Do You Remember Addie? We Do!

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E Schwab… This book left us speechless for the longest time. But now we have way too many words to say that we knew we had to make a blog post about it. But first, here is the official description of Addie:

"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."

Now that you are also hooked (and hopefully buying a copy of the book to read yourself); here are our own thoughts on this masterpiece!

​

---

 
Erin: Schwab did an amazing job pulling my heart to Addie . Through her centuries I could feel her hurt, her yearning. Her desire for love, art, knowledge and power to defy the dark god by continuing on. I could feel her ache for remembrance . There was such a raw hunger to leave a mark. She captured a beautiful and heartbreaking representation of the human experience and the need to matter. 

Ashli: Agreed. I loved how the art is pulled in by the little art pieces that are scattered throughout the chapters and the story itself. I have been recommending Addie to anyone who will listen and I’ve had a few people consider finding it through audio. But I keep shaking my head and imploring them to give the physical book a chance because the art work comes into play with so much meaning. But talking about raw hunger… what about Luc?

E: Luc is the dark god who answers Addie’s prayers for a more exciting life. I looked at him like the devil, though he claimed to come before him. The story spans lifetimes and as the “game” goes on the dark god falls in love with Addie . He wants to be with her, to keep her for himself.
 
A: Which I can totally understand why.. Addie is pretty badass!!! As much as I hate the idea of keeping a person all to oneself…

E: Then comes Henry. I can emphasize why Henry is important. We need someone to see her . Who better than a boy with a bookstore; a place where stories are kept to be shared and remembered. 

A: I love that this happened with her stealing a book from the store and how he remembered her but the others didn’t. What I’d kill for having the amount of reading time that Addie has! One of my favourite quotes from this book is this one: “Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives- or to find strength in a very long one”. It perfectly encaptures what books are to so many people, whether we find ourselves immortal or not. 

E: I loved the mystery of why Henry could see her. Trying to figure out what made him special…

A: My mum literally thought that Henry was Luc… I knew it couldn’t be him because Henry is too sweet but my mum apparently thought that Luc is capable of being that good of an actor. 

E: Despite that Henry is perfectly bookish, I did find myself wanting more Luc. Give me the dark brooding god all day!

A: Not surprising since you are Rhysand’s number one fan, but amen to the broody dark god! So if I read it correctly, Luc looks the way he does because it is what Addie believes he would look like… what would your version of Luc look like? I have a feeling mine would be a mix between Taylor Momsen and Alexandra Park… and I’d never be leaving her side lol No offence to my boyfriend of course! I love him to death… but I feel like a dark god needs to feel… unobtainable… you know? 

E: Totally agree. I’m a sucker for the dark and brooding type. But not in an Edward Cullen “Twilight” way if that makes sense. I’m not sure I could pick a real person right now to embody Luc, but if I was going to try maybe someone like Jamie Dornan (I’ve never seen Fifty Shades of Grey but I’m in love with his accent). Recently I’ve been watching a lot of Lucifer so my brain jumps to Tom Ellis as well. The hard part is that they need to be more than dark and complicated. They need to somehow appear ancient and haunted. 

A: I just love that it opens this character up to so many possible interpretations. And the rest of the characters are open as well. Having bi-representation is so nice to see especially with the organic depiction of it. The fact that Addie has been with both men and women is just stated matter of factly and is part of her, not the main thing for the story. 

E: I loved V.E. ‘S approach to the diversity she showcased in this book. It felt organic. None of the characters felt like they were thrown in there in order to say there was representation. We are putting pressure on authors to show a variety of genders and sexual preferences- which is great. The downside though is that they take that pressure and try to make sure they’ve covered their basis but it doesn’t feel deeper than that, or that they really know what they’re talking about/describing. I think because Schwab is LGBTQ,  it helps that side of the novel come across more genuine. 
Maybe we should address though, how this relationship between Addie and Luc is definitely an abusive one? 

A: I agree that there was definitely some mental abuse happening from Luc… but it’s almost something to expect when it comes to a dark god isn’t it? They are the villain in the story usually and abuse of some sort is basically stereotypical for a villain. We see it in most works… mental/ verbal abuse is the  most common one as it doesn’t come across as harsh as physical abuse. Gaslighting is probably the easiest with torturing someone by making their life harder than it needs to be as a close second. But.. knowing this… would you make a deal with a God Who Answers After Dark? What would you wish for? 
 
E: Oh man I don’t know what I would wish for .. I’d have to be desperate to make some kind of a deal. If I felt trapped like Addie did then I think I would risk it and make a deal. It’s hard to consider if I would knowingly put myself through mental/emotional abuse. I would hope that I would take note from Addie and use it to make me stronger. To fight for what I wanted. But don’t ask me again what I would ask for haha. No idea! 

A: Well fine I won’t ask again then lol but I can agree… I would have to be desperate to make a deal or know for sure that I could outsmart Luc. Though knowing me, I’d happily make a game of that and see how many buttons I could press before it got to the danger point. But if making a deal with him could bring me some sort of happiness that I am currently having trouble achieving… I’d probably do it in a heartbeat to give me that edge and confidence. 

E: Another heavy topic in this book is the depression Henry experienced. Schwab has said on her social media and interviews that she feels she most identifies with Henry . His mental health issues are issues she’s faced herself, and I really commend her for her bravery in discussing this so intimately. 

A: Schwab’s openness about her mental health both in her books and on her socials has really been a saving grace. It really makes me remember that I am not alone with my own mental health troubles in both life and with writing. 
Speaking about Henry... We have to talk about Book! V.E. has been non-commital to saying for sure that he, or animals in general, can remember Addie but that she has a feeling they might. I really really hope that at least animals can remember her! I think I would literally die if Simba couldn’t remember me… especially with her attitude towards strange people on a normal basis. But overall, I love that Book is just there as an adorable side character to the bookstore and that NOTHING BAD happens to the little baby. 

E: I’m so glad we got to experience an animal character that didn’t die 😂 I feel like I’m jaded perhaps but there’s been too many times an animal death has left me more heartbroken than the main characters. So anytime we meet an animal I brace myself in case the author is trying to get us attached just to cut us to pieces when they die. 

A: I’m the type of person who loves finding music that matches a book that I love. For Addie, I have a small playlist of songs that I keep playing when I need the feelings. 
    Deal with the Devil by Sundown
    Mad World, Outlive Me by Amelia Curran
    Adeline (feat. Kathleen) by John- Robert
    Adeline by Alt-j
    After Dark by Tito and Tarantula

E: And I need food and snacks while I read! For me, Addie almost felt like an espresso rather than a tea. Otherwise, reading her was reading with a strong lavender earl grey in a delicate cup. Thanks to the setting I also found myself buying pastries to nibble while reading. Or I’d put the book down and dream about cream puffs. 

A: I really wish that V.E would continue this story… I seriously want to see what Addie is capable of when she causes havoc with Luc. The ending was too perfect for a sequel in which we watch Addie slowly dismantling Luc and his world!!! Or become a goddess of the night herself which I would love to see too. 

E: I felt that at first because of the ending. It didn’t feel open ended but then.. it did? I wasn’t disappointed at all with the way it was wrapped up. I felt I closed the book and knew that Addie was going to come out on top. She has a relentlessness and tenacity that I know without a doubt she’ll accept nothing but victory in the end . It’s what I loved most about her. I can’t recommend this beautiful book enough. I know V.E. said this book was ten years in the making and it shows. There’s such care and elegance in every paragraph . It’s a definite chefs kiss from me!

Let us know what you thought about Addie either in the comments below or on our Instagram posts! We'd love to hear from you!!! Until next time... Keep reading and snuggle your furry friends!