The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Hardcover, 448 pages

Published Oct. 6, 2020 by Tor Books.

ISBN:
978-0-7653-8756-1
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

(124 reviews)

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.

22 editions

A beautiful new take on a classic fairy tale

"Be careful what you wish for" is a common Faustian moral, but Addie Larue expresses this classic story in beautiful new ways without turning into a mere morality tale. Not content with tricky fae folk, or a deal with the devil at the crossroads at midnight, Schwab's "gods who answer after dark" are a much more subtle and terrifying expression of our own misunderstandings, and her story telling across centuries make for an extremely compelling narrative. This is easily one of the best books I've read in a long, long time, and the ending turns the entire archetype on its head in a way that is absolutely inspiring!

Review of 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' on 'Goodreads'

I am amazed by this book. I didn’t know what it was when I started, and so it took me by surprise and just kind of mesmerized me. It’s beautiful and sweet and sometimes sad, but also hopeful. I loved every twist and turn. I loved the words, often poetic, frequently satisfying in the way they were so unusual but also so precise. Near the end I worried that the book couldn’t possibly end as well as it started, but it did, and I was amazed all over again.

Review of 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' on 'Storygraph'

No rating

did not like writing style, did not like characters. will confess i skipped ahead and read a significant section of the end bc i wanted to see if it was worth continuing on. decided no.

Review of 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' on 'Goodreads'

I'm continuously impressed with V.E. Schwab's ability to write such engaging characters AND engaging worlds! She's quickly becoming my favorite author.

Addie's relationship with Luc is such a better telling of a Beauty and the Beast type tale. You're never quite certain of Luc's motivation, or at least I wasn't ever convinced. I do feel bad for Henry, I was always getting the vibe that he was a pawn in Addie and Luc's game. This tale does make you think a lot about what "love" really is. Would Addie have loved Henry any more if he wasn't the exception to the rules? Did she love him any more than her other lovers over time? Or did she just love that she could tell her tale through Henry more so than she ever could through anyone else?

Can't say how much I loved this book!

Review of 'Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' on 'Goodreads'

I liked this book at first but pretty soon I grew pretty ambivalent about it and I really disliked the ending. She's staying with him as long as he wants and then she'll leave? That hardly seems like a punishment. Not to mention it just seems so petty in the context of her entire existence. What's-his-name didn't even seem like a good match for her; it really just seemed like she loved that he could remember her, not that she loved him, per se, so I don't even really buy that she was so hurt by that bargain. I'd seen a lot of hype so maybe that's why I was disappointed by this book. If I had no expectations maybe I would've enjoyed it more.

Review of 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' on 'Goodreads'

Better than it had to be. Good book that uses a woman's personal story as the history of women writ large. A woman literally makes a Faustian deal for freedom but cannot be remembered or leave any sort sign that she lived her life.

It really brings home the idea that historically - and to this day - women strive for recognition and to leave independent lives.

Review of 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' on 'Goodreads'

characters felt kinda one-dimensional and also why didn’t we get to learn more about the why and how of luc’s existence??? i just feel like this book could have done some good progress if the more “supernatural” aspects of the world building were more developed… but anyways not gonna rant about this, i’ve learn my lesson and i’ll stop taking recommendations from booktook, from now on i’ll only listen to the girlies on dark academia tumblr and the old guy from my local bertrand

Review of 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue' on 'Goodreads'

 Reading [a:V. E. Schwab|21785271|V. E. Schwab|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s [b:The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue|50623864|The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue|V.E. Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584633432l/50623864.SY75.jpg|46895612], which I did in less than a week (rare for me for a book 442 pages long) was nothing but fun, but I don't mean that it was shallow entertainment. The best way to describe its genre is quote a short blurb on the jacket flap and say that it's a "genre-defying tour de force." The fantasy genre might come closest, but I don't gravitate toward that genre, so I'm hesitant to call it that.
 Most of takes place in Brooklyn in 2014 and most of the characters are in their twenties, but it would be wrong to describe it as a novel about East Coast millennials. Its origins are in early eighteenth century France.

 There is magic to this evening.
 A defiant pleasure in a simple act.
 Addie spends …
avatar for laurzam

rated it

avatar for j6m8

rated it

avatar for thetanis

rated it

avatar for AnneN

rated it

avatar for herin

rated it

avatar for Elspeth

rated it

avatar for drb

rated it

avatar for ben.kc

rated it

avatar for ArchivalOwl

rated it

avatar for muffinista

rated it

avatar for tehjer_

rated it

avatar for derMax

rated it

avatar for sporiff

rated it

avatar for Hannes

rated it

avatar for Daylight

rated it

avatar for Xan_Reads

rated it

avatar for _astronoMay

rated it

avatar for jumpinggrendel

rated it

avatar for ScottSchlueter

rated it

avatar for heyraeh

rated it

avatar for Smoak

rated it

avatar for unicornia

rated it

avatar for 73pctGeek

rated it

avatar for theo_the_artist1

rated it

avatar for ish-i-ness

rated it

avatar for JohSny

rated it

avatar for hhasart

rated it

avatar for Wyatt

rated it

avatar for CSND

rated it

avatar for satyajit

rated it

avatar for claracd

rated it

avatar for dragna

rated it

avatar for ichebi

rated it

avatar for boomboxnation

rated it

avatar for AwkwardTurtle

rated it

avatar for brstf

rated it

avatar for AnotherFelix

rated it

avatar for charlottereadstoo

rated it

avatar for unicorndeburgh

rated it

avatar for JoeClu

rated it

avatar for ralex

rated it

avatar for HoneyBee

rated it

avatar for LaDragonista

rated it

avatar for Baltipink

rated it

avatar for Bitboxer

rated it

avatar for ginkgo

rated it

avatar for Rinn

rated it

avatar for duck

rated it

avatar for Bospaddestoel

rated it

avatar for karlhungus

rated it

avatar for Nikita

rated it

avatar for sleep-er

rated it

avatar for chaos_angel

rated it

avatar for Shtakser

rated it

avatar for RunningOutOf_Ink

rated it

avatar for daveb

rated it

avatar for Axl

rated it

avatar for bentreegecko

rated it

avatar for Avarla

rated it

avatar for SweetGravy

rated it

avatar for Olcia

rated it

avatar for chrisw_b

rated it

avatar for PineappleButtonUp

rated it

avatar for schellenberg

rated it

avatar for agessaman

rated it

avatar for SAKs

rated it

avatar for Graciesg2001

rated it

avatar for malarayofsunshine

rated it

avatar for balise

rated it

avatar for RyanHyde

rated it

avatar for mad_frisbeterian

rated it

avatar for avid-reader

rated it

avatar for Asusana

rated it

avatar for mqsalmon

rated it

avatar for gwcoffey

rated it

avatar for Joar

rated it

avatar for JudgeR

rated it

avatar for datwizzerd

rated it

avatar for withersbooknook

rated it

avatar for kerryn

rated it

avatar for AdmiralTheBear

rated it

avatar for chezkitch

rated it

avatar for crb

rated it

avatar for mleventhal

rated it

avatar for chayote

rated it

avatar for Rottenbot

rated it

avatar for thniels

rated it

avatar for Coleysscrollies

rated it

avatar for ErikThor

rated it

avatar for rychly

rated it

avatar for kf6gpe

rated it

avatar for EtherReads

rated it

Lists