Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
It is Paris, 1714. Adeline LaRue is fascinated by the world. She yearns to explore it all, but her life prevents her from doing so. Desperate, she strikes a bargain with the darkness: unlimited time on earth in exchange for her soul when she no longer wants it. She quickly understands, however, that it was a curse. The people she meets forget her as soon as she is out of sight. Unable to do much else, Addie roams the earth for three hundred years, constantly recalling but always forgotten...until one day, in a dusty old bookshop in the crevices of New York, someone remembers her name.
Rating: 4/5
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a heart-wrenching historical about loneliness and human condition. It dwells on the power of belief and ideas while also depicting art and history, provoking thought. Addie is clever, worldly and distant; a muse for artists who create art centered around her but cannot remember it afterwards.
I particularly enjoyed the manner in which the book portrays the minuscule elements of a person’s life alongside significant events.
The premise seemed like an excellent opportunity to incorporate unconventional representation (in terms of characters and cultures) and address significant earthly issues; yet, the book fell short on both counts.
This is a novel to remember because of Schwab's great writing, fantastic world-building and humbled characters. Anyone looking for a slow-paced yet engaging historical novel should read it.
Similar books: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Trigger warnings
Age recommendation: 16+
Age recommendation: 16+
“The cat, also named Toby (“So I can talk to myself without it being weird . . .” he explained) looks at her as she blows on her tea. She wonders if the cat remembers.”
"Toby is a musician, and the signs of his art are everywhere. In the instruments that lean against the walls. In the scribbled lines and notes scattered on tables- bars of half-remembered melodies mixed in with grocery lists and weekly to do's.”
"The day passes like a sentence.
The sun falls like a scythe.”
"Two days later, when Adeline's father returns, he comes bearing a fresh pad of parchment, and a bundle of black lead pencils, bound with string, and the first thing she does is pick the best one, and sink it down into the ground behind their garden, and pray that the next time her father leaves, she will be with him. But if the gods hear, they do not answer. She never goes to the market again."
"Bea insists that everyone who works in a bookstore wants to be a writer, but Henry's never fancied himself a novelist. Sure, he's tried putting pen to paper, but it never really works.He can't find the words, the story, the voice. Can't figure out what he could possibly add to so many shelves. Henry would rather be a storykeeper than a storyteller."
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