![]() ![]() Once we begin to get multiple timelines and another POV, the pacing increases and as the story begins to move more fluidly between past and present it fills the gaps in Addie’s story. I am promise, and potential, and when it comes to playing games, I divine the rules, I set the pieces, and I choose when to play. I am the darkness between stars, and the roots beneath the earth. I am stronger than your god and older than your devil. It’s a testament to the quality of an author’s writing if they can tell you about specific scenes in the plot, but still make you excited to read them. ![]() It spurred me through the initial chapters, despite their slow start, and when these moments came around my heart was hammering in my chest.Įven though I knew what was going to happen (from the blurb), these scenes were tense and dramatic, and I couldn’t wait to see how they would play out. But because we know from the synopsis that she’ll make a deal and then meet someone who remembers her, the anticipation for these two scenes is huge. The slow pace comes from the one timeline and single POV. She’s said in interviews that most of her books begin slowly and then expand outwards, and the same is true here. The plot and pacing start off slowly, but if you’ve read a lot of Victoria’s books, you’ll know that quite a few of them do. It’s beautiful, lyrical, and it feels like so much thought, gravitas, and care have gone into every sentence. Schwab varies her narrative style depending on the genre and type of book she’s writing, but this is definitely some of the most masterful writing she’s produced. Not only in the sense of dialogue between characters, but also in Victoria’s writing style itself. In fact, this book really showcases the power words can hold. Three hundred years, and no one has said those words, no one has ever, ever remembered. ![]() “I love you” are some of the most powerful words we can say, but in this moment, for Addie, “I remember you” holds more power. There’s something timeless and incredibly poignant about the moment someone remembers Addie LaRue. Never have three words held more power in a story. Until 300 years later, one person says “I remember you.” The power of language ![]() She can meet with someone every day for a month, and although she gets to know them, they don’t get to know her because every day they meet her for the first time. She can leave a room and when she re-enters everyone has forgotten her. She doesn’t age and doesn’t ail, but no-one remembers her. It’s only afterwards that Addie comes to realise the high price she paid. Addie renegotiates the deal, saying “ you can have my soul when I don’t want it any more” and the Darkness accepts. Time and freedom in exchange for her soul. The Old Gods don’t answer, but the Darkness does and it takes the form of a man who offers her a deal. Free to live, and to find my own way, to love, or to be alone, but at least it is my choice, and I am so tired of not having choices, so scared of the years rushing past beneath my feet. I do not want to belong to anyone but myself. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows Adeline, ‘Addie’, Larue, born in 17th century France, who when faced with the prospect of marriage, prays to the Old Gods to help her find a way out. 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. What an idea.Īnd Victoria has taken that idea and shaped it into a brilliant book. It’s no secret that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020.Ī girl who makes a deal with the devil to live forever but is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets? What a premise. This book has trigger warnings for death, starvation, payment for sexual acts, recreational and self-mediating drug use, emotional manipulation, attempted suicide, depression, and violence. 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.īut everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name. This does not affect my opinion of the novel.įrance, 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. Huge thanks to Titan for sending me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Today I’m very excited to be sharing my review for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. ![]()
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