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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Updated

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Author

V. E. Schwab

Genre

Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Romance, Literary Fiction

Published

2020

Series

Standalone

Setting

France, New York City and beyond

Pages

448

What if you could live forever — but no one could ever remember you?

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab is a beautifully atmospheric fantasy about immortality, memory, loneliness, love, and the desire to leave a mark on the world.

Beginning in France in 1714 and stretching across centuries and continents, Addie’s story moves between different places and periods of history as she learns to live with the consequences of a desperate bargain.

It is the kind of book that feels less like simply reading a story and more like wandering through someone’s entire life.

If you love historical settings, beautiful prose, complicated bargains, mysterious characters, romance, art, and stories that make you think about what it means to be remembered, this is a book worth getting lost in.

...

Why you’ll love it

A sweeping, atmospheric story about immortality, memory, loneliness, love, and the desire to be remembered, told across centuries and continents. With historical settings, art, romance, and a mysterious supernatural bargain, it has a dreamy, melancholic atmosphere that makes it easy to disappear into.

Perfect for

Readers who love atmospheric fantasy, historical settings, slow-burn romance, immortal characters, beautiful writing, stories about memory and identity, and books that feel like traveling through time.

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Where You’ll Find The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue on SITP

Why You Might Love This Book

  • A life spanning centuries
    Addie’s story moves through different periods of history, giving the book a wonderfully expansive feeling. You’re not simply following one moment in her life — you’re watching her experience the world change around her.
  • Historical settings
    The story begins in eighteenth-century France and eventually takes Addie across different places and periods, making it particularly appealing if you love books where the setting is an important part of the experience.
  • The magic of being forgotten
    Addie’s curse is simple but fascinating: she can live forever, but nobody can remember her. The idea gives the story an unusual emotional core and shapes almost every relationship she forms.
  • Art, books and creativity
    Addie’s journey becomes closely tied to artists, stories, and the desire to leave something behind. The novel is filled with people trying to create something that will outlast them.
  • A complicated supernatural bargain
    The deal Addie makes isn’t simply a magical solution to her problems. It becomes the foundation of a centuries-long relationship with the mysterious being who granted it.
  • A story about being remembered
    Beneath all the fantasy and romance is a very human question: what does it mean to leave a mark on the world?

The Vibe

Where Does The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue Take You?

The story begins in France in 1714, but Addie’s unusual life takes her far beyond her small French village. Over the centuries, she travels through different places and periods of history before eventually finding herself in New York City, where a chance encounter in a hidden bookshop changes everything.

The shifting settings are one of the book’s pleasures —it feels like traveling through history alongside Addie rather than simply watching her story unfold.

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You’ll Probably Enjoy The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue If You Like:

  • Historical fantasy
  • Immortal characters
  • Slow-burn romance
  • Atmospheric books
  • Stories spanning centuries
  • Beautifully described settings
  • Books about memory and identity
  • Faustian bargains
  • Mysterious supernatural characters
  • Bittersweet stories
  • Art and creativity
  • Books that feel like traveling
  • New York settings
  • European settings
  • Stories about wanting to leave your mark on the world

If You Like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Try These Books

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
For historical fantasy, supernatural characters, romance, ancient secrets, and a story that blends the magical world with real historical settings.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
For an emotional love story shaped by an unusual relationship with time and the feeling of watching a life unfold in a way that ordinary relationships cannot.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
For dreamy atmosphere, beautiful settings, mysterious magic, and a story that feels almost like stepping into another world.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
For hidden books, secret worlds, mysterious stories, and the feeling of discovering somewhere that exists just beneath ordinary life.

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Ready to Read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue?

Buy the book: Amazon · Bookshop.org