn't stop reading.

Déjà vu. Déjà su. Déjà vecu. Already seen. Already known. Already lived.

If you follow Victoria at all, you probably already felt like you knew Addie a little. For a project to take almost a decade...well it shows. Every turn of the page was a window into a beautiful world that Victoria has welcomed us into.

You follow Addie through 300 years of single days. 300 years of loss, fear, angst, and Defiant Joy! I felt the longing, of both Addie and Victoria, to stamp themselves upon history. To make something that outlasts themselves. I feel like they both succeeded.

The Devil is literally in the details, and I want more of him.

Every once in awhile, a book comes along that reminds you why you enjoy reading. this is definitely one of those books.

Adeline LaRue does not want to marry a man she does not love so she runs away, only to make a deal with the darkness (he's the hot villain) for the freedom she has always wanted. But she finds out afterwards that her freedom comes at a cost: she will not be remembered by anyone and will spend 300 years living as a ghost in the shadows of the world, until one young man remembers her.

This story is such a gem. It's my first by this author and I absolutely loved the way the book flowed. The characters, especially Addie, were sharp and relatable. There are plenty of twists and turn throughout the story as Addie tries to live a full life and find happiness while caught in a game of control with the darkness.

Would recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure and has ever wondered what it would be like to live through history.

I don't know how to start this review -- I've watched the cursor blink for a while now -- or even how to go about explaining how I knew I was enjoying this story throughout, was likely to rate it a four, but kept waiting to be blown away. It was an almost love, complete with admiration for the creativity, the detail, everything the author researched; it was a maybe reread, but equally maybe not, which is a distinction not many books get, as we all know.

<i>Being forgotten, she thinks, is a bit like going mad. You begin to wonder what is real, if <b>you</b> are real. After all, how can a thing be real if it cannot be remembered?</i>

And then suddenly I'm crying. Then I'm marveling at.. something. Then I knew I loved it.

<i>Time has no face, no form, nothing to fight against. But in his mocking smile, his toying words, the darkness has given her the one thing she truly needs : an enemy.</i>

Even knowing the premise of what this book was about, I didn't think long enough on the mechanics of it, the complexities and caveats created by the bargain. And I thought that was wonderfully done. I'll admit certain bits did feel a bit repetitive in the beginning, and I wasn't always totally immersed in Addie's mind or perspective (though I couldn't tell you why), but neither of those things take away from the fact that the way this was written, the choice of words, the passages, the.. everything.. was just so beautiful. I don't know if maybe the sheer loveliness or the sheer loneliness is to blame for sometimes pulling me out of the story, instead of pulling me under, but I mean.. that's still kind of a good thing?

This should definitely be on your radar and, incase you couldn't tell, I can't wait to read this one again.

4.5 stars