I have a confession: I have been trying to pick up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue for almost a year now. Not for lack of trying – I just had so many other books on my TBR, and this one so out of my comfort zone, that I kept pushing it aside. At some point, I even ended up letting an old coworker borrow my physical copy… which I promptly never got back.
Suffice to say, I can finally check The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue off my list, and earn a sweet Good Reads achievement too. The question is, was this whimsical historical fantasy worth the year long wait?
**Please note this review contains an ending spoiler**
Plot Summary
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue tells the story of naive 23 year old Addie and her humble 18th century beginnings in France. In an effort to escape an arranged marriage and eventual broodmare status, Addie prays to “the gods that answer after dark”, an obviously terrible idea, for a way out. Naturally, the Devil himself, nicknamed Luc, shows up to play a semantics game with Addie and grants her immortality and an escape, but with some unfortunate side effects. Addie is forgotten by everyone she meets the moment she leaves their sight, and she can’t leave any trace in the world – no writing, no property, and unable to say her own name.
We follow Addie through 300 years of isolating history, with Luc visiting frequently to antagonize her in the hopes of her allowing him to claim her soul as payment for her original crappy wish. During this time, Addie witnesses major historical events and even meddles in some of them – whether a muse for artists or playing spy for the French resistance in WWII. Despite her forgettable status, Addie still finds she can leave her mark on the world in these ways.
Fast forward to New York City 2014, and Addie meets Henry, a bookstore employee who does remember her attempt to swipe a book from the bookstore he runs. Over time, Addie and Henry develop a romance through shared experiences and unfortunate curses, culminating in a final ploy to ditch their predicaments completely, but at a bittersweet cost.
Quality of Writing
Rating: 5/5
Simply put, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a work of written art. The pose is poetic and thought provoking, with plenty of highlights on my Kindle. I found myself very touched by passages and prose, especially when exploring what it means to leave your mark on this world. This book really made me think about my own legacy and what I want to leave behind when I’m gone.
Plot Development
Rating: 2/5
It is true that the writing of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is gorgeous. However, the plot itself is 80% fluff, 15% self-involved melancholy, and 5% actual plot. While much of the writing resonated with me, I really think that this book could’ve been a 430 page collection of poems and life lessons instead of the hollow love story that it is. I didn’t feel very intrigued at any of the plot development checkpoints, and at times felt like I was reading the book for word count, not content.
Characters
Rating: 2/5
While there are many minor characters throughout The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the main characters are Addie (obviously), Henry, and Luc – none of which I loved in particular.
Oftentimes, I found Addie to be quite selfish and immature for a woman with literally hundreds of years of life experience, and I realized that I stopped feeling sorry for her at some point. Henry was sweet and complicated in an emotional sense, but in no way was I kicking my feet or putting him on my “book boyfriend” shelf – if anything, he was immensely underdeveloped and boring at times. Honestly, I enjoyed Luc and his sh*tty games and found him to be a much more developed and interesting character.
Although Addie and Henry had plenty of cute romantic moments, I was pretty much chomping at the bit for Addie and Luc to get together, as I really enjoyed their tension throughout the book and it felt like the obvious lead up. Unfortunately, when Addie and Luc do get together at the very end, I was incredibly disappointed in the direction V.E Schwab went with their story and basically rage quit my Kindle for a couple days.
Ease of Reading
Rating: 3/5
Again, the writing in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is breathtaking prose, but this did in turn make the book a bit of a drag to get through since it isn’t easily digestible writing. I do enjoy my fair share of poetic novels, but this book did feel pretentious at times when it really didn’t need to be. This is a romance novel at its core – I don’t want to feel like reading it is a laborious task.
Ending
Rating: 1/5
I could not have been more disappointed in the ending of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and unfortunately, I can’t explain why without ruining it, so this is your warning.
I realize this might be a “me” problem, but I am a self-identified Romantasy reader. So, I typically expect some sort of “Happily Ever After”, even if it’s not cookie cutter. I legitimately feel like I was baited into thinking the ending would be bittersweet at the least, and don’t get me wrong, in many ways, it was! BUT, Addie’s sudden vengeance tour directed at Luc after choosing to go with him ON THE VERY LAST PAGE seriously pissed me off. I feel like there was strong implication throughout the entire book that Addie and Luc were meant to be together, so a sudden revenge plot with zero follow up was wildly irritating and felt unfinished.
Would I Recommend This Book
At the expense of sounding like a broken record, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has beautiful writing, but that’s about all it has. I am a vibes reader at the end of the day, and this book sadly is not for me. I am not a prestigious critic, nor will I ever pretend to be, so recommending a book based on prose would be disingenuous on my part. Moreover, this book left me feeling emotionally hollow at the end and gave me a mild existential crisis – something I would not normally recommend unless you’re into that kind of emotional damage.
Overall Rating
Despite the beautiful writing of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, as well as the thought provoking content, this book did not meet my expectations with plot or character development. I also found the writing to be tedious at times, and the ending was a genuine disappointment. I generally would not recommend this book unless you are someone that wants a poetic thought piece on life and legacy.
Book Rating: 2/5 (TW: Death, Existentialism, Prostitution)
Spice Rating: 1/5
Curious about how I rate my reads? Check out my Rating System Blog Post for more!
Let’s Talk
One of the main points of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is that Addie is unable to leave a legacy behind despite her immortality. Is a life without legacy or human connection actually living, or is it just existing? Would you choose immortality at the expense of your humanity?
Reading Stack
Previous Book: The Bond That Burns
Current Book: The Last One
Future Book: We Who Will Die
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