The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Review

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

Synopsis:

Adeline is desperate to escape the simple life that has been laid out for her in her small village. So desperate that she prays day after day to the old gods to help her. Only it's not the daytime gods that answer her prayers, it's the darkness. He offers her a way out, but at a steep cost. She is destined to be forgotten, to leave no mark on the world.

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

Nikki says:  The writing is this book was beautiful, so much so that it took me a lot longer to read than I expected. I had to read more slowly than usual, really take it in, and whether it was intentional or not that paired beautifully with the story. Addie moves through life living in moments, enjoying one day at a time, and that’s kind of how reading the book felt. 

The way the story was structured was also perfect, present day Addie mixed with chunks of her time from the past 300 years. Initially we see her in the small French village she was born in and subsequently the consequences that lead her to make her deal, but as the story progresses we see more of how she’s spent her time, the people she’s come into contact with and the ways she’s tried to leave her mark through history. Some of these moments were really heartbreaking, seeing over and over the way Addie would be forgotten, have to start again with people every day and her loneliness.

As she manoeuvres present day New York Addie would sometimes reflect and in those moments, in nothing more than passing thoughts, we start to get little hints and suggestions that there’s more to her story, more to her relationship with the ‘devil’ she made her deal with. That was what gripped me most, the desire to learn more about them, what happened between them and how they’d navigated the past three centuries together.

I really enjoyed this book, although it felt much heavier and more serious than anything else I’d read recently. Perhaps because of that I didn’t feel my usual desire to devour the story, but every time I picked it up I was drawn straight back in and then struggled to put it down. I would definitely recommend it and I’ll be checking out some of V. E. Schwab’s other books soon.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Standalone

Genre: Fantasy

Tropes:  Deal with a Devil | Morally Grey Characters