The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Opinion and Review

This is the first review I've written where I had to sleep on it before I got down to it. I can't even begin to explain The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab without losing my ability to put my thoughts into words (and that doesn't usually happen to me). So, let's start from the beginning.

I had no intention to read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. The genre didn't entice me, and usually, a book with so much hype is usually a major let-down. However, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was one of the finalists for Book of the Year in the Book of the Month Book Club, and as a BOTM BFF, I got to choose one for free. After extensive research on the 3 of the 5 books that I hadn't already read, I decided that this would be the one I wanted to try. And then it became the book my online book club decided to read. So, the book arrived, and I was immediately intimidated. The book was quite thick compared to some of the others I had read recently, and the print was quite small for my old eyes. But I decided to jump right in.

The first page was all it took. I was hooked from the get-go.

Even picking a quote I liked from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue deemed impossible. You should see all the sticky notes I've placed. So, to not spoil anything major, I just picked a line that I had felt to be hauntingly beautiful. The book was filled with magic, heartbreak, darkness, and hope. Addie was born in the 1700's in a small town in France, and ended up making a deal with a dark angel, Luc. This deal was to live forever, but to leave no lasting mark on anyone she meets. Upon parting ways, they would forget she existed. It would prove to be an extremely lonely life, until she meets Henry.

I won't even get into my theories I had about Henry when they met, and how they turned out to be somewhat true, because it would be a great disservice to you to give anything away. But I will say that the way V.E. Schwab takes readers on an emotionally beautiful journey over the course of 300 years. Through wars, famine, and fortune. Never knowing when the dark angel will turn up again, and what new deals needed to be made.

Once the rest of my book club has finished this book, I plan to post again about all our reactions. But I can safely and confidently say that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of my favorite books, and one that will stay with me for a very long time to come. I HIGHLY recommend this book. Read it, listen to it, absorb it, experience it. You won't regret it. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars.

Dates read: January 18, 2021 - January 23, 2021