The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
Published on July 29, 2022
Reviewed by Samantha Calderone
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue puts a haunting twist on the idea of living forever. Adeline, also known as Addie, makes a deal with the darkness on the night that was supposed to be her wedding. Addie does not want to get married, she wants more time to be free, to belong to no one. So that is exactly what the darkness gives her, an unlimited amount of time, but there’s a catch. No one will remember her for as long as she chooses to live, and when she decides she has had enough her soul will belong to the darkness.
Throughout the years the darkness adopts a name, given to him by Addie, Luc. In the years following the initial deal, Luc seemingly appears and disappears in a manner that only seeks to infuriate Addie, to play with her emotions in an attempt to lure her into giving up her soul at last. While Luc seeks to torment Addie into finally choosing to end their deal, Addie is living in the shadows trying to leave her mark by inspiring others, while holding onto the pieces of her past as she finds a new way to live within the confines of her curse.
When Addie finally finds someone who can remember her, someone beyond the grasps of the darkness, she holds onto those moments and chooses to live in the now with the only person who can remember her name. But what price will she have to pay for those treasured moments?
The life of Addie LaRue not only considers the fate of living forever, but never being remembered, but it also looks at the ways in which Addie must learn to love herself in order to survive. To know what her boundaries are, what she can and cannot live without, and learning to live with her choices in spite of the consequences. While the story cannot be classified as a typical romance, the novel is essentially a love letter to life and the ways in which one life can have a profound impact on the lives of countless others.
Readers will find themselves lost in the many lives of Addie LaRue, and cheering her on as she seeks a way out of her deal with the darkness.