Odyssey Book BloG

★★★★★

Non-spoiler review

I’m new to V.E. Schwab, and so happy to realize that the hype around her work is well deserved. I started my journey with Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, which is now a favorite of mine. I recently picked up The Secret Life of Addie LaRue, and while it doesn’t beat BOBITMS for me- it did not disappoint!

Here, we watch a girl who made a deal with the devil try to navigate the consequences of her choice. The deal she made was catastrophic and the story has a tragic ending- it was devastatingly beautiful.

Schwab is still true to her poetic writing that hits my heart in all of the most fragile places. There were so many things to love about this story!

Spoilers ahead while I unpack some of what’s been heavy on my mind about this book

Was Henry Ever Really the Love Story?

Yes, this is a love story. But I did find myself questioning whether her and Henry’s love story was genuine, how could it be really?

Would she have fallen for him if he wasn’t the only person who could remember her? Would he have fallen for her if she wasn’t touched by his curse? And do those factors make their love story somehow…less? I suppose that’s subjective, but I sort of feel like it does. I just don’t think their love story was that epic. If Addie had endless options, her choice may not have been Henry. It felt less like “meant to be” and more like desperation. Henry was comfort in the void, but so was the devil. Both represented familiarity, both provided companionship but only because every other option was stripped away from her in the first place. But perhaps love is about finding that one person that provides you with whatever it is you’re longing deeply for, whether it’s to be understood or seen- maybe the fact that they met those requirements for one another was just enough, and I’m being a harsh critic here.

However, apart from Addie and Henry, there is a real, twisted love story here…

Addie and the Devil

I hate to admit it, but Addie’s relationship with Luc was sort of intoxicating. Schwab writes him with such charm that even I found myself being pulled in, rooting for the tension, wanting to be seduced by it.

But then I would remind myself- WAIT, this is the devil. And every “kind” gesture was only endearing because he engineered her suffering in the first place. He was able to give her a home only because he made it so she could never have one without him. He rescued her in times of need only because his curse put her in constant danger. He seemed to “know” her so well only because he made sure no one else could.

I was almost tricked into loving him too! You got me good Schwab.

What does it mean to be human?

Addie is immortal, cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Her and Luc circle around the topic of her humanity often, with Luc frequently reminding her that she’s no longer like “them” and now belongs closer to his world than hers. This prompted me to question whether a vital part of our humanity is rooted in our connections with others? If you walked the Earth alone- never remembered, never known- does that make you less than human? Is the sum of our existence measured by the way we touch and are touched by others? It stands to make me question every relationship that’s existed in my life and how they’ve defined an aspect of my own humanity, positive or negative.

A question best left to ponder 😉

As usual, 5/5 for VE Schwab, can’t wait to keep exploring her work.