The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Deal with the Devil

Review by: The Audiobook ReviewThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, written by V. E. Schwab, is another of those books I've seen for ages but never got around to grabbing. So, while at a bit of a loose end on what I wanted to listen to next, I took a chance and finally picked up a copy. I'm a little torn on my overall feeling for this book. On the one hand, it was an intriguing premise, and a lot of it was intoxicatingly good, yet other parts seemed to drag or repeat what was already covered... and oof... I wasn't a fan of the ending.

No spoilers, of course, but I found it... I want to say "twee", but I'm not sure that covers it. Anyway, moving on from that, a lot of the story was solid and had me listening for hours at a time. At a touch over 17 hours long, there's a lot to take in. As I've already noted, the repetition of ideas or thoughts did crop up in my notes as things that bugged me. Tighter editing could have helped here.

The story, though, of a somewhat naive young lady in France in the 1700s is an interesting look at what life could be like if you were immortal and unable to be remembered by anyone longer than they're standing next to you.

Addie, not wanting to be married off to become a baby factory for a village widower, makes a deal with the devil without really thinking things through. So begins her life of obscurity, trying to get by in a world where nobody remembers her. Which, as she finds, can be useful for certain things.

The story bounces back and forth between various points in her life after the deal and her current life in New York, 2014, where the inexplicable has happened. After 300 years, someone remembers her.

The narration by Julia Whelan was okay. A little one-note if I need to be brutally honest. There wasn't anything grating or annoying about her voice; there just seemed little diversity in the characters. The quality was excellent, though. I didn't have any notes on noises or repetition, or the like.


Overall, a good story to spend a few days with. I'm not sure if I'll ever revisit, knowing now how it ends and that I wasn't a real fan of that. Maybe in a few years, once I've forgotten Addie...