Last month I read an astonishing 16 books! This month I started October by reading a very highly anticipated book from V.E. Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Immediately enamored by her prose and the poetic cadence of her writing, I knew this was a book I wanted to slow down and savor. Circe by Madeline Miller became one of my favorite books because of how beautiful the writing was and a captivating story. Circe is rivaled by Addie.
In 1714, Addie LaRue, desperate to not enter a life of marital servitude, called upon a god, any god that would answer. Not heading the advice she’s always been given to “never pray to the gods that answer after dark.”
Addie is forced to live as long as she wants but is cursed by being forgotten by anyone she meets the moment they look away. She cannot speak her name, write, or make any other impression on the world around her.
She can go without food (she will not wither). She can go without heat (the cold will not kill her). But a life without art, without wonder, without beautiful things – she would go mad. She has gone mad. What she needs are stories. . . . Books, she had found, are a way to live a thousand lives – or to find strength in a very long one.
–The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Chapter VI
This story switches back and forth in time until 2014 when she meets a man who utters three words she thought she’d never hear again. “I remember you.”
This book is historical fiction, a love story, with a touch of fantasy. I adored Addie LaRue and I think you will too. Please, go to your local indie bookstore and buy a copy of this lyrical novel. It’s perfect for these upcoming fall nights.
A huge thank you to my friends at Tor Books for sending me a copy of this beautiful novel!
