Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

A book that is--ironically--unforgettable.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows a 23 year old girl through her unfortunately forgettable life. In an attempt to avoid her imminent wedding...in 1714...Addie makes a last ditch effort to save her future plans and does the one thing she was instructed to never do, she prays to the gods who answer in the dark. Thinking she would rather face the unknown consequences, rather than be tied to her small hometown in France, Addie meets the darkness, who offers her a deal for her freedom in exchange for her soul once she is done exploring. After it is much too late, Addie realizes that the exchange for her long life was a curse that made everyone who ever came in contact with her forget who she was. Escaping to Paris, she struggles to understand the intimate details of her curse in order to survive the first year of her invisible life.

One year later, to the date, she is visited by the darkness again, who promises to return every year on their anniversary to ask if she was ready to relinquish her soul. Even though the first year of Addie's new life was the hardest thing she had ever done, she's not even close to giving up yet. For the next 300 years she will learn more about her curse and fight year after year to make her mark on a world that never seems to remember her.

But when she walks into a small New York book store in the 21st century, Addie encounters a man that remembers her name. The rules just changed, and this is a game that Addie has perfected.

"Three words, large enough to tip the world. I remember you."

This beautiful story takes readers through history in some of the greatest cities in the world and introduces people Addie meets that she can never seem to forget. Trying to find significance, Addie explores art, literature, and music, trying to find a medium to tell her story. Through the retelling of her past life, and the uncharted territory of a guy named Henry beginning to know her, Addie shows readers just how much stories define who we are.

"Stories come in many forms: in charcoal, and in songs, in painting, poems, films, and books. Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives--or to find strength in a very long one."

I really enjoyed this book as a whole, but it was a little difficult to read at times. This book has frequent flashbacks in Addie's long life and although they were interesting, in some ways it made the plot move forward pretty slowly. The characters in this story were very unique, but at times they could also be frustrating. I loved Addie, she was a strong, independent, and extremely intelligent character. She seemed to mirror Henry's character in that they were both smart and lost. I felt that Henry's story was a little underdeveloped, but that is also just me wanted to hear more from this character, that I overall enjoyed. The conflict between the two characters seemed forced at first, but towards the end of the book, the plot picks up fast and really hooked me. I would say that overall, this book is well worth your time, especially if you are looking for an introspective tear-jerker. I thought the message of the book was beautiful and very creative. I would expect to enjoy the ending more than the read as a whole.

Oh, and make sure you're okay with a slightly unresolved ending...because I definitely am.

Rating: 3.5/5

#romance #femalelead #fiction