V.E. Schwab

In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force. 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.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

"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."--Publisher.

Kimmy Hobden

Born and buried in the same ten-meter plot.

“I don't mean in that normal, time flies way," Henry's saying. "I mean feeling like it's surging by so fast, and you try to reach out and grab it, you try to hold on, but it just keeps rushing away. And every second, there's a little less time, and a little less air, and sometimes when I'm sitting still, I start to think about it, and when I think about it, I can't breathe. I have to get up. I have to move.” 

“I see someone who cares," she says slowly. "Perhaps too much. Who feels too much. I see someone lost, and hungry. The kind of person who feels Iite they're wasting away in a world full of food, because they can't decide what they want."

Three words, large enough to tip the world. 

“Sorry." he says, the word automatic, like ‘please’, like ‘thank you’, like ‘I'm fine’.

Isabelle

"Say the word, and I will lay your soul bare before you. Surrender, and I promise, the last thing you see will be the truth." 

"You know," she says, "I think I'd rather live and wonder." 

Do not mistake this for kindness. I simply want to be the one who breaks you. 

"Want?" he sneers. "Want is for children. If this were want, I would be rid of you by now. I would have forgotten you centuries ago," he says, a bitter loathing in his voice. "This is need. And need is painful but patient. Do you hear me Adeline? I need you. As you need me. I love you, as you love me."

They look at you and see whatever they want... 

Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives - or to find strength in a very long one. 

Fayee Magan

“…he should feel wanted, should feel something besides sad, lonely, lost.”

In the vein of The Time Traveler's Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue When Addie La Rue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there's always a price - the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone. Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world, learning to live a life where no one remembers her and everything she owns is lost and broken. Existing only as a muse for artists throughout history, she learns to fall in love anew every single day. Her only companion on this journey is her dark devil with hypnotic green eyes, who visits her each year on the anniversary of their deal. Alone in the world, Addie has no choice but to confront him, to understand him, maybe to beat him. Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. Suddenly thrust back into a real, normal life, Addie realises she can't escape her fate forever.

Dorothy Keys

Blink, and the years fall away like leaves.

"Don't you remember," she told him then, "when you were nothing but shadow and smoke?"

"Darling," he'd said in his soft, rich way, "I was the night itself" 

The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonligh on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay te price. And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark. 

For a moment, she is out of place, out of time. 

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. 

Listen to me." Her voice is urgent now. "Life can feel very long sometimes, but in the end, it goes so fast." Her eyes are glassy with tears, but she is smiling. "You better live a good life, Henry Strauss.

So she longs for the mornings, but she settles for the night, and if it cannot be love, well then at least it is not lonely.

Want is for children. If this were want, I would be rid of you by now. I would have forgotten you centuries ago,” he says, a bitter loathing in his voice. “This is need. And need is painful but patient. Do you hear me, Adeline? I need you. As you need me. I love you, as you love me.

I do not want to belong to someone else. I do not want to belong to anyone but myself. I want to be free. Free to live, and to find my own way, to love, or to be alone, but at least it is my choice, and I am so tired of not having choices, so scared of the years rushing past beneath my feet. I do not want to die as I’ve lived, which is no life at all.

The vexing thing about time,” he says, “is that it’s never enough. Perhaps a decade too short, perhaps a moment. But a life always ends too soon.

But if you only walk in other people's steps, you cannot make your own way. You cannot leave a mark.

arwen

Chloé

Hello New Favourite Book. Wow. I love Character Driven Books, I Do not mind if a book is slow if the world building and Character building is so strong. I've Never read V.E Schwab before and always wanted to, but I defo need to pick up more now. Her writing style is everything I love a more. It's whimsical and lyrical and flows, it's descriptive without being boring.
The Biggest thing for me was THE PANSEXUAL CHARACTER, as someone who identifies as pan I've never been so happy reading a book then when I read the line "The fact that Henry isn’t gay, that he’s attracted to a person first and their gender second.” It made me so happy. The LGBTQ+ rep in this book is beautiful; Addie is Bi, Henry is Pan, Robbie is Gay and Bea is Lesbian. 
 Just UGHHH I loved this. I normally have a character that annoys me ask me about a book I've read a character irritated the HELL out of me... Expect Addie LeRue, every character made me love them for something. This Book made me smile, laugh and cry. Just Pick up this book. Just read it. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

samantha

Fiona dakin

I loved the complexity and layers to both the story and the characters; Especially Luc, who it is hard to decide whether to love or hate. I think the way she structured this book was perfect, how we got to go through the different years alongside Addie and to see things through her eyes. I knew throughout this book I was going to like it a lot but for me it was the ending that made it one of my favourites, it was so emotional and I ended up crying a lot in those last few chapters, the ending felt like it formed the perfect circle.

Riley Bell

If I could give this book 10/5 stars, I would. The tears really started at the last mention of “I remember you.” Sure a lot of people say that the characters are boring but it’s just the truth that not everyone is interesting and special. Not every love story is an epic one. Some people are just simply here. And then those same people get trapped trying to make their life less boring and it was a story worth telling. Also now I want to reread the entire thing and see if her name really appears on every page. Really such a beautiful book. The ending was perfect and even though it didn’t really seem like the end, it definitely doesn’t need any kind of continuation. This is my first read from Schwab and I can’t wait to read more.

mimansa 

OH MY GOD
what a fkn rollercoaster.
Fiction is not really my go to read but this book has it for me. Wow.
So well written. 
Divided into 7 parts. Each part having its own story, Its own narrative. Absolutely loved it.
Oh. And the ending.
I kept flipping pages until i realized there was nothing left to flip. I was amazed.
100% recommend.

Amna A.

maitha mana

Easily one of the best books I have ever read. Addie makes a prayer to the wrong gods, the ones that respond after dark. She asks for freedom, in exchage for her soul (when she is ready to give it).

Addie gets immortality but with the condition that she isn't remembered; she is forgotten after every counter. That is until she meets Henry.

Addie lived up to 300 years, and throughout those years, fell in love, went through loss, discovered music and different kinds of food, travelled across seas and witnessed the transformation over the centuries.

I have bookmarked and highlight a lot of pages throughout this story; the story that shows us that no one is really ready to die, even when they want it. When there is so much to see and learn.

** spoiler alert **
           2.5 rounded up to 3

ngl the first few chapters are really boring and so slow but ig that’s just how the flow of the book is. when reading the book i cant help but wonder where the climax or the problem is cuz it just felt like a never ending story about addie’s life and i was rly itching to see her and henry together (as individual characters not as a ship) i was about to dnf this but i powered through it just for luc. he’s the only character that is interesting for me i am so sorry 😭🙏 the ending is ok ig :/

Vicky  Nuñez 

A very thought provoking story, heart wrenching story about bargains, the search of happiness and loneliness.

V.E. Schwab has been in my to-read list and I have to say my first book by the author did not disappoint. She writes beautifully and wonderfully illustrated each setting of the book. 

At several times I thought I had the plot figured out but each time she subverted my expectations. And the end was very satisfying and poignant.

Michaela Hudson

The book was so close, soOOOOO close to becoming my fav read of the year but like, come ONNN!!!! Why did VE Schwab have to do me so dirty??? 

The Good: Great writing, as usual, enough to get me HOOKED. Basically, it has almost everything I like in a book, which includes magic, stars, art, France, fluff, STARS, star-crossed lovers, did I mention stARS???? What a treat for Halloween.

The Not so good: Whatever Schwab was doing in towards the end of the book. You probably would start to find the writing repetitive. And I am so so tired of love triangles, it's even worse that I didn't realize there was one. Luc didn't have to be turned into a simp. And what did my poor sweet cinnamon roll Henry Strauss do to deserve all this BS? 

That ending was, somehow, both satisfying and not satisfying at the same time. I couldn't decide. Maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind when reading this. IDK. 

In conclusion... Idk anymore lol. Still worth reading imo

Nisindi

It took me a few days to get through it. Adored the art at the beginning of each part. Side characters were a bit two-dimensional. I didn't feel a big connection to any characters ( nor were they that memorable, unfortunately) and there was a bit of confusion about whether I should think of Luc as a love interest. Brilliant concept. Overall, not a well-rounded book but still a fairly pleasant read.

Isabella 

I liked this book, it felt like a fairytale; so whimsical in a way. It wasn't mind-blowing, but this book was so alluring, so captivating that I could not bring myself to stop reading. Although I think that Addie was somewhat bland, and there really isn't anything special about her besides her circumstance. I must say, besides the whole Addie and Henry thing going on, Addie and Luc's dynamic was really engaging too. I was bored during the start which made me rate this a 4 star because it was so uninteresting, and it has somewhat became a chore to follow through. This book was beautifully written though which made me want to continue, and I'm glad I did because the latter part of this book was truly beautiful. I absolutely loved that the ending was up to the reader's interpretation. I understand how some wouldn't enjoy this, and I'm glad I did.

The Invisible Life Of Addie Larue was one of my most anticipated reads. The beginning was so intriguing and I was hooked. However , towards the middle , I was a bit bored. I felt like the plot was unnecessarily lengthy. And boom .. it wasn't !

The final few chapters were so heartbreakingly beautiful. The phrase "I remember you." made me spill some tears and I still think of Addie's long journey from time to time. The book itself was a juxtaposition and it reflects the bittersweetness , ugly beauty , melancholic happiness , and the light within darkness.

Senali Senanayake 

The Invisible Life Of Addie Larue was one of my most anticipated reads. The beginning was so intriguing and I was hooked. However , towards the middle , I was a bit bored. I felt like the plot was unnecessarily lengthy. And boom .. it wasn't !

The final few chapters were so heartbreakingly beautiful. The phrase "I remember you." made me spill some tears and I still think of Addie's long journey from time to time. The book itself was a juxtaposition and it reflects the bittersweetness , ugly beauty , melancholic happiness , and the light within darkness.



Sidney Schaffner

This book took me a long time to get through. Interesting enough story, but it did not keep my interest. The only interesting part was the last 50 or so. Liked how it ended.

Danielle Annika

"Save me a slice! That's good! Okay, that's good. Yeah, that's...all right. That's good. Okay, okay. All right, okay. Alright. Okay. That's good...That's good! It's...IT'S ENOUGH SLICES!" 
- someone on tiktok

The quote I mentioned above is what I felt while reading this book. V.E. Schwab has such an amazing writing style and at first, I was so obsessed with the flow of the story and how she alternated between timelines. At first. And then the same thing kept happening over and over again and I just wanted it to end. It was around the 300-page mark when I started trudging my way through the story. The only thing that stopped me from putting the book down was my curiosity because I badly wanted to know how the book would end. 

Okay, so that's what I disliked about the book and why I didn't give it 5 stars. Now, here's what I liked about the book:


  "There have been times, of course, when she wished her memory more fickle, when she would have given anything to welcome madness, and disappear. It is the kinder road, to lose yourself. 
Like Peter, in J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. There, at the end, when Peter sits on the rock, the memory of Wendy Darling sliding from his mind, and it is sad, of course, to forget. But it is a lonely thing, to be forgotten. To remember when no one else does."


That. That right there hit so close to home. I noticed a lot of people saying that this book was too specific and that you would only like it if you could relate to it. Which is true so I guess thank goodness for my good memory and everyone's lack of thereof! 

Also, the plot was executed so well. I've been pushing this book aside for months because I was afraid of getting disappointed. And even as I was reading, I was expecting the ending to be messy and forced and something completely random, but it was perfect. I really appreciate the author for not making the ending super depressing and messy for the shock value. 

Do I think this book would still be as impactful if it had been cut in half? Sorta, yeah. But did I still love the book? Yup!! Though I wouldn't recommend this to everyone because, as I've said, it's very specific and if you happen to not resonate with the characters, you might end up getting annoyed with the book.

Ana Luiza

V. E. Schwab é uma das autoras mais populares da literatura contemporânea, e, depois dessa leitura eu posso dizer, é um título muitíssimo merecido. O único outro trabalho da autora que conheço é "Vilões", que foi uma leitura agradável mas que não me cativou tanto.
Addie LaRue é sensacional, é absurdo que uma pessoa pensou numa história tão boa e a escreveu de uma maneira perfeita. Comecei a ler o livro sem me prender imediatamente, o que eu admito não ser culpa do livro mas sim de como a literatura tem sido um pouco complicada pra mim ultimamente. No começo, os capítulos do passado não me eram nada interessantes.
Demorei para gostar de Henry, simplesmente porque achei que ele era mais truque de Luc (e eu não estava totalmente errada), mas em algum ponto da história passei a me importar muito com o personagem. No entanto, não me apaixonei por ele, ou por Luc, ou qualquer outro. Addie é tão grandiosa que não deixa espaço para o leitor amar qualquer outro personagem. O que, obviamente, não é um defeito. É difícil achar personagens tão fortes assim, com uma personagem tão incrível que parece que ela escapa dos limites do livro e se torna uma pessoa real. 
Acho que esse é um livro que com certeza merece uma segunda leitura, que pretendo fazer no futuro.
O final foi perfeito, e bem inesperado pra mim. Apesar de saber o quão maravilhosa Addie é, não imaginei que ela faria o que fez (ou que vai fazer). 
Torci por ela do jeito que torci por Aelin. Consigo ver muitas semelhanças entre as duas personagens.
Se eu pudesse, leria sobre cada minuto da vida de Addie LaRue. <3

Jennifer Fail 

whew 😮‍💨 this book had me feeling all the feels! i will be honest and say i almost dnf’d, but i’m so so glad i kept reading 🤍 didn’t see the ending coming, so yes i cried 🫠 but i loved this book! definitely a 2024 favorite!

gabby

This book is so beautifully written. I took a week break, and when I went back, it was like i never stopped reading. The ending broke me, but it is so beautiful. The way the story flows, the words used. and the unforgettable story of Addie LaRue.

Ena Kalkan

yeah, this might be the greatest book i’ll probably ever read. and i mean it wholeheartedly. i’m stunned by how beautiful this story is.

Allison Dempsey

Very much into this iteration of NYC magical realism. If Timothee Chalamet doesn’t end up as Henry/the darkness in the inevitable movie version of this book, the casting directors weren’t reading closely enough.

A young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever―and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Addie LaRue, 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 man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

La Vida Invisible de Addie Larue

manuel

Victoria Schwab lo sabe hacer y lo hizo; con su pluma poética y sus descripciones maravillosas, que he de decir que es el punto fuerte del libro, te transporta en el tiempo a distintas épocas, y a diversas situaciones crudas, tristes y vulnerables que te adentran mucho en la historia 
en cuanto a los personajes, Addie me gustó mucho, la sentí muy real: sus actitudes, sus errores y su personalidad, no es perfecta y lo demuestra. en cuanto a Henry, se me hizo algo plano, me gustó, pero hasta ahí, no lo consideraría como un personaje memorable pero si le tengo cariño. Luc, el oscuro, el diablo, Lucifer; vaya pedazo de personaje que se creó Victoria Schwab, su personalidad, su sarcasmo, su humor, todo me encantó y pese a hacer el “villano” lo podría defender y siempre lo voy a amar, y pese a no aparecer tan recurrentemente en el libro como Addie o Henry, terminó siendo para mí, el mejor personaje. 
por el otro lado, entre algunas de las cosas que no me terminaron de convencer se encuentra que hubo muchas escenas en las que las sentí muy largas, innecesariamente descriptivas y en algunas veces repetitivas. también el romance, lo sentí muy soso, no me termino de convencer y ese “triángulo amoroso” no creo que funcione muy bien. también, que es un libro muy lento de leer y puede tornarse pesado su lectura, y aunque en las primera 150 páginas no sucede mucho y todo es muy lento, en las últimas 100 todo se torna más interesante, yo me las devoré y no quería que terminara.
y bien, el final: me gustó, lo considere bien, aunque me hubiera gustado que se hubieran desarrollado más, siento que me quedó a deber. he visto que las personas dicen que es un súper plot twist, y no lo considero así, personalmente lo encontré muy predecible pero no por eso malo.
en resumen, buen libro que pudo llegar a hacer excelente pero se quedó a medias.

When I first started Addie LaRue I didn't really know what to expect. For me, it started very slow paced and I wasn't sure if I was was going to enjoy it, but I'm glad I kept on reading. I liked how the characters were sketched, Addie's detailed history and how the author found a way to make Henry's and Addie's deal, which were nothing alike, intertwine and have one fulfill the others wishes. 

When I first started Addie LaRue I didn't really know what to expect. For me, it started very slow paced and I wasn't sure if I was was going to enjoy it, but I'm glad I kept on reading. I liked how the characters were sketched, Addie's detailed history and how the author found a way to make Henry's and Addie's deal, which were nothing alike, intertwine and have one fulfill the others wishes. 

Overall I really enjoyed reading. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

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