Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
I received a free ecopy of this book in return for an honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity.
I should also confess that I am a massive fan of Victoria Schwab. Being offered this book had me running around the house, flapping my arms and shrieking with excitement, but it’s always a nervous moment when you start a new book by an author you love. If it’s not up to standard, the disappointment is crushing. From the off, though, this book is in a class of its own.
Addie is born in a tiny hamlet in late 17th century France. She feels imprisoned within the confines of the village, and when her parents try to marry her off, and she makes a deal with a dark god, for freedom. It comes at a steep price though. No-one remembers her and she can leave no mark on the world. She wanders through Europe and America for 300 years, drifting through people’s lives, sometimes spending months with one person, instantly being forgotten once out of sight. Meeting them every day ‘for the first time’. Until the life-changing moment, in a small second-hand bookshop in New York, when a young man remembers her from the day before.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a beautiful and haunting book. Pathos winds through the pages like an old vine. The flow of words is easy but poignant. The narrative flips between Addie’s origin story and 2014 New York. The language is beautiful, the past written in the present tense with peeks into the future. Addie is such a relatable character despite her situation. It was a strange feeling reading about someone who can’t hold onto anything whilst surrounded by favourite books, and beloved objects. It made me think about the nature of possession. When I neared the end of the book, the tears began to flow as I feared a tragic end whilst desperately hoping for a happy ever after. I’m not going to say whether I got it.
I already know that this is a book I will reread soon, and maybe often. I can see this becoming an annual pilgrimage in a way that Schwab’s other books haven’t, as good a they are. There is just something very special about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. In her Instagram, the author said this book was ten years in the making. As a reader, it’s worth every minute.
Bonus: it’s going to be a film! Excuse me, I need to go run round my house, flapping my arms a shrieking with excitement.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
