The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, 448 pages.

Addie LaRue was born in rural France in 1714, and has felt trapped by her small existence for her whole life. So on the night of the wedding she doesn't want she violates the warning her mentor gave her and prays to the kind of old god who answers after dark. She wishes for freedom and time, and trades her soul to get them (to be collected only when she doesn't want it anymore). Like most Faustian bargains, this her wish turns out to be more curse than gift, as the god she prays to decides that the truest freedom is in not being remembered, and everyone forgets her as soon as they break line of sight.

The narrative twines between Addie's long 300 year history and her life in modern NYC, where she finally meets someone who can remember her. The plot from there is not hard to guess. 

Overall I truly enjoyed this book, but I have a hard time describing why. The plot isn't bad, but it's hardly anything groundbreaking. I liked the characters, but I wouldn't consider them particularly exceptional either. And yet the experience of reading this book was still something exceptional. For me, it created a very engaging emotional experience the whole time I was reading this novel, and I had a hard time putting it down. The tone is simultaneously yearning and joyful, cerebral and emotional. It is a beautiful exploration of what makes life worth living, and invites the reader to look at the experience of life with fresh wonder.