The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab: A Book Review
Genre: Fantasy
Roughly based off the story of Faust, Schwab tells a similar story surrounding a women named Adeline LaRue, given immortality, cursed with being forgotten. Wanting a life of her own, Adeline prays to the gods after dark and receives an answer – in exchange for her soul she will be given as much time as she might desire to experience the world. What she is not told is that her life would not be easy.
Being cursed to be forgotten whenever someone looks away, Adeline no longer has the company of close relationships, has no way to keep a shelter secure, has no way of leaving a mark on the world. Rather than letting her curse defeat her, however, Adeline helps to inspire striving artists becoming an enigma in the current world. No one remembers her name, but they remember the feelings that she brings to them – the ideas that she gives them.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue also makes me think of a movie back in 2015 called The Age of Adeline. In the movie, the main character dies in a car accident only to be brought to life once again by lightning. While having no devil creature to give her immortality, Adeline does stop aging and is forced to leave friends and family when it becomes apparent that she is not growing old. Of course, while Schwab’s story is similar, Schwab gives more due to the character of Adeline – a due that isn’t typical in most books regardless of how strong the girl main character might be.
Other books like the one reviewed:
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
| Plot: | 10 / 10 |
| Characters: | 10 / 10 |
| Writing: | 10 / 10 |
| Editor: | 9 / 10 |
| Total | 39 / 40 |
Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Author: V. E. Schwab
Edition: Hardcover
Published: 2020
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN: 9780765387561
If you want to get it: Amazon; Barnes&Noble
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