V. E. Schwab - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

I absolutely adore authors who experiment with various genres in their writing, as rather than fall into the same tropes, their work continues feeling fresh and exciting. This is particularly true for V. E. Schwab, whose masterful storytelling in Vicious, Shades of Magic, and now, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue has captured my attention completely. 

After making a desperate deal with an ancient being lurking in the night, Addie becomes immortal. Unfortunately, this comes at a steep price - she is forgotten by everyone she meets, brutally stripping her of every chance of having normal relationships, a life. However, with art, music and theatre, she is able to bring meaning into her existence, through loving and influencing beautiful things close to her heart. This way of life, while not without its hardships, takes her to 21st century New York. There, seemingly by chance, she meets an anomaly in form of a boy - Henry Strauss - who remembers her name.

Addie is such a special character, capturing the reader’s heart with her intelligence, creativity and strong will. She shows agency from the moment we meet her, and this only intensifies over the course of the novel, even in her more vulnerable moments. To illustrate that point, watching Addie reckon with the harsh realities of womanhood in 1700s, and then throughout the centuries is an incredibly interesting and unique plot device. There is also a lot of blink-and-you-miss-it details enriching Addie’s journey, which shows V. E. Schwab has poured a lot of love into creating this remarkable character.

Given the structure of the book, there is a host of background characters we meet briefly, however, seeing them through Addie’s perceptive point of view lends them depth they wouldn’t have had otherwise. Seeing the people Addie cherished and loved, despite being forgotten by them, roots the plot in reality (or at least as much as the subject matter allows!), but also adds a bittersweet tinge to the overall tone. The author makes a great job of slowly fleshing out Henry as well, including through his own point of view, also allowing us to find out how others would see Addie - if they were able to. 

Flashing between present day and the events from Addie’s long life does result in a fairly slow pace overall. However, the occasional action-packed event in the past, coupled with the skilful storytelling offsets that potential drawback. Further to that, while this is a fantasy novel, it does take place in a largely contemporary setting. V. E. Schwab uses Addie’s long life to her advantage here, weaving a rich tapestry of various historical periods, further enriched by themes of loss, finding meaning in human existence and the importance of leaving a mark on the world.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is yet another example of masterful storytelling from V. E. Schwab. Flashing between past and present builds a portrait of a fascinating character, who is an absolute delight to read about. If you are not familiar with Addie LaRue yet, do yourself a favour, and read this book! 

Rating: 10/10