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



Blurb:

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

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.

This is probably my favorite genre these days - magical realism. The book had quite a lot to say about becoming immortal and the different ways of doing that. Addie is not remembered by anyone she meets, but if she spends enough time with a person (meeting them over and over for the first time), she gradually imprints herself into their art/inspiration. She has to treat everyone that she meets as if they have dementia, explaining herself each time. And a bit like Groundhog Day, she has centuries to perfect certain skills, such as languages. I enjoyed the book a lot, but I didn't fall in love with it.