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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V.E. Schwab,

Victoria Schwab

Start date: October 1, 2021

Finish date: October 31, 2021

Discussion: ❃Book of the Month (BOTMs)❃

Why we're reading this: Because it was chosen as the October 2021 BOTM.
[close] Because it was chosen as the October 2021 BOTM.

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❃Book of the Month (BOTMs)❃

* January 2023 - One of Us is Lying
By Alexandria , The Third Book Nerd · 1 post · 18 views

last updated Jan 04, 2023 08:32AM

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December 2022 - Red, White & Royal Blue
By Alexandria , The Third Book Nerd · 3 posts · 20 views

last updated Jan 04, 2023 08:32AM

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What Members Thought

Jul 11, 2021 lily ✿ rated it it was amazing

this was a highly anticipated read due to the amount of hype surrounding this story. so often, reading a book that you’re so excited about ends in bitter disappointment. they can almost never live up to your expectations, to other’s raving reviews - but this one did. i can say with confidence that ‘the invisible life of addie larue’ is a book worth reading.

let’s start with the unique and captivating idea for a plot - a girl, having struck a deal with the devil (a god? the darkness) finds herself this was a highly anticipated read due to the amount of hype surrounding this story. so often, reading a book that you’re so excited about ends in bitter disappointment. they can almost never live up to your expectations, to other’s raving reviews - but this one did. i can say with confidence that ‘the invisible life of addie larue’ is a book worth reading.

let’s start with the unique and captivating idea for a plot - a girl, having struck a deal with the devil (a god? the darkness) finds herself having gained a life as long as she desires - hundreds of years long, where she is free to roam and explore, destined to endure all of life’s many pains and sorrows, but to also be captivated by all of its many beauties. the only catch? nobody remembers her. a door closed, eyes heavy with sleep, and she is forgotten. she roams the world like a ghost, where nobody knows her name - until henry.

i remember you.

henry’s story and the circumstances that lead him to remember her, the ‘mistake’ that led the two of them to fit so perfectly together - is just as compelling as addie’s own. (i’ll admit, he was my favorite character and i devoured his bits hungrily.) (i love my sad boys, that can’t be denied.) while addie’s story was fascinating, i fell in love with henry not just for his past but for who he was as a character.

the writing itself was beautiful, a prose that i fell in love with again and again after every line. if i had marked down each verse that made me think ‘wow,’ that made me lose my breath, all 440 pages would’ve been littered with sticky notes. i’ll admit that this book was long, the pages thick with words, but the chapters were short and easily read and all of the time devoted to it was worth it. i never grew bored, never grew tired of this masterpiece of a novel.

the plot itself was perfectly interspersed with present and past, fitting due to addie’s predicament. it was also (of course) pockmarked with cliffhangers and suspense, waiting and wondering for the ball to drop. (the ball always drops). i was so afraid that it would have a horribly sad ending, couldn’t see any way that it wouldn’t, but it surprised me. it was bittersweet, but perfectly fitting, and i honestly couldn’t have asked for anything more.

i absolutely loved this book. it is the sort of story that you wish you could read again for the first time. ...more

22 likes · Like · see review

Jun 15, 2021 jenna ♡ (fullybooked) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: physical-bookshelf, 5-star-reads, historical-fiction, adult, fantasy-romance, magical-realism

Okay wow wow wow.
I think I’m gonna have a book hangover for a WHILE. The writing in here is STUNNING and I was completely enamoured with the story from page 1.

I was a bit nervous going into this one because of the mixed reviews and the length - I was nervous that it would become a bit tedious and feel too wordy, but the pacing is *chefs kiss* perfection and I found myself wanting more. The settings are so beautifully captured you almost feel like you’re right there alongside Addie, it made me m ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jul 06, 2022 hania (taylor's version) ❥❥❥ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: stand-alone, on-my-bookshelf

This. was. so. fcking. amazing.
After 8 months, I finally finished it. I was so close to mark it as my DNF but I am so glad I didn't. Those last 200 pages that I had left since May literally made me give this book 5 stars. I don't know why I was struggling to finish this so much, since this book was amazing from the start. I love the language, the extremely original plot and the fact that it is just so intelligent. And the end literally made me cry so much. Everything is just- perfect.

But I thin ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

May 18, 2021 Books and margaritas rated it liked it

This is going to be an unpopular opinion as I didn’t enjoy this book much, but don’t let my personal option deter you - chances are, you are going to like it a lot as many people I know loved it.

A Faustian bargain and a love story - the idea appeared really enticing to me. An immortal who is cursed to walk invincible among people. Imagine all the great things she could have accomplished, places she could have visited - even if she couldn’t be remembered she could have changed lives, could have a This is going to be an unpopular opinion as I didn’t enjoy this book much, but don’t let my personal option deter you - chances are, you are going to like it a lot as many people I know loved it.

A Faustian bargain and a love story - the idea appeared really enticing to me. An immortal who is cursed to walk invincible among people. Imagine all the great things she could have accomplished, places she could have visited - even if she couldn’t be remembered she could have changed lives, could have altered the course of history.

But she didn’t. Addie’s life was actually very boring. All she did was to walk around and whine about her misfortune that she had caused herself. What did you expect, Addie? It’s 17th century and as a woman you were destined to marry someone and be a mother. And if you didn’t want to do that, what was your plan B? Could you somehow earn an honest living or were you simply planning to be a forever burden on your parents?

Ok, I could sympathize with her in the beginning: she was young and felt special. But I didn’t see much of a personal development for the next 300 years - she just kept walking around more, meeting people, sleeping with them and moving on. And her only goal was to be remembered by someone: a very self centred one. She didn’t want to make a world a better place or use her powers to help anyone (I am counting inspiring some artsy people by sleeping with them).

I think my main complain is the glacial pace of this book: it just felt like nothing was moving forward. I could see how this was the author’s intent to make Addie’s life appear monotonous and slow given her immortality. But I personally don’t like slow burns.

The writing was not bad overall and there were some beautifully written passages, but two things really infuriated me: 1) the number of times the author mentioned Addie’s freckles (I get it, she had freckles that looked like a constellation, no need to mention it for the third time in one chapter, every chapter); and apparently, Addie spoke many languages, including French, English, blah-blah-blah, SWISS! Not blaming the author, but dear professional editor. You had one job! And if you didn’t know what languages they speak in Switzerland, Wikipedia it! (The answer is French, German, Italian and Romansh)). I know I sound very petty but I can’t help it!

Weak 3 star for okayish writing, brilliant idea and mediocre execution. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 13, 2021 megz rated it liked it

I expected more from this. I did. I really did. Addie is just... I don't know, so plain. Boring. Uninteresting. I wanted her to be more badass, you know? I wanted an enemies to lovers relationship between Addie and Luc. I feel like we kinda got that, but it just wasn't THERE, you know? And Addie... I just... she could have TRIED to be more interesting. I really did not like any of the flashbacks except for the parts with Luc. Because Luc is interesting. Intriguing. You want to know more about hi ...more

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Jul 15, 2022 necia rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-cried-a-little, beautiful

"After all, life seems very long sometimes, but he knows it will go so fast, and he doesn’t want to miss a moment."

The effect books can have on you is crazy, why did i start falling for Luc???? I DID NOT like that feeling at all...

Man this book is so beautiful, the writing style is so beautiful and the storyline was so beautiful, I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER this book!
I've putted off this book for wayyy too long and when I finally read it I fell into a weird place in life lol and then I barely read a ...more

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Oct 04, 2021 Kate Pinnell rated it really liked it

wow. okay, this book. muah, the writing is almost enchanting. I got lost in this story, it’s very whimsical and heart wrenching but such a great read.

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