.Virtual Book Club

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

by V. E. Schwab

From the publisher's website: 

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

Explore some of our USF Libraries holdings on similar themes to those explored in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. All material listed is available digitally or in print for USF Libraries' patrons on all campuses.

*** WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! ***

Each week, VBC discusses sections of the book together. Below is a collection of weekly discussion questions posed by VBC leadership and members. Be aware that these likely include spoilers, so please do not scroll further if you have not read the book.

Week 1: Orientation meeting

1. There are seven prominent stars on the cover art of The Invisible Life with Addie LaRue. What is your first impression of the cover art? What do you imagine the stars may represent? How much does cover art effect you as a reader?
2. “What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?” This is a thought-provoking question from the book. What would your answer be to this question?
3. Whether positive or negative, being memorable and/or leaving an impression is a major theme in the book. What do you typically remember more: positive or negative impressions left upon you. Which do you retell or share more often? Is this intentional or not?
4. The story follows Addie for over 300 years. What do hope or anticipate she will experience? What historical event or figures do you hope the author, V.E. Schwab, incorporates in the novel?
5. What does it mean for a person to be "invisible"?
6. Immortality is a major motif in our book. If you could live on Earth forever, would you? What would you hope to do with infinite years to live? And how long do you think would be enough for you?

Week 2: Part 1

1. What is your first impression of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue? What is the most memorable part of the novel to you thus far?
2. In Chapter 9 we meet the “Darkness” in his own voice. What did you think? -- Do you feel the author lived up to his grandeur? Were you excited? Were you afraid? Do you feel eager to learn more about him? Did he live up to your expectations?
3. On page 21 the narrator states: “She loves the jacket…It reminds her of Dorian Gray, time reflected in cowhide instead of human skin.” What is the significance of Addie keeping and loving her outer garment? What garment do you own that you believe best symbolize your essence?
4. On page 27 that Estele says: “…the greatest danger in change is letting the new replace the old.” What do you think that means?
5. Estele calls Adaline "Addie", “a name that suited her far more than Adaline” (p. 29). Have you or someone else ever changed what people call you, at some stage in your life? If so, how did it effect you? How much significance is in a name?
6. What is the significance of Addie’s favorite invention being the cinemas? What do you imagine would be your favorite invention over the past 300 years?

Week 3: Part 2

1. For the first time in 300 years, someone remembers Addie! But There’s Something About Henry…
   Addie notices that everyone who meets Henry addresses him with unexpected attention. For example, the man that bumps into his chair at the coffee shop or the girl flirting with him in The Last Word bookshop. Then, in the final moments of this section, Addie is able to say her name to Henry. Were you shocked by this? What do you think this means about Henry? What do you imagine makes Henry the exception to Addie’s curse?
2. We learn after Robbie’s cast party, Henry “wants the truth -but there is no truth for him, not anymore…”. How do you interrupt this statement? What - if anything - do you think the author is revealing about Henry?
3. On page 94 we learn: “Bea insists that everyone who works in a bookstore wants to be a writer, but Henry’s never fancied himself a novelist. Sure, he’s tried putting pen to paper, but it never really works. He can’t find the words, the story, the voice. Can’t figure our what he could possibly add to so many shelves. Henry would rather be a story keeper than a story teller.” Do you consider Addie a story keeper or storyteller? Which are you? What is the difference?

4. On page 125, it says: “She could fall in this moment forever, but she knows there is no future in it. Only an infinite number of presents, and she has lived as many of those with Sam as she can bear.” Studies argue: to “be present” or to “live in the present” improves quality of life. What do you think the author is illustrating by having the protagonist be exhausted by being present and unable to bear any more of it with the same person? Which is most unbearable to you: living in the past, anticipating the future or living in the present?

5. Think back to the anniversaries celebrated in this section. Why does Luc come back, or not come back, each year? What are Addie and Luc’s intentions with each other? What do you think will make Addie give in? Does Addie’s dynamic with Luc/the Darkness make her seem strong or weak?

Week 4: Part 3

1. Henry reveals, about a deal, on page 221 that: “I made one, too.” What do you think Henry’s deal is? And, why? Remember, when Henry is asked by Addie what is wrong on page 176 for exiting the movie theater early, he says “Do you ever feel like you’re running out of time?” What do you think this reveals to the reader about Henry’s deal? What is the significance of this question he poses? 
2. On page 216, when Henry presses Addie to explain why Robbie is not at fault for not remembering her, Addie takes a deep breath and begins her story: “My name is Addie LaRue. I was born in Villon in the year 1691...” As a reader, how did you feel about this being the moment and reason Addie reveals her curse to Henry? Explain. 
3. Addie wants to discover who Henry is. She whispers in his empty room on page 199 “Who are you?” as she searches his room. Why do you think Addie went through Henry’s stuff? Is that her best means to get to know someone? Why or why not? What do you think is the story behind the bloodied handkerchief with an engagement ring inside?  
4. What do you feel about Addie’s return to her hometown and seeing her elderly mother at the door? As a reader, were you satisfied with this reunion? Were you underwhelmed? Was it expected? What are your thoughts on this major return to home? Do you think this moment will have more or less impact cinematically?
5. In July 1724, on the 10-year anniversary of the curse, Addie walked through the streets of Paris dressed in men’s clothing when she met Remy Laurent. He is a man and therefore was not expected to marry and settle down for the good of his village. Moreover, he was afforded the privilege of education, while Addie still cannot read. What do you think about Addie not learning how to read after ten years?  
   Were you surprised by this revelation? Why or why not? Did it affect your opinion of her?
6. On page 195, Henry asks Addie, “If you could live somewhere for only one season, what would it be?” Addie answers spring. Henry answers fall. What would your season be? Which would you choose and why?
7. On page 171 Bea says: “I have this theory that every face belongs to one. A time. A school.” What style of art or period of time do you feel your personal style, vibe and/or look best suits? Have others said you belong in a specific time period? If so, when? Would you consider yourself before your time or an old soul?
8. What do you think Henry was talking about to the lady on the food truck? Was it significant? Why did Addie ask him about it and feel his response was not truthful? What was the author showing the reader? 
9. Luc says to Addie, after he gets her thrown out of the salon, on page 210, “I think you’ll find my word won’t fade as fast as yours. They will not remember you, of course. But ideas are so much wilder than memories, so much faster to take root.” Do you agree? Which is wilder: ideas or memories? And, why?

Week 5: Part 4

1. How do you feel with the POV change shifting to Henry in Part IV? Did you enjoy this choice by the author? Why or why not?
2. What is your reaction to Henry’s response to his curse? Do you think he did too much or not enough? What would you have done if you were “desired” or “enough” for everyone that met you? As a reader, did you like or dislike how Henry managed his curse?
3. His entire life, Henry struggles with depression, self-medicating with alcohol, marijuana, and anti-anxiety pills. His substance abuse is captured in a pair of poems the author includes. The first arrives after Tabitha rejects Henry’s marriage proposal and begins on page 229: “Take a drink every time you hear you’re not enough.” The second, which comes after Henry discovers the emptiness of being loved by all because of the curse. On page 285 it begins, “Take a drink every time you hear a lie.”  In both cases, Henry’s problem is that he treats his depression by numbing his senses rather than confronting them. How does this behavior relate to the way Addie deals with her frustrations? Is Henry a mirror to Addie? If yes, how so? If not, how are they different?
4. How do you view Henry’s ideals of “being enough” and/or being loved? Henry has a personal crisis over the fact that everyone loves him by default, thus rendering that love meaningless to him. Even Addie, though she sees him for who he is with unglazed eyes, loves him primarily because he is the only man who remembers her. Is Henry’s definition of love different from Luc’s? Does Henry view love as power, pleasure, and possession? Explain.
5. Part IV ushers in one of the most monumental turning points in Addie’s life: her realization that she can write as long as she guides someone else’s hand. Henry is the first individual with whom she has managed to foster the kind of intimacy that might lead to such a discovery. What did you feel about this turning point in the story? What do you think the outcome of Henry writing for Addie will be?
6. What was your reaction to Vanessa burning up the belongings of Tabitha? What did this scene make you feel as a reader? Did you find her actions to be realistic or more a response to her desire because of the curse.
7. Henry says he believes that photography isn’t real. He goes on to say “Everyone thinks it’s true, but it is a really convincing lie.” Do you agree or disagree? When you take photos do you prefer to portray the exact reality or a distorted reality? Do you consider filters and photo enhancements to be lies? Why or why not?
8. At The Last Word, Bea tells Henry about her new thesis project: an investigation into three portraits spanning multiple countries and two centuries that appear to be of the same woman with a constellation of seven freckles on her face. Henry rejects this idea to Bea. What do you think would have happened if Bea was made aware of Addie’s story at this point? Is this “awareness” of Addie at all plausible in the rules of the story? Explain.

Week 6 & 7: Wrap up

1. Why does the book end like it does? What does this say to the reader? Is there a moral to this story?
2. Did Addie evolve? Did she change from the woman we meet at the beginning of the story to the one at the end?
3. The author chose to place minimal focus to how the events in history have shaped Addie. Instead, the story continued its great focus on Addie wanting to be remembered. What message was the author sending the reader with this choice? What was the significance of the author omitting major historical moments and how they could have shaped Addie?
4. What did you think about Henry's reveal? Did you think it was a good addition to the story? Why or why not? 
5. Page 364 says “Grief, deep as a well, opens inside her. What is the point in planting seeds? Why tend them? Why help them grow? Everything crumbles in the end. Everything dies”. When Addie returns to Villon to find the tree, she planted over Estele’s grave gone, she grieves. What does the loss of the tree represent to Addie?  
6. At dinner with Henry, Addie tries to leave without paying, explaining that the waiter won’t even remember they were there. Henry must remind her that he is not invisible like she is and that, besides, theft is wrong. Have you ever “dined and ditched”? Have you ever taken something and didn’t pay for it? If so, what? And how did it make you feel?