From the Bookshelf of 2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge…

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V.E. Schwab,

Victoria Schwab

Start date: December 1, 2021

Finish date: December 31, 2021

Discussion: October 2025 Group Read

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October 2025 Group Read

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By Winter , Group Reads · 10 posts · 59 views

last updated Oct 23, 2025 01:40PM

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last updated Oct 18, 2025 05:57AM

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What Members Thought

Aug 28, 2020 Michael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, fantasy, favorites, netgalley, read-in-2020, summer-reading-2020, 20-books-of-summer-2020, fall-reading-2020

Nearing her 23rd birthday in a small village, the Addie LaRue of 1714 wants nothing to do with her family's plans to marry her to a widowed man nearly twice her age. Desperate to escape, Addie calls upon the gods, making a Faustian deal with a devil named Luc.

Addie won't age. But she also won't make an impact on the world nor will anyone she interacts with remember who she is. The deal runs out when grows weary and willingly surrenders her soul to Luc. But Addie didn't count on the immediate he Nearing her 23rd birthday in a small village, the Addie LaRue of 1714 wants nothing to do with her family's plans to marry her to a widowed man nearly twice her age. Desperate to escape, Addie calls upon the gods, making a Faustian deal with a devil named Luc.

Addie won't age. But she also won't make an impact on the world nor will anyone she interacts with remember who she is. The deal runs out when grows weary and willingly surrenders her soul to Luc. But Addie didn't count on the immediate heartbreak of her family instantly forgetting her, leaving her without a home and forced to find loopholes to make minor impressions upon the world for the next three hundred years.

Until one day, she wanders into a bookstore and meets Henry. And while stealing a book (Addie gets by stealing a lot of what she needs since people don't recall her once she's out of sight), Henry follows her and confronts her, saying the three words she's been dying to hear for so long -- "I remember you."

V.E Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LeRue may be her finest work to date. A stand-alone fantasy love story that is sweeping, epic, and intensely personal. Seeing not only Addie but Henry's story unfold is both spellbinding and heartbreaking. The character-driven narrative covers the gamut of emotion from the hope that Addie and Henry feel upon meeting each other to the overwhelming despair that the cards are stacked against them at multiple points in their lives. Seeing how even simple things like placing an order for food can sometimes be beyond Addie unless she has assistance or stays in sight of the person taking the order will remind you of the magic of everyday things.

Addie's story is sweet, funny, heartbreaking, and completely compelling. Along the way, Schwab offers commentary about art and its place in our world as well as our human need to connect. You can't help rooting for Addie and Henry (both separately and together) throughout the story. There are so many wonderful emotional beats to this story, all of them completely earned by Schwab.

As I said before, this may be the best thing she's written so far. Which given how good her previous work has been is saying a great deal.

A new favorite and highly recommended.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jun 06, 2021 Eileen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-ng-group-challenge, 2021, audiobook, magical-realism, lgbtq, fantasy, historical-fiction, romance, supernatural-paranormal

This was a book that once I started, I listened to obsessively so I could finally figure out what happens to Addie LaRue. The overall plot is Faustian in nature as Addie makes a "deal with the devil" and then spends much of the book trying to get free of him. When she made the deal with Luc to get her out of a situation when she was a child, she had no idea he was the dark one and that she should not make a deal with him. Yet her desperation was such that she might have agreed to anything. It is ...more

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Jan 23, 2021 Meera rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, bookmarks-magazine, bought2020, bwc2021

2.5

I wanted to love this because I thought the writing was beautiful. But it started slow for me and when I thought it was going to take some interesting turns, it was the same old and I was never excited to pick it up again. I found the narrative repetitive in its plot and theme. I also couldn’t connect to the main characters because while the writing was beautiful, it also kept me distant from the characters. I was not emotionally invested as I read it. I wish I could have liked it more as mos ...more

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Nov 03, 2020 Caro rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fiction

So I do like this book.. But I do not love it . It is my style of book it has many things that I like and still... I was a bit disappointed... Maybe because I hear so many things about it, perhaps because I was waiting for a bit more... I find a bit of similarities with Oona Out of Order despite the fact that they are two completely premises.... But in boths they are women that we see in completely different periods of their lives and how they had change through the years and the experience they ...more

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Nov 08, 2020 Kathy rated it liked it

3/3.5 stars. Ok, don't get me wrong, I liked the book, but I think there is too much hype for it. I liked the character of Addie LaRue, but not enough to feel too much for her. Based on a few reviews and bookstagram stories I've seen, I expected the book to break me emotionally and it didn't.

The writing really is beautiful and atmospheric. There are some beautiful lines written and there are certain passages that I really related too, but not enough for that emotional connection with the charac 3/3.5 stars. Ok, don't get me wrong, I liked the book, but I think there is too much hype for it. I liked the character of Addie LaRue, but not enough to feel too much for her. Based on a few reviews and bookstagram stories I've seen, I expected the book to break me emotionally and it didn't.

The writing really is beautiful and atmospheric. There are some beautiful lines written and there are certain passages that I really related too, but not enough for that emotional connection with the characters.

The beginning was a little slow for me, but it is understandable considering that she has to set the groundwork for the rest of the story. I started to really get into it about 100+ pages in, but then the romance started and it just slowed back down for me. I found myself less interested in the story when Henry came onto the scene. I did not really like the chapters where we followed him around and hung out with his friends and family. I understand it was necessary to make the reader feel something for the character, but those chapters just did not work for me. It took me almost a month to read and that usually happens when I have trouble getting into a book. I would rather have read about Addie's experiences and life throughout history and this game she was playing with Luc for centuries.

I had a few annoyances: the word "palimpsest" was used so much that I started to roll my eyes every time I saw it. Luc was constantly physically described. Every time we see him, we're hearing about his black curls and his green eyes. This might actually go for Henry as well.

I did like the ending even though I guessed how it was going to end. I liked that it was not a nice little knot. I don't think there should be a sequel. I feel like this ended as it should have ended. I feel like the way it ended could bring forth some great discussions, but for spoilers sake, I won't be going into it.

I see reviews are really polarized for this. It seems to be a love/hate thing, but I can honestly say that I'm in the middle. There are elements of this book that I loved and others that I did not like so much, but I am glad I read it.

This might be a book I revisit. I don’t know if I was in the right mood for it. ...more

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Feb 09, 2022 Angie rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobooks

I honestly don’t know how to rate this book…probably 3.5 just for the fact that it kept me hooked just enough despite seeming too long and drawn out. It was equal parts exasperating and intriguing. The plot was interesting but it took way too long and really drug on more than I would’ve liked. For the hundreds of years it covered, there were glimpses of history but very fleeting. In the end, I liked it but the author could’ve told the same story in a lot fewer words. I did love the audio version ...more

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