The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

By: VE Schwab

5/5 📚

In 1714 France, a desperate girl makes a wish... calls for an answer to a prayer... that she can never take back. She wishes to be saved from an impending marriage she does not want; however, the wish leads her to be immortal yet forgotten forever. What ensues is an extraordinary full of adventure and dazzling tales from a woman who can't even speak her own name.

This book was definitely promising. I'll admit, I did enjoy the more modern days over the olden times. I'm just really not into the 18th century as much as others. The... sheer need for survival and torture during those times upsets me to read about. However, I do believe Schwab did justice to the struggles of those times. And reading about Addie's journey through them only strengthened my emotions towards her as a character. It made her story that much more compelling and well worth the read. I honestly felt like I was reading multiple books expertly combined into one flawless story.

The writing itself was absolutely magnificent! I wanted to highlight what felt like the entire book when I was looking for my own quotable moment (for my journal). It also was so descriptive it gave me an existential crisis. How often do we wish to just be forgotten? To just forget? How terrible would that wish actually be? To live forever? Addie's struggles (and later on, Henry's) truly made me reflect on my own life; a sign of excellent writing.

I'll admit, I bought this book due to the hype. I really didn't know much about it, so I had no idea it would be a love story as heart wrenching as it was. This was actually a nice surprise. Without the love, I'm not sure I would have made it through the story, but it was so beautiful. I'm truly struggling to find the words for this review because I feel nothing I say will do it justice. I implore you to just go buy it (or rent from the library 😉) and make your own judgments. I will say, it is long and took me weeks to actually get through, as I had to read other books in between, but I am so glad I read it! I think my life is enhanced by this story.