Pages 90-221 (Part 2 and Part 3)

Taste Test #1 Questions answered

• Would you take a deal with the darkness like Addie?
  • There have been times where I feel stuck in the life that I have. Where I would give anything to be free of what is around me and just start new. When I first came out of the closest, I wish I could have fast forwarded to when the pain and scared feeling I had would subside. So in my darkest moment, I think I would have made a deal with the devil.
• What are your thoughts on Addie so far?
  • I like her. We do not have a lot on her yet. Just her determination and mentality.
• How will Henry change the story?
  • I think he is going to be a spark that ignites the hunger again in Addie.
• What does the ring symbolize to you?
  • I think it is a symbol of the deal but also a jab given by the Stranger. I think it is too reminder her of her past and her father and all that she has left behind. I think its going to be a symbol of control.
• If you could have live during any time period, what would it be?
  • This is a great question. Since 1714 I think I would want to live in the 1990s and experience the wildness of the time. However recently I was sorting through clothes and anything that came from the 1970s I became obsessed with. I like the time I am living in but if I could visit the 90s or 70s I would be happy.
• How do you think V. E. Schwab intended to write Addie from the beginning? Someone to like, someone to intrigue or something else?
  • I think she started Addie almost like a blank canvas, there were grooves and imperfections that can change how the the artist will paint their creation, but otherwise its open and has room to be whatever the artist wants it to be. And I think that is where Addie was at the beginning. However, Addie started to take control of her life and way of being and that clearly changed her course. So I think she was someone to be related too.

Part 2: The Darkest Part of the Night

Welcome to the second taste test for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue! I truly hope you are enjoying this book as much as I am right now. I will be honest I am a little ahead of schedule, and that is solely on the fact that I love this book and struggle putting it down. To put things into perspective it is the Thursday before the first taste test is scheduled to come out and I have just finished Part 2 and I wanted to take a second and to write before I continued onto Part 3 (I am talking the book not the scheduled parts that I have made up).

I briefly talked with a friend the other day who has decided to become a member here at The Last Page Tavern and take part in the Monthly Brew and has started reading the book. “I love it” is what she told me and it felt like music to my ears. I love sharing books with people and joining them in the adventure or plot of the story, so I hope you liked this part Trista. Not only that but I also posted a video to TikTok that got a few comments about people who love this book as well and it just made my heart happy.

Henry ❤

Starting with a Henry chapter what exactly what my heart needed. Something about this man really captured me. Maybe it is that he is more cynical and realistic, but he has a hunger within him, something that did not feel known to me when I first read the chapter. It was just him floating through life, clearly bothered by the world around him. There is this darkness and storms with Henry that just give him so much volume and space to exist. The sadness that is within the pages even though it does not seem like there have been to many problem is so realistic for me. There have been times in my own life where someone could be looking in from the outside and think “Wow, Trevor has a pretty decent life, what does he have to be sad about”. But that is spoken as though we cannot contain multitudes and desire things and want something different than we have. So as I read Henry, I get this sense that, yes he has what he wants but he has grown past it and is looking for something new. Which gets me into how similar he is to Addie Pre-Deal (PD), there are just these types of blinders on that make him see the world one way.

“He would rather be a storykeeper than a storyteller”

When I tell you I felt so connected with that statement. OF course I have dabbled with trying to write but nothing ever stuck so I just moved onto something else. I wanted to make this note because later on in this part Addie finds herself heading back to The Last Word for a fantasy or a romance. When I read that my brain clicked, Henry considers himself a story keeper not a teller and Addie is a wild story. She is looking for wonder and art and Henry is this sad man that it seems everyone becomes invested in once they meet him. I find it so interesting because the the way Addie and Henry are written is almost like two sides of the same coin but they both feel fresh and different. Addie feels like the world is dark and she is this spark of light within it, and Henry feels like a point of darkness in this world of light. Meaning she could light his life and he could light her world (woah).

Meeting Luc

Paris was rough for me to read at first until I learned that it was more of a tutorial for Addie on learning the confines and freedoms of her curse. And that first night was a crash course. Like of course it is going to brutal, she’s a young women in a big city with almost no knowledge of how the world works, but still she persisted. I do not know if I would be able too. There are moments in our lives where everything shifts, may it be loosing job or family member and those do not touch everything that Addie has lost. And in my trials and tribulations I felt myself weaken and almost throw in the towel, but Addie… she kept going (well, I guess so did I).

You know that sick feeling you get in your stomach or that sour sting in your mouth when you break something you love or you get news that you do not want to hear? That is what I felt like when Addie broke the bird and then proceeded to loose it in the BODY BARDGE! As we have seen in the present Addie cannot change things, as per spilling the wine on the couch, and when she broke the bottle later in this part of the book. Well when Addie lost the bird she felt a sense of freedom, no longer being held back by her connection to her home. It acted like a crutch for her to hold onto something that she could no have. The security that it provided prevented her from being able to connect with this new life that she bargained for and loosing it, even though it was hard, opened a door in her mind that forced her to take charge.

I also have a quick theory, supported by the wine couch scene. I am going to walk a long line but I promise I will get to the point in the end. There is the game Star Wars Jedi: The Fallen Order, (you play the “last” Jedi) and in the game you are introduced to psychometry, or the telepathic ability to feel and see the history of an object. In the game they use it to fill in the world lore of certain areas and the crimes that were committed by the Sith. That game came out back in 2019 and recently I replayed it. So this was my first touch of psychometry but in the time sense I have heard that objects have a memory of the things that have happened to them. I wish I mean the magical effect from Star Wars but I mean like a stain from a glass of spilled wine, or a scratch on a screen from going on a roller coaster, or even sand stuck in the seam of a shoe from its brief walk on the beach. Because of this there is an inherit memory and the ability to leave a mark… which Addie cannot do. So I feel that is why she cannot hold onto any times, why over time she may loose a dress or a home or something. Did that make sense to you? Cause its ringing true and real in my own head. In addition to that theory, this is a reason why I love V.E. Schwab! There are authors out there that would have had Luc tell Addie exactly why she cannot keep items and such, but Schwab just lets the audience piece it together, which then makes us feel more connected with Addie because now we are also feeling the confines of her curse and thus making it feel more organic, rather than just something we are told out right and feeling it forced. I mean I think that was that point of us being told that Addie is not the one that can poison someone, but she can poison the wine but someone else has to pour it into a glass to drink. It is just clever ways, some more blunt, of Addie and us learning.

Okay now lets talk about The Stranger or Luc for a second. Him visit each year, or at least having some sort of plan was genius. His taunting her and all of that is keeping Addie sharp and working towards her dreams. I think Luc is intending it to be not only reminder of what she lost but a dig at who she has become and an attack on her wellbeing. He just pops in unbothered and its annoying in the best way possible because it is so clear that he is interested in her. She is not just some mortal that wants immortality, but a woman who did not want the cards she was dealt and risked everything for a chance for more time and ability to live a life not predestined for her.

When I read the scenes when Addie and Luc are together I feel like I am watching a game of Chess. Luc is the master who is just going about the game, trying to keep a facade whereas Addie is learning and fighting for every moment, slowly learning the game both in its rules and how it is played with Luc. But I think Luc made a mistake because Addie is proving that she is not someone to mess with!

Storms and Dates

How this part starts and ends is beautiful and feels like an episode of good television. I am talking about the current timeline and I do not mean the entire part. Going from the roof top scene that was written between Addie and Sam, showing us how tired Addie is becoming of being forgotten and how it is almost driving her mad. It was hard to see her live in a shadow of a life she could have and wanted to have. With bringing Sam into the picture it made one thing clear, Addie has only held space in her eye for creators. Musicians, artist, actors, are all people who tell stories and create wonder for people to digest. And as I discussed in the first taste test, that is exactly what Addie is looking for, wonder. This sets up the stage, creating motive within Addie and the story to why she becomes connected to Henry.

Henry is special, this we can tell just by the way people look at him throughout this part and with the question of “What do you see” and his happiness when Addie sees a hurt man desiring something. He is a black sheep in his family and not connected to the world around him. I mean everyone notices Henry, from the Fairy girl, to the woman at the coffee shop, even the man who almost had Henry spill his coffee. And this is different from Addie because though she is striking to look at, no one remembers her. So all of this is building up to those three words:

“I remember you”

This packs so much for Addie, in 300 years the only one who has seen her is her opponent, Luc, and this man from a small little book shop. The wonder that brings, for we have been seeing how hungry Addie is to make a statement, the desire she has to be seen, not just as the constellation but as the human, Adeline. So those words sparked something in her and got me screaming.

The writing is superb and something that I wish I had the words to describe. It is smooth and there is no rush to the pacing at all. It feels slow, like one of those summer nights that just seem to last forever. The way that Henry held out his hand for her made me feeling something so deep that I had to stop reading for a while. I have felt like I have been lost in a crowd, not being able to be remembered by the people around me like Addie, I have also felt like the center of attention when I want nothing more than just to fade away like Henry. Both of these capture what it feels like to find your place in this world and because of that I am just drawn further and further into the story.

I am just afraid that Henry is a game set up by Luc. Something that he has planned to finally break her after 300 years. I think something is going to happen on the anniversary. It crushes me to think that but something is going to happen.

Part 3: Three Hundred Years – And Three Words

The pacing is different. Its seems slower and more like a romance when she is with Henry, when we go back to Addie’s past it feels like I need to pay attention to notice the lesson that she learned in that moment. This book has been descriptive since the start however I feel the scenes are becoming more painted and filled in. They are becoming more vivid and real and its so engaging. However I sense this darkness from the pages, a pain and hurt felt and carried by the characters.

Dark and Light

Oh how Addie and Henry make me happy. Yes, there is a reason these two are being thrown together, or should I saw maybe there is a loophole that these two are exploiting however their relationship feels organic. When I met Nick something in my heart shifted, I felt my heart awaken. Soon after meeting them, I found myself counting down the days until I saw them again, eagerly waiting for the next time I got another hit of this new feeling. That is what I think Addie and Henry feel when they really saw each other. Yes, Addie is being seen and remembered for the first time in 300 years but I think there is so much more than that. Henry is a mystery, Addie has only seem snippets but she see there is something behind the mask that he is wearing constantly. It is been established that she loves wonder and I think Henry is providing that in more than just the curse aspect. He brings a new beat to her life, a new mystery, a new energy, and from when we first seen her on the 10th, its clear she is hungry for just that.

I think what helps fuel that is that it feels like Henry is running out of time. From his comments after the movie and also how he just moves through the world. There is a hectic energy, like he is searching for something to keep the spark going along with subtly something that can keep him still and safe. Addie has no expiration date and moves through life as if it were made of honey, slowly and enjoying everything that comes her way. She has had the time to see the small things in the city whereas Henry is rushing through and those are mixing together. However… When Spring meets Fall or when Fall meets Spring we have summer or winter, extremes that can cause a lot of beauty but also create a lot of pain. So though I do feel like these two are working well together there is going to be an explosion of energy. (Picture Addie getting into a fight, mad at first but happy because it carries weight, and there can be a resolution rather than a restart)

Note from the end of the part: Okay I knew that Henry made his own deal. I remembered that as soon as I met him. But still the build up and reveal of it sent a shiver down my body.

History

So as we have discovered in this section, V. E. Schwab is very purposeful with the scenes from Addie’s past. We shall get into that more as I discuss but rereading this book, along with only reading so much at a time has let me really sit and think about what is going on and notice moments better than I did before. But let us dive in!

Remy Laurent – Addie’s first spark is a cautionary tale. This is her first romantic tryst ever, her feeling a heat that she hadn’t felt before. I would not say that that she fell in love, not by a long shot, but it was the first time she and the partner felt a desire and that was completely foreign to her. Her curse dealt another blow when she woke up the next morning and the memory turned sour. That moment when Addie felt the lack of desire, the regret, and knife on the naked skin (metaphor) was so real. I talked about the sour feeling in your mouth earlier, it can feel like when you lick a battery, came again when she woke up that morning. I bring this up because this changes Addie, reminding her that moment are just that, moments. They cannot be anything more and she needs to embrace them and revel in them but she needs to be sharp and get out before the knife can twist. As I read this my mind flashed back to moments where I felt that embarrassment of knowing someone feels like they made a mistake, with myself being the mistake. Those are wounds that take time to heal.

I think Remy brings another purpose outside of the stakes of love and sex. And that is with the quote:

“Do you think a life has any value if one doesn’t leave a mark upon the world?”

This is the ember in Addie that catches in her mind and becomes the flame that propels her forward, connecting potentially why she has a fondness for creatives. She may not be able to be the one to hold the brush but she can become the muse. This idea of life is only meaningful if you leave an impact is something that I have heard over the years, people wanting to leave an impact so their name can live on through history. I remember when I heard that my brain went, but is leaving memories with people and changing the lives of those you love, not also leaving a mark? Does that count towards that goal? Now in the case of Addie she cannot change people for they are always going to forget her but, we see she’s smart enough to get around that.

Their is this duology of Remy and Henry being put next to each other. Her feeling safe and scene and alive. This romantic edge to her world that ends two very different ways. I think its poetic how gutted we feel in one scene but then how filled we become in the next.

Luc is back…

” I know your heart, my dear. I feel when it falters”

He is praying on her, using her weak moments to create an opening for him to take what he wants, her soul. I will say when Addie said no and to it quickly be followed by the daybreak of the 30th was so powerful. It is this symbolism almost, that she is the sun and she will keep rising and powering through. Addie is the light whereas Luc is the Darkness. Also there is this back and forth and it is a wonderful way to connect the game that Addie and Luc are playing. This back and forth and love and hatred. Luc wants to control her story but Addie is far to smart to be cornered by him.

Okay so of course I did a little digging about Henriade by Voltaire. It is an Epic Poem that is written in honor of Henry IV of France and a celebration of his life. That alone is telling… HENRY, I mean come on, Schwab has a database of so many names to pick and even books to choose from that would have existed in the 1724s, yet she picks this book and names our lover Henry. Something else that I found interesting is the La Henriade is written in two major parts. One part serving as a historical point of view, The other part was factual but Voltaire used his imagination in creating scenes that had predictions of conversations that Henry had with various forces. So in a way that is like Addie, where we get the past and present, both having a tone to them that is different and new.

Lastly, The Salon, if you are not paying attention you might have missed that it was in the salon that the sketches were done in the book that held Addie that we saw at the beginning of the part 3. The scene with the Salon mentions that Addie has millions of chances to start over with someone until she gets it right, and that is true except with Henry, which raises the stakes for her. You can feel how much she wants to be loved and can feel the pain of those around her but she wants to fit. And that was purposeful because Addie knows she only has one chance. And oh how happy I am that she choose the truth. My heart is breaking and I am actually getting misty over here. Telling your true is so freeing but also so scary.

P.S. That scene with the mom was just rude to my heart.

Questions

So I know some of you have read this book already and that is perfectly fine. I was even recommended to have a coffee session for those that live in my area so we can talk. But I know some of you have not and because of that I have some questions. Discussion questions if you will.

• What sort of deal do you think Henry has made?
• Addie goes home after decades of being in Paris to see her former life. What do you think the reason is, what purpose does it serve at this current point?
• Our of the all of the past moments we have seen so far which has been the hardest to read, which has been your favorite?

Conclusion

Okay sorry everyone, I got a little carried away with my thoughts and ideas. At this point I have written 4053 words about 130 pages of a book. I can’t help it, this book just has such a deep connection with my heart and I love talking about it. I guess this is why my podcast episodes were always so long and no one really listened to them. I mean I know at this point I am just writing into the void that is the internet but I love it.

So do you have any questions for me yet? I will happily talk about them in the next post. Also do you have any book recs for our February pick?