by V.E. Schwab
“…and it is sad, of course, to forget. But it is a lonely thing, to be forgotten. To remember when no one else does.”
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (pg 77)
Summary
In 1714, Addie is promised to be married to somebody she does not like, never mind love. Her father is forcing the marriage, and all Addie wants is her independence. Independence to choose how she lives her own life. After praying to all of the gods she knew would be acceptable to pray to, but to no avail, Addie goes into the woods at night, and prays to a god she knows is no good. But at least she gets an answer. Addie tells the god (Luc) that she wants to live freely, without thinking about the meaning of her words. She promises him her soul-but only when she’s done with it-and he accepts. Addie becomes immortal, but her promise came with a price. Nobody remembers her.
For centuries, Addie struggles to find comfort-lying, stealing, forging. She travels Europe, and is a part of many historical events, including being immortalized in paintings where she is always somewhat of a blur. Every year, Luc asks her to surrender herself to him, but every year Addie refuses. Eventually though, Addie and Luc do begin an affair that lasts for a number of years. However, they end up in a fight, after which she doesn’t see him for a very long time
Over the centuries Addie learns how to use her curse to her advantage, stealing what she needs, knowing that nobody will remember her if they turn around; until one day somebody does remember. Now, Addie now finds herself in an unfamiliar situation, where she starts falling for someone who can actually share a life with her-except he can’t. Henry had also promised his soul to Luc in return for a year of being loved. Addie won’t allow this to happen, so she makes a deal with Luc-her soul for Henry’s life.
My Thoughts
Plot
The idea of living forever but always being forgotten, I thought was a fantastic idea. I especially liked that Addie was born well outside of our modern time. That made her passage through history all the more real-especially when it comes to her family and her home. And then Henry shows up and everything is thrown on it’s head. I love how Addie needed to re-evaluate how she lived her life, and start to think about what was important to her.
Format
I listened to this as an audiobook, and while I did enjoy it, I think I would have enjoyed it more as a physical book. Sometimes I felt the need to go back to things, and with an audiobook, that is much harder to do.
Writing
You could have taken a third of this book away, and still had the same story. While I loved Addie’s backstory and seeing her interact with history, I think a chunk of it could have been summarized into a smaller section. That being said, I loved how the author really got into Addies mind. However, the drawback to this is that there was very little dialogue for a book this size.
Characters
Addie: Addie starts the novel chasing independence, and gets herself into a load of trouble. She knows better than to pray to the gods that answer at night, but she does anyways, and ultimately pays the price. From then on, everyone who meets her immediately forgets her-AND she becomes immortal. Throughout the book, you are shown how Addie survives her situation, but also the toll it takes on her. I would say that her biggest strengths are her endurance and stubbornness because no matter how lonely she is, how many times she is forgotten, she still loves to live a fulfilling life. She is wise enough to become unforgettable by living her mark on a number of artistic works-from paintings to photographs to songs. That’s what makes her immortality worthwhile, and ensures she is never truly forgotton.
Luc: The villain of this story, Luc is the one who curses Addie. However, I don’t necessarily blame him. That’s his job. He’s essentially the devil. In terms of the story, I think that Luc was probably the most interesting character in the entire story. You really learn what makes him tick. Is he all evil? I don’t think so. I don’t think he’s remotely good, but he’s way more human than I ever could have expected. I wish he had a bit of a redemption arc, but at the same time, I did enjoy how he stayed true to his character. I do wish he had more page time overall. I also wonder how many other people he is using the same way he uses Addie
Henry: Henry, I think, was the weakest character in the entire story. For so much of this, he was blubbering about a breakup. His existence and issues definitely made Addie’s story more interesting, but overall, he fell flat to me. I get that he doesn’t want to die, but like, come on.
Final Thoughts
Please note that I did read this book over a year ago. But I think that that is sometimes a good time to review the book. A year ago, I rated this 5 stars on Goodreads and here was my review…
My goodness…this book…
I loved this story. It was engaging the entire time. Normally I don’t like time jumps, but I think this one did a fantastic job of it. I loved the character development that Addie had. I think that she really grew as a character and learned how to use her curse to her advantage in many ways. I loved Henry’s arc, though I have to say I was a tad disappointed in him towards the end. And Luke-don’t even get me started on Luc…that guy was bad news from the start but was written in such an engaging way. Like you wanted to like him on so many levels, and like Addie, I kept forgetting that he was not human and therefore didn’t experience emotions in the same way.
I think my opinion has changed somewhat, especially in terms of the character development. That being said, there are books I read last year that I can’t remember the title of-and this one I can. Would I rate this 5 stars still? No. But I am comfortable with 4.
Jenn V. Reads 