The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (fantasy fiction)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. SchwabThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab focuses around a girl named Addie, born in the 1700’s, who has been cursed by the devil to live a never ending life of immortality, after she wishes to have time to “live freely” right when she gets married. After all, her wish is to simply “leave a mark on the world”. Along with living forever, she is cursed to be forgotten by anyone who meets her, making it difficult for her to form any kind of relationship with people. Until one day she meets a boy named Henry who works at a bookstore and remembers her name after she attempted to steal a book the first time they met. Henry is like Addie as well, in which he made a wish with the devil to be enough for people and live up to everyone’s expectations. When they meet they realize they have more in common than they thought. V.E. Schwab uses a good amount of the book telling Addie’s story before she meets Henry and the things she’s done and experienced so the reader can get a feel for what type of person Addie is along with her decision making. You see how living alone for eternity affects her but also how it changes her.

I’ve always loved reading fiction and fantasy books and I will say this is one of my favorites! When reading this book, you can’t help but admire Addie’s independence along with determination to live her life the way she wants to. There are lessons I believe that are told through Addie's actions when she creates her life path of living forever, such as: the consequences of our actions and the importance of being remembered and how it’s something everyone really desires. Those ideas were clearly shown in the beginning and you can see how affected she was. The pace of the plot is what most people might find annoying as the author tells Addie’s story of the beginning of her new life for mostly the whole book and the ending felt rushed in terms of how everything ended up with Addie and Henry, which is something that might cause people to not enjoy it. I encourage whoever is interested in this book to keep reading because it gets better and it’s worth it in the end because you can see how much Addie has changed and that she becomes truly happy. This book is a mix of sadness, anger, happiness, and love and it’s a great mix! If you are interested in a book filled with adventure and a hint of romance I would recommend this book to you!

Reviewed by Katherin B., Grade 11