The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue SUmmary and Review
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the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue SUmmary
Contrary to the title, Addie, in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, isn’t actually invisible. (Her last name also means “the road,” but that’s irrelevant.) Addie only feels invisible because she was cursed by an a-hole of a god, and now she can’t die (only suffer) and no one can remember her. The second she’s out of someone’s line of sight, she’s forgotten. She goes through centuries traveling and often simply surviving until one day when someone actually remembers her.
Genre
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue blends elements of historical fiction, contemporary fiction, women’s fiction, contemporary romance, paranormal romance, fantasy, and even horror. It’s not a scary book, but it deals with damnation, fear, and a superhuman monster (who is in this case a god), elements all right at home in the horror genre. It’s also not really a romance. It’s only romantic.
The INvisible Life of Addie Larue REview
The very beginning of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is stellar. You quickly learn in a riveting and heartbreaking way that Addie is cursed to be forgotten. Schwab then pans back to the reason Addie is in her current predicament, a panicked prayer to a god who answers after dark. Schwab continues the pattern of alternating between Addie’s present and very long past. Addie has, after-all, lived for hundreds of years.
So why would Addie pray after dark, an act she was specifically advised against?
Desperation and not paying enough attention to the sky.
She was supposed to get married, but she didn’t want what she saw as a meaningless life of childrearing and home keeping with a man she didn’t love. She saw marriage as a curse, so she begged the gods to get her out of it, and what did she get instead? Cursed anyway. In this way, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is an interesting observation on both the paradox of womanhood and the modern obsession with living a life that is anything but ordinary, an obsession that often leads to deals with the devil.
These themes and the scenes of survival and heartbreak, make The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue a heavier read, but it is anything but boring. The second half of the book really picks up when someone remembers her. My favorite thing about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, however, is the thread of art Addie’s able to help others create throughout the book. Schwab writes, “The first mark she left upon the world, long before she knew the truth, that ideas are so much wilder than memories, that they long and look for ways of taking root.” As an artsy nerd, this quote made me smitten.
Read If…
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a good book to read if you’re figuring out an existential crisis, dealing with commitment issues, or trying to claw your way out of the doldrums. You’ll also love it if you enjoy historical fiction and books with Faustian bargains.
If You Loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRou You’ll Also Love…
Circe by Madeline Miller (a personal favorite)
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
The Book of Living Secrets Madeleine Roux
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (if you’re looking to dive into the world of literary fiction)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
by V.E. Schwab
Find V.E. Schwab on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads
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