The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Reviews
First part of the book almost made me DNF it bc it was so slow…. The i liked it enough to keep me reading and i loved the ending.
Absolutely surreal. This book took me on an immersive journey. With twists and turns, wit and candor, this book showcases everything good and everything bad about humanity. I marvel at VE Shwab's writing and even more heavily envy the ease with which she uses words.
This novel has been recommended to me like crazy from friends and family members (including this hard cover copy which was shipped across the ocean to me from my dad). I know this is a book I will return to time and time again.
I have to give it to V.E Shwab, her writing is absolutely beautiful and one of the things that kept me reading.
I will say that this had a slower placing up until maybe the last 25% of it. I’m not really sure of what I was expecting overall when reading this but I’m not disappointed.
I genuinely thought the ending was her coming full circle to live up in a situation she had been cursed to avoid, which was not being able to live as she wanted and belonging to someone, essentially. Idk if the ending was better or worse than what I expected to happen. Overall, beautiful story and pretty relatable (not in a making a deal with a god type of way)
she tore
i did enjoy this book however i found some parts slow and slightly repetitive however i understand why this is. towards the end the book really picked up and i couldn’t put it down. it was really interesting
So different to anything I’ve read, I loved the whole vibe of the book, was slow in places but kept picking up when you least expected it
Need 300 years to recover from the ending..can’t decide if I loved or hated it!
I loved this twist on darkness as an entity. Addie has an incredible life (most of the time) and it’s lovely to watch her live through so much history, but the sadness from the beginning never goes away. It’s sweet and beautifully written, but the pacing is slow, so it’s a bit difficult to keep picking up unless you’re just in the mood for this pace.
Non-linear timeline weaving various pasts and present together. A sense of mystery and timeless like the characters.
What an absolutely stunning book
Great premise squandered by an uninteresting protagonist with shallow goals. By around page 70, I was hoping for a tragic (in the style of the Greeks) ending for Addie.
The lyrical writing was affecting, but the plot, characters, tension, romance, arcs, and ending were not.
Not for me.
This Book has been sitting on myself for years and I have been daunted about picking this one up after hearing so many people love this one and leaving rave reviews. Take 1 weekend in February and a Buddy read gave me the perfect opportunity to finally pick this one up and dive into the world of Addie & what a book it was! I know that this one will stay with me for many months and years to come and a story was beautifully poetic.
Addie LaRue, a French girl who was born in the 1700s. She was always warned not to pray to the gods who answer when it gets dark. But on a desperate night, she does it and she gets an answer. Addie ends up making a pact with the devil: now she will live forever, but she will be forgotten by everyone once they look away. One day 300 years later, a boy says the 3 words that will simply change everything “I remember You”
What a book this is, Its full of reflections, life and humanity. I felt honoured to be able to get a glimpse into Addie’s life. I know that there was going to be a few twists and turns along the way, but I did not see the final one coming at all, but I can say that it felt right and the perfect way to end a book, Am I going to say more… No, I’m going to say no more
Now I can only say that Addie LaRue deserves to be read, known and remembered. It is a book so real, but at the same time so full of magic, that you will never forget.
need 3 to 5 business days, or maybe 300 years, to recover from this book. this book brilliantly explains how desperation to fulfill one's deepest desire can blind humans to reason, making them forget that everything comes with a price to pay.
and once again, v. e. schwab makes me fall in love with another beautifully toxic villain
I need 10 to 15 days to recover (or 300 years actually :’))
Took me a while to get through but so so so worth it
A wonderfully bright story with a great central character. The life and breadth of it is really fascinating. The story does take a predictable turn at the end, although I'm not sure what other ending it could have had. I liked this book and would recommend it for a fun and relaxing read.
ending so good it broke my heart and gave me hope but i would have believed in luc, would have fallen in love, so I THOUGHT IT WAS going in that direction, which it did… kind of??
one of the books i can never reread
Unpopular opinion : I REALLY hate Addie LaRue
#justice_for_the_devil
i love Luc
This is such a beautiful book, each sentence is pure poetry!!! I cried so much during it and related to Addie on some many different levels, I feel like this book mirrored a part of my soul to myself. I literally can’t stress it enough, everyone should read this beautiful masterpiece!!!!
This book was absolutely beautiful and enthralling. It has been on my TBR for the last four years and I wish I had read it sooner. Wow.
Reading this book was a wonderful experience. I wish this story could’ve lasted forever. This books makes me want to cry but I don’t know for which emotion. Truly amazing!
I really loved this book. I thought I had predicted the ending, but I was wrong. I'm left with so many questions but in a good way. I have absolutely no complaints.
Highlights
Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives-or to find strength in a very long one.
It is the kind of place that takes years to visit, and still there always seems to be another alley, another set of steps, another door.
Love this wording
Luc scowls. “Henry Strauss wanted to die. You wanted to live. You are nothing alike.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Isn’t it?”
Addie shakes her head. “You only see flaws and faults, weaknesses to be exploited. But humans are messy, Luc. That is the wonder of them. They live and love and make mistakes, and they feel so much. And maybe — maybe I am no longer one of them.”
heartbreaking realizations for addie but i’m always down for a ‘humans are messy and wild and flawed and that’s what makes them human’ argument. love.
He looks at her. “They made their deal. They knew the cost.”
“Why would anyone trade a lifetime of talent for a few years of glory?”
Luc’s smile darkens. “Because time is cruel to all, and crueler still to artists. Because vision weakens, and voices wither, and talent fades.” He leans close, twists a lock of her hair around one finger. “Because happiness is brief, and history is lasting, and in the end,” he says, “everyone wants to be remembered.”
Luc is so good at being a dick, so good at pointing out the inherent flaws of humanity. but i love how Addie, despite everything still questions him and finds value in her humanity.
this book is written so well. i really truly am obsessed
Choosing a class became choosing a discipline, and choosing a discipline became choosing a career, and choosing a career became choosing a life, and how was anyone supposed to do that, when you had only one?
this book is actually rocking my world right now because i feel like henry. everything henry is saying and going through is EXACTLY how i feel about my life. especially my academics. there is so much to learn, to do, to become and it is so overwhelming. i feel like i’m being written about.
Déjà vu. Déjà su. Déjà vécu. Already seen. Already known. Already lived.
Se uită la tine și văd ce vor ei… Pentru ca pe tine nu te văd.
Estele used to say she was stubborn as a stone.
But even stones wear away to nothing.
And she has not.