Atmospheric and engrossing, this novel is heavy on character contemplation and light on plot. Was disappointed by the whiteness of the story — three hundred years of time to travel, and never makes it out of Europe/America? Missed opportunities for her to find solidarity or connection in the ways that women of color are often forgotten and written out of history.

In a desperate attempt to be free from her small-town life, Addie La Rue makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Spanning centuries and continents, The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue blends genres of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and historical fiction. The story centers the characters over the plot, but it was an engaging and unique book. V. E. Schwab's writing is lyrical, introspective, and layered. Content warnings for death, suicidal ideation/attempt, depression, anxiety, drug use, alcohol use, sexual violence, and toxic relationships.

A beautiful work of art!

Addie LaRue wants to be free. In the year 1714 Addie runs out on her wedding, after her parents paired her with a man she does not love. She knows that she will have a terrible life and will be tied down to the same place for the rest of her life, so when Addie runs out on her wedding she begs for the gods to help her, and one does. After making a deal with a mischievous god, Addie is granted freedom in exchange for her soul. She is free to do whatever she likes and go wherever she wants, the only catch is that no one remembers who she really is. Addie's past life has been erased, and anyone who meets Addie simply forgets her immediately after turning away. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows Addie throughout her long life up to the moment she meets Henry, and he remembers who she is.

This story was so captivating and amazing it is hard to describe in words. For anyone who loves history this is a must read book because following Addie's life and where she was during all the major world events is interesting enough on its own. But then the author adds an amazing character who you can't help but fall in love with , a cute romance and a very deep storyline that talks about life itself and what it truly means to be alive.

I can't give this book enough praise. It was very well written and captivating from beginning to end. I will highly recommend this book to everyone I know who loves history or young adult fiction.

Absolutely adored this one! This was my first read of the year and I'm happy to say it was five stars for me. The writing was absolutely beautiful and the characters were relatable and flawed. I found myself unable to put the book down as I watched the events play out. I ended up listening to the audiobook as I read the book and it was my first time doing such and the experience was amazing!

beautiful prose, show stopping story with gripping themes. from page one i knew this would be an instant modern day classic. this will long pass schwab and put her up there with the greats. she truly outdid herself with this accent into greatness

A riveting fantasy the defies genre and expectations. Spanning centuries, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue tells the story of Addie LaRue, a young woman who made a deal with a devil to avoid a marriage and a life she had no say in. But her new immortality has a cost: no one remembers her, and now no one ever will. Everyone she's ever known and everyone she meets from here on out won't remember her. The course of her life--and her will to thwart the devil who wants her soul by surviving--ebbs and flows throughout the centuries until she meets a man who can inexplicably remember her for more than a few minutes. But how? And why? And is it really a gift and a chance for something akin to a normal life? Or is it just another cruel trick from the devil who both saved and cursed her.

I adored this book. It has everything: historical drama, deals with terrible beings, complicated characters, romance, the terrible reality of an immortal life. And featuring two bi / pan characters in a relationship? So good. Loved it. Loved everything about it.

I have a very mixed feelings about Victoria Schwab's books. It's like the toss of a coin, will I love it or will I not?

When I first heard of this book, I believe the tag line was something like a girl falls in love with the devil. Which definitely had me intrigued. The first couple of chapters kept me glued to the pages, but as the book went on I started to notice a couple things that bothered me.

First off, as others have pointed out, it was very eurocentric. Addie has been alive for around three hundred years and yet she didn't ever travel to Asia, Africa, Central or South America? Just Europe and North America?

Other reviewers have also pointed out that Addie has lived since 1714, but apparently didn't notice or reference colonialism or racism or the transportation and selling of kidnapped Black people? No references to the killing of Indigenous peoples? Really? In her three hundred years she didn't notice any of that? Not very realistic, but okay.

Second, Addie is another of Schwab's female characters that just felt very flat to me. She lacked depth, other then wanting to be remembered, there wasn't much more to her, in my opinion. There was also big Not Like Other Girls vibes. As one of my most hated tropes, that definitely turned me off.

This was, however, a very atmospheric read and I did love the premise of the book. Making an unwise deal? Living throughout history? All of that is right up my alley. Unfortunately, the book just didn't live up to all the expectations I had for it.

4.5 ⭐️ This is one of those lush, descriptive fantasy novels that readers will either sink into and adore, or lose interest in as the plot moves through centuries and hundreds of pages. I definitely fall into the former category; I love both the premise and V.E. Schwab’s execution of this beautiful love story. It would have been a 5 ⭐️ read for me but for the character of Henry, who was just a smidge this side of a heartsick hipster fool, and I couldn’t connect. But otherwise, loved it and thought this book’s many accolades were well-deserved! Also, this book made me long for the coffee shop culture that I've been missing since the pandemic began ...

This is hands down one of the best books I read in 2020 and I can't stop recommending it to people! Well done V.E. Schwab.

I honestly do not know where to start.
I have been waiting for this book for literal years and it did not disappoint in any way. It was stunning and wonderfully written.
It was a love story the way I want all love stories to be - it was a love story about loving yourself enough to go after what you want. Even if that turns out to be very different than expected. It's about the love of art and stories and life, while also being about falling in love with someone else.
It was dark and atmospheric and hopeful and just *gahhhh*.

Oh, and add in BISEXUAL REP!? I mean, come on, it could not get any better.

I could not recommend it highly enough. Read it.

I adored this book! It’s a book to be savored, a slow burn, and it will sink deep into your bones.

The story was very character driven, and normally I’m more of a sucker for world building, but In this case it worked for me. I found myself lost in the pages, not able to anticipate where things were going and how the book would end. It just felt very rich in folklore and beautiful prose, the words flowing like a stream thru a dark wooded forest.

I don’t know what else to say except that this book is brimming with magic! 🤩

I give this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Amazing story, character and plot. Fantastic book! This has been a very easy title to sell as it appeals to a wide range of age groups and great for those looking for a fantasy escape.

One of the best books I've read in a long time. It's a beautifully written, fantastical story that will appeal to a wide range of readers. Seriously, I dare you not to fall in love with this book and with Addie. I rarely ever re-read books, but I can picture myself taking a second stab at this one years from now when I need a bit of magic in my life.

One of the best books that I read in 2020. I recommend this book to all my friends. It was beautifully written and the characters were able to take on the fullness of human emotion in such an amazing way.

Thanks to the publisher for an e-ARC! It was interesting to read this without reading the blurb first because I was able to slowly piece together what was happening. Even if you do know the basics of the story, the author plays with slow reveals a lot throughout the book, frequently jumping around to different points in time to give us a little more context each time until we can see the whole picture. Sometimes this was frustrating because it does take quite a while for it all to come together but I liked the chance to see how well I could guess as more hints were revealed.

The book reminded me a lot of Keturah and Lord Death, with a girl making a deal with a devil-like creature and trying to outwit him, and I was surprised by a lot of press and reviews that called Addie a totally unique tale as the premise feels very familiar. It’s still an interesting story, if drawn out with the length of the book and how repetitive some of Addie’s flashbacks begin to feel. Jeann @ Happy Indulgence Books makes a good point about the missing parts of history that seem to be left out of the narrative, as we instead relive the same events over and over. Several reviewers have pointed out the white-washing of history in this book, and never once in Addie’s recollections of years past does she focus on events outside herself or even seem to notice any events impacting people of colour. There’s a whole lot of history in 300 years that she’s turned a blind eye to.

It’ll be difficult to talk about what I liked and not give too much away, so I think my review will mostly skirt around the specifics. All that to say, I loved this book because of a secondary character, Henry, who’s not introduced until almost halfway through the book. He is a fairly major character as with his introduction, the book switches to incorporate both Addie’s and his perspective but he still isn’t the main focus of the story. And the fact that Addie is the star is where my rating falters.

To be honest, I never really “got” Addie. Despite the very drawn out descriptions of her life as we follow her through 300 years, I couldn’t get a clear picture of who she was, which was a very strange feeling to be so distant from a character that we’re involved with for so long. I really didn’t feel like I knew her much at all until we started to get descriptions of her through the secondary character, whose descriptions felt at odds with the Addie I thought I was getting to know. Something about her never stuck, and I felt similarly to Hollis @ A Take From Two Cities, who says in her review that she never felt immersed in Addie’s perspective though she wasn’t sure why. Chelsea @ Chelsea Dolling Reads mentioned that Addie gives off “Not Like Other Girls” vibes and perhaps that’s some of the edge to Addie’s personality that prevented me from ever connecting with her.

But Henry, oh man. I loved him because he was so relatable and also hated it because it hit too close for comfort. His hopelessness and grief, his struggles with depression, his desire to be loved, his feelings of failure as he tries to figure out his path in life, all felt so honest and bare in his chapters that I rarely got through them without crying. He felt like a much more accessible character but he was in so much pain that my heart hurt whenever I thought about him and his story.

I’m disappointed in the book being a standalone, only because I need a further epilogue just to check in on these characters, a little jump into the future to prove they’re happy and healthy and okay. But I felt the ending was exactly what it needed to be, for each character to take the path they were meant for and that would be best for all involved.

All.the.stars. Admittedly, it took me a bit to get into the book and I wasn't drawn to pick it up any chance I got, but it has been a long time (if ever?) that a book has made me cry like the ending of this one. It's like I needed to draw it out and savor it, even though I didn't know that was what I was doing. A must read.

This novel blew me away, like it did for everyone who picked it up.

There is a reason V.E. Schwab is one of my favourite authors and I think this novel encapsulates ever feature I love in her writing.

The words were lyrical and beautiful, the story was heartbreakingly hopeful and the characters were all uniquely wonderful.

I would recommend everyone who is able to, to read this book.

It is a slow burn but in all the best ways. This novel is not one you want to rush through and it is not one that you’ll regret reading.

While I really love V.E. Schwab’s other works i must admit this fell a little flat for me and ended up being a DNF. This was beautifully written and has a great premise but I just found that I couldn’t get quite as invested as I would have liked into Addie’s story and found the pace to be too slow for my liking. I should mention that historical fiction is not usually my cup of tea and I feel that that had a huge influence on my experience with this book.

Interesting premise. Likable/hated characters. Cool plot. I would recommend this story to others. Some spots I found that didn't hold my attention, but overall, I still liked it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was original with a few nice twists that kept me guessing. While I’m mostly over multi-book series, this one makes me hope for a sequel.