V.E. Schwab

Julia Whelan

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

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.

“What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?”

Jillian Roberts

Three words large enough to tip the world.

"I want to see you again," says Henry. The hope fills her chest until it hurts. She's heard times, but for the first time, they feel real. Possible. "I want you to see me again, too."

"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. 

A gorgeous new collector’s edition, including: - Six new pieces of art from Addie’s story new to North America readers - Designed alternate debossed stamp under the cover - Ribbon bookmark -An exclusive note from the author

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Special Edition

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.

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. 

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??

debbie <3

Unpopular opinion : I REALLY hate Addie LaRue

Isidora Vatali

Unpopular opinion : I REALLY hate Addie LaRue
#justice_for_the_devil

irina

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!!!!

Yalin Tsikun

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!

Laurie 

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.

Jonnie Dolan

INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE - SPECIAL EDITION 'AUTUMN'.

Svetlana 

nany

OH MY GOD. My heart hurts.

Estoy enamorada de los personajes, de Luc, de Henry y sobre todo de Addie. Me encantó conocerla, vivir con ella trescientos años, sufrir junto a ella, enojarme junto a ella y enamorarme junto a ella. 

Addie LaRue merece la pena.

Linara K.S

DNF? DNF. 
DNF...
*sighs* I REALLY really tried to like this book i even had bought this in different editions that's how much esteem i had for it. I was so READY to tackle this heart-wrenching stand-alone I've been only hearing GREAT things about. It was supposed to be exceptional. It was supposed to be enticing, riveting until the last page. It was supposed to be gut-wrenchingly dramatic and tragic AND YET!
 And yet...
To me, when reading this, it felt like one of those unexpected plane crashes due to technical failure. It was bound to crash, no one expected it from the three first chapters and the plane couldn't be saved by anyone other than the pilot, aka the author. 
This was my FIRST VE SHWAB book give or take; and I'm quite disappointed. Wait that isn't the right word.... CONFUSED!!!
I don't understand why this book got so MUCH hype from booktube AND tiktok. Like they just sang this book's praises and I fell for it. 
THE most INFURIATING of factors (that isn't a spoiler) is that THERE IS NO DIVERSITY WHAT SO EVER!!!! Not oNlY tHaT, but our stale bread main character had 300 YEARS to simply EXIST and never thought to herself: "hey, I should probably go visit the other part of the world someday. You know the part that has been colonised and exploited by white people all the while i was lamenting about being lonely."
Oh also did i mention? oUR STale BreaD MC had teh AUDACITY to 'travel' but only to europe and the US. *Ahem* ma'am I think you forgot that the world isn't composed of colonisers. You're aware of that? Oh well, my bad. 
Let's talk about actual CONTENTS of this book. The writing for example. It didn't seem flowery at all, like... AT ALL; It was AS stale as our maincharacter or even more. I know the author wanted this book to be all metaphorical and allegorical but DAMN she made every small thing seem like a HUGE ASS EVENT. Like calm down girl. 
I feel like this review is more of a rant and i don't have the neural capacity to organise my thoughts just yet so this 'rant' will stay as it is: choatic and confusing. (just like the book! yay) 
To wrap this all up with out spoiling anything let me just ask these questions...
Who is Addie Larue? Like really. WHO THE F*CK IS SHE? 
Cause after 200 ish pages i just gave up.

Ok but why was the devil hot, should I seek therapy 

Christina Rose Sullivan

I cried. Too good. V.E. Schwab always nails it.

Anna 

všichni asi addiin příběh trochu známe, protože poslední rok se kniha objevovala úplně všude; dívka, která je nesmrtelná, háček je ten, že si jí nikdo nikdy nezapamatuje... tedy dokud jednoho dne nepotká henryho. zní to krásně, že?
 myšlenka je nádherná, strašně moc jsem se na to těšila, všude jsem slyšela samé pochvaly, a tak jsem se do knihy taky pustila, ale.. no, četla jsem jí 20 dní. 
 bylo to neskutečně pomalé, místy nudné. děj přeskakoval ze současné doby do různých období, kde jsme sledovali addie a její smíření se s neviditelností - ale vlastně se tam vůbec nic nedělo. tento problém jsem přehlédla - řekla jsem si, že toto dílo nebude o ději, jako spíše o nějakém ponaučení nebo myšlence, kterou nám autorka chce předat - tu jsem tam ale taky nenašla.
 celý sloh je napsaný poeticky, ale já jsem v tom pořád viděla fakt, že takhle autorka normálně nepíše a snaží se spíš experimentovat (nehledě na fráze, které mě postupem času začaly rozčilovat - např. 'zahlédla čajovnu a připomnělo jí to Istanbul, Hong Kong a další exotické město, o kterém už se v knize nikdy víc nezmíní' a nebo 'jednou zažije tohle a tohle a tamto, ale teď ještě ne').
 když už jsme u té exotiky, v 500 stránkové knize se pohybujeme pořád buď jen ve Francii a nebo New Yorku. sem tam v Itálii. proč se autorka nezaměřila na ostatní kultury? proč nepopsala to, jak addie ovlivnily, nebo jak addie ovlivnila je? proč je addie pořád tvrdohlavá holka, kterou byla před 400 lety? proč se v knize autorka nezmiňuje o různých důležitých meznících? jak je možné, že v nich addie nehraje žádnou roli? 
 poslední věc, která mi vadila, byla romantika. se vztahem se mohlo vymyslet tolik nevšedností, ale on byl... nezáživný. henry byla podle mého názoru dobrá postava, které se ale nedostalo kvůli bezcharakterové addie moc prostoru, a to mě mrzí.
✩
nemám to srdce knize dát špatné hodnocení - moje názory pochází i z recenzí, takže to beru spíš taky trochu jako nějaké 'ovlivnění okolím'.
knize tedy nechám 4*/5*, i když bych jí nejradši ještě půlhvězdu ubrala - obálka a myšlenka supr, ale provedení až tak moc ne. 
✩
4*/5*

Kath

This was the book that I DNF last 2021 but then I picked it up again after finishing A Little Life and had no regrets doing so. I feel like this is one of those books that I will always remember, from the story to the characters. I loved the book and how poetically written some scenes are; like the scene of Remy and Addie. I like how intimate it was but I did not feel the cringe while reading it. But I am rating it 3.8 since I am somehow not expecting that the ending would turn out that way. I just don't like how the plot was given, like there's no specific rules about the deals with Luke and then towards the end, it turns out that the deal was bent that way just to give that plot. If V.E. Shwab would release a book 2, then the ending would turn out to be a great starting point. On the other hand, it being somehow open ended would help release the creative juices of the readers, like we could imagine Addie doing everything to make Luc go mad.
I'd always vouch for the sincerity of Remy and Henry Strauss. I like how the author put the story of Remy and Addie, like it was a layover before continuing the long flight and it was a great slowdown moment. Henry on the other hand for me is like your temporary companion during the flight who you would feel attached to but since the flight won't take forever, you'd have to say good bye and just hope that he would always remember everything about the journey.

Some of my favorite quotes:
• If you walk on other people's steps, you cannot make your own way. You cannot leave a mark.
• She cannot erase the memories of those other nights—so she decides to become a palimpsest, to let Remy write over the other lines.
• And even though he's safe, both feet firmly on the ground, Henry feels himself begin to fall
• When truth is not an option, fiction takes on a mind of its own.

Kellie Davis

Love V.E. Schwab!!!! I did the audio book with this one and was so glad I did. I felt like it pulled me into the story more and it felt more magical. Honestly nothing bad to say. One of my favorite books of the year!

Shannon C

Wow. i have no words. just typing this i’m tearing up again. i sobbed at the end. this was so beautiful and heartbreaking… i can’t think about anything but how sad i am😭🤣

Mercy Jepchirchir Barno

It's beautifully well-written. Absolutely fell in love with the characters, even Luc himself. Eventually. To have been able to see/read Luc's POV, would have been kinda nice. It's interesting how The Invisible Life of Addie Larue ended, did not expect it to be honest but all in all, the book, I genuinely enjoyed hands down.

Abigail Marie

tori 👻

3.5
Addie LaRue was my first ever Schwab book and I'm quite enamored with her writing and consistency, plus the subject of memory has always been one of the most fascinating things for me. With that being said, I'm all for the structure and theme, but I failed to relate to any of the characters. It is very rich in detail but when you're not that connected to the characters it can become quite repetitive. That being said, I did have fun reading it.

Heather Margaret

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


Space for review soon.

one of my favorite books! a lot of little bits about how one lives life and how one loves in life with a sprinkle of magic and fantasy

elena vaamonde 

Bria

Rtc but I love this book so much and I was not expecting that

Moonchild

I recommend this book 100%...
the characters, the diversity, the situations, the love-seeking the soul purpose the questions of life and death.
the life experience I'm mindblown... I finished 2 min ago and I have to say its merely a piece of art, I'm pleased to own a copy 

Addie wanted more from life than what at a time for a young lady was aloud, she wanted freedom and knowledge, she wanted adventure, so she prayed for that, but she prayed for the wrong god at the wrong time. 
the writing is beautiful is fast-paced but I confess I didn't have the courage to finish this earlier.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

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