A Story You Will Never Forget.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Hardcover, 442 pages
Published October 6th 2020
by Tor Books
3.25/5 stars
V.E. Schwab is a new to me author. With all the buzz before it's release last fall (on my birthday no less, it was a birthday present to myself) I was sweep up with all the hype but only recently did I finally sit to read it. In fact this was a combo reading and audio book listen. Julia Whelan is one of my favourite narrators and as usual she did a great job.
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue had an interesting premise, it was beautifully written with a lyrical voice that flowed smoothly. The beginning had me rubbing my hands together, excited to read about Addie's life. Beginning in 1714 Addie had a desire for a life that wasn't a traditional one in an era when women had no voice. One must be careful what they wish for. Adjusting to her new life I liked watching her journey and how she made things work. The historical parts were just touched upon and at times I wanted more.
I'm glad I did the combo read, coming in at 441 pages this hardcover had a smaller font making it on the longish side - 17 hours for the audio and to me it was just too long. The beginning started strong but then a lull hit before it picked up the pace again just past the half way mark with the lull picking up steam again. I know I'm in the minority with my rating but I just found that while the writing was lovely the story repeating itself a lot and could have been shorten somewhat.
I'm am not sure how this book is marketed, YA or adult but there was a definite YA feel to it. I couldn't decide on whether to rate it 3 or 3.5, hence my 3.25. Like I said at the beginning V.E. Schwab is a new author to me, I will definitely give her another try.
This book was part of my 2021 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge (#42)
No comments:
Post a Comment