In 1714 France Adeline LaRue is a dreamer. She has all kinds of ideas and thoughts on how she will spend her life, and it is not tied down to a man in the small town of Villon where people only live to die and be forgotten. When her parents attempt to force her into marriage she runs, and she prays. She makes a deal that allows her to live forever, her curse is that no one remembers her, until one day, three hundred years later, someone does.
When I first heard about this book, I probably had the same thoughts as many of you. Is this the new Dorian Gray? Myths and legends of deals with a devil can be found across cultures and all through time. It is magical realism at it's finest. This book had a lot going on but also nothing at all. Time passes and it stands still. I had to read it slowly and savor it over two days because I never wanted it to end. It is one of those books that you can only truly enjoy and relish it one time and then it will never feel the same again.
I think my favorite thing about this book is the absence of black and white. Addie is a dreamer and lives her many years in shades of every color of the rainbow. She is not willing to be stifled by her parents, or even the darkness. No matter what she goes through she finds a way to keep dreaming, and to keep loving those she must meet over and over again. The introduction of Henry makes me think of Richelle Meads Georgina Kincaid series, it's just less mystical and more emotional. I wonder about Henry and Addies connection, who is he to her that he is the solitary soul that remembers her? I'll tell you, I have never wanted to travel to New York. The noise, the people, the smells, it all just seems like sensory overload to me. The way that Victoria Schwab describes New York and everywhere actually, through Addie's eyes makes me want to be there now. Her descriptions and world building are so vivid that you can picture it completely.
"Everything sounds familiar. All the covers look the same. Why do they do that? Why do they make everything like everything else?" - Woman at The Last Word
As the ending of the book approached, I wondered and worried. Would I love it? Would I hate it? How did I want it to end? What did I hope for? I honestly could not have told you what I wanted or hoped for, until I read it on those final pages. From start to finish this book is a beautiful dream that you don't ever want to leave. I would recommend The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue to anyone over the age of 14. It does deal with a little bit more adult themes but they are pretty spaced and not in depth as with other romantic books. I wouldn't say this book is a romance at all, I know others have. I do believe this book falls under romanticism but not exactly romance.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars for V.E. Schwab's Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I only wish I could read it again for the first time. (Also a big thumbs up from Becca!)
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