The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Book Review

“Being forgotten, she thinks, is a bit like going mad. You begin to wonder what is real, if you are real. After all, how can a thing be real if it cannot be remembered? It’s like that Zen koan, the one about the tree falling in the woods.

If no one heard it, did it happen?

If a person cannot leave a mark, do they exist?”

(pg. 103)

About

Author: V.E. Schwab

Genre: New Adult Fantasy

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Synopsis

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. 

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To those who remember,

This is my first V.E. Schwab book and I must say, it will definitely not be my last. In fact, I just ordered all the V.E. Schwab books to this day (August 13, 2021) just a minute ago—-books I should have probably not ordered because I have a huge TBR pile as it is 🙃. Yikes.

Anyway, I must say there are three types of books in this world:

1. Well-written stories with an okay storyline.

2. Okay-written satires with a beautiful or exciting storyline.

3. Well-written stories with a beautiful or exciting storyline.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue falls into category three—-hands down.

Such an enchanting, alluring, stunning read. There was such a delicate, elegant, timeless mood to the story and I loved how every description didn’t feel like a description, but pure poetry. I also loved the cadence of each scene with how the words built on each other in a calming, serene, almost river-like flow. The words were purely poetic and powerful; Every sentence felt like a quote I would want etched on skin or yellow paper. I loved loved loved the tone of the story because if there was one thing I felt while reading, it was this old-timey feeling of being wrapped in a blanket on a warm fall or winter night.

“It is the kind of day designed for wood fires, mugs of tea, and well-loved books.”

(pg. 76)

I felt like we traveled time itself with Addie, her holding our hand along the way—a warm embrace. It was a purely beautiful and divine journey and I adored every second of the story.

V.E. Schwab really amazed me in one fell sweep. Purely and utterly captured.

Timelessness.

That’s what I felt when I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue 🖤.

Time ceased to exist as I devoured this story. Honestly, the book kind of intimidated me because it was a hefty book with what I’m assuming is a twelve point font and single space. Most books these days have huge fonts with double space lines, and that doesn’t usually intimidate me. I guess it’s the college student in me who has gotten so used to writing with double space for papers. Gosh only knows if we had to write with single space lines, I would be shaking 🤪. I digress.

Addie LaRue has such a fascinating story—-a story I am happy to have read.

I loved how V.E. Schwab took us over the span of 300 years through Addie, Henry, and. Addie and Luc’s perspective because it was interesting to be inside their minds. I also enjoyed the past and present POVs where we got to learn more about Addie and her adventures.

Addie LaRue gave me Tessa Gray vibes, not in a bad way or in a way that compares two amazing characters, just both have a timeless calm to them. I read an interview that said V.E. Schwab wrote Addie with the idea that she represents a “defiant kind of joy,” which I believe captured Addie exactly as so. She truly was born ahead of her times because she wanted more to her life than to grow up in Villon , France and be nothing but a housewife, stuck in the same town. She wanted to see the world, she wanted to live, she wanted more of her life than what life had written for her as a woman born in the 1700s. I don’t know much about the 1700s, but I know women absolutely did not have power or a say in their lives. Most women were housewives and tended for the children while the husband worked—-a history of breadwinning (thank gosh we are progressing). I really liked how sexism was discussed over time in the various years we see Addie.

“Freedom is a pair of trousers and a buttoned coat.

A man’s tunic and a tricorne hat.”

(pg. 164)

We still live in a world where men have more privilege and freedom than women and it is built on a long history of outdated ideals. Women and anyone for that matter, should be able to do whatever they want and not feel like they can’t do anything because of their gender or identity. They also should not be turned away because of their gender or identity. It’s kind of crazy to think how three-hundred years ago, Addie dealt with the same sexism we still are dealing with. Sure, there has been tremendous progress, but there still needs to be change because women and other genders and identities are still not being treated fairly or equally, and that is not right.

So I understood why Addie felt confined or trapped in her story or her life. I would feel trapped and frustrated as well.

“But Addie—Addie was a gift from Estele, shorter, sharper, the switch-quick name for the girl who rode up to maker’s, and strained to see over doors, for the one who drew and dreamed of bigger, grander worlds, of lives filled with adventure.

And so, as she walks on, she started the story over in her head.”

(pg. 75)

I quite liked Estele’s character because she was an odd woman in the best way. She gave me the old lady from Brave vibes, but I loved how she took on this eerie, sort of fierce motherly role. Estele was the one who gave Addie a backbone or the seeds of her defiance as a woman. Estele also never judged her for wanting more or being a bit different than the other girls in Villon. Estele was also the one who told Addie never to pray to gods who answered after dark. I liked the way religion was explored in the story because the book didn’t talk about one religion, but left religion open-ended in a broad scope. Religion can be a very sensitive topic for many, but there was a light touch to it here.

Despite Estele’s warnings, Addie did pray to the gods—old and new—and only the one after dark answered her one day—July 29. Addie was going to be wed to this guy named Robert and she would have his kids and then she would do the whole stay at home act like her friend Isabelle. And then Addie would be stuck in Villon for the rest of her life to a man she didn’t even love, which by the way, I would think her parents would have wanted her to be happy with who she married rather than telling her to basically suck it up and marry the dude. The times sure were different and I feel terrible for anyone who ever had to do that. People should marry who they love, or not marry if that’s their choice. Love is a choice.

“‘You can’t make people love you, Hen. If it’s not a choice, it isn’t real.”

(pg. 290)

Addie ran away before she could go to the church. When she ran, she went to the woods with the gray wooden ring her dad carved her when she was a baby. Addie and the dad had such a special relationship from what I gauged with the few pages we got to learn about him. He gifted Addie stories and her dreamer mind similar to how Estele gifted Addie strength. Her dad would take her to the market whenever he sold his wooden carvings, and that was the first taste Addie got of life outside of Villon. I felt she loved it. She loved that there was more to life than her small town—-kind of like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I could understand how a taste of more can leave an insatiable feeling of wanting something fresh and new. I grew up on an island and there’s only so much we could do every weekend or people we could see without them being family. I always wanted to travel the world because I know there’s more out there to see and people to meet. That’s why many people I grew up with left the island when we graduated high school—they wanted a taste for more. It’s natural to outgrow where we grew up. It’s also okay to want to stay where you grew up because it feels like home.

But that night of her fated wedding, Addie prayed to the gods as the sun was going down, and up popped darkness who made her a deal. I could tell this deal was sketchy from the other side of the country. You know, when people warn someone of something they should really listen because this darkness was for sure going to twist her words around and it would become a be careful what you wish for kind of thing. The next day she woke up and her parents didn’t even remember her—-didn’t know she existed. What Addie wished for was more time to live freely—-to be untethered. Her wording sucked to be honest 😅. She was asking for him to twist her words—I’m joking! But if only they had fantasy novels like this back then, she would have learned that she needed to be careful when wording things like wishes. Gosh, knows fantasy books have taught me many things over the years—-survival skills, fighting stances, etc. It’s amazing what you can learn. Anyway, after that, Addie knew that she had to live with the deal she made until she surrendered her soul—she just had to say the word and this darkness thing would take her soul.

“But this is how you walk to the end of the world.

This is how you live forever.

Here is one day, and here is the next, and the next, and you take what you can, savor every stolen second, cling to every moment, until it’s gone.

(pg. 202)

Thus began, Addie’s trek on a new life meeting people who would never remember her.

I loved the concept that no one would remember her—not because I didn’t want anyone to remember her, of course—-because it touched on the theme of remembering and making one’s mark.

“An Impression leaves a mark.”

(pg. 139)

When V.E. Schwab asked, “If a person cannot leave a mark, do they exist?” That’s such a poignant and interesting question because I do think that most people want to make a mark in some way—touch someone’s life, create something to leave behind that others can remember them by, do something extraordinary so they are not forgotten. Making a mark stems from the feeling of being forgotten, and therefore alone and therefore invisible or insignificant. People want to matter (and do matter). They want to mean something more than just a person passing through life, going through the motions—-they want to live. And I think that is partially why we have so many artists and visionaries who tell stories or tell their stories so other people can remember or relate. I don’t mean that all artists create to leave a mark because I know that’s not the only reason—-people create because they are passionate or they have a story they want to share with the world. But I think deep down, there is a portion of all us artists who think about how our work might leave a mark or a legacy for others to read, listen, watch, or connect to.

“‘Because vision weakness, and voices wither, and talent fades . . . Because happiness is brief and history is lasting, and in the end,’ he says, ‘everyone wants to be remembered.'”

(pg. 351)

But I don’t think everyone leaves a tangible mark.

As someone studying to become a teacher, I sometimes think about the impact I have had on student’s lives—how that’s not a tangible thing I can point to and say, “Look, I made my mark.” When someone does an act of kindness or helps someone out, that’s not a tangible mark. But the intangible is every bit of real as marks that we hold.

I also believe that If a person remembers someone and the love, care, and joy that person brought to their life or the I also believe that If a person remembers someone and the love, care, and joy that person brought to their life or the people around them, then that’s all that matters. It makes me think about how when someone passes away, we share stories about that person and how we continue to talk about that person to keep their memory and their story alive. By telling someone’s story, more ears hear it and they can pass that story on for years and years and years. But sometimes we forget stories and all the people in between. It makes my heart sad to think about because I know some of my Grandma’s story and my great-grandma’s story, but not all the way back. History matters in so many ways. It’s how we keep the stories alive and how we learn about our past to live in the present and move forward in the future. Also, when a person passes away, we as people tend to visit the person’s grave or significant places the person loved to feel closer to that person—to remember them. All acts to keep people alive in our hearts. They will always matter.

Love does not need a future to exist and making a mark doesn’t need to be tangible to exist.

The only problem was that Addie couldn’t be remembered—it was impossible.

No one could take a picture of her because she was blurry, she couldn’t say her name, and she couldn’t write anything without it being erased.

If I was Addie, I would have felt discouraged and sorrowful because I would feel like I didn’t exist—-that I didn’t matter. I think it’s one thing to not know the full story of our ancestors, but it’s another to not be remembered whatsoever like your life didn’t matter. That’s what Addie had to go through each day. Gosh, I would also feel extremely lonely, discouraged and frustrated.

“It’s the kinder road to lose yourself . . . but it is a lonely. thing, to be forgotten. To remember when no one else does.”

(pg. 77)

My heart 🥺.

I felt terrible that she would always have to rush out of places because in the morning no one would remember her. Or how whenever a door closed or she got too far from a person, she would always have to start over—-introduce herself, explain herself, figure out her story. That had to be tiring. The one story that got me the most was when she slept with Remy in Paris and it was the first time she properly slept with a man—a man who treated her respectfully and right, and he didn’t remember who the next day. Being it was the 1700s, he gave her money because he thought he probably got drunk off his rocker the other night and paid to sleep with her. That just broke my heart in all ways because Remy was the first person to treat her with kindness and to have sex with her in a mutually respectful and tender way and he didn’t even remember it. Instead he was so embarrassed by how drunk he thought he was and thought her a prostitute. I shook my head. That made me sooo sad 😢. Remy was such a nice guy too. He saw Addie when she was dressed up like a man and he acted like they were in on a secret where she pretended to be a man. I loved how they had a picnic and they talked for hours. I loved how he treated her kindly. I thought it was pointless when he said he would walk her home and then she said she was going to walk him home. Like, sis, was he going to walk you back home again after you walked him back home 🤪?

And don’t even get me started on how she didn’t even have a “home.” She couldn’t.

If she had a house, the landlord or whoever owned the place wouldn’t remember her and then she would have been evicted. I was beyond angry at the story where Addie had only three coins left and she went all over Paris looking for a house, and then she finally was taken into this place and the woman asked her to pay for the first week and Addie gave her two of her coins. But Addie knew the woman would forget who she was, so Addie asked for a receipt as proof that Addie was there and paid for her housing. But the woman’s pride said no. Then the woman kicked her out of the house before the sun rose up because she didn’t remember Addie. The woman should have gave her a DARN receipt 😡. I wanted to rage for Addie and the way they threw her to the curb like a discarded rag doll.

To be honest, I thought it was funny whenever she would steal things, stay in peoples houses when they were gone, and take money 😂. Not that I condone stealing, robbery, or trespassing. I just found it funny how observant and keen Addie was. She did what she had to to survive, and just like Addie said, it’s not like they were going to remember 🤪. I found it funny when she tricked that prestigious designer and she took an outfit from him. I also found it funny when she was in that one mansion and ate the woman’s bon-bons 😂. She was living the life 👌🏼.

“‘I grant you immortality. And you spend your evenings eating bonbons in other people’s beds. I imagined more for you than this.'”

(pg. 144)

But it made my heart hurt how she couldn’t keep things for long either. She could only keep the ring that she made the deal with and some leather jacket—a leather jacket that Luc, the darkness, gifted her. Gosh, I’ll get into him later 👏🏼😆. I guess it was better she couldn’t keep much because she always had to be on the move, and taking a hefty bag of her possessions would be a lot. But being unable to have a home or own things further amplified the idea that she was alone or that she had nothing to show for herself. She did not own anything she could be remembered by or to share with others.

No mark.

As time went on, Addie learned how she could make her mark.

“‘I can’t hold a pen. I can’t tell a story. I can’t wield a weapon, or make someone remember. But art,’ she says with a quieter smile, ‘art Is about ideas. And ideas are wilder than memories. They’re like weeds, always finding their way up.'”

(pg. 261)

Addie couldn’t write or say her name. She couldn’t tell her story, thus another way she was unable to leave her mark Addie couldn’t write or say her name. She couldn’t tell her story, thus another way she was unable to leave her mark or show her existence. But I believe it was through Luc and one of their earlier conversations where he told her ideas are wilder than memories because memories fade (pg. 210). To Addie that meant she could plant ideas in the people she meets and they can use those ideas to create something related to her or based on her, which I thought was interesting because this loophole allowed her to have some mark on the world even if it wasn’t explicit. I absolutely loved each part of the book and how they would begin with an art piece related to Addie’s mark. I read in an article that V.E. Schwab majored in art history or something related to art, so I loved how she used her knowledge and integrated it seamlessly in the story. I loved seeing the birds based on the flying bird wood carving that Addie first took with her when she left VIllon—until the bird broke when she was literally kicked out of that one house where the woman didn’t give her a receipt. I also loved hearing about the Italian artists who would sketch the girl with no discernible face except seven distinct freckles. The seven freckles was such a brilliant idea because it distinguished Addie—-her seven freckles made her memorable. I loved how everyone described her freckles as Addie’s personal constellation because that sounds beautiful, poetic even. I also loved getting glimpses into art related to Henry. The heart with the holes and pouring the different substances through the heart . . .? Genius 👌🏼. I think that’s such a cool piece of art and would actually love for someone to create the heart art because it would be a fun metaphor to contemplate.

But it’s funny how Addie LaRue was basically the epitome of paint me like one of your fresh girls 😂.

I crack myself up!

I loved how that one Italian guy—Marco—-did draw Addie like one of his French girls 😅. The other aspect I loved with the art inspired by Addie was how we followed Addie’s journey through time and the evolution of art. I loved getting glimpses of history as well with Voltaire, Shakespeare, or Beethoven because it felt like we truly were traveling through time. It was also interesting how we lived through wars with Addie. I bet a lot of research or strategy was done to choose what time periods/years Addie would travel. I quite liked how we saw momentous people and events because sometimes I do wonder what things were like back then and how people of the past would have talked—-like what kind of casual conversations they would have or what mundane events went on besides the things we hear about in history. It was just truly fascinating.

” . . . she wonders if this is what memory feels like for others, this slow erasure of details.”

(pg. 338)

Throughout time, AThroughout time, Addie would sometimes return home—she would stop by in Villon. V.E. Schwab did an amazing job with making us feel the changes in Villon like we grew up with Villon as well. I grew up in the same city—-a growing city. Actually, the city I grew up in was just being built when my parents moved to it after my siblings and I were born. I remember that there was more grass, plain fields, trees, and few buildings. We only had a small supermarket square area, schools, and houses. As time went on, more name-brand stores and malls opened up. We suddenly had a Walmart, a Target, a Costco, a gym, more schools, more grocery stores, more, more, more. I think if I moved out of the city when things were being built and came back, I would have been gobsmacked because lots of things had changed. I would feel unbalanced by how much I don’t recognize. I felt that same unbalanced feeling in Addie like she knew this place (Villion), but not anymore. And it’s crazy how sometimes we can feel that way about a place that was home, but now has grown so unfamiliar. My heart cracked when she saw her mother, but older. The mother didn’t recognize her. My heart continued its fragile break when Addie walked into her dad’s old shed and it was abandoned and grown over. What got me was how the dad passed away the same year that she made the deal. I wondered why and what would have happened if she didn’t make the deal. Would the dad have lived longer?

She already felt like she lost her home and now she was losing the people closest to her. When she saw Estele’s grave, I loved how Addie knew in her bones that Estele would have been raging. Estele probably didn’t want to be buried by a church, that she would have wanted to be buried by a tree in her backyard next to the fruits of her labor. I loved that Addie brought—hopefully—peace to Estele by planting a tree over her grave as though the tree was Addie watching over Estele. The sentiment and act was sweet 🖤. When Addie returned to VIilion again to check on her mother and the tree, the town was even more indiscernible, which had to feel more off-putting. To think that the place you grew up with isn’t even somewhere you recognize anymore, nor belong. But it hurt Addie that the tree she planted over Estele was cut down.

“Grief, deep as a well, opens inside her. What is the point in planting seeds?

Why tend them? Why help them grow?

Everything crumbles in the end.”

(pg. 364)

I feel like these are some poignant questions, V.E. Schwab poses 🧐.

Why do we try to leave a mark if they eventually wither—-eventually crumble?

For me, I think because in many ways, our mark will touch someone and proliferate itself to others. Will a story, a seed, or mark fade away, wither, or be uprooted. Maybe. Many times, maybe. But that’s life, but someone will be touched by our mark and it is that one that matters. It takes one.

When Addie saw the tree gone, it broke something in her that we see throughout the story—her lingering sadness. Again, Addie had a defiant sort of joy, but she was also melancholy and lonely most of the story—-most of her three-hundred years. That had to feel awful and isolating most times. Even being home in quarantine for the past year and a half has felt depressive, lonely, and isolating, so I can’t imagine three-hundred years. People are social creatures and we love connection, but it was difficult for Addie to make genuine connections when no one would remember her. It was lonely and sorrowful. It probably had to be tiresome.

It’s not easy being alone.

“There is a rhythm to moving through the world alone.

You discover what you can and cannot live without, the simple necessities and small joys that define life. Not food, not shelter, not the basic things a body needs—those are, for her, a luxury—-but the things that keep you sane. That brig you joy. That make life bearable.”

(pg. 35)

When I read that, I was like, “True that!” 🙌🏼.

Being isolated for the majority of last year and this year, I have moved through the world alone. And I think many of us can understand Addie’s loneliness, especially with everything that happened last year and has been happening currently. It’s hard. We need food and shelter because that’s what we need to survive—our livelihood. But when we were all at home last year and this year, what we needed more than anything was things that bring us joy—deep, soul, internal joy. Because it is the things that make our souls happy that help us get through the darkness just as much as food, shelter, air, and water helps us to physically get through the darkness. But the things that bring our soul joy? Those things are what keeps us sane, happy, mentally well. The past year, I’ve seen people try new sports, pick up reading, dancing, singing, drawing, creating, making videos. It’s amazing what people have reconnected with or have created within the past year and a half when we were in such dark times—-we create because it’s how we feel. It’s what brings us joy. It’s what makes life bearable—-beautiful.

“‘Pain can be beautiful . . . It can transform. It can create.”

(pg. 232)

I truly believe that pain is the crux of emotion—whether it be beautiful or heavy. Pain brings immense emotions and feelings and that channels itself into creation. I know whenever I’ve gone through a dark period or even a happy moment in life, I take those emotions and create. It’s usually pain or the exact opposite that curates my strongest work, or I feel like it does. But pain can be beautiful, and the darkness that we face in the world or inside our minds doesn’t have to be scary or bad.

So that’s why I think creation or creativity is powerful as it is passionate. It’s the things that we do everyday that makes our soul happy that’s what gets us through many things.

Whenever I read a quote about books from a book, I get a boost of serotonin.

“What she needs are stories.

Stories are a way to preserve onesself. To be remembered. And to forget.

Stories come in so many forms: in charcoal, and in song, in paintings, poems, films, and books.

Books, she has found, are a way to live a thousand lives, or to find strength in a very long one.”

(pg. 35)

I loved loved loved this quote 🖤.

V.E. Schwab knows the heart of all readers.

Stories are a way we tell our stories—-leaving bits and parts like Easter eggs of experiences, emotions, and people in our life. We create stories through all forms of outlets, none of them in competition with each other because all bring something unique and healing to the table. But to be honest, I’m biased towards books because they have given me so much strength, compassion, joy, and love. There’s nothing more powerful than the words of a good story. I love books. It’s crazy because the other day I was thinking about how when I was in eighth grade and going through a dark time, I used to carry around books with me wherever I went (I still do) because it made me feel stronger, better, and reassured. I don’t know, I felt comforted and safe when I knew I had a book in my arm with a plethora of characters who felt like friends by my side and a world I could escape to when my reality was challenging or difficult. Books were and are my saviors. I distinctly remember carrying around City of Heavenly Fire to school everyday when it first came out and I was reading it. If you know, you KNOW how HUGE—GIGANTIC— City of Heavenly Fire was. Honestly, I don’t know why people always used to say how big Harry Potter books were, like those were the biggest books ever. They never knew what a Cassandra Clare or Sarah J. Maas book was yet 🤪. But yes, imagine a four foot eight little girl carrying a massive book around with a backpack of school things. I probably got stared at weirdly because why the heck was I cradling (yes, I cradled the book like a baby) around with me? It was love, comfort, and joy.

Books are my joy.

I loved how books made Addie feel less alone because that’s what books have always and continue to do for me. I guess that’s why it makes sense that the last year, I’ve been reading a lot and trying to get back to reading more books that I love. I guess it’s also why so many people have reconnected with reading within the last year—connection, experiences, escapism, love, travel, etc. Stories are magic.

This story was magic.

When Addie met Henry, Henry could remember her.

Henry, the nerdy boy from the bookshop. Instantly when we met Henry, my first thought was Joe Goldberg from You 😂. He really darn scarred me from men in bookstores 🤪. Yikes.

But Henry seemed like a good, safe, non-stalkery guy. So I loved that for him. But then how could he remember Addie when no one else did?

The first weird vibe I got was how much he said he disappeared in front of people. At the end of the first Henry POV chapters, it always talked about how he disappeared. So then I was like, “Was Henry a ghost?” But then that wouldn’t explain how Bea or Robbie saw Henry. But then there was that weird part where that person at the food truck got all misty-eyed with seeing Henry because Henry looked like that woman’s son. I didn’t strike the conversation as too weird because sometimes when we see a familiar face that reminds us of a loved one, we can get emotional. Then there was the fact that Henry kept saying time kept blinking away. I wasn’t sure if he was talking about how time usually does seem to go by in a blink or if there was an underlying message there (there was). But the whole blink concept reminded me of how Addie felt before she made her deal because she would talk about how life would go by in a blink and she didn’t want life to pass easily and she be in the same place, never having experienced or done anything for herself. Then there was the whole weirdness of when she looked around Henry’s place and she found barely anything except a watch, a handkerchief with blood,—-which triggered me into Joe Goldberg vibes again—- and a ring. So either Henry murdered someone who didn’t propose to him and the watch was something to hide his story, or there was a whole other story there. The more time Addie spent with Henry, I also got the sense that he was her opposite. 

“‘Spring,’ she says, ‘when everything is new.’

‘Fall,’ he says, ‘when everything is fading?'”

(pg. 196)

They went on a few cute dates where they would ask each other deep questions like this. I had a feeling something was up with the way Henry asked Addie questions, especially the question of what he saw in her. That seemed like a normal question to me, but then I wondered why Henry got all gung-ho about Addie’s response later in his POVs 🧐. I didn’t know.

But we learned why after a failed party where Bea and Robbie couldn’t remember Addie. Addie was able to tell Henry the truth about why Bea and Robbie couldn’t remember her. I thought he would freak out, but this SUCKER laughed.

He was just as dumb. He made a deal too.

That didn’t really surprise me, I’m more disappointed in myself that I didn’t think of that sooner 😅. I guess I just wanted to believe a normal guy could finally see Addie and that she would have love because gosh, her joy and relief from being remembered made my heart so happy for her.

“Nervous, like tomorrow, a word for things that have not happened yet. A word for future, when for so long all she’s had are presents.”

(pg. 169)

Henry had an interesting story, one that I could relate to. His deal was made out of love and wanting to be enough.

He gave me broken-heart, sad boy vibes.

Henry was in love with a girl named Tabitha. He was going to marry her, but she basically said she didn’t want to marry him. My heart hurt for Henry because the dude got rejected by someone who knew he wanted to start a life with, but it just solidified this idea to him that he wasn’t good enough because Tabitha didn’t want to marry him. Henry’s family reminded me a lot like my family growing up—passive aggressive comments and favoritism with each child. I felt like a Henry because the parents didn’t really respect Henry because he wasn’t sure what path he wanted to take in life and Henry wasn’t in a relationship. They also didn’t like that he was working in a bookstore because to them that probably reeked of being underpaid and unstable, which I could understand that they would want something more for their child. But not everyone knows what they want to do when they grow up, and that’s okay.

“Choosing a class became choosing a discipline, and choosing a discipline became choosing a career, and choosing a career became choosing a life, and how was anyone supposed to do that, when you only had one.”

(pg. 283)

I thought that was well-said. Because sometimes it’s difficult to know what we want to do when we grow up, but it’s also difficult to choose one thing. I’m not sure which blog post I wrote this on, but I remember talking about how I believe we need to normalize the idea that you don’t need to stick to one job or career your whole life. People change, and that can mean a person’s interest or passions change, therefore someone can change their career or job if it no longer makes them happy. It makes my heart entirely heavy knowing many people stick to the same job or career for the rest of their life because they feel like they have to—-that they got a degree for it and they have to stay with it. Or that they stay with their job because they don’t know what else to do. It’s daunting. Currently being a senior in my undergrad, I have felt daunted. It’s unsettling because when I got to college, I knew I had four years until I was “out in the real world,” and now that it’s my last year in college, the real world is right around the corner. It’s even more real. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do after college a lot more now, and it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions, of feeling burnout but also questioning if I should get a job straight out of college or take a break. But also knowing I have student loan debt to think about and other things. But career wise, yes, it’s overwhelming. I think we need to give young-adults more liberty and leniency when it comes to figuring things out on their own time because knowing a huge decision such as a career is scary. I mean, we don’t have to stay with that career, but sometimes the first choice feels like the only choice.

Anyway, I didn’t appreciate their rude comments that made Henry feel small. I also felt Henry’s hurt because he didn’t feel like he loved going home because of all the hurt he associated with home. I felt that. I understood that. It’s hard to love being home when the people in the home don’t respect you or make you feel loved. I just wanted to hug Henry because it was obvious that he was a hopeless romantic because he probably never felt good enough with his parents or loved enough either. So Henry got drunk off his face one night and was going up to his building when he met this darkness who offered him a deal. Henry took the deal—-that he would be loved by all and to be enough for everyone. When put like that, it sounded like a decent or pretty nice deal. I mean, personally, I have felt that my entire life—-to want to be loved or be enough. I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I think most people can relate to Henry in wanting to feel loved, or be enough, or be accepted. Henry battled true insecurities we feel as people. When Henry said he felt alone, gosh my heart clenched. I felt for him. I felt what he felt. It’s a different kind of loneliness than Addie felt—the loneliness of being in a crowd and never feeling like you belong or that you matter.

“It is easier to be alone among many people.”

(pg. 78)

What I loved about Henry’s chapters though was the prose and repetition. I loved how V.E. Schwab continued the blink idea and the whole take a drink thing 😂. I loved those written moments because they were poetic and relatable. They also made my heart ache for Henry because it empathized how alone, sad, and hopeless he felt in his situation. When people feel desperate or hopeless, we do things we feel will make the pain stop. It’s hard.

“Batten down the hatches, and wait it out.

It is just a storm.

It is just a storm.”

(pg. 231)

When Henry made the deal, it wasn’t at all what he wanted. I quite liked how the story twisted their wishes because it’s kind of like a be-careful-for-what-you-wish-for idea in how we think we want something so badly and then when we ask for it or have it, it’s not entirely what we wanted, nor needed. We need to trust that what is meant to be ours will happen or will be ours. Twisting the deals also made me think about sometimes as people we say we want or would wish for something—-money, happiness, love, or time—-and it’s not always clear-cut what those things mean or what they can hold. I think about the scene where Henry was talking to Bea on New Year’s Eve and they’re on the fire escape. Henry asks her if she could have anything, what would she ask for. Bea said happiness, and Henry went on to ask what kind of happiness—-feeling happy for no reason, to make other people happy, to be happy with work or life (pg. 290). When I read that, I sat back for a bit because when I was going through a heavy time in my life, I remember thinking the same thing, I would have hoped to be happy. To just be happy. Reading Henry’s questions made me reflect on that time and what kind of happiness I would have wanted. Would I have wanted to be happy for no reason? Would I have wanted other people to be happy? Would I want to be happy with work or my life in general? Did I want to be happy with myself, my weight? What was the happiness I was seeking or wanting? What is the love we are seeking or wanting? What is the freedom we want? What does that mean? What does all of it mean?

Happiness is complicated in some ways because if we want to be happy, what do we mean by that.

I had to think about it.

It was jarring.

But it was their conversation that really cemented how much I loved the questions running through the story and the themes of freedom, love, time, happiness, making a mark, and what we tend to want that made me think about life in a new light. What if things are just simple?

People saw Henry in a new light. Everyone loved him because they saw someone they loved or someone they thought was enough. series and there was an episode where Alex had to paint the school mural, but everyone had different ideas of what they wanted to see, so she casted a spell on the wall so everyone could see what they wanted to see. That’s what the deal reminded me of. It had to be interesting to be Henry and to understand what other people see as enough. It was why Henry always asked everyone what they saw in him. It made sense now knowing the deal why Addie’s response mattered to the question Henry asked in the beginning. But if there’s one thing I think Henry should have learned by being this “superior-Henry” to others was that being enough was subjective.

You will never be enough to anyone.

Henry should have learned that early on because if he didn’t have the deal, he would never be enough for anyone or everyone and that doesn’t mean he isn’t worthy or deserving of love. People just have different standards or expectations and he can’t please them all. You know what kind of sucks? When people start to treat you better after you change or be the person they wanted you to be. I don’t know, for me that would feel sucky because it would mean they didn’t like or even care to like the person who I was. People who genuinely love you for you will always believe you are enough. Bea and Robbie saw Henry as enough even if part of them didn’t. They still didn’t treat him like some sort of walking dream personification.

It’s funny how much Henry enjoyed the deal at first. He felt powerful and superior, and I mean, sometimes we all just want to feel good for once in our lives. So I didn’t blame him.

“It feels good to be the user instead of the used.

To be the one who gets instead of the one who loses.

It feels good. It shouldn’t, he knows, but it does.”

(pg. 256)

His parents finally loved him and thought him enough. The professor who kicked him out because he didn’t have a solid plan, gave him another chance. And this rando barista lady gave Henry her number. Gosh, she was kind of overwhelming with how she tried to burn the box of Tabitha’s old things. Excuse me 🤪??!?!?!? Yikes. The part I loved though was when Henry was over being this person everyone loved and accepted without question, so he took out a drink in the middle of his bookstore shift and a cop walked in and all Henry did was take a drink. When the cop said cheers, I cackled 😂. Henry could do no wrong.

“He asked the wrong god for the wrong thing, and now he is enough because he is nothing. He is perfect, because he isn’t there.”

(pg. 291)

If I was Henry, I would feel even more unloved because everyone doesn’t see the real me. I would feel disheartened and more alone because people don’t know the real him, but what they want him to be. That’s not love, that’s convenience. Love is accepting a person and loving them for who they are—-every part. Loving someone and picking and choosing which parts to love? That’s not right. Henry gave up on love or the idea that someone would see the real him until he met Addie.

They saw each other.

“They look at you and see whatever they want . . .

Because they don’t see you at all.”

(pg. 286)

From the minute Addie met Henry and he could see and remember her, I wrote in my book notes that he’s going to write her story 👏🏼. Addie couldn’t write it and Henry said he didn’t know what to write because somewhere along the way he said he would have tried to be a writer because he’s a reader and he works in a bookstore, but he never knew what to write. So what better than a three-hundred year old’s story?

One of my absolute favorite parts of the book was when Henry and Addie went to that Circus museum thing and they went to the dark room with the paint. Addie tried to write her name, but she couldn’t. Seeing Addie’s disappointment and sorrow from not being able to write her name, Henry took her hand and let her hand guide his hand to write her name—to leave her mark. I loved loved loved that 🖤.

She could never write her name or leave a mark, but through Henry she could.

I loved when Addie used his hand to draw for the first time in a long time. I cried when she cried because it felt like a relief that she could finally create something of her own, that she could finally make her mark. I loved that they were both their deals in seeing and remembering each other. When Henry pulled out a notebook and began to write, I was like, here it goes 👏🏼! He’s writing her story. It became clear to me that the book was Addie’s book because what Henry was writing was all the past chapters and that’s what we read alongside the now chapters, and I just LOVED what was happening between them. I also loved how much Henry wanted to remember Addie—how much he wanted her to have a mark on the world. He tried to take pictures of Addie, but like always, they never worked. So he found other ways to capture her story.

Then came the fall of their relationship—Henry was running out of time.

There was a lot of foreboding leading up to the inevitable twist. I feel sucky that I didn’t figure it out 🤪. Addie had her fated silver wooden ring and Henry had his ticking watch. Henry’s deal was he would give a year and a year was up in two months—they had two months left with each other.

Luc, Luc, Luc.

This guy 🤨.

I knew he didn’t give two hoots about Addie and Henry’s “secret” relationship because if this guy was everywhere and anywhere, I bet to gosh darn he knew that Addie and Henry found each other and that there was no misstep or loophole or mistake or whatever. He knew. I knew he knew.

You know, the more and more authors write a tall, dark, handsome (TDH) villain with a complex backstory, the more and more I question my morals, values, and sanity.

Loki from the Marvel Universe? Can step on me.

The Darkling from Shadow and Bone? He can run me over.

Luke Cook from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina? Yup, sounds about right

Put your hands up if you ever liked the TDH villain? 🤪 YIKES. I’m not judging you, I’m judging myself.

But gosh darn, Luc really got my visceral emotions.

I didn’t love him, but I didn’t hate him 🙈.

Anyway, the part of me that didn’t like him was because he made the deals with Addie and Henry. Luc is an omnipresent being who takes on the form of this TDH person Addie sketched while growing up. Luc can take on any form, but to taunt Addie he took on a form that she liked because to Addie the Luc she drew was someone she admired or hoped to be with someday.

I would just like to shout out V.E. Schwab for her impeccable and immaculate description of Luc. One of my favorite things about the whole book was how V.E. Schwab described Luc’s eyes in a magical, natural, compelling way; she didn’t just call them green eyes, emerald eyes, but she painted us a story, she painted us through nature with his eyes. I thought her descriptions were enchanting. Also, all the nature metaphors were stunning and they kept to the running woodsy, calming vibes I got from the book.

“Lying is its own language, like the language of seasons, or gestures, or the shades of Luc’s eyes.”

(pg. 354)

But, gosh, yes, were the eyes just a whole other elemental language. One of my favorite lines about Luc’s eyes was how they went from spring green to summer green. When I read that, I was like, “Wow!” I could clearly imagine what kind of green Luc’s eyes were without V.E. Schwab spelling it out to me. I also loved when his eyes were described with a weedy arrogance (pg. 414). Like what a stunning line 👌🏼🖤.

The difference between the first questing lines of a sketch and a finished product.”

(pg. 345)

As I made very clear, I have a thing for the villainous TDH of a story 🤪. And shows that came out this year with Ben Barnes and Tom Hiddleston being just that absolutely did nothing to help. I just want to make clear, I don’t condone toxic, manipulative men nor would I ever want to be with someone like that. I mean, I didn’t like how Luc made Addie feel inferior. He also manipulated, used her, and gaslighted her like no other and that’s not okay under any circumstance. But the reader and story-teller part of me loves a good villainous/morally gray character with a complex background that I can’t help but be invested in or care for that character in some ways. To be honest, Luc gave me strong Darkling vibes with a mix of Luke Cook because Luke is basically Luc—the name’s right there. Even though I am a Darklina stan, I wasn’t an Addie and Luc stand because again, I didn’t like like him. He just seemed complex and interesting. The reason I didn’t like him was because there was something unreal about how he could be anything or anyone—-a omnipresent being. Because of that, I felt Luc and Addie’s love couldn’t be real. There was also the fact that Luc had moments where he reminded Addie of who he was. The first time was with Beethoven when Luc swallowed him whole or something, after that, I was like, “This guy can’t be her love interest!” And then there was the older lady whom he also took a soul from. The old lady was tired just like Addie and there was a sort of relief to the old lady, which made the moment even more painful for Addie to watch. There was also the whole moment where Luc visited her and tested her by taking her youth. She became a shriveled prune just like Juliette did in Wizards of Waverly Place before she hobbled off to the woods. If you know, you know. Those moments brought us true glimpses of Luc’s power and how he only cared about baiting Addie into surrendering. 

I will say I quite enjoyed their little game.

I loved their banter, I guess three hundred years will do that to two people. I thought they had an interesting relationship, almost like an enemies to lovers, but truly their relationship was more of a shared loneliness—an are you in love or are you lonely kind of thing.

“‘I can be stubborn as the weeds, and you will not root me out. And I think you are glad because of it. I think that’s why you’ve come, because you are lonely, too.’

. . .’Perhaps that’s why you cursed me as you did. So you would have some company. So someone would remember you.'”

It made sense why I was somewhat (very) interested in their relationship—-they both were lonely, they had good banter, they had all these obvious tension over the years that felt like it was going to amount to something.

“Most fights, after all, are not the work of an instant. They build over days, or weeks, each gathering kindling, stoking their flames.”

(pg. 412)

Over time, I think Addie truly did become a constant in Luc’s life because he knew she was there—-she knew she would remember him. I also think he liked that Addie was a challenge and how she wouldn’t back down from him. I think he respected it. In the beginning, I think he thought she would give up easily, that she was some fickle girl, but she proved she was stronger than his coercion to surrender her soul. One of my favorite lines of the book was how he said “Even rocks wear away to nothing.” It was chilling when he visited her later and Addie still didn’t want to surrender and he was like, “Even rocks” (pg. 343) like he knew she would give up soon.

There was also the moment where Addie expected him but he never showed up.

July 29 is their anniversary. I kept laughing with how it was a running joke that that was their anniversary 😂. They truly were an old married couple trying to peez off each other to see who would divorce first 😅.

I felt terrible when Addie was all ready for him to show up at this fine dinner she made and she wore this stunning red dress. She was so sure he was going to show up and she was going to surprise him and prove some point to him, but then he never came and it made her saddened and hurt because it proved his point that she needed him because he was all she had—he was the only one who remembered her. Being alone that day, I could feel part of Addie fully realizing how much she did rely on their anniversaries because he was the one constant she sort of looked forward to even if she didn’t like to. I could tell that she loved to hate him because she knew his footsteps or his overall presence like a second skin. He was the one person she truly knew and he her. I thought their theater date was interesting—when he took her to the theater to watch an orchestra of lives that all made deals.

Then there were the sweet moments Luc had.

I heard recently how sometimes we see a bad boy/girl type and think that when they do the bare minimum of being a good human being, it feels monumental because that’s not their nature. So when a good person does something good, we don’t think of it as a huge thing, instead we question why that person’s too nice. That’s how I felt with every nice thing Luc did—-it felt like a big deal because he wasn’t usually kind. He was nice to Addie when Addie broke down when Estele’s tree was cut down. His sorrow and genuine care in that scene was off-putting, but curious. He was also very kind to her to rescue Addie from situations. I mean, why would he do such a thing when he could have just left her wherever she was? I don’t know. The thing I didn’t get was if he could do what he did to Beethoven, why couldn’t he have just done the same thing to Addie years ago? Why did he keep her around and treat her nice? Why also warn her about certain events or winnow or shadow her out of others?

Then there was the whole allusion to this fallout in New Orleans.

I knew it had something to do with this darn ring.

I thought the New Orleans part was when he just rescued her from this cell, but it was more than that. They had this deal they made fourteen years prior where if she wanted him to come, all she had to do was put on the ring.

“It is a challenge. A game, parading as a gift. Not a war so much as a wager. A battle of wills. For her to don the ring, to call on Luc, would be to fold, to admit defeat.

To surrender.”

(pg. 366)

So that explained why she would constantly throw the ring in the beginning because she wanted to be rid of it. But there was more to New Orleans than I thought because you know . . . they got it ON. They had this weird jealous kind of dinner date at a fancy restaurant before they danced together, which I must say was a power move 👌🏼. It was an interestingly intimate scene to watch them dance and when they kissed . . . DARN. I honestly didn’t know how to feel 🙈. Oh, and don’t even get me started with how they had all the fun in this sort of dark in between. Like what? 😆. OOOOOOOOoooookay.

And then Luc started acting all possessive and in love with her. I thought it was sort of sweet that when Addie saw a leather jacket she liked, he gave it to her to keep—a token of his love, perhaps. But I also wasn’t a huge fan of this obsessive and possessive relationship they had; I just couldn’t see them being endgame because he was a creation of a sketch she made???

“Do not pretend this is love.”

(pg. 403)

I felt like V.E. Schwab titled the chapter for people like me 😂.

Yea, yea, I know this wasn’t love. It wasn’t real.

They had a fling-like relationship that lasted for a while. I was surprised he bought her a freaking house so she could finally have somewhere to call home. But when he said he loved her, I didn’t buy it that he meant it. I mean, did he really love her? Or did he love her company? Honestly, Addie and Luc could have been the Darklina content we wanted but never knew in what capacity 😅. Sorry, I’m a big Shadow and Bone fan, so I talk about it a lot. Anyway, Addie didn’t buy his love or his house because it was a game. I could sense it was a game too because of the saying kill them with kindness. Him being nice to her was just another strategy to get her to yield to her because Addie said something about how if he really loved her he would set her free. However he couldn’t, but he would need to change the terms of the deal, but then he asked her to basically surrender. That night Addie’s house went up in flames and she never saw Luc again until 2014 with everything with Henry.

I had a high hunch that the end of the book would be their anniversary, or we would at least see Addie and Luc on their anniversary again. Addie and Henry tried to have a normal beach day and then they went out to eat. When the drink with the rose petal and note came to her? GOSH, I was like it’s over sis! Luc knows! He has found you! I got chills for her. But I was also terrified of what it meant for Henry. But that’s how we learned how Henry was running out of time and it didn’t really matter because she would lose him. Luc was probably on his high horse because Addie didn’t outsmart him, he mocked her instead. What shook me was how Addie said she would go with Luc to try to bargain for Henry’s life. They had this eerie, sinister like dinner date at a nice restaurant again—-reminiscent to that other anniversary they had. No matter what Addie said Luc wouldn’t give in to changing the deal because I think some part of Luc truly did kind of love her in his own ways. He resented that Addie loved Henry when Addie “belonged” to him. She doesn’t belong to anyone 👏🏼!

When Addie returned from the date, it had been a week. The inner monologue we see with Henry really struck a chord in my heart—-a sad one. He was trying so hard to be strong and make the last moments with Addie last, but I could tell he was scared and sad because he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Addie. He was no longer a broken-hearted boy. But I guess he kind of was because of what was going to happen. I teared up when Henry began to make his goodbyes because it felt even more real that he wasn’t going to make it. I quite liked Henry. I saw him!

“That time always ends a second before you’re ready.

That life is the minutes you want minus one.”

(pg. 421)

When the fateful day arrived, I truly didn’t know what to expect except to cry my eyes out because HENRY 😩!!! I was balling when Henry and Addie stood at the top of the roof, Henry all prepared for what was about to happen. I was a mess. A complete and utter mess . . .

Until Addie gosh darn said this isn’t how the story ends.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS ISN’T HOW THE STORY ENDS??????

What did she do?

Sis, sold her soul again to Luc by promising that she would stand by his side as long as he wants her to in exchange to let Henry live. She twisted her deal so Henry could live because she couldn’t change Henry’s deal and Luc wanted her because he was lonely and Addie was all he had. Heck, and he thought he was in love with Addie. That’s where she went in the middle of the freaking night. I was wondering what Henry meant when he said he saw Addie sneaking off. This GIRL!!! She broke open a WHOLE other level of sadness 😭.

She couldn’t sell herself to Luc!

I was SOBBING when Addie looked at Henry and told him that she loved him and wanted him to live because she lived her life already and she wanted him to be happy. But when she told him to promise her he will remember her . . . . a literal single tear dropped out of my eye. I was breaking for Henry and her 🥺. Pieces. All she ever wanted was someone to remember her and she had that with Henry and that was enough for her because he could remember her and he was darn right going to.

I told you Henry was going to write her story 😉.

I loved loved loved how Henry didn’t put his name as the author, but Addie’s name because it was her story and he wanted the world to know Addie LaRue and her story. He wanted to share her adventures and experiences with people so they too could remember who she was when no one in history did. The fact that he didn’t put his name on the book emphasized how much love he had for Addie in respecting and honoring her. I also loved how Henry was going to live his life to the fullest–he was going to travel, take pictures, and listen to other peoples’ stories with maybe the possibility of writing them. Addie inspired him to live and gave him a second chance to live and he wasn’t going to waste it. I loved seeing the change in Henry from a guy with a broken-heart to a guy with a purpose. It’s amazing to think about how everyone has a story waiting and worthy of being told and how if we don’t ask people about their life, we will never know what they have been through. What we hear can surprise us or help us learn so much about a person.

We all have a story.

I wondered where Addie went after she was whisked away in a black cloud on the roof. Was she alive? Was she living in this perpetual darkness? Where was she? Seeing her in London at a bookstore with her story in her hand was a tear-jerking moment for sure 🥺🖤. Hearing people talk about the mystery behind the author and the story was such a stark contrast to how no one knew who she was three hundred years ago, and now everyone knew her name, and her story. They would remember her. She would have left her mark on people because of Henry and hers relationship.

I had waterworks when Addie saw the dedication of the story that said I remember you. I mean, Henry really sold my heart with that line 😭! He remembered her and would remember her as much as he could. What I liked about Henry’s written work was how he never curated a HEA or a false ending because the story was Addie’s and he wasn’t sure how the story was going for Addie, so he wrote an ending that was as honest as he could, but not really a happy ending, which I respected. He really wanted to do Addie’s story justice and I loved that. But when Addie saw that inscription dedication, I know her heart felt full because Henry kept his promise.

“A story is an idea, wild as a weed, springing up wherever it is planned.”

(pg. 440)

The ending was melancholy, tantalizing, and sweet.

We see Addie and Luc at the end . . . and gosh did seeing them together rile my bones 😣.

But Addie really surprised me. I shouldn’t have ever doubted that she wasn’t going down without a fight. She really said I am going to WEAR LUC DOWN and make him HATE my FREAKING GUTs 😂!!! Let’s gooooooo! She won the war 👏🏼👏🏼! Her deal entailed that she would be by his side as long as he wants, so if he hated her again, he would probably not want him by his side, and then she could possibly go free because he would have to set her free. And Addie would probably not surrender and then she would find Henry and be with him. Addie needed to get started on her demise with Luc because that would mean more time she could spend with Henry. I couldn’t wait to see how she destroyed Luc 😅.

“But even stones wear away to nothing.

And she has not.”

(pg. 429)

I like to think that Addie will find Henry once Luc breaks off his deal with her. I like to imagine that Addie and Henry reunite when he’s a bit older and they can maybe get married or live together. I’m not too sure if she can have kids, but maybe they could start a family. They could travel the world together, telling each other stories or telling other people’s stories. But if it takes a long time for her to wear Luc down, I’m happy she met Henry and she has a piece of her story out in the world. I hope she can at least visit Henry in time so he knows she’s okay. I wonder if Henry would move on and find someone else to love at that time. I think he might. I mean, I hope he does because he deserves love and happiness.

I’m not sure of the answers to any of my questions, but I liked how V.E. Schwab kept the mystery alive. I also don’t think we need a sequel story because we can imagine all the various paths for Addie and Henry, but I truly felt this one book told her story beautifully and it told her story well 🖤.

I won’t forget Addie LaRue and her cleverness. She’s honestly a strong, cunning, and intelligent woman. I absolutely loved her.

Overall, I loved the themes of making one’s mark, the power of what we might wish for, and being remembered.

Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? If you were Addie, what time period or person in history would you have want to be in?

Anything I mentioned that you want to discuss more about?  Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Rating

5 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: Addie LaRue is unforgettable as she is cunning, intelligent, and timeless.

Plot: A stunningly written masterpiece throughout history that follows a strong woman who makes her mark.

Writing: V.E. Schwab has instantly become one of my new favorite authors! She knows how to capture a mood and an essence all the while making a reader feel lost in a story 🖤

Romance: Twisted love and complicated romance, but all around a strong female lead who battles loneliness like we all do, but also holds love for herself.