The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

by

V. E. Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
New York City. March 10, 2014. The girl wakes up, but she’s not in her bed. She wants the boy beside her to stay asleep—he’ll forget everything once he wakes up. It’s not his fault, though; it’s never anyone’s fault. The boy’s name is Toby. Last night, the girl told Toby her name was Jess. On other nights, she’s been Claire, Zoe, and Michelle. After a gig last month, Toby told her he was in love with a woman named Jess, though he hadn’t met her yet—and so now, the girl calls herself Jess. 
Given that the previous chapter takes place 300 years before this one, it’s unlikely that the unnamed girl here is Adeline. But if she is Adeline, it would suggest that there’s some fantastical element at play that has somehow allowed her to live 300 years. Another oddity is that the girl has been giving Toby inconsistent names for herself—and he doesn’t seem to have caught on to this.
Themes
Memory and Meaning  Theme Icon
The girl looks at Toby’s dark curls, thick lashes, and fair skin and feels a familiar sadness. Once, as she walked along the Seine, the darkness told the girl that she must have a “type,” since everyone she likes has dark hair, sharp eyes, and chiseled facial features. This is only half-right, though: the darkness only looks like this because she’s made him so. Before her, he was “shadow and smoke.”
This section presents further evidence that there’s some fantastical element at play in the world of the novel—the girl remembers talking to a disembodied “darkness” which isn’t something one would find in a work of realism. The odd remark about the girl somehow transforming the darkness from “shadow and smoke” into a dark-haired man also introduces the idea that creativity plays a major role in shaping reality and creating meaning.
Themes
Art, Creativity, and Expression  Theme Icon
Toby will wake soon, and the girl will no longer be Jess. Not wanting to see his confused, empty expression, she leaves the bedroom. She pauses before the hallway mirror and sees her seven freckles. She breathes fog onto the mirror and starts to write her name with her finger, but the letters dissolve before she can finish, which always happens. She can’t say her name, Addie LaRue, either.
If the detail of the seven freckles wasn’t enough of a giveaway, the girl herself confirms that she is indeed Adeline (Addie) LaRue, the woman who was fleeing her wedding in the previous chapter. Why and how she can still be alive (and youthful, no less) 300 years into the future remains a mystery. Another unanswered question is why Addie isn’t telling Toby her real name—could this be connected to whatever fantastical/supernatural force is allowing her to live so long? The detail of Addie no longer being Jess once Toby wakes is also odd and something worth paying attention to.
Themes
Memory and Meaning  Theme Icon
Love and Vulnerability   Theme Icon
Freedom  Theme Icon
Toby is a musician, and his apartment is full of instruments and scraps of paper containing notes and lyrics. It’s cold in New York, and Addie grabs a blanket from the couch and wraps it around her body. Toby’s cat has taken over the couch, so Addie sits before the piano instead and begins to play as quietly as possible. She hears Toby wake up and dreads what will happen next. She should’ve left when she had the chance. 
How Addie came to New York remains a mystery, but it’s less of a mystery than how she’s managed to live for 300 years. Addie’s anxiety about what will happen once Toby wakes up seems oddly intense—she seems to be concerned about something more extreme than the usual amount of awkwardness that follows waking up in a strange apartment the morning after (what the reader may assume was) a romantic fling of sorts. What will happen when Toby wakes up, and why is Addie so upset about it? And why does she willingly put herself through an ordeal that she knows will make her so upset? 
Themes
Memory and Meaning  Theme Icon
Love and Vulnerability   Theme Icon
Freedom  Theme Icon
Get the entire The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue PDF
Finally, Addie stops and looks at Toby. “Good morning,” she says cheerfully, her country-French accent now barely perceptible. “Good morning,” Toby says, confused—he doesn’t remember her. “Jess,” Addie offers. Toby apologizes; he’s not normally like this, he explains. Addie starts to play a simple melody on the piano. He asks what she’s playing—it sounds kind of familiar. Addie tells Toby he played it for her last night. Toby doesn’t remember and assumes he must have been really drunk. He sits on the sofa and grabs a pad and paper to write down the notes. Addie continues to play; Toby doesn’t know it, but they’ve spent weeks writing this song together. 
Again, Addie continues to use a false name, Jess, around Toby—why? Is she hiding something? Could this be connected to whatever she was running from on her wedding day so many years ago? It’s also strange that Toby doesn’t remember Addie/Jess, even though they’ve been writing music together for weeks. Has Toby been horribly intoxicated the entire time? This seems unlikely, but it’s not impossible. Finally, Addie and Toby’s songwriting introduces ideas that will become important in the novel: the power of creativity and self-expression, and the importance of human interaction and connection.
Themes
Memory and Meaning  Theme Icon
Love and Vulnerability   Theme Icon
Art, Creativity, and Expression  Theme Icon
Addie finishes playing and says she should go. Toby is suddenly alert. He’d like to get to know her, he says. Addie hates this part, though she’s always hoping that this will be the time one of them remembers her. “I remember,” the darkness whispers in her ear. Before Addie can leave, Toby tells her he has a gig tonight and would like her to come. Addie smiles, promising she’ll be there. But as Addie closes the front door behind her, she knows Toby has already forgotten her.
Is Addie being literal when she thinks that Toby has already forgotten her? This aligns with what the novel has already revealed about Toby not remembering the weeks that Addie and he have spent writing music together. Something curious or supernatural is going on here, and it seems connected to memory (or lack thereof) and the mysterious, personified “darkness” that haunts Addie’s thoughts.
Themes
Memory and Meaning  Theme Icon
Love and Vulnerability   Theme Icon
Art, Creativity, and Expression  Theme Icon
Quotes