From the Bookshelf of Ranters and Reviewers…

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V.E. Schwab,

Victoria Schwab

Start date: February 1, 2021

Finish date: February 28, 2021

Discussion: BOTM

Why we're reading this: February Standalone BOTM 2021
[close] February Standalone BOTM 2021

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November 2021 Series BOTM Suggestions
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last updated Oct 21, 2021 11:56PM

October 2021 Continuation BOTM: The Wicked King
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last updated Oct 21, 2021 11:55PM

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What Members Thought

Nov 26, 2020 Lia Carstairs rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, adult, author-is-a-professional-torturer, made-me-cry, romance, buddy-reads, all-time-fav, demons

Not surprising but

that was heartbreakingly beautiful🥺

How dare you, Schwab . . . how DARE you😭

With all the mixed reviews on this book, I admit that I was very scared to read this and not love it.

BUT I needn't have worried, for this book—this unforgettable experience reading through Addie's journey—was EVERYTHING.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
“A dreamer,” scorns her mother.

“A dreamer,” mourns her father.

“A dreamer,” warns Estele.

Still, it does not seem such a bad word.
✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

It's 1714, and 23-year ol ...more

216 likes · Like · see review

Mar 03, 2021 ATheReader rated it really liked it

3.5 stars
This got a singular tear out of me. *Wild applause* Which is quite a feat if I say so myself.

I read this book after an extremely fast-paced and engaging read (The Grace Year) which caused me to spend 5 days reading this and a short reading slump. I find that I can slightly blame the slow pacing and the sorrowful feeling in this book for my slow descent into it. I would recommend that you level yourself into this, and read gradually slower-paced books before you reach for The Invisible ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

Oct 25, 2020 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2020, beautiful-covers, love-love-love, good-mental-health-rep, adult, four-and-a-half-stars, best-of-the-best, made-me-cry, favorites-2020, feelin-like-fall

This was absolutely brilliant and breathtaking and yet, I can't tell you how I feel about it yet, simply because I'm still sorting through my thoughts. Just know: This book felt like the equivalent of getting hit by a train and absolutely destroyed me. I haven't felt so much pain from a book in so long, and I have zero idea what I'm going to say about this book, because I can never convey how this made me feel.

Anyways, review (and star rating) to come.

(Also, if you finished reading this recen ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

Nov 29, 2020 lookmairead rated it really liked it

Here’s what I LOVED:
- This concept. It’s part mythical + part magical. And oddly enough, insanely relatable.
- The immense level of creativity to make this interesting.

Here’s what made me go HMMMMM:
- the poetry-like ramblings. It felt misplaced.
- It had some other repetitive wording aspects to it, that could have been edited out... but I realize it couldn’t have fully avoided in this concept.

So, 4ish/5: I know Hollywood has picked this up - and if they don’t use Blur’s song - Girls & Boys an ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

May 27, 2016 inês rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021

2nd review

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

a story with such a synopsis and author has almost no way that it could go wrong. and it didn't! almost...

the most brilliant aspect about this book resides not only in its creativity but rather in the emotional, raw tone that accompanies it: wonderings ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

May 07, 2023 Briney rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: copy-audio, romance, mediocre-shelf-of-meh, flatpack-character-personalities, everyone-loved-more-than-me, fiction, i-blame-the-hype, underwhelming, fantasy, ya

2.5

Main saving grace was that I was listening to this in audio and that its an easy listening experience.

I dont think I liked Addie’s supposed character development. Her actions in the 3rd act just felt wildly out of left field for me. Also so wasn’t convinced by the romance, I need more than just ‘oh you’re the only one that does x, so we’re in love now’. Not convinced I even liked Addie as a character. I feel like there were an awful lot of missed opportunities with her character and the plot ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Nov 13, 2020 Georgie Dawn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-release, illumicrate

This rating is subject to change as I am currently feeling MANY THINGS

7 likes · Like · see review

Oct 14, 2020 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, favourites, fantasy, historical, europe, aesthetic-covers, character-driven

Oh my gosh!! I'm honestly so glad that I get to wrap up my 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge by finishing The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue <3 This is definitely my favourite V.E. Schwab book to date!!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a spectacular blend of historical fiction and fantasy. It straddles between the present timeline and the distant past as seen from Addie's own subjective lens and personal narrative. If there's one thing that prompted me to add this to my tbr, it's the very appe Oh my gosh!! I'm honestly so glad that I get to wrap up my 2020 Goodreads Reading Challenge by finishing The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue <3 This is definitely my favourite V.E. Schwab book to date!!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a spectacular blend of historical fiction and fantasy. It straddles between the present timeline and the distant past as seen from Addie's own subjective lens and personal narrative. If there's one thing that prompted me to add this to my tbr, it's the very appealing premise and the sublime exploration of Faustian bargain - and it absolutely didn't disappoint.

The writing style here is the brightest star in the constellation. I only have to read a few pages to know that this is for me. From the couple V.E. Schwab books that I've read, the prose of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is by far her most poetic, mature, and coherent. While I had minor concerns with slightly rushed writing in her other series that I've read (particularly Monsters of Verity), it's refreshing that the writing is spotless and so well excecuted here. For example there's an excellent use of literary devices which foreshadows Addie's flashbacks so for most parts the jumps between the present and the past felt pretty seamless and the flow pretty natural. I'm particularly fascinated by the parallels between the timelines. Additionally, I also really enjoyed the mentions of the artworks in the start of each section and it truly amazed me how nicely these visual elements fit together with the story. The imageries which conjured to my mind are also gorgeous and left me thinking even when I was taking breaks in between while reading it. Thus, the writing pulled me in like strong gravity and I must say, it's absolutely memorable & remarkable.

The development of the central themes are also very done here. In this particular novel, I quite enjoyed the explorations of what exactly is meant to be loved, what are the human qualities, and what one would take to make a mark & be remembered. The start of the book was haunting in that Addie realised that she was forgotten and not loved, so it was heartwarming to see how things unfolded as the novel progresses and how she found ways to connect with other people even in small & but genuine gestures.

The solid thematic development leads to a cast of relatively likeable characters. My favourite is definitely Addie herself. She has her own flaws e.g. stubborness, but she's also really relatable in that she's trying to make a mark. As someone who recently graduated from Undergrad degree and currently in the crossroad leading to the next chapter, I found Addie's narrative relatable. Addie's story is a reminder that there will always be ways for our stories to be heard and no matter how desperate we are (whether it's the fear of rejection or having the concerns of not feeling validated) there's always hope as long as you try to carve out a mark. So from Addie's relatable perspective, I also found myself growing onto Henry's. Hence the character development are also pretty well done here.

My slight concerns come from Addie's relationship with the darkness whom she bargained in the 18th Century and the romance - though these aren't major issues and didn't really discourage me from enjoying the story. While I found the relationship between Addie & Henry pretty solid and genuine (I could handle a bit of romance plots as long as they're reasonably justified and the characters are likeable), I felt slightly more ambiguous towards the devil (I personally found the devil to be the least likeable major character).

Content-wise, this is mostly a really pleasant read though there's a few direct / indirect mentions of: sex (fortunately quite subtle), violence (sporadic and only in the flashback), death (indirect) - so this is something to be aware of if one of these are your triggers.

Other than the minor concerns listed above, this is a highly emotional, coherent, and unique novel. Reading this feels like meeting a long lost companion and cures loneliness. I'm glad I didn't have to painfully wait for this circa 2017 (I only became more familiar with V.E. Schwab more recently) and after reading this novel, I'm definitely going to eagerly anticipate her future releases & check out her other series!

(4.5 stars out of 5) ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2021 OldBird rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: new-adult, fantasy, e-books, romance, paranormal, dark, 3rd-person-present-tense

A deliciously twisted story of love, loss, hope, dreams, and why you probably shouldn't sell your soul for any reason at all. This was one of those books that once I picked it up, I did not want to put it back down. I made excuses to extend reading sessions just because I. Had. To. Know. What the next chapter would bring. This when it's written in 3rd person present tense, which is something that usually bugs me so much it's difficult to read. The prose flowed so well I just didn't care.

Yes, it A deliciously twisted story of love, loss, hope, dreams, and why you probably shouldn't sell your soul for any reason at all. This was one of those books that once I picked it up, I did not want to put it back down. I made excuses to extend reading sessions just because I. Had. To. Know. What the next chapter would bring. This when it's written in 3rd person present tense, which is something that usually bugs me so much it's difficult to read. The prose flowed so well I just didn't care.

Yes, it can veer into florid language with a bit of a purple rinse showing through at the roots, but there's something about the darkness of the story, like some kind of messed up fairy tale blended with contemporary urban fantasy and historical fiction, that made it just fit for me.

While the characters are kept fairly distant by the narration style, it was their story I was drawn to. I'm not sure I could say how I felt about Addie or Henry or Luc - it was their actions as they tumbled through time and wove their unreliable tales around one another. The side characters all just add spice to an already flavourful story. Despite being distant, everyone feels like a real person, like their relationships are true. There's this strange inevitableness about it all.

I'm not much of a romance fan, but the way everything's handled in this stops it from being breathy swooning while still managing to evoke meaningful character chemistry. It is, in short, freaking masterful.

I loved the story. I loved the twists and turns, both those that were predictable and those that were less so because it was the combined frustration and excitement of seeing the characters put two and two together. There's plenty of originality spun around this weird whirlwind romance that meant despite having an oddly familiar feel, it didn't feel like a stale old cliche. Alternating chapters between past and present only served to spur on my need to know everything as soon as possible. The pacing is a little like water down the plughole - it starts of slow and gentle before spiralling down into unputdownable page-turning madness.

The ending threw me for a second, but honestly I think it suits the story perfectly. There's something just a little bit wrong with it all that makes it so right. I did have to stop to think a few times because it wasn't obvious to me what was being explained (view spoiler) but apart from one particular moment of minor disappointment after all the build up, I decided to just roll with it and enjoyed the book immensely.

One for fans of mild dark romance and twisted tales. ...more

1 like · Like · see review