From the Bookshelf of Challenge Corner…

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V.E. Schwab,

Victoria Schwab

Start date: August 1, 2022

Finish date: August 31, 2022

Discussion: Book of the Month

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Oct 15, 2020 ☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Great preface:
Q:
The old gods may be great, but they are neither kind nor merciful. They are fickle, unsteady as moonlight on water, or shadows in a storm. If you insist on calling them, take heed: be careful what you ask for, be willing to pay the price. … And no matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark. (c)

A nameless eternal girl drifting through ages like a shadow. Lots of stealth and theft and heartbreak going on. Glimpses across timelines: great, if a bit ...more

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Nov 27, 2020 Priya rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2020

This is a beautiful story that emphasizes the human need for love and companionship, irrespective of which time we live in.

Adeline LaRue is different. She wants more out of life; to go with her father to the city, to eventually visit Paris and make something more of herself. She isn't satisfied to just live out her life in the same village she was born in. But it is the eighteenth century and no one understands her need. In desperation, she prays to the Gods, old and new to free her from the mar This is a beautiful story that emphasizes the human need for love and companionship, irrespective of which time we live in.

Adeline LaRue is different. She wants more out of life; to go with her father to the city, to eventually visit Paris and make something more of herself. She isn't satisfied to just live out her life in the same village she was born in. But it is the eighteenth century and no one understands her need. In desperation, she prays to the Gods, old and new to free her from the marriage she is being forced into and the God that answers is one she has been told to beware, the dark God.
Seemingly a manifestation of her own desires, he makes a deal with her and gives her the gift of immortality. What he doesn't tell her and that Addie discovers later is that this 'gift' saddles her with a curse, that of never being remembered by anyone, never being able to make a mark and never being significant to anyone because she is so ephemeral as to be invisible.
And so begins her journey that spans three hundred years across countries and momentous historical events, witnessing the brilliance of the artists of the time, being present but always alone.Except for the darkness that manifests itself in the same form before her, trying to get her to submit to him. But she keeps hoping to find someone who will say, 'I remember you'.

And almost 300 years later, Henry Strauss,a young man working in a bookstore and struggling to make sense of his own life, sees her, remembers her and falls in love with her. Finally Addie has someone with whom she can live the life of her dreams. But the dark God will not let her go so easily.
Besides, what is so special about Henry that he can remember Addie?

There is love, grief, pain, art, history and a lot more encompassed in the pages of this story. The writing transports you to the scene taking place and you live out the loneliness that Addie feels, experience her anger at being cheated, admire her determination never to give in and feel her confusion about the dark God who stalks her and is a really interesting villain of the piece!

Moving between Addie's journey to the present and her attempts to forge a future with Henry while understanding what makes him unique, the narrative is reminiscent of the ballad songs of the past, haunting and lyrical.

Addie's need to forge connections, make a mark and mean more to someone reflects the deep need inside all humans for intimacy, visibility and significance. And in that way, we can all see a bit of ourselves in this tale that asks what price is worth the prospect of more time in this life and most of all illustrates the oft repeated 'Be careful what you wish for. You may just get it and discover it isn't what you wanted'. ...more

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