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

Novel: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V.E. Schwab

Addie LaRue is a young French woman in 1714 who decides to make a Faustian deal. She will live forever but no one will remember her. Seeing it as the only way she won't be forced into a life she doesn't want Addie's decision made sense to me. Schwab painted a pretty bleak picture of what Addie's life would have turned out to be had she stayed where she was. 

We follow Addie as she goes out into the world and deals with the repercussions of her deal. The chapters that deal with Addie's past were, imo, the best chapters. I loved discovering the cities and times right along with Addie. One minor complaint about this part of the book and it is a smidge of a spoiler. I felt the bit about World War 2 to be lacking. It felt like, to me, WW2 could have been swapped out with any other war and it wouldn't have changed anything. This is a minor complaint though. The opera bit is easily my favorite part of the book. I wish that kind of stuff could have made up more of the book's plot. 

Now to get to the stuff I didn't enjoy. At first, I thought I didn't enjoy the parts where Addie was in the present day because it wasn't focused on history. After thinking about it I think my problem is something else. That something else is Henry. When Addie first met him I thought he was fine. He worked at a bookstore, what is not to love? Unfortunately, the more Addie and I learned about Henry the less I liked reading about him. Addie might have fallen in love with him but I sure didn't. I will say I appreciate Schwab using Henry to discuss depression and anxiety. I have an anxiety disorder and found Henry's anxiety relatable, but that didn't make me care about him. The only reason I cared about Henry was because Addie cared about Henry, and even that could only carry me so far. It isn't even that I dislike Henry, I just found him boring to read about. I also have an issue with why he can remember Addie. I can see what Schwab was going for but it just doesn't work for me. Again, this is just my personal opinion. 

There is also one more thing I would like to touch on which is something I both enjoyed and didn't enjoy. It is time for me to talk about Addie's relationship with Luc. As a warning, it will be impossible for me to write about this without some kind of spoilers. I'll try and keep it minor but you have been warned. 

When I read a book I try and stay away from anyone else's opinion until I have finished. If I don't, I find that their opinion colors mine. During my reading, I enjoyed the relationship between Addie and Luc and how it evolved over the course of the story. I like that their ending is left ambiguous. I like that Schwab showed how toxic their relationship is. Imagine my surprise when I started reading online about how people thought they are relationship goals. I feel like I read a different book than these people did. I still don't understand how anyone could think they belong together after finishing the book but, you know, to each their own. So, yes, I enjoyed reading about their relationship, but not like that. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I will be picking up at least one more of Schwab's books in the future. I think it is worth reading but be warned there are suicidal thoughts and an attempt, depression, anxiety, and a toxic relationship. I didn't find any of those issues to be too graphic but since tolerances can vary keep that in mind if you are thinking about picking this up. 

  I own this book, it was one of my Book of the Month club picks.