Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab

Published By: Titan Books
Publication Date: October 6, 2020
Date Read: May 10, 2025
Genre: Adult – Urban Fantasy / Magical Realism
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 560

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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.

In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab’s #1 New York Times Bestselling Author genre-defying tour de force.

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

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has been on my TBR for so long. I am a huge fan of VE Schwab and ever since reading Vicious back in 2015 I have been obsessed with everything I’ve read from her. I will admit, I was apprehensive about starting this one. VE Schwab is known for pushing the boundaries of genres and I fully believe she has a book for everyone, no matter your taste. But that does mean that some of her books won’t be for you, and I had seen a few people commenting that those who loved Vicious have not liked this one. As Vicious is my all time favourite book, I was nervous. However, I actually really enjoyed Addie LaRue so I really needn’t have worried.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows Addie, a young girl living in France in the 1700s. It’s her worst nightmare to have a boring life of marriage and motherhood, so when she runs away from her wedding, she will do anything she can to have a better, more exciting life… even if it means selling her soul. Not really understanding the gravity of her decision, Addie gives up her soul to live indefinitely. But what she didn’t count on was that yes she would have a life not tied down to anyone… but that is because nobody remembers her. As soon as she is out of sight she has gone from their memory. Until 300 years later she walks into a bookshop to meet Henry… the only person who remembers her.

I really enjoyed the premise of Addie LaRue. I’ve always been a big fan of stories about devils and demons and so this was definitely up my street. This was definitely more of a romance than any of VE Schwab’s other books, and while it is definitely not my favourite work from Schwab, it is very very good. Maybe because I have lots of different tastes in books, I do enjoy a wide range of genres, this one definitely worked for me. I enjoyed the fact that it was a mix of genres. It was a romance, it was a mystery, it even had some horror influences in there. And I really enjoyed all of it. One reason I love VE Schwab’s work so much is her writing is just absolutely beautiful. She has the most quotable writing! I am always just blown away by how gorgeous and moving her beautiful storytelling is, and this was no different.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was a beautiful tale filled with hard hitting topics. The thought of mortality, the idea of living your life completely alone, the idea of finding someone who loves you just for you and the idea of what legacy do we leave behind. I was absolutely here for each and every one of these themes throughout this book. I was absolutely obsessed with so many of these ideas, and loved experiencing them through Addie and Henry. I will say I was expecting the ending to be absolutely heartbreaking, after everything that I have seen online. I don’t know whether I bigged it up in my head or what, but I didn’t actually think it was that bad. It was beautiful and sad, but very fitting for the theme of the book.

I really enjoyed The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and if you have read some of VE Schwab’s other work and felt like it wasn’t for you, I definitely urge you to give this one a go as this one is so different from her others. I’m really glad I finally read this one. While I probably won’t re-read this one as I feel it won’t have as much of an impact when you know how it ends, I’m super glad I read it and it just reinforced my belief that VE Schwab’s writing is so beautiful and she can write absolutely anything and excel.

“Because time is cruel to all, and crueler still to artists. Because visions weakens, and voices wither, and talent fades…. Because happiness is brief, and history is lasting, and in the end… everyone wants to be remembered.”