I remember going to an author talk with V.E. Schwab before her book came out, early on in the pandemic where author talks were just starting to move online. I was intrigued by her passion for the novel and how much of herself she had poured into it. And now I finally read it!

There are two books that feel similar to me - the concepts and storyline are not the same but something about the tone and feeling I get as a reader are a good match. One is The Time Traveler's Wife and the other is The Ten Thousand Doors of January. You have a woman navigating the world in an unusual way, never being fully understood, trading off mundane life for this other way....

In Addie LaRue, she flees her wedding in the early 1700s and strikes up a bargain not to live a normal life. Everything that comes after is really something to experience as a reader.

This book has my whole heart!!!!!! I don't know what power Schwab holds over me only that I would continue to fiercely worship her books for the entirety of my life!

This book was amazing. Addies story is heartbreaking and the romance is amazing! I loved this story and I love all of VE Schwabbs works. I gave this book 5 stars

This bittersweet saga makes you really think about what forever means and how we define love and personal worth. I at the same time didn't want the book to end but also read it at lightning speed because it was so good. I went in as a fan of V.E. Schwab, having read her Darker Shade of Magic trilogy, but this felt like something entirely new.

I love this author, but I had a lot of trouble with this book. I just could not connect to the style of writing she employed here. There was a dreaminess to the book that I couldn't appreciate. I didn't really like the characters, either. Maybe I just wasn't in a good place for this book right now. It reminded me a lot of the way I felt reading The Starless Sea: I was so excited for both of these books, and both were disappointing for me.

I really enjoyed this book. It was my first time reading V.E. Schwab, and I rather liked this introduction. There was a good flow to the book as it jumps back and forth through time. Addie's backstory is slowly revealed as we watch her present time take fold around her. This was an intriguing idea for a story. We have a girl who wants to be remembered, but leaves no mark on the world around her no matter what she does. She can't even say her own name out loud, or write anything down. It is a cautionary tale reminding us to be careful what you wish for! She wanted to be free, but never could have dreamed of how that would play out when she makes a deal with the wrong kind of creature. For 300 years Addie struggles to be remembered, until she meets Henry. Her story is forever changed by their encounter as she finally makes a lasting connection. This is a love story, an adventure, and a relatable tale about finding a way to leave your mark on the world. It is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, often at the same time. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

The moment I started reading it, I knew it was my favorite book of 2020.

This truly was the perfect book for me. It is an incredible blend of history, romance, darkness, magic, literature and so much more. The way Schwab is able to use the concept of time and memory throughout this story is truly unparalleled. Art, literature, and storytelling are addressed in beautiful and delicate ways. It contains one of my favorite passages that I’ve ever read in a book and it brought me to tears. The writing is impeccable and I am just so grateful to Victoria Schwab for crafting such a beautiful and wonderful story that I was always remember.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A tale about choices and their consequences, but also about love, loneliness, and perseverance.

THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE is nothing short of masterful. Schwab has crafted a truly hauntingly beautiful story. It is truly one of the best books I have read all year.

Though there have been many stories about making a deal with the devil, this one breathes new life into the idea. With eloquence and skill, she has gifted her readers with Addie LaRue. In my opinion, there is something both freeing and sad about the concept of no-one remembering you. Because of this duality to the situation, I felt the author was able to explore more facets of her character. Also, 300 years is a long time for someone not to grow and adapt to relationships.

In all honesty, there is nothing I didn’t like about this book. It was a slower pace for me, but it was nice to sit for a moment with the characters as they were making it through life. Addie LaRue’s story is one that I will not soon forget.

I'm absolutely bewildered by this incredible story, it was beautiful. I can't believe a human wrote this, it was perfect and I just want to pick it up and read it again, immediately. The characters, the descriptions, the story were perfect. It's a slow burn that keeps burning even after you turn the last page. I can't even write more, it was just that good.

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? I absolutely loved it.. Probably one of my favorites of 2020. I enjoyed travelling with Addie through time over 300 years. The ending was perfect.

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK. I purchased a physical copy of this one because I loved it so much. I often find myself thinking about Addie, Henry, and Luc. Wondering how they are now!!!

“𝙱𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜, 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕, 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕. 𝙰𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍?” ― 𝚅.𝙴. 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚋

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab was an enchanting read. Like VE Shwab’s other work, this read left me completely speechless. Her stories and writing are captivating, she was able to draw me into the story from the very beginning. The read did not disappoint

The story follows the life of Adeline “Addie” LaRue in 1714 living in a small village in France. Desperate to get away from an unexpected marriage she is forced into. She prays for her freedom to a forbidden god with curly dark hair and green eyes. Their deal results in Addie to not only get the freedom she desires but becoming immortal, living her life a million times over, cursed to be forgotten by everyone and losing the ability to tell or speak her name. This all changes one day in New York 2014 when a stranger remembers her name

I admired Addie's journey throughout her 300 years of life. She experienced many changes in the world. Some that left her dealing with heartache and vulnerability. She was a flawed and strong character. I loved her determination, stubbornness and fierceness especially when it came to the dark one. No matter the challenges he threw at her or how lonely she became along the way

I also enjoyed how the story unfolded to the end. The ending was inspiring. I don’t want to spoil too much but I’m hoping there will be more Addie LaRue stories to come

𝙻𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍:
Stories and art can leave an imprint on people's live in different ways
Live and enjoy every moment of you life fully for you

4.5 rounded up to 5
A young woman pleads with a dark god to save her from a forced marriage and the small, hard life of a French villager in the early 1700s. Her wish is, cruelly, granted. She gets a vast but lonely eternal life of being continually forgotten, not just day after day, but moment after moment — and there's not a moment of it that she can forget. As she struggles to find meaning, identity, and purpose in that existence, the dark god returns, time and again, reminding her that she can end the struggle by surrendering her soul. And so it goes for 300 years. Until a young man working in a Brooklyn bookstore inexplicably, impossibly remembers her.

This is a sweeping, lyrical, historical, literary fantasy that makes me think of books like The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and Circe by Madeline Miller. It's somehow deeply fulfilling yet completely unsettling. And I can't get that ending and all of its implications out of my head. That's pretty good for an invisible, forgettable girl.

[Included on my Favorites of 2020 list for Hartfield Book Co.]

Never aging and living forever, sounds like the perfect combination. But what price do you have to pay so no one remembers your existence. The Invisible life of Addie LaRue is a muliera story about a girl wanting to be more than she was born to and the urge to be remembered. Schwab is a master at building stories that draw the reader in and takes them on a whirlwind adventure. The story of Addie LaRue is no exception, this story will have the reader rethinking their life and the encounters they have with people. Schwab slowly builds Addie's life before and after her deal with the devil and gives a complex and rich detailing of the character. Within her intracisies, readers will find a part of Addie they can relate to. With such an expansive timeline, the plot can seem a little drawn out and lengthy. With immortality come a vast amount of experience and backstory which does need to be explained but maybe not in such percises detail.

This was such a fun read that I was disappointed when it ended. I am hopeful that there will be a sequel based on the ending. I loved the blend of suspense with magic and the character development as she went along her journey through time. NEED a second book.

Another well written historical fantasy from V.E. Schwab. I appreciated her interpretation of the Faust story. It was a bit slow to start but Schwab's characters are what drive her writing and this remained true.

This was my first VE Schwann book and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I looked forward to reading more in the future.

Sooo... this is why I don't read hyped books.

The overwhelming narrative around this book is that it will blow your mind and change your life. But I should realize that I know myself, and reading books with this much hype places unsurmountable pressure on the story and characters and writing.

I'm not saying The Invisible Life of Addie Larue is not good. I'm just saying it wasn't as stellar (those seven constellation-like freckles are a fourth main character oh my gosh) as I was expecting. I'm still glad I read it, but wish I had waiting until like, next October or something. Or at least until the paperback came out.

I have no idea why didn't fully connect with Addie or Henry or the story. I fully should have been as obsessed as possible with this magical realism meets casual queerness meets history meets FRANCE! It should be my favorite book. It just... isn't. Someone flip a switch in my brain please wtf

4.5 stars.

"The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful… [N]o matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark."

So Adeline LaRue has been told by Estelle, the old woman who lives in her small French village, but Addie has never been good at following the rules. Unlike her friend Isabelle, she dreams of freedom rather than settling down with a husband and children. She evades matrimony until she is 23, far past the normal age of marriage in rural France in 1714, but then the jig is up: her parents order her to marry the unappealing man (to be fair, Addie hasn’t found any man appealing) whose wife recently died in childbirth and who now needs a mother for his three children.

Addie calls on whatever gods might listen, and doesn’t notice — and barely cares when she does notice — that day is gone and it is now dark. She is desperate not to be tied down to a man she hardly knows and saddled with his children, so she agrees to give her soul to the dark figure who appears to her, as soon as she is done with her life and “doesn’t want it any more.” And suddenly, she’s at liberty, only minutes before her planned wedding.

The catch is that the darkness, as she calls this ancient god or devil, has given the monkey’s paw treatment to Addie’s wish to be free and not belong to anyone else. Now no one, even her parents, remembers her at all. Anyone who sees her will completely forget her as soon as a door closes between them. Out of sight is literally out of mind. And many more ramifications, as Addie begins to explore the boundaries of her ill-thought-out deal. She has all the time in the world to do so — she no longer ages either. The lack of real human connection almost brings her down.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue shifts between Addie’s life in modern New York City and flashbacks to her past, as she navigates her way through the years. The cruel dark god, whom she eventually names “Luc,” checks in with her occasionally, cheerfully admitting that it was in his best interest to make her new life unpleasant. Still, he’s the only one who remembers Addie … until she meets Henry Strauss in 2014, who recognizes her even after she’s walked out of his bookstore (and his line of sight) with a stolen book.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a fascinating twist on the “sell your soul to the devil” theme. V.E. Schwab examines the day-to-day effect that such a bargain would have on your life, as Addie explores all the nooks and crannies of her curse, searching out ways to avoid the worst of its effects.

"She will learn in time that she can lie, and the words will flow like wine, easily poured, easily swallowed. But the truth will always stop at the end of her tongue. Her story silenced for all but herself."

Addie gradually learns to find some sense of safety and even the limited companionship of others, though ephemeral. But always, always there’s the fact that no one will ever remember her once she’s out of their sight for even a moment. When she meets Henry, with his inexplicable ability to remember her for more than a day, a powerful connection quickly develops between them. But is it another curse, or a blessing?

The pacing was pretty languid for the first quarter of the book or so, as Addie struggles to come to terms with her new life in eighteenth century France, and (in other chapters) rather aimlessly meanders around twenty-first century New York. But Addie’s stubborn determination is winning, and it’s interesting to see the ways she finds to deal with her restrictions. More importantly, Schwab’s evocative writing is stellar, laden with lovely imagery, symbolism and deeper meanings.

"Live long enough, and you learn how to read a person. To ease them open like a book, some passages underlined and others hidden between the lines."

At the beginning of each section of the book, there are intermittent pages with line drawings and detailed descriptions of valuable works of art. Schwab’s purpose in including them is initially unclear, but eventually it becomes apparent just how much these artworks illuminate Addie’s story. And although I’m not entirely on board with the meta aspects of the ending, it’s otherwise a killer ending that first had tears running down my face and then made my jaw drop.

There’s an explicitly feminist theme running through the pages of this book, showing the need for the power of choosing and forging your own life’s path, and the importance of being truly heard and remembered. But it’s also about love and its different facets. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue balances darkness and light, deep despair and hopefulness. It’s a marvelous achievement.

Absolutely my favourite read of the year. It has it all, love, mystery, fantasy, history. The characters are captivating and Schwab captures the our need for connection. A great read for this isolating year!