I haven’t written a review for about 7 months. This year has been the weirdest one ever and I completely lost the motivation to write reviews. However, I still managed to read a lot of books! I read 79 in 2020, 79! I’ve never read that many, but I’m pretty sure it’s a fluke. I’ve spent a lot of my time on furlough not working and I filled this time with reading, and I read some pretty great books in the past year, some have become instant favourites so I want to try and catch up on reviewing them, especially the ARCs I was lucky enough to recieve from NetGalley. So without dwelling further on this crappy year, I’m going to dive straight into a review of one of my favourite books, which will come as no surprise to the people who know me becasue this is an author I never shut up about.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. Thanks to Titan and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC.
In rural France in the 1700s, Addie makes a deal with the dark, her soul in exchange for a never ending life of freedom. But the darkness doesn’t play fair, and suddenly Addie finds that as soon as she leaves someone, even just for a second, they forget everything about her. Addie is cursed with being constantly forgotten, no matter how hard she tries. Until 300 years past and in modern day New York, she comes across someone who remembers her.
“Being forgotten, she thinks, is a bit like going mad. You begin to wonder what is real, if you are real. After all, how can a thing be real if it cannot be remembered?”
This book has been on my TBR since I first heard about it in 2017; or that’s the date my Goodreads tells me. It’s a premise that has disappointed me in the past with a completely different book, but I hoped that Schwab’s would be beautiful, heart-breaking, and hopeful. Thankfully, I was right because I find the premise of being forgotten by everyone you meet ridiculously complex and intriguing.
I usually love a more plot heavy book, something with lots of twists and turns and intrigue. This had such amazing characters and emotional journeys that it didn’t need a huge sprawling plot full of foreshadowing, and dark villains to battle, to keep me utterly enthralled. One of my favourite series is the Shades of Magic by Schwab, so I know that she can write those kinds of fantasy novels, and write them well. So Addie LaRue just proves how multitalented this author is.
This book is so impactful in my mind that I forget that there are only really 3 characters that are central to the story; Addie, Henry, and Luc. Although the other background characters are well balanced and feel just as real as the main cast, they don’t have the same memorability as the core set. Addie is an engaging and interesting protagonist who story is so compelling I didn’t want to put the book down because I cared about how her story progressed. As this book doesn’t run chronologically and jumps around the timeline, it was interesting to see the balance of the naïve Addie who made the deal, to the 300-year-old Addie who had figured out the loopholes she could exploit, and who could expertly undermined Luc (or the “devil”) with the ease of someone who had been doing so for centuries. Henry’s story hit me differently. While Addie’s is built around true loneliness, the loneliness of being forgotten, Henry’s seemed to hit me more emotionally, probably because it’s more real. He’s lost in a crowd of people who love him, thinking that they don’t care. It’s hard to explain why, but here’s a quote that has stuck with me:
“Other people would call him sensitive, but it’s more than that. The dial is broken, the volume turned all the way up. Moments of joy register as brief, but ecstatic. Moments of pain stretch long and unbearably loud.”
Henry and Addie’s story is beautiful to read, to watch them grow together and experience their soft love story feels life a gift. I’m trying to find another way to say it without sounding entirely soppy but this is exactly how I felt when reading this book back in August. Yet, you can’t talk about this book without mentioning Luc. He was such a complex, interesting part of the novel, and he’s not even in it that much. And yet, you constantly feel his presence. He hovers over Addie like a rain cloud. I won’t say too much because I hate to spoil, but watching him develop was unexpected and wonderful.
As you can probably tell, I gave this book five stars. I still sit and think about it. I could try and choose a favourite but I’m convinced for me it is impossible. Is it Addie’s growth? Henry’s emotionally journey? Their love? Luc and Addie’s centuries long battle? The beautiful writing that makes you savour every moment? Yes, it’s everything. This, to me, is a triumph for Schwab and it was everything I wanted it to be.
A Million Different Ways To Get Lost 