The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

★ ★ ★ ★ ★  5/5

If you could live forever, would you? At what cost? Addie LaRue is a character so many of us could relate to — someone who feels that this life and this world are too grand to settle for mediocrity. One desperate moment, she bargains to live forever, unaware that she will be cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

This is how her extraordinary and invisible life begins. It gives new meaning to the phrase, “Be careful what you wish for.”

V. E. Schwab’s excellent and effortless writing makes you believe that this story, Addie’s story, just might be real. The jumps between Addie’s present and past are seamless and easy to understand. From her childhood home in 18th century rural France to her nomadic life in NYC, the descriptions of each place are so detailed, it feels like you are her invisible shadow. 

By the end, it felt like Addie’s story unfolded so neatly. I am amazed at how intricately Schwab wove so many key elements together. Although I figured out some of the things that were probably meant to be surprises, I still enjoyed discovering how it all played out. 

Goodreads Choice Award:
Nominee for Best Fantasy (2020)

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.