The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a great choice for a book club as it contains a lot that raises questions. V.E. Schwab’s book has been receiving a lot of buzz lately. It is like her previous works. If you liked V.E. Schwab’s previous works, you will like this book too. It is a book that anyone can enjoy both adults and young readers.
I also recently finished this amazing novel which I received as a gift from a friend. I’m a pretty big fan of Schwab, who is also the author of Vicious and A Darker Shade of Magic. This is a short novel that was released in 2013. And it takes place in the same world as Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic series.
This book is unlike anything that I’ve ever read. The author has written it beautifully and it will make you think about life in a whole new way. This is a powerful book that I recommend to everyone. It’s a story that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a great source of inspiration for a book club. Because it can generate many interesting topics and questions for discussion. Keep reading we will describe them in this post.
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue book club questions
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is one of the most powerful YA books I’ve ever read. And I loved it from start to finish. In fact, I can’t stop thinking about it. This is why I’m so happy to share this detailed book club guide to help you talk about this powerful story. Whether you’re reading along with your friends or reading solo.
The inspiration for this book came from a question I asked. How many times do we pass people on the streets and miss all the hidden stories? The stories that make up their lives, the ones that no one tells us. This book club discussion will be around this book, which is about a character “Addie LaRue”. Feel free to read the book before the discussion. If you’ve finished the book and want to discuss it in detail, this discussion guide will help you.
Discussion questions for this book
1- What did you like most about the novel? and what did you dislike?
I liked a lot of things about The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. But it was surprising how quickly I was able to finish it. I felt like parts went too fast and that some characters were not fully developed. What do you think?
2- Who was your favorite character and why?
3- Who is your least favorite character in The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue?
4- Are there any characters that surprised you about how they turned out to be good or bad?
5- Was there anything that could be predicted? Why do you think so?
6- Which characters did you relate to most, and why? I related most to Addie because she was a very relatable character.
7- Would you do something different if you had a second chance?
Discuss and share your thoughts. What do you think would be different if life was given another shot (superpowers included)? Or even realizing that there is something else after death!
8- What are some plot holes / unanswered questions you still have? and what will be the answer to them?
9- Why didn’t Addie tell no one in her life about her ability?
I mean, she could at least tell her parents and sister before she went out into the hands of a stranger. But beyond that, there are still a few lingering things that don’t quite fit with me. For example:
10- Why did her father leave?
11- Was it really because he was ashamed of his daughter? Or was it something else?
12- How did he know about his daughter’s abilities? Did he figure it out or did someone else tell him?
13- What happened between him and his wife after their divorce that made him move away from his family?
14- Does immortality take away our humanity?
When I read this book, I was looking at the Faustian part of the story. A deal with an entity beyond us as human beings, with dire consequences. This fable is not new. We already have Goethe’s and Marlowe’s Faust to remind us not to make deals with non-human beings. But, in the rereading with my circle, another question came up:
15- How human is Addie when she is already 300+ years old?
Not only has she been able to adapt over the years, but she has also started playing cat-and-mouse games with the God of Night. But she has been learning and is no longer a victim. With these learnings, she immediately reminds us of human resilience and asks us the question:
16- Is she still like us? Or has she reached a goddess level?
17- Is she a suitable rival to face the God of the night?
18- What surprises me about Addie is how she doesn’t give up. Can you imagine her not being able to leave a mark in any way?
19- Not being able to write would be the worst thing that could happen to me. For Addie, who is an artist and loves to draw, not being able to sketch is one of the things that hurt. But the fact is that no one remembers you and you go on for centuries. And with the ability to meet people who will forget you the next day. How does it not drive her crazy?
20- For me, she was already above the common people. It could be that she was 100 percent impressed by the contempt she felt for the God of night and his traps. Was she already on another level of humanity?
Another good read: 20 of The Best Books to Read in Kindle Unlimited
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue book synopsis
A life no one remembers. A story you will never forget. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a novel that follows the story of Addie. In a village in France, in the year 1714, a young woman named Adeline LaRue makes a deal with a dark figure. He grants her eternal life. A gift or a curse. Or both. But, there is a catch – the price she pays is that no one will remember her.
The novel follows Addie as she tries to navigate this new life. And find purpose in a world where she is effectively invisible. For 300 years, Addie will be nothing more than the muse of many artists throughout history. And she will have to learn to fall in love anew each day and to be forgotten the next morning.
Her only companion on this journey is her dark demon with hypnotic green eyes. Who visits her every year on the anniversary day of their agreement. For centuries, Addie wanders the world, searching for connection and meaning. But as the years pass and her loved ones age and die, she begins to lose hope.
Addie has always been a bit of a mystery. Addie has lived for centuries, but she’s never aged a day in her life and she has never felt alive. She’s outlived all her friends and loved ones. And she’s always had a feeling that she is somehow different from everyone else. She has seen the rise and fall of empires and the birth and death of billions of people. But she has never felt a connection to any of them. She has always felt like she is going through the motions, existing but not really living.
But one day, in a second-hand bookstore in Manhattan, Addie meets someone. The one who turns her world upside down. For the first time, she meets a young man who seems to remember her. This encounter reignites her passion for life. And sets her on a course to discover the secrets of her immortality. Along the way, she’ll discover the truth about her past. And also the reason why she’s been blessed with eternal life.
Addie’s character is developed throughout the book. As you get to know her better, you will begin to understand her as a person and understand her insecurities. As the story unfolds, she begins to realize that she is more than a monster. She is determined to find her place in the world.
Themes of the novel
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a bit unusual in that it’s a book within a book and a story within a story. Readers from all around the world praise this novel for its exploration of themes. The themes include identity, loneliness, isolation, and the power of memory. The novel also explores the idea of what it means to be truly alive. And how our relationships with others give our lives purpose.
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You can also watch ThoughtsOnTomes’ review in this video.
Books like The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
We have mentioned the discussion questions for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Now we will tell you 3 more books that will give you the same fun.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Funikuri Funikura is a special cafeteria. If the client follows a series of rules, he will be able to travel through time. The first is that only one seat allows you to do this. And you have to wait for it to be empty (only once a day). If you choose the right chair to sit on, you can go back in time.
But subject to limitations, you will not be able to leave the cafe while traveling. You will return when the coffee gets cold. And whatever you do, the present will not change. Four different stories, but they are intertwined. The author considers the importance of moving forward without wasting time and regret.
All these stories are full of emotion. They tell us the importance of sincerity, enjoying the moment, forgiveness, and love. And they encourage us to consider and realize the passage of time. Although the past does not change, we can face the future in different ways.
Each of these stories has its own pace, but it’s a good read. Short, simple, and light, but very emotional. In short, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” is a somewhat predictable story, but enjoyable. A reading with a nice message.
How to Stop Time, by Matt Haig
Tom Hazard hides a secret. He looks like a man in his forties, but he has lived for centuries because of a rare disease. In fact, he is about four hundred years old. Among other things, he has acted with Shakespeare. He explored the sea with Captain Cook and shared cocktails with Scott Fitzgerald.
Tom often has to change his country and his identity to keep his secrets. Thus, he has been a witness and protagonist of great historical moments. Now he just wants to feel like another man. He settles in London, trying to live an ordinary life, and starts working in a high school as a history teacher. He teaches children about wars and events that he has seen. A story of eternal love about a man lost in time.
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas is a novel that travels around the world through six intertwined stories. It goes from the 19th century to an apocalyptic future. The story opens in 1850. The US notary Adam Ewing returns from the Chatham Islands to his native California. Mitchell leads us on a wonderful journey through space and time. He combines six stories with infinite skill to make them as different as they are amazing.
David Mitchell is a postmodern futurist. He masterfully moves through a variety of styles. He combines the elements of an adventure novel with a Nabokovian weakness for the puzzle. In this novel, Mitchell breaks down the boundaries of time, gender, and language. He offers us a fascinating insight into the desire for power that drives human beings, and where it takes us.
I finished more than 600 pages in a couple of days. I can say that Cloud Atlas is one of the best novels I’ve read so far this year. It was an extraordinary and colossal narrative experiment.
We hope you enjoyed this article. And these book club questions for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue will help you.
Kamran is a literature graduate from a reputed university. He started his journey in the world of writing blogs in 2012. Over the years, his passion for writing and love of books evolved into a dedicated book blog. With a discerning eye from a literature lover, he offers reviews, summaries, and thought-provoking discussion questions.
