The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

V. E. Schwab

Oct 2020 · Sold by Tor Books

About this eBook

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER
THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER

Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah Magazine
#1 Library Reads Pick—October 2020
#1 Indie Next Pick—October 2020
BOOK OF THE YEAR (2020) FINALIST—Book of The Month Club

A “Best Of” Book From: Oprah Mag * CNN * Amazon * Amazon Editors * NPR * Goodreads * Bustle * PopSugar * BuzzFeed * Barnes & Noble * Kirkus Reviews * Lambda Literary * Nerdette * The Nerd Daily * Polygon * Library Reads * io9 * Smart Bitches Trashy Books * LiteraryHub * Medium * BookBub * The Mary Sue * Chicago Tribune * NY Daily News * SyFy Wire * Powells.com * Bookish * Book Riot * Library Reads Voter Favorite *

In the vein of The Time Traveler’s Wife and Life After Life, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab’s genre-defying tour de force.

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Also by V. E. Schwab

Shades of Magic
A Darker Shade of Magic
A Gathering of Shadows
A Conjuring of Light

Villains
Vicious
Vengeful

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

It's not often that I am so moved by a book. It was well-written. Easy to relate to emotionally. A cozy historical fiction with enough magic, struggle, and romance to touch the heart.

No wonder this is a bestseller! What V.E. Schwab offers in THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE is an imaginative new take on the famous Faustus legend, interesting, multidimensional characters, and thought provoking situations — mixed with some random historical events over 300 years of history. The result? I NEVER wanted this read to end. In 1715, in a small rural village in France, Addie Larue is desperate. Female and still single at age 23, her parents have arranged a marriage for her to a widower she doesn’t know, condemning her to a life in the same town where she grew up, every inch of which she already knows. Intelligent, eager for adventure, and excited by the possibilities of what lies beyond — Addie will do anything to escape her fate. Enter The Devil. And they quickly strike a bargain. Escape from a marriage, a chance to see the world without messy human attachments — but at SUCH a cost. Because in her eagerness to escape, Addie is not quite careful enough in choosing her words. And the crafty Devil is an expert at this game. And so begins 300 years, with the novel moving back and forth in time, as Addie recounts her efforts to experience all that life has to offer. And like any life, some parts are good, some not. She has the privilege of serving as muse to a series of artists, but also faces disturbing challenges. Above all, what she yearns is to sample love. Until, finally, at a small bookstore, she meets Henry. I think my favorite aspect of the book was the developing relationship between Addie and the Devil, who occasionally banter with each other over the years, each one influencing the other. And as Addie matures, through her experiences, she becomes more than a match for him. I don't want to say more because there are so many wonderful surprises in store for you. I wouldn't want to spoil a single one. This is a smart novel. Well-written. The type you don’t want to put down. That is, until you approach the end and find yourself dreading that the book will soon be over. You’ll have no idea how it could possibly resolve in a satisfactory way. But yet, it does. It’s simply one of the most inventive and engaging books I’ve read in a very long time.

Not an easy story to pull off, but the author does so brilliantly. The character development is magnificent, with deep levels evolving through time. I look forward to reading more V.E. Schwab’s work.

About the author

VICTORIA “V. E.” SCHWAB is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including the acclaimed Shades of Magic series, the Villains series, This Savage Song, and Our Dark Duet. Her work has received critical acclaim, been featured in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post and more, been translated into more than a dozen languages, and has been optioned for television and film. When she’s not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland and is usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.