The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: Unforgettably Forgettable

It was in the shadowy depths of the Villon-sur-Sarthe woodlands, illuminated only by the moonlit sky and the crisp breeze of what could have been a fateful wedding night, that Adeline LaRue made the bargain that would change her life forever. Of course, Adeline could not foresee the intricate web of consequences and repercussions that would ensnare her: a life of crime on the streets of Paris, countless lovers bound only by a single night, three hundred years of loss, fear, and anguish, and one particularly special Brooklyn bookstore. Thus begins the extraordinary journey of a woman cursed to wander through the walkways of time, forever unseen, forever forgotten.

In The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwab’s narrative deftly explores the themes of memory, self-worth, and the enduring human spirit with thought-provoking questions like, “What is a person if not the marks they leave behind?”

This is demonstrated through Addie’s Faustian bargain with the dark god Luc, who grants her immortality and self-belonging but at the steep cost of being erased from the memory of anyone she meets. A closed door, an instant out of sight, a moment of sleep—these simple human acts are enough to completely forget this timeless, seven-freckled girl.

The novel’s structure oscillates between Addie’s past and her present-day encounters, from the formal and upholstered setting of 18th-century France to the laid-back charm of New York City during the early 2010s. Schwab paints a beautiful picture of Addie’s endless life, investing you in the timelines and deepening the tension as they unravel and eventually meet. All the while, she reviews the developmental odyssey of this young girl, whose appearance still resembles that of a 20-year-old despite her centuries’ worth of existence.

Yet, in the face of this relentless adventure, Addie remains determined to live a meaningful life, one that will leave her mark on the world. She grasps freedom, yet loneliness and solitude burn an everlasting hole through her heart. With each of Luc’s periodic inquiries about her readiness to give up her life and soul, Addie, despite her hardships, remains composed and defiantly rebuffs his offer, confident that she will somehow achieve her goal. But how is she to do so when the simple task of speaking her own name is an impossibility?

That is, until she hears three words that flip her world upside down: “I remember you.” Not in her wildest dreams would Addie have imagined ever hearing this phrase, one that completely defied everything she had come to learn in the last three hundred years. Amidst the changing seasons and the years that flew away like minutes, she had undergone meticulous experiments, working out the extent of her curse: she could maintain but not create; influence, but not be remembered.

All that she knew was defied by a boy, Henry, who could inexplicably remember her presence despite the binding of the curse. It turns out that Henry, too, had struck a bargain with this deity of darkness, though I believe his plight was arguably worse than Addie’s. Overcome with devastation after a failed marriage proposal and time fleeting away with each blink, the 28-year-old found himself lost in the tangled web of life, unsure of his wants and desires. His true needs were overshadowed by his desire to establish a relationship and finally be the pride of his parents. Feeling he had hit rock bottom, he made a deal with Luc, who once again twisted the truth. This led to a curse that intertwined his and Addie’s lives, effectively canceling out each other’s curses when together.

I genuinely believe Henry’s deal is much harder to live with. While Addie’s anonymity can be quite useful at times, Henry has to live with the painful weight of knowing that all the love and admiration he receives is forced, fake, established by the ominous influence of a god of darkness.

Through Schwab’s evocative prose, I was drawn into Addie’s timeless struggle, traversing centuries and continents and grappled with the profound questions that shaped her existence.

Like a master painter, Schwab intricately layers poetic devices throughout her enchanting œuvre, particularly evident in the passages delving into the inner narratives of the characters. Take for instance this excerpt: Addie has said so many hellos, but that was the first and only time she got to say good-bye. That kiss, like a piece of long-awaited punctuation. Not the em dash of an interrupted line, or the ellipsis of a quiet escape, but a period, a closed parenthesis, an end.

While I found the book to be overall quite enjoyable, there were a couple of aspects that didn’t sit quite right with me. Addie’s journey across the ages lacks significant growth opportunities. Her fixation revolves around the sorrowful realization that nobody will ever retain memories of her. This theme can feel repetitive, especially regarding her struggles to form connections beyond Luc or Henry. Even as she navigates her relationship with this young bookstore employee, she often questions herself on whether she actually loves him.

In all, this was a beautiful story that made me feel a multitude of emotions, one worth reflecting upon. V. E. Schwab invites us to face our own mortality, to treasure the ephemeral moments that define who we are, and to appreciate the beauty of our own impermanence through Addie’s everlasting journey through time.