Book Review :: THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE

 

Book: THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E. Schwab

Genre: Fiction (Historical?)
Series: N/A
Publisher: Tor Books / Macmillan
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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“For someone damned to be forgettable, Addie LaRue is a most delightfully unforgettable character, and her story is the most joyous evocation of unlikely immortality.”
— Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods and winner of multiple Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards

“Addie Larue is a book perfectly suspended between darkness and light, myth and reality. [This novel] is—ironically—unforgettable.”  

—Hugo Award winner Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

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Goodreads Summary:

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.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Check out my full review after the jump! Click "Read More" below to continue!

I received a copy of THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Let me be the first to tell you that I was absolutely shocked, blown away, and humbled that I even received this ARC because Victoria Schwab is my absolute favorite author and a constant inspiration to me as a reader, a writer, and human being. While admittedly I haven't read every single Schwab novel, I've read a good handful of them and have loved the one's I've picked up so I know that this one was going to be a treat. That and I'd heard her discuss this novel for literal years on her book tours for Conjuring of Light and Vengeful and I'd always been fascinated by the premise. 

This book was so, SO good, and was so incredibly well-written. The story is beautifully told with chapters that alternate time periods that span hundreds of years and mostly follows Adeline LaRue in the aftermath of her life-altering deal with the devil. In a moment of desperation, Addie makes a bargain that will cause her to be forgotten by everyone she ever meets. Until one day... someone remembers her...

I read this book via Kindle so I was definitely not aware how long this novel was. I would "flip" the page on my iPad 10 or so times and the percentage would only go up by 1. I was glad though because I didn't want this story to end. It was interesting to learn about Addie's life prior to her bargain and the hundreds of years after, how she learned to cope and adapt to a life of being forgotten. 

I don't want to spoil too much of this book because it's definitely one you need to read yourself, but just know that you are in for an absolutely delightful time from page 1 until the final page. I dare say that of all of the Schwab books I've read, this is easily her best and most eloquently written novel to date. It's extremely apparent that this book was a labor of love and I already can't wait to scream about this book at the top of my lungs to literally everyone I know. 

Thanks again to Tor Books, Macmillan, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.