‘The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue’ by V.E. Schwab

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. Addie LaRue’s life will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art. After nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore. He remembers her name and everything changes. Addie’s survival and resilience under these lonely conditions for 300 years is heartbreaking, but her capacity for adaptation is so intriguing.

Fantasy is not a genre that I read often, but have enjoyed when it is written for young adults. Victoria Schwab writes for both YA and adult markets but this her latest novel, is a genre busting imaginative combination with some romance thrown in for good measure. The writing is uncluttered and brisk, but also beautifully reflective. There are few main characters in this novel, and I enjoyed the simplicity of that. The narrative flips back and forth between 1714 and 2014–interesting to have a character actually span those 300 years. I found the novel lagged a bit in the middle and was overly long (no wonder when you’re dealing with 300 years) but I really enjoyed how it made me think about the importance of human connection and that old time-worn question, “would you really want to live forever?”