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

A young woman, born 1691 in Villon, France feels more and more trapped in the circumstances of her life. A close friend tells her how to pray to the "old gods" for help, with the firm warning:

"Never pray to the gods that answer after dark"

Things I liked

1. The plot was very interesting and engaging--I could hardly put it down.
2. After a while I had a hard time reminding myself that Addie wasn't a real person. This book is obviously a work of fiction, but I was getting to know the main character on a very personal and real level.
3. It forced me to think about hard things. Hard like existentialism, subjugation, gender norms, the fragility of society, ethics, and mental health. Not hard like calculating the area under a curve.
4. There was a lot of care taken to ensure "the ends all met up", but it also had some twists that are enjoyable to think about.

Things I didn't like

1. Some of the descriptions of Addie's sexual encounters were about 10% more explicit than I would have liked. It obviously didn't stop me from reading the book, but it would have been a more enjoyable read for me if some of those details were left to the reader.

Honestly, I really liked the book, so, yeah...no number two.

Overall impression

Overall, I loved this book. It was an excellent mix of thought provoking content as well as giving me some soft fantasy elements. I fell in love with Addie and her way of life and really was hoping for a good ending for her. There were several, very heart wrenching moments that the author didn't pull away from, which I appreciated. I would defintely recommend this book to those with the maturity to be asked serious, thought provoking questions.