Sol Garcia | THE RIDER
When I read “The Time Traveler’s Wife” (2003) in high school, I was immersed in this style of boundless romance and have been seeking a similar book since then. BookTok and Bookstagram insisted “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” was that book, and I was not disappointed.
After countless Barnes & Noble visits, I was finally able to get a copy of V. E. Schwab’s newest novel released last October. It seemed everyone in the Rio Grande Valley was reading it, too.
As can be guessed from the title, the novel’s protagonist is 23-year-old Addie LaRue. Well, she’s actually over 300 years old.
You see, in 1715, young Addie went against all warnings and prayed to the gods that answer after dark.
It had been a dire emergency. She was on the brink of being married off to a man she held no love for, leaving her to a life of adequacy and predictability. In her despair, Addie prayed to the wrong god for freedom.
Twisting Addie’s wishes, this enigmatic god makes it so that she can’t leave a single mark on the world. She can’t write a word or create art, as she loved to do. Taking it even further, Addie can’t speak her name nor can anyone remember her. By the time someone turns their back on her after a conversation, Addie’s gone from their memory. After all, boundless freedom is to not be tied down at all. If they can’t remember her, they can’t control her.
Without knowing this was her destiny, Addie promises her soul for her wish. However, the Faustian deal didn’t limit how long her freedom lasted–just until she gave up. If she never gives up her new freedom, Addie learns she can live forever.
In 2014, Addie has learned how to bend the curse to her will, but she can’t escape the loneliness that comes with it. When she wakes from an adventurous night spent with her lovers, Addie can’t bear to see their faces in the morning when they realize they can’t remember her. No matter how much time has passed, she will always be alone–until she meets Henry.
Addie attempts to take a book without paying for it from a small bookstore, something she does regularly, since possessions never stay in her grasp for long, another gift from the curse. It’s easy to steal when you have a lifetime to master the skill and nobody can remember you. Yet, Henry, the ordinary bookseller, remembers her.
Unsurprisingly, they fall in love. A little too quick, in fact. Addie fears Luc, her watchful, godly wish-granter, will learn about Henry, so in a way, it makes sense why they rush to fall head over heels for each other.
The book shifts in perspectives and in time. In one chapter, it focuses on Addie’s life in 1715 in her small French town, and in the next chapter, she’s in Paris in 1751. Then in 2014, she’s in New York City. In another chapter, it’s about Henry in 2014 or a year before when he makes a life-changing decision.
The book’s flow works. It’s an easy rhythm to get into, not too confusing, and we learn about Addie’s long life of endurance and her will to find the joy in new experiences, even when she’s in pain from starvation or despondency. No matter what era she is in, her tale is as mesmerizing as the seven constellations on her face in the form of freckles. Another token from Luc.
However, the chapters that focused on Henry were easy to get bored with. It’s hard to stay interested in his mundane life when Addie’s is so fascinating. That’s why his desire for love makes so much sense. Henry is pretty standard in the literary world. Nothing makes him any different from the other love interests in books. He is completely relatable and understandable, but he never stands out.
In contrast, Luc does. I found myself wanting even more of him. Even when the ending included him more, I still wanted to know more about him and his unique dynamic with Addie. How did he truly feel about her? Schwab’s fascinating description is never clearer when describing Luc. He is nature itself, and Schwab never fails to remind us of it with his eye colors shifting from spring grass to summer leaf to a darker force of the earth.
Like most books with protagonists that go against time’s rules, “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” doesn’t end with a happily-ever-after, but much more impactful. One can’t help but admire Addie’s unyielding and timeless spirit and wish for more of her. The book’s theme that art, literature, music, wonder and love are life’s greatest treasures resonates with every reader.
Instead of constellations, “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” (Tom Doherty Associates, 2020) receives the sunny rating of: ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼.
Reviews are based on five suns.
