The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue / V.E. Schwab

2.5/5

I'd noticed that The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue had received a lot of strong praise and I'm not one to miss out on the fun. The premise is original and exciting, and I attacked this novel eagerly.

Addie LaRue is an ambitious novel in its attempt to channel The Night Circus with it leaps through great spans of time and magical aura. I wouldn't say the pace is slow exactly, because each scene offered value and I could tell that V.E. Schwab was actively trying to pick out the most important developments throughout the years to show us Addie's growth. Yet at the same time at least one paragraph on each page was unnecessary. I often found myself skipping pages at a time, looking for dialogue because that's where some action would happen. 

Upon finishing the novel and gaining the whole picture regarding Addie's relationship with Luc, the god she made the deal with, I must admit I was underwhelmed. Luc was an incredibly undeveloped character, and now that I'm reflecting upon the novel I realize they were all rather undeveloped. I don't believe that Addie suffered through 300 years of loneliness just to play this petty game with Luc. What's her motivation? I also could never get behind Addie and Henry's relationship because they literally acknowledge, in the book, that Addie doesn't care who Henry is at all; all that matters to her is that he remembers her. How is that a meaningful relationship? It's a forced relationship because she has no other option.

The novel tried too late to bring any kind of intensity into the "game" between Luc and Addie. Addie LaRue is a beautiful novel of a girl trying to find her freedom and live her life, but there were no stakes. I enjoyed it, but the story could have been much stronger had there been more focus on Addie and Luc's relationship and their competition. I would recommend this to fans of flowery writing and The Night Circus.