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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Hardcover – Oct. 6 2020
V. E. Schwab (Author) Find all the books, read about the author and more. See search results for this author |
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER
THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER
Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah Magazine
#1 Library Reads Pick―October 2020
#1 Indie Next Pick―October 2020
BOOK OF THE YEAR (2020) FINALIST―Book of The Month Club
A “Best Of” Book From: Oprah Mag * CNN * Amazon * Amazon Editors * NPR * Goodreads * Bustle * PopSugar * BuzzFeed * Barnes & Noble * Kirkus Reviews * Lambda Literary * Nerdette * The Nerd Daily * Polygon * Library Reads * io9 * Smart Bitches Trashy Books * LiteraryHub * Medium * BookBub * The Mary Sue * Chicago Tribune * NY Daily News * SyFy Wire * Powells.com * Bookish * Book Riot *Library Reads Voter Favorite *
In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force.
A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.
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.
Also by V. E. Schwab
Shades of Magic
A Darker Shade of Magic
A Gathering of Shadows
A Conjuring of Light
Villains
Vicious
Vengeful
- Print length448 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTor Books
- Publication dateOct. 6 2020
- Dimensions16.76 x 3.94 x 24.26 cm
- ISBN-100765387565
- ISBN-13978-0765387561
- Lexile measure900L
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Product description
Review
Praise for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue:
“For someone damned to be forgettable, Addie LaRue is a most delightfully unforgettable character, and her story is the most joyous evocation of unlikely immortality.”
― Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods and winner of multiple Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards
"Completely absorbed me enough to make me forget the real world." ― Jodi Picoult, Washington Post
“Victoria Schwab sends you whirling through a dizzying kaleidoscopic adventure through centuries filled with love, loss, art and war ― all the while dazzling your senses with hundreds of tiny magical moments along the way. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue will enchant readers as deeply as its heroine’s Faustian bargain; you will find yourself in quick turns both aching with heartbreak, and gleefully crowing at the truly delicious, wicked cleverness in store.”
― Naomi Novik, Nebula and Locus Award-winning author of Spinning Silver
“Addie Larue is a book perfectly suspended between darkness and light, myth and reality. [This novel] is―ironically―unforgettable.” ― Hugo Award winner Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January
“The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is the kind of book you encounter only once in a lifetime. . . . A defiant, joyous rebellion against time, fate, and even death itself―and a powerful reminder that the only magic great enough to conquer all of it is love.”― Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M
“Sweeping in its scope yet wonderfully intimate, it's dark and sexy yet romantic and heartbreaking.” ―Rebecca Roanhorse, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Black Sun
“Rich and satisfying.” –Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“A knockout.” –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Epic.” –Library Journal, Starred Review
“Deeply romantic, impossibly detailed.” –Booklist, Starred Review
“A delightful surprise and a balm in difficult times..” –BookPage, Starred Review
“Schwab’s page-turner is an achingly poignant romantic fantasy about the desperate desire to make one’s mark on the world.” ―Oprah.com, Best LGBTQ Books of 2020
“A beautiful, meditative novel with an ending that hit me right in the heart.” ―Buzzfeed, Best Fall Fantasy 2020
"It's a bit cheeky to call The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Faust for romantic bisexual goths, but it's not wrong... I for one will most certainly remember her."―NPR
“Addie is unlike anything Schwab has written before―epic yet intimate, sweeping but not sprawling... If Addie shows anything, it’s that the impact of our actions and interactions can be vaster and longer-lasting than we can predict. Much like the seven freckles that sprinkle Addie’s face, we create our own constellations, and as we live through these darkened days, I feel brighter for having added Addie to mine.”―Slate
“Schwab beautifully explores what it means to be alone for so long that it's jarring and terrifying once you are finally seen...Addie is an independent and fascinating character who manages to make her mark in spite of the odds.”―USA Today
“Schwab’s writing is warm and intense, and the passages set in the past often make you feel as if you’re reading by candlelight...The book is an elegant comment on the erasure of women from recorded history, but not a pointed one; you never feel that Addie LaRue is a metaphor. She is a woman fighting literally to be seen while bearing witness to her own life, and I rooted for her throughout.”―New York Times Book Review
“One of the most propulsive, compulsive and captivating novels in recent memory.”―Washington Post
“There is no particular art to literary fiction that doesn’t exist in fiction of other genres, and V. E. Schwab’s new book The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue isn’t just an amazing book for its genre; it’s an amazing book, full stop...a gorgeous, immersive story...Schwab is an inclusive, ambitious, and exacting writer, and she doesn’t let either her characters or her readers off the hook...This book doesn’t blend genres, or even transcend genre.”―Chicago Review of Books
"This evocative and clever tale will leave you smiling, filled with love and longing for more magical moments in everyday life."―CNN, Best Books of October
"Expansive and utterly heart-wrenching...both heartbreaking and hopeful. I read the last hundred pages well into the night, gasping and sobbing. It’s a beautiful read."―Book Riot, 25 Must Read New Fantasy Books
“A remarkable, genre-defying epic of a woman fighting to thrive in a world that denies her existence....stunning.”―Shelf Awareness for Readers
"When I first finished Addie LaRue, I sat back with a deep sense of wonder. Schwab’s words had weaved their spell and left me starstruck... eloquent and beautiful...Addie LaRue sparks something internally as you read and what is the point of reading, if not to feel?"―The Nerd Daily
“[An] enthralling romantic adventure.”―Business Insider
"A career triumph...Her propulsive, lyric prose is here, her morally complex, entrancing characters, her unique shape of magic, all wrought within this entirely fresh premise that will no doubt become a long-lasting favorite...Addie defies genre, blending romance and history, fantasy and monstrosity, cresting through peaks of time, centered on a young (and also, technically very old) woman with both less and more agency than anyone alive...romantic, ambitious, and defiantly, deliberately hopeful. Epic and intimate at once, it asks what art is...Schwab is simply one of the most skilled writers working in her genre...The feat of this book is frankly awe-inspiring.”―Tor.com
“[Schwab] flexes her beautiful prose and sets the stage for an unforgettable tale.”―SyFy Wire
"Poetic and heartrending, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue is perfect for fans of time travel stories, historical fiction, and fantasy alike." ―The Register-Herald
"This spellbinding story is destined to be a classic." ―Greatist
"A beautiful tale of star-crossed love, magic, and a dark Faustian Bargain makes The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue the perfect book for the fantasy lover in your life!" ―The Mary Sue
"A gender flip version of Faust, and also a haunting love story that will linger." ―New York Journal of Books
"A masterpiece that has been so many years in the making, but the wait was truly worth every page...a book that will stay with you long after you finish reading the last word." ―Seventeen Magazine
"Irresistibly contagious." ―Locus Magazine
“One of the most haunting and bittersweetly beautiful novels I have ever read...a mature, introspective love story, and a thoughtful examination of what it means to have a life well lived.” ―Manhattan Mercury News (Kansas)
"Schwab's brilliant epic novel blends fantasy and history, romance and art, as it moves back and forth through time. Addie, one of the author's most morally complex and riveting creations, embarks on adventures both grand and lowly, as she travels, ghostlike, through the centuries." ―Bookmarks Magazine
“I was caught in the emotion, the demanded pound of flesh as I considered my own attachments and inherent sense of self, my notions of love and ache and need.” ―Historical Novel Society
About the Author
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Product details
- Publisher : Tor Books (Oct. 6 2020)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 448 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0765387565
- ISBN-13 : 978-0765387561
- Item weight : 653 g
- Dimensions : 16.76 x 3.94 x 24.26 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: #728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Historical Fantasy (Books)
- #104 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

VICTORIA “V. E.” SCHWAB is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades of Magic series, the Villains series, the Cassidy Blake series and the international bestseller The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Her work has received critical acclaim, translated into over two dozen languages, and optioned for television and film. First Kill – a YA vampire series based on Schwab’s short story of the same name – is currently in the works at Netflix with Emma Roberts’ Belletrist Productions producing. When she's not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.
Customer reviews

Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2021
Top reviews from Canada
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I loved the concept, but I set my expectations too high based on its rave reviews. Since the book had over 16k reviews - most of them being 4 and 5 stars - I expected to be totally enamored with this story and I kind of was, but I kind of wasn't.
Schwab's writing had a lyrical feel, and she had an interesting premise that slowly built over the first half and then whacks readers over the head with a good twist. I loved it! But then the story falters and d-r-a-g-s in the second half as we go over and over the fact that A) people will soon forget Addie, B) she has seven star freckles on her face (I'm still not sure of their relevance) and C) Luc will visit her on the anniversary of her curse. We meander through the mundane issues of her daily life as she adapts to new eras/people and while I wouldn't say the story was dull, it never fully caught my attention either. The story is about Addie, but I never got to know her and I felt like I was on the periphery of the story and emotion. I also didn't buy the romance Schwab was selling. We're told there's romance, but it felt forced and lacked passion. There was a whole lot more emotional zing to the other relationship in the story.
Schwab's languid approach to writing is filled with good descriptions of the different eras, but Addie remains emotionally elusive to the people around her and to the reader. A unique premise but with its overly drawn-out plot, this was just an okay read for me.
This is a story about love and loss and trying to make your life have meaning even when the odds are stacked against you. I would have given in so soon if I was in Addie’s position, I don’t think I could have survived the way she did. She had to fight every day, over and over again just to feel human. I think I would have enjoyed all that time to read, think of the number of books you could read in 300 years. 😆

Reviewed in Canada on March 18, 2021
This is a story about love and loss and trying to make your life have meaning even when the odds are stacked against you. I would have given in so soon if I was in Addie’s position, I don’t think I could have survived the way she did. She had to fight every day, over and over again just to feel human. I think I would have enjoyed all that time to read, think of the number of books you could read in 300 years. 😆




Addie LaRue wants a life with more than the proposed husband with whom she is paired; she does not want to live in a village and pursue a life of drudgery but wants to explore the world and be stimulated. However, in 18th century rural France, there is not much scope for a woman of her birth to do anything but be a wife and mother. Not that there is anything wrong with this but for Addie, its limitations in her eyes make her despair and so, in an ill-judged (or well-judged, depending on how you see it) meeting with the devil, she makes a deal whereby she can live forever but no-one will remember her - she instantly fades from their memory once she is out of their sight.
Liberating, yes? Well, in one sense, it must be great to feel invisible and to live a life on the periphery where everything feels new. However, Addie soon learns that this is a lonely existence where intimacies shared one evening are forgotten by the morning and whilst, she can return to the same places and meet the same people and hold their shared experiences close to her heart, she is never recognised; the closeness is never remembered; her life is ineffectual.
That is until she encounters Henry who does remember her and she gets to sample again the delight of having someone know her again; someone who is not the devil who visits her every year, as she could end this life and find peace from ignominy as long as she is prepared to give the deal-making devil, known to Addie as Luc, her eternal soul.
I really liked this book. The devil is beguiling, sensual and an ephemeral "bad boy" who ticks all of the boxes for "attractive male who really should be avoided but of whom it is difficult to steer clear". Addie is a strong female character who loves powerfully and with loyalty and following the ripples that she makes throughout history add an extra entertaining layer.
Imaginative and well-plotted, I would recommend this.
Top reviews from other countries

That is the emotional equivalent of reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
I am so very disappointed in this book. I was so stoked about the premise, and I thought it’d be dark and gritty and cool and we’d get a complex plot with a sprinkle of a love story.
But, instead, it was a 300 year slog through the endless emotional cycle of regret and loneliness of a 300 year old girl, her emotionally manipulative demon lover, and her clinically depressed, unbearably boring boyfriend. I could not get through it fast enough.
This entire book feels like a missed opportunity. Instead of going from beginning to end, letting time and consequence shape this character, we skate over the tiny detail of our Addie’s immortality by jumping back and forth along the timeline. And I know Victoria Schwab loooves jumping timelines. It’s her jam, and that’s fine, when it’s done well and with purpose. In this book, they’re literally spoilers, even going as far as using the phrase, “Later, she will learn...” Oh, good, then there’s no point in telling this story? Great. Glad I’m here. The timeline jumps not only ruin any tension in the story due to their poor timing, they serve as a mere acknowledgement of the passing of time, and gives us a rushed, topical rundown of the historical events the character has lived through that, while they shape the entire foundation of the world Addie lives in, don’t seem to affect her at all.
The other problem is Addie. She is a miserable, honestly pretty whiny, weirdly stubborn character from start to finish, and the author really grinds that misery in at every opportunity. It’s hard to follow her around and not be bored with her, “I’m lonely and sad all the time, but I’m also pointlessly stubborn about staying that way” narrative.
I could go on, but I’ll just say, I’m disappointed and I wanted it to be better.

This is a very character driven book, and Addie as a character is wonderful, because she is flawed. She spends her life forgotten, and so she has picked up a lot of bad habits in order to survive. I really liked the fact that Addie is not perfect, because she is a reflection of human existence. She has gone through so much and yet never loses her love for art, or for life. She has goes through the best and worst of human existence, and still finds joy in the world. She finds something new, and I feel like we all need a bit of Addie in our lives to remind us that joy can be found in the strangest of places. There are so many incredible characters in this book, predominately Henry the person who remembers her and Luc, the devil who cursed her. But each person that Addie meets adds a new layer to the story, and a new outlook and insight into this world. Each chapter was a new exploration, a new idea, explored through encounters with the people surrounding Addie.
The plot seems like a simple ‘person sold their soul to the devil to live forever’ kind of story, but it is so much more than that. There is so much to this book, but it is best left discovered in your own time. This book starts slow, in that it slowly pulls you into its rhythm, flipping backwards and forwards in time between events that all build upon each other. This creates the feeling that it’s weaving you into the story, dropping hints here and there until you’re so caught up in what will happen next that you can’t think of much else and don’t want to stop reading. This is definitely a book that will stay with me for a long time, and keeps haunting my thoughts.
‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’ is thought provoking, and brings up a lot of thoughts about the nature of existence and what it means to live. Can we really live without making a mark on the world, or is it the impression we have on others that makes us real? I wasn’t expecting this book to raise a lot of philosophical questions, and make me rethink the nature of existence, relationship with art and the meaning of life but it did! It made me think a lot about my own insecurities about life, being forgotten and the nature of art and reality. I’m sure a lot of readers won’t be quite so plagued by these thoughts but they were such an important part of the book in my opinion and they have left an impression on me in the most interesting way! There’s also such a focus on art in the book, which ties the whole thing together in such a wonderful way. There was such a love of art that came across in the pages, it felt like a love letter to creativity at times, which I found really inspiring.
Overall, I absolutely adored this book. It was beautiful, lyrical, incredibly written and haunting. It took me through such a range of emotions, and left me wanting more. The characters were fantastic, the story was gripping and it lived up to and then exceeded every one of my hopes. Schwab is a master storyteller and this is her best book to date. This book is special, fully of joy and I hope everyone who reads it loves it as much as I do.




Reviewed in Brazil on November 19, 2020




(A quick side note about the very poor editing. So many words missing, or extra words that I noticed. And continuity errors! Just one example is that she drapes her coat over a kitchen chair, but later mentions that there are no kitchen chairs! Also, at one point she's talking with someone in the kitchen, then in the next sentence she stands from the bed??? It drove me mad!!!)
I love Addie LaRue. I am awestruck at the resilience and strength she has. If I were her, I'd have surrendered my soul to the devil on the first night is Paris. She has a hunger to live and be free that is intoxicating. And she's not the only character that I loved. Even the fleeting ones were deep and lovable.
The writing is so beautiful. I love Schwab's style! She pulls you into the scene and it's so easy to feel everything the characters are feeling. It's an emersive experience.
Plot is where the book stumbles a little for me. The main plot, Addie making a deal with a God for her soul and the other main plot points (which I won't spoil), is wonderful!!! I loved every second. But there were far, far too many bits in between. I think this book could have been at least 100 pages shorter and you'd still get the entire experience without the parts that drag and make you wonder why everyone is saying such wonderful things about this book!!
But you get past those parts, the main plot takes over and... I shattered. I completely shattered, I'm still crying, I may be crying for a while. It's absolutely devistating and yet stunningly beautiful. I will, happily, read this book again in a few year and still cry my eyes out! At least the second time I'll know to have tissues at the ready!
I have a couple more of the authors books on my shelf, unread, and I'm really looking forward to them now!