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.