The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab shifts between memories of a girl from 1700 in Villon, France to 2014 in New York City. Addie LaRue, the main character, learns the value of living. When she is faced with her worst fear, to be held down by marriage to someone she doesn’t love, she flees to escape a boring life in her village. As a result, she encounters a forbidden god and begs him to grant her wish to have freedom in exchange for her soul when she is satisfied. Now cursed with immortality, Addie can have all the freedom she desires to travel the world, but can have no one to remember her legacy. Everyone who meets her will never remember her. She has all the time in the world, but it doesn’t mean anything without anyone. After striking this deal with a forbidden god, Addie wanders the earth, never forming any lasting human connections. All she has is herself and her powerful will to keep living instead of giving up her soul to the devil. One day, she stumbles upon a quaint bookstore and walks out with a book without paying. Because of this incident, Addie realizes that an employee, Henry, still remembers her even after she disappeared. In her long life of misery and triumph of nearly three hundred years, Addie finally finds a discrepancy. Somehow, someone wouldn’t forget her in an instance like everyone else. The writing in this book absolutely encaptured me and kept me thoroughly engaged. There was something about it that simply made it almost poetic or melodic. My favorite however, was Addie herself. Addie LaRue is amazingly strong-willed without it being corny. She was simply relatable and following through her incredibly low downs made me sympathetic. Although it does focus on her romance with Henry, this novel is not a romance. This novel will bewitch the mind of any who reads it. It really makes you think about how much time you can have, and yet, still not have enough. You can be satisfied, but it’s hard to really be happy. I would recommend this book because it is the kind of story that will make you feel something when you read. It’s not just words on a page, it’s a legacy, albeit fictional.
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