A review by claragweny
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

adventurous dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I first read this book in 2021 but didn't rate or review it. I remember liking it and it started me off on a reading spree. So I decided to reread it with a book club I'm in. I listened to the audiobook with Julia Whelan narrating - so obviously it was very, very good. 

Parts of this book are hard to get through. Painful even. Addie's struggles are so visceral they strike at my heart still. To be forgotten the worst of them all. Parts of Henry are so relatable that I had to pause reading. This line in particular was like being hit with a snowball directly in the face:

Blink and you’re twenty-eight, and everyone else is now a mile down the road, and you’re still trying to find it, and the irony is hardly lost on you that in wanting to live, to learn, to find yourself, you’ve gotten lost. 

Deep down I think we all know it's not going to work out for Henry and Addie. It just won't. This is not their happily ever after. Luc will not let it be their story. Luc will make Addie's story end with him one way or another that's for sure. Even though Luc is obviously the villain of this story I cannot help to think that he does feel something genuine for Addie but in a twisted, possessive, inhuman way. There are moments in the book that make me feel this way. Especially in the penultimate "breakup" scene with Luc's confusion.

There is an instant when she thinks she might be wrong. A fraction of a moment when Luc looks wounded and confused, and she wonders if he meant only what he said, if, if— But then, it is over. 

But after everything, I am so desperate for Addie's rage towards Luc. Drooling to see her turn around and beat him at his own game. Let him possess her only to break him into pieces. Shatter his heart just like he shattered his. 

Three hundred years she’s had to learn the color of his moods. She knows them all by now, the meaning of every shade, knows his temper, wants, and thoughts, just by studying those eyes. She marvels, that in the same amount of time, he never learned to read her own. 

This is a book that shifted my perception of other books. Especially listening to the audiobook. It truly is a gold standard of audiobooks. It's so easy to fall into the story. V.E. Shwab is a beast of an author.



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