WOW. Reading this book is like eating 92% dark chocolate, or drinking fine peaty scotch, or watching smoke over a fire. It's something beautiful, dark, delicious, and should absolutely be savored. As always, Schwab completely captured me with her beautiful use of language. In my opinion, this is her best one yet!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Do you ever start a book and know from the first page that the book will be very important to you? That's how I felt reading this. I loved everything about Addie's story. It made me want to go out and live the life I have to the fullest. I also made me wish that I could live through centuries and see everything the world has to offer.

Addie, Henry, and Luc are some of the most wonderful characters I have ever read. I want to follow them through everything they do.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this gem. I will forever be in awe of the way V.E. Schwab writes, and I will recommend this to everyone I meet.

VE Schwab’s book is about Addie, who made a deal with The Darkness. She’s immortal but she’s nameless and forgotten by everyone as soon as she’s out of their sight. Even her parents and friends don’t remember her. How do you exist in a world where you can leave no mark, not your image, your signature or even the stain of spilled wine. Lovers only remember you until you leave the room or they fall asleep.

The Darkness offers Addie an end to the pain of this loneliness - pay him what she bargained away - her soul.

Addie refuses, engaging in a cat and mouse powerplay spanning centuries. Refusing to surrender her soul, always demanding her freedom.

After three centuries, Addie meets a man who remembers her and it changes her life.

This book was a delicious doorstop of a story. All about what it means to be seen, known, and loved. And what’s important enough to bargain away your soul. The author’s writing is luminously beautiful. Even after 500+ pages, I didn’t want the story to be over.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for the DRC.

*Spoiler free*

I was lucky enough to be approved for an e-ARC of this book. I honestly couldn't believe it and I'm still having a hard time believing it. I've been excited for this book since the deal announcement, which I know isn't as long as some people, but I was still very, very excited! It sounded like something incredible and I knew Schwab would do something amazing with it. Trigger warnings: depression, anxiety, attempted suicide, uncomfortable sexual encounters 

Hi, it's another review where I say it's hard to find words to describe a book like this. But it's true. How do you find the words to describe a book like this? It's a book that seemed to be infused with the light of stars, with a soft glow that follows you even when you've finished the book. It's a book that needs elaborate language to describe it, so a expect a lot of that here haha.

This book is made of moments, moments that trickle until they form something full. I think that was one of my favorite parts of the book, how it was a story made up of stories. I fell in love with the moments before I fell in love with the entire book. These moments are tied up with such a flourish. They are all tied together in a way that makes them even more than they were before. They become something different, but nothing less incredible.

Schwab really knows how to write. Like, really, really knows how to write. It's like she knows the exact right words to put in the exact right positions. The writing is just spectacularly beautiful and I think it shows the full force of her talent.

The way this book implemented darkness was great. It becomes something alive, but nothing less dangerous. It's cunning and it's something to be scared of, but it's also something you can't help but be curious about. In a way, it makes you understand Addie more, to relate to what she's going to. You can understand her actions because you can see and understand what she's dealing with.

The characters were human. And that's the biggest compliment that I can give them. They were messy, they hurt, they wanted to be enough, they felt, they wanted to dream, they wanted to live, and they wanted to be. They're just people who sink into you and make you feel so much. 

The ending surprised me, in the way that I wasn't sure about it at first. It seems like it's something open ended and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. But it ends on a promise. And that's Addie. A promise to deliver, to endure, and to keep being stubborn. It's such an amazing ending to this book and it fits so well.

This book brings out the flowy language in me, but that's how this book is. It's a book that is best described in metaphors and sayings that might be just a bit weird. This book was everything that I hoped it would and it was also nothing like I expected. It's soft, but it's powerful. Schwab seriously wrote something incredible.

This book is breathtaking. Victoria has said it took her ten years to write and I think that shows. There is care in every single line. Filled with gorgeous writing, lovely characters and a plot that leaves you wanting more! I can’t wait to own this one!

This book was pure magic. Oh goodness, I just finished this book. I’m having an emotional crisis. This book wasn’t the way I expected at all. I don’t really know what I had in mind to be completely honest but this was worth every minute. I still don’t have the words to describe how I’m feeling but I loved this book with every fiber of my being. V.E. Schwab you have ruined me once again. There was a slowness but it was one that I wanted to get lost in if that makes sense. I didn’t mind the pace or anything really, I was simply enjoying the story. I had tears in my eyes and a smile on my face, and that just proved how amazing it was.

“And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark” V.E. Schwab

I’d like to thank Tor Books and Netgalley for the incredible opportunity to review The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Never before have I read a book that so encompasses my own emotions over longing, the desire to be seen, and the need to experience as much of the world as I can before it gets dark. Schwab uses her unique style of lyrical prose to convey love, hatred, heartbreak, and wanderlust in a way that kept me reading well past when the lights went off. Addie is an immensely likable and relatable character, who answers the question, “What would you give to be free to do as you choose?” in a way I related to on a deeply personal level. This story kept me on the edge of my seat, had my heart racing, and tears streaming down my face until the very last page. This book will leave you totally in love with life and a desire to live each day to its fullest. I cannot wait to get my hands on the physical copy when the book is released in October.

This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I’ve liked Schwab’s other books but Addie LaRue knocks them all out of the park. This book boasts an original plot, a captivating protagonist, sharp clever dialogue, and immersive descriptions...an undeniably compelling novel.

This book hits you right in the soul.
It was wonderful and beautiful and tragic and everything I hoped it would be.

4.5 stars simply because I was never able to fully embrace the one character who was supposed to mean so much.

“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” takes us on a journey through time as the consequences of one’s wish puts Addie on path where the darkness is her only companion until a boy in a bookshop remembers the girl with the constellation like freckles and the price of desire must be paid.

This book is written in such a unique way where we go from the present to specific moments of Addie’s past to watch her go from this innocent young girl to the woman she becomes as she navigates life and her dream turned curse as she is doomed to be a ghost haunting each place she finds forever forgotten by all except for the devil who made her a deal and the boy who manages to remember who she is and to see her learn how to tread right along the edge of the line to be something to someone was delightful and heartbreaking at the same time.

We watch Addie go through the worst of the worst as even her curse cannot protect her from all things and how she manages to learn and adapt to new challenges and even go toe to toe against the devil and laugh as he willing steps into a new game as she refuses to do anything on someone else’s terms and I loved watching her become that person when she could have so easily surrendered once she realized the true weight of what she had neglected to bargain for.

That being said my biggest drawback is that I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the boy in the bookshop. I don’t know if it’s because Schwab does such a good job writing morally gray characters or my own preferences clouded my eyes when it came to Henry but all I could think while reading him is how incredible dull he was. It’s hard to go into details because I want to try avoid too many spoilers but throughout the entire thing I kept asking the question of what was real and what was bewitched because not once was I taken with him but everyone else thought he hung the moon and though I know there is a reason for that I never found myself enchanted by his presence.

Now that brings us to Luc who by any other name would be as awful but I do think to some extent he did know Addie a lot better than anyone else as he watched from the shadows to see her at her most hopeless and though they have those moments of truth between them I couldn’t help but feel more during those brief visits than I did for any of the time she spent with another and I will not feel bad about that.

Overall this is a really beautiful read and I think it stands better if you look at it for Addie and her story alone than you would if you tried to stick her in some kind of romance but either way this will be a book you will not soon forget.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Addie LaRue made a deal with a devil in 1714: she wanted to live, freely, not marrying a man she didn't love. Her curse, as she comes to find out, is that no one remembers her. Until one time in 2014, someone does.

V.E. Schwab is fast becoming one of my go-to fantasy authors, up there with N.K. Jemisin and Erin Morgenstern for her lush writing, complex storylines and compelling what ifs. She very cleverly explores what it might be like for a young woman to live for 300 years, and every time someone meets her it's as if for a first time, only to be forgotten by a quick walk away or the closing of a door between them. The way Addie manages to leave her mark on the world is inventive, and the story incredibly satisfying.

5 STARS

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.

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First off - this book was MAGICAL.

I have been a fan of fantasy for years. I love reading sweeping epics and being pulled into a fantastical new world. However, I haven't picked up a fantasy/sci-fi read for a few years now (nothing against the genre, I just haven't been in the mood.) But as soon as I read the synopsis of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE, I knew that I HAD to read it!

I loved how this book slowly revealed her life over the centuries, flowing back and forth between past and present. Written with the whimsy and detail typical for this genre, explored some interesting ideas about identity, memory and our human need to be remembered long after we're gone. Highly recommended for fans of fantasy, historical fiction or someone looking to be fully immersed in the story of Addie LaRue.

(Also, this cover is PERFECT. You'll understand what I mean when you finish reading!)

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my ARC! You can snag a copy of this amazing novel October 6th.

“This is how you live forever. Here is one day, and here is the next, and the next, and you take what you can, savor every stolen second, cling to every moment, until it’s gone.”

This book cracked my heart open minute by minute, page by page, and poured its story into the fissures it created. It’s been hours since I finished and still I can’t—won’t—extricate the pieces, separate word from self. Once you’ve read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, I think it’s impossible not to carry pieces of it with you. To remember it.

On a technical level, this book excels in every parameter. An ambitious story that takes us through three centuries flawlessly, weaving together the story of Addie’s journey in a way both poignantly human and evocative of the most resonant fairy tales. This story is readable in a way that encourages ravenous consumption, rich enough to be savored sentence by sentence, and powerful enough to weave a spell out of syntax and structure that you have no desire to escape from.

It’s clear that this novel is a labor of love and all the messy complications that often come with it. Not only is it a story I needed to read right now, it’s a story I think everyone will take a personal message from; it tackles issues ubiquitous to the human experience—memory, art, love, desire, loss—with characters that compel your attention (and who are queer in a seamless and unapologetic way, which was a delight).

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue will be a hard, if not impossible, read to top for me this year. It has easily carved out a place in the most tender part of me where my favourite stories reside. Highly, enthusiastically, and wholeheartedly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

For years, I’ve listened to V.E. Schwab talk about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, but nothing could have prepared me for the sheer alchemy of what the book turned out to be: words turned to pure gold, unfathomably beautiful and loving enough to break a heart.

Addie LaRue’s story covers three centuries of time, love, and loss as she grapples with her Faustian deal and learns what it means to be a human who lives forever but is forgotten by everyone she meets. But when she meets Henry Strauss in a hidden bookshop, he is the first person in centuries who remembers her, and thus kicks off a relationship unlike any Addie has ever had and her life is thrown into uncharted territory.

At once historical, romantic, and deviously fantastical, Addie LaRue is Schwab’s best writing yet. It is sharply written, intricately plotted, and beautifully honest, but beyond that, it is unfathomably human. The characters in Addie LaRue feel not only real but they felt, many times, like myself. Within these pages were so many of my deepest desires, darkest anxieties, wildest fears, and brightest hopes brought to vibrant, impossible life. Some I’ve spoken aloud, but many I’ve not.

No book I’ve ever read has made me feel as seen as I did with Addie LaRue. Tucked within these pages alongside the story was assurance: I see you, I understand you, you’re not alone. I’m endlessly grateful that this book exists and that I’ve had the opportunity to read it, and for many readers across many demographics, this genre-defying triumph will find a welcome and loving home.

I cannot put into words how much I loved this book. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue is tragic and beautiful and heartbreaking and wondrous. Perfection.

I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

OMG! 😍 You all must read this book! I was familiar with this author but read only couple books of V.E.Schwab. From the first to the last page this book lived with me. Literally! I loved every page, story development and how it was written.
It took me 48 hrs to read it. Now I wish there was another one so I can spend another day to experience a beautiful paranormal masterpiece such as this one!!! 💖

THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE is unlike any novel written by V.E. Schwab that I have read before - and, believe me, I have read them all. Though still filled with the same addictive quality that makes me want to race through all of her books and girls who have vulnerable yet sharp edges at the same time, ADDIE LARUE marks something new for Schwab. It's wistful and sweeping and makes you want to ache. It's as close to "lit fic" as any of her works have come thus far and it is a lovely triumph.

Awesome! I highly recommend this book. This is one of those rare books in which you realize after reading a few chapters that there is no way that you can put this book down and will be finishing it in one night. I really enjoyed reading it and could not put it down.

I will recommend that my library buy a copy of this book.

Thanks to Tor Books and Net Galley for providing an early copy for me to review.

When I first read the synopsis of this book I was sold. Sure I had expectations and I thought I knew how the book was going to go but I was wrong. It was SO MUCH BETTER!
I was expecting a love story between a girl and the devil but what I got was so much more. I got a book about life, too. About how it may be fleeting and life can pass so quickly but we must live it for that very reason. I don’t think I have related to story more than I have related to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a stunning literary fantasy that somewhat resembles the film The Age of Adaline. It's a story about the differences between being seen and being known, it's the story of a woman cursed to be forgotten in a world where art does nothing but remember. I thought this book was a beautiful work of genius, but it won't be for everyone, mainly because of the pace, but fans of Erin Morgenstern will likely love this.