Review The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Review The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

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.

The first time I saw this book, I was immediately intrigued. I was already a fan of V.E. Schwab’s books, but this was totally different than what I knew of her. But the storyline sounded very interesting. I was a little worried, because it’s a big book, so a big commitment, but when the Dutch publisher asked if I wanted to review the book, I couldn’t say no. And I’m so glad I did that!

This book is such a magnificent read. Every word is thought out and you really feel that in between the lines. Small things that seem insignificant, become a big thing later on. Throughout the book, you switch between the beginning in 1700 to the present day, in 2014. You might think that that would be annoying after a while, but that’s absolutely not the case. You want to know what happened in the past, that she is now in this situation, but the present day is just as interesting with someone who remembers her. This makes it such a pleasant read. 

The whole book and setting is amazing, but there’s just one thing that makes this book such a magical, incredible story and that is Addie LaRue herself. Damn. What a complex, intriguing, heartbreaking and gorgeous character is Addie. She starts as a young girl in 1700, making a wrong deal to save herself, to a woman in 2014 who is hardened, independent and unique, but you still see a little bit of the girl, every time her hearts get broken. Every event that happens to her, builds her character. She is not a perfect person. She isn’t good, but definitely not bad either. She is real, even though that is, of course, impossible since she is 300 years old. She is, without a doubt, one of the most layered characters I ever read about. Your heart breaks time and time again when people forget about her. But she does not give up. She fights for herself and is so incredibly strong. You cannot not fall in love with her.

This book is also definitely a good choice for people who love art and history. Important historical events are subtly woven into the story, without it becoming long-winded. The book is separated into multiple parts and every one of those starts with an artwork that has to do with the next part of the story. I think it’s a great addition to the story. 

The relationship between Addie and Luc was so interesting. It is constantly changing, love and hate woven through each other. Personally, I thought it was a lot more interesting than the relationship between Henry and Addie. On his own, Henry is definitely a well-written and complex character. V.E. Schwab explains in perfect detail how someone with anxiety and high-sensitivity deals with life. But other than that, he is a lot less interesting in comparison with Addie.

What I really do want to talk about regarding this book is seksuality. I LOVE how well V.E. Schwab writes about non-straight characters. I really liked reading about how Addie is (well, I think she is) pansexual. She falls in love with creative souls, even though she has a few specific things she likes (black curls all the way). And even though you also get to know a self-serving reason she is interested in creative souls, it is nice to see how V.E. Schwab normalises it, something I hope more writers will do. The same situation is for Henry. Even though he has a preference for women, he still gets feelings for men and that’s perfectly okay. I thoroughly enjyed reading that.

This book is about love, about sacrifices for yourself, but also for others. It’s about history, about art, but most importantly, it’s about Addie, one of the most complex and beautiful characters ever written. It’s a stand-alone and the whole story is finished up perfectly. I don’t often cry with books, but this book took me apart like no other. Even though it’s terrible that everyone forgets Addie, I wish I had the same curse about this book, so I could read it over and over again and be amazed over and over again. This book is perfection, from beginning to end. It’s unique and I don’t think I’m ready ot let go of Addie yet. Not now, maybe not ever. Whatever genre preference you have, this one transcends them all, which makes it the perfect book to read for everyone.

10/10

I got this book as a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Queen Of Geek

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