pickIt started a bit slow. Also I was a bit thrown off because of switching between timelines.
It's been a long time since I've read a story which includes a Faustian bargain. Here it was executed very well.
The last twist in the story was not so surprising but it was beautifully done. I ached for Henry. The emotions at the end were so raw.
I totally understand the praising critiques. I'm glad a friend recommended this book to me.
pick4/5⭐ I'll be thinking about this book for a while. It's not perfect, but it has a lot of things to say about life. I enjoyed the ride.
I like Addie's stubbornness & love for new experiences, the central complicated relationship between her & the darkness.
It feels like Henry's origin of “feeling too much“ & his throwaway statement that he “used to be“ Jewish implies things about emotions & Jewishness that I don't think the author intended.
pickAddie LaRue is invisible in the way that we forget exact patterns of stars in a night sky. We‘re vaguely aware they are there, but they are fleeting, fickle, and change at the whims of darkness. This book was truly beautiful. It captures the essence of the human condition, desperation, desires, the arts, love, hate. Lyrical and gorgeous. 5/5 and I‘d sell my soul to read it for the first time again. #wintergames #readitandwreath
pickFor the longest time I wasn‘t sure how I felt about this book but in the end I loved it!! Parts of it were a bit to slow paced for my taste but I am so glad I kept going! Beautiful and touching in all the best ways!
Storm Debi is giving us a real battering today ... so hot chocolate is needed in my classroom! 🌧📚☕️🍫
pickI don‘t have the dust jacket with me bc I‘m on vacation, but I should‘ve trusted the reviewers I follow and read this sooner! I really enjoyed this book, even if I was arguing with myself on how to pronounce Luc the whole time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
pickIntriguing concept. Sweeping; set over more than 300 years.
In 1714 Addie, unwilling to marry (just because she's the only female available) and commit to a circumscribed life, makes a deal with the darkness (an old god who claims he is not God or the devil) trading her soul for a chance to belong to no one but herself and explore the world. And so lives indefinitely but is remembered by no-one, once she leaves their sight.
4 stars
I've read 15 books this quarter and Addie LaRue is the best of the best. Some honorable mentions not shown here are:
The Once and Future Witches
Family of Liars
A Deadly Education
The Name She Gave Me
The Silent Patient
The Book Woman's Daughter
The Measure
pickLoved it! Beautiful & heartbreaking. At times I felt it is slow paced. But brilliant ending. Enjoyed it in the audio. 4.5☀️
Getting back to normality with book events. Evening with V. E. Schwab
“The first mark she left upon the world, long before she knew the truth, that ideas are so much wilder than memories, that they long and look for ways of taking root.”
pickAn interesting observation on both the paradox of womanhood and the modern obsession with living a life that is anything but ordinary. These themes and scenes of survival and heartbreak make this a heavier read, but it is anything but boring. My favorite thing is the thread of art Addie is able to help others create throughout the book. Full review here https://www.pickingbooks.com/blog/the-invisible-life-of-addie-larue
The book is good, the coffee is good and watching Lil ride is good....all good 👍
Adeline “Addie” LaRue is a woman living in New York City. Despite Addie‘s youthful appearance, she is over 300 years old. In 1714, overwhelmed with desperation, she found herself wrapped in the darkness of a stranger, where she made a bargain. Living through numerous decades, nobody ever remembered her name until she met a boy in a bookshop; changing her whole life. If you like books that have exceptional world building, this book is for you!
BOOK HAUL!💃💃💃💃
I've heard so much about the author and this audiobook was available so I thought I'd check it out. I just didn't have the five star experience that everyone else (especially on Goodreads!) seemed to have. I'm not into fantasy, so maybe that's the issue, but it just didn't hit any kind of chord for me. Could have been so much shorter and include some historical experiences as she traveled through her 300+ years.
pick5/5 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 This isn‘t something I normally read, but I loved it so much I read it in a day #veschwab #fantasy #invisible #addielarue
pickI've been in a reading rut and this pulled me right out of it. This book spoke to me. Something to do with my wanderlust and always feeling like I need to escape, and maybe also my rejection dysphoria. It felt good to be really IN a book again.
She does not know if it was love, or simply a reprieve. If contentment can compete with passion, if warmth will ever be as strong as heat.
It was just so ... permanent. Choosing a class became choosing a discipline, and choosing a discipline became choosing a career, and choosing a career became choosing a life, and how was anyone supposed to do that, when you only had one?
(2/2) There is an awkward silence that fills the space between people who don't know what to say. And the taut silence that falls over those who do, but don't know where or how to start.
(1/2) There are a hundred kinds of silence. There's the thick silence of places long sealed shut, and the muffled silence of ears stoppered up. The empty silence of the dead, and the heavy silence of the dying. There is the hollow silence of a man who has stopped praying, and the airy silence of an empty synagogue, and the held-breath silence of someone hiding from themselves.
Time moves so fucking fast. Blink, and you're halfway through school, paralyzed by the idea that whatever you choose to do, it means choosing not to do a hundred other things, so you change your major half a dozen times before finally ending up in theology, and for a while it seems like the right path, but that's really just a reflex to the pride on your parents' face.
He's tried to be a morning person, and on the rare occasion he's managed to get up before dawn, it was a thrill: to watch the day begin, to feel, at least for a little while, like he was ahead instead of behind.
All girls are prone to dreaming. She will grow out of it, her parents say - but instead, Adeline feels herself growing in, holding tighter to the stubborn hope of something more. The world should be getting larger. Instead, she feels it shrinking, tightening like chains around her limbs.
March is such a fickle month. It is the seam between winter and spring - though seam suggests an even hem, and March is more like a rough line of stitches sewn by an unsteady hand, swinging wildly between January gusts and June greens. You don't know what you'll find, until you step outside.
pickI come back to it all the time!! easily top 3 book for me
“Why would anyone trade a lifetime of talent for a few years of glory?” Luc‘s smile darkens. “Because time is cruel to all and crueler still to artists. Because vision weakens, and voices wither, and talent fades.” He leans close, twists a lock of her hair around one finger. “Because happiness is brief, and history is lasting, and in the end,” he says, “everyone wants to be remembered.”
pickI have mixed feelings about this one - the story dragged on and was repetitive. But this slower paced, sad and dark story was also atmospheric, unique and magical.
pickA magical, consuming read. With a book like this, the slow build is necessary to fully understand the decision she must make in the end. I was hoping for this fractured love story to have a happy ending so much. I wiped away tears, ugly cried and I smiled, throughout reading this book so it was a complete emotionally addictive read. I loved where the author took this story I was captivated from the start a truly magical, unforgettable read.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
For one reason or another this book has sat unread on my bookshelf since the day it was published. Really not sure why as I am a big fan of Schwab‘s writing. Anyway. I‘ve decided today is the day I start reading it…finally…
“‘Why would anyone trade a lifetime of talent for a few years of glory?‘ Luc‘s smile darkens. ‘Because time is cruel to all, and crueler still to artists. Because vision weakens, and voices wither, and talent fades.‘ He leans close, twists a lock of her hair around one finger. ‘Because happiness is brief and history is lasting, and in the end,‘ he says, ‘everyone wants to be remembered.‘”
#October2022
Hmmm. What to say. I loved the concept and it was beautifully written. But it is also a bit slow going, and I figured out the ending long before the book ended. Still, enjoyable.
so-soAnother super hyped up book that just felt average to me. The first 100+ pages were VERY slow moving…at least the view from my hammock was good!
pickSpent this afternoon relaxing and reading this book. its gorgeous, epic, clever and heartbreaking.
100% worth the hype.
Loved every word
pickThis book has its slow and drawn out moments but the conclusion albeit a tad predictable was worth the wait.
pickLoved this one… spanning 300 years, this is how Addie leaves her mark. Truly an infinite game!
panI read this one on the recommendation of my cousin, and unfortunately I just didn‘t enjoy it. 😑 I found the details excruciating long - like reading someone‘s journal that has been alive for 100‘s of years.
panI know that a lot of people really love this book, but it just didn‘t connect for me. I didn‘t particularly enjoy Addie as a character. The story missed the mark for me…it glossed over historical events that would have been super interesting to hear about. One part that I really did enjoy was the theme of being able to leave a mark through inspiring others to create something. Also, when Remy pushed those coins into her hand the next morning…💔.
pickLoved this book so much I had to get a second edition!!
#book #bookcommunity #theinvisiblelifeofaddielarue #veschwab #fantasy #specialedition
I've been flip flopping between the audiobook and paper copy of this and got through a lot at work today while shelving my December book displays. It started a little slow, but I'm hooked now!
Sorry I missed yesterday for #12booksfor2021
While these didn‘t make my best of list they were both solid reads that I enjoyed.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | 
