Top Reads of 2023: #5 – The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Number 5! I… wha-what do you mean I already had a number 5?? That’s preposterous! How DARE you accuse me of such an overlooked detail. Anyway, as I was saying. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is number 5 of my top 5 (and only 5) books I read in 2024. It was close between this and another one, but because I’m sticking to my guns and only picking 5 books and not deviating because I’m a professional, I won’t even mention the other one.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab is a fantasy novel that released back in October of 2020. Just a few months shy of when the earth stood still and life changed forever. I could only imagine what it would’ve been like having this story fresh in your head when all that was going on was happening. A girl among us with immortality, living through yet another dark time in human history. I wish I read it then.

But nope! The first time I attempted to read this gem was in August of 2022. How do I know? Because I remember posting about it.

I remember how excited I was to get into it after hearing so many things and loving the premise. The fire to read more had just sparked aflame, and I knew this was one of the ones I really wanted to get through. The post stood out because (SPOILER) I never wound up reading it lol. I was struggling to find time to get through actually reading stuff with my eyes, as weird as that sounds. I didn’t have desire to sit there for it and preferred (and still do) audiobooks. So I ditched it until I was able to get the audiobook.

Fast forward to 2023 and it was time! With a year dedicated to reading, I was even able to plan it out and pick this one as my October read. It deserved it as it has been sitting on my TBR list for so long. Yeah, I know, I know. Just one book for October?! Trust, I had like 4 lined up that I wanted to get through. But I knew me and I know how October is in this house. It’s usually the tip over the edge of the snowy cliff where I begin to flail uncontrollably down the mountain that is the last 3 months of the year. ANYWAY. I’m happy I made this my pick because it’s the perfect read for October. I know a lot of books are great for sitting on the couch with a blanket and a hot coffee, and a brisk cool breeze coming through the windows (it’s Florida, we had one or two cool breezes). But this one is PERFECT for it. It’s the mood you always wanted. 

The one thing I was afraid of was it not living up to the hype I had in my head for it. I knew it could’ve very easily not been this epic thing that I was expecting it to be (I’m looking at YOU, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Geeze that’s a whole other post on its own. Woof.) But it wasn’t the case! Addie LaRue has an intriguing and mysterious story, and characters that you can’t wait to see what they do and how they interact next. 

There’s so much to talk about and so much to say but it’s hard to do so without spoiling anything. So keeping it simple, with only what you would read on the inside flap of the book: You’re following Addie through her long life, seeing her ups and downs and how she copes with being an immortal. That’s not all though.. Everyone she encounters or interacts with instantly forgets of her entire existence once they break line of sight with her. So it is not enough that she has to live forever, she has to do so alone. The story takes place in current day (2014), with a good portion of the book being flashbacks to her childhood (early 1700’s).

I want to talk detail, but I won’t! Instead, I’ll just say I wasn’t ready for the level of investment I had with these characters. I was rooting, I was booing, I was all over the place. Not only that, but the pacing and structure was so good, it was incredibly easy to see it all playing out like a movie or show. I do that a lot, but sometimes a book isn’t worth going through a casting process in your head, let alone scene by scene. But no, here, I could think back and play it out as if I just watched it on tv last week. 

Also, go ahead and tell me you don’t have a casting process in your head when you’re reading a book. Say it. You and I both know you’d be lying.

I wasn’t planning on going this elaborate on these reviews. I’ve been much more self conscious when it comes to time reading and listening to things like videos and podcasts, so I try to aim for lengths I would appreciate. So whatever I create, I have been trying really hard to keep them very easy to consume. With that said, even though there’s more I want to say about this book, I’ll stop here. The longer I draw it out, the more difficult it is to stay spoiler free too, so it’s a good trade off. I will say though that in terms of page count, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was the thiccest book I read in 2023. Yet, I went through it like butter on a hot grate. It was such a great read that I’m so happy I was able to experience. Get it on your list and check it out if you haven’t already!