The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab: 5/5
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue is a stunning, spectacular, deeply interrogatory novel about the human experience, the power (and impotence) of love, and the fantasy of living a life free of constraint.
In the year 1714, twenty-three year old Adeline LaRue fears nothing more than falling into a small life within her small French village. She longs to leave the village, with its strictures and limitations, behind to travel the world and experience all it has to offer. So one night, in a fit of desperation, she forgets the warnings she has heard and makes a deal with the darkness: he grants her a life of freedom for as long as she desires it, and she promises him her soul when she no longer wants it. The freedom the darkness grants her comes with a caveat, though: nobody can remember her. But then, 300 years later in New York City, somebody does.
It’s an audacious premise, and one that could easily give way to an overly sentimental novel, or else a campy fantasy. But Schwab does well to avoid both these possibilities, and the resulting novel is reminiscent of Markus Zusak’s acclaimed The Book Thief in its expert weaving of head-swiveling action and incisive exploration of the human condition.
The principal characters are all given layers and weaknesses which render them fully human and believable. This is true even for the anti-god (I’m hesitant to fully label him a demon), who initially makes the deal for Addie’s soul. For me, this was Schwab’s pièce de résistance: the genuinely emotive and compelling relationship, the relationship which truly anchors the story more so than the familiar star-crossed love story, between Addie and the darkness. It is through their interactions that Schwab creates something truly spectacular, where she plumbs the depths of human despair and desire, and explores the fine line which separates the human from the inhuman.
This is a spectacular novel, combining the best of various genres and sweeping the reader through time and space at a pace which never feels pedantic or rushed. The premise is a work of creative genius, and the execution comes from a skilled and experienced writer who has taken the time to hone her craft. It is, from start to finish, simply mesmerizing.
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