What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind? 

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue is a novel about a young woman in 18th century France, living the type of life that she realizes will never amount to anything. There is a woman named Esther in her small village that admires because Esther is the living embodiment of everything she aspires to be. Esther is courageous, unmarried, independent, and has lived through her fair share of adventures. Addie, on the other hand, is on track to be married off to a man she doesn’t care for and have a life that will pass in the blink of an eye. She doesn’t want to set a time limit on her life, so one day, ignoring Esther’s warnings, she prays to a god that answers after dark, who is later revealed to be The Devil, a man named Luc. She begs for him to allow her to live forever, which, of course, is a deal that he doesn’t profit from, since his goal is to eventually claim her soul. In a moment of panic and desperation, Addie says, “You can have my soul when I don’t want it anymore.” Luc finds this to be an interesting challenge so he grants her immortality with a price: everyone she meets will forget her. Addie, of course, runs back to her village with hopes that she will be remembered, but is turned away from everyone. Filled with hatred for Luc, she promises herself that she will never give up hope and never allow him the satisfaction of having her soul. The book switches between two points of view after that. The first is her time between three hundred years where she encounters disasters, navigates travel, and begins to construct a complicated relationship with Luc. She soon learns that along with being forgotten, she can’t leave a physical mark or be found in photos. So, instead, she inspires others. Addie becomes a muse for musicians and artists in order to be left behind. The second stretch of time is 2014 New York, when she steals a book from a book shop and for the first time, a boy named Henry remembers her. The two of them instantly bond and begin to explore this phenomenon? Has she found the loophole in Luc’s curse and finally managed to trick him? Or is it all intentionally set up to break her heart?

I don’t think I’ve ever related to any characters more. At first, Addie seemed like a typical headstrong, defiant protagonist, but she became so much more interesting as she explored the boundaries of her curse. Instead of wallowing in self pity, she began to experiment. She managed to immortalize herself in works of art in an act of defiance. She used her memory curse to her advantage by stowing away and stealing. It was interesting to see how an immortal woman would navigate the world with far less autonomy and more restrictions. It even limited her from traveling for the first hundred years of the curse. Secondly, I could relate to Henry’s crippling desire for external validation. Finally, Luc was probably my favorite character, because like Addie, he seemed like a stereotypical “bad boy” in the middle of a love triangle with toxic traits that the author would romanticize. However, as the book progressed, his selfishness was elaborated on. I could understand and even see myself in his insecurity and possessive behaviors, even though they hurt Addie. Before Henry enters the picture, Luc and Addie are the only constants in each other's lives for three hundred years, so while they are terrible for each other, it’s also heartwarming to see their relationship evolve. There wasn’t much I didn’t like about The Invisible Life of Addie Larue besides the portrayal of Henry’s depression. He was clearly struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues, which completely left the picture as soon as Addie entered his life with no explanation whatsoever. I wasn’t exactly sure how she could simply “cure” it. Out of ten, I would give The Invisible Life of Addie Larue a 9.5. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, curses, and complicated relationships. 

 Check out the Invisible Life of Addie Larue from NBPL!