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A review by emilymknight
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I don’t even know where to start. I heard great things about this book and it did not disappoint. It was a romance novel and though fantasy was a large part of it, it was still quite subtle, in a way?
Firstly, I absolutely loved Part 1, particularly the chapters at the beginning of the timeline in France. Her deal with the devil, her loss of home, the beauty in the descriptions, the sadness in her journey. LOVED LOVED LOVED. For me, none of the rest of the book compared to that first part.
Secondly, with books that have chapters which go back and forth between different parts in the timeline, I usually find myself really favouring one side and getting super bored of the other. However, in this book that wasn’t the case. I think I did prefer the chapters in the past with Addie’s life, but that didn’t make me bored of the chapters in the present, it was actually refreshing and still interesting to keep up with. Though the middle part did feel a little repetitive for me at times, that would be my only criticism, but I do understand that Addie’s life = repetitive, so it was probably a conscious choice on the author’s part.
Thirdly, I LOVED the inclusion of historical context of the times, Addie’s constantly changing environments as she travelled Europe was just right up my street. And the literary illusions also, love. Dorian Gray, Grimm, Beowulf, Homer, Shakespeare, Voltaire. Life After Life!!! even a guest appearance from Beethoven.
I really hope this book gets a film adaptation one day because if done right, it could be PERFECT. Even as I was reading, I could visualise such rich scenes in my mind, which for me contributed to such an unforgettable image and feeling of the book.
Firstly, I absolutely loved Part 1, particularly the chapters at the beginning of the timeline in France. Her deal with the devil, her loss of home, the beauty in the descriptions, the sadness in her journey. LOVED LOVED LOVED. For me, none of the rest of the book compared to that first part.
Secondly, with books that have chapters which go back and forth between different parts in the timeline, I usually find myself really favouring one side and getting super bored of the other. However, in this book that wasn’t the case. I think I did prefer the chapters in the past with Addie’s life, but that didn’t make me bored of the chapters in the present, it was actually refreshing and still interesting to keep up with. Though the middle part did feel a little repetitive for me at times, that would be my only criticism, but I do understand that Addie’s life = repetitive, so it was probably a conscious choice on the author’s part.
Thirdly, I LOVED the inclusion of historical context of the times, Addie’s constantly changing environments as she travelled Europe was just right up my street. And the literary illusions also, love. Dorian Gray, Grimm, Beowulf, Homer, Shakespeare, Voltaire. Life After Life!!! even a guest appearance from Beethoven.
I really hope this book gets a film adaptation one day because if done right, it could be PERFECT. Even as I was reading, I could visualise such rich scenes in my mind, which for me contributed to such an unforgettable image and feeling of the book.
“This is how she would remember him. Not by the sad unknowing in his eyes, or the grim set of his jaw as he led her to church, but by the things he loved. By the way he showed her how to hold a stick of charcoal, coaxing shapes and shades with the weight of her hand. The songs and the stories, the sights from the five summers she went with him to market, when Adeline was old enough to travel, but not old enough to cause a stir. By the careful gift of a wooden ring, made for his first and only daughter when she was born - the one she then offered to the dark.”
“Now, as she stares up at the mottled dusk, she longs for home. Not for Roger, or for the future she did not want, but the woody grip of Estelle’s hand on hers as the old woman showed her how to wind raspberry bushes, and the soft hum of her father’s voice as he worked in his shed, the scent of sap and wood dust in the air.”
Aut viam invenium aut faciam = To find a way, or make your own.