Sometimes there are books that are overhyped, that I worry are not going to live up to the buzz. But I’m here to tell you that Addie LaRue TOTALLY lives up to all the hype. This is one of those books that I wanted to start again as soon as it was done.

The book has everything I love in a book: strong female lead, set (partially) in France, bookish references galore, a little bit of magic, a little bit of darkness, a cat...I loved the mix of magic and love story, but ultimately this is a sorry of Addie’s resilience in the face of a Faustian bargain. Through her story, Schwab poses the question: would it be like if no one remembered you? How would you survive moving through the world like a ghost? Some people have complained that this is a slow story, and it is, but that is the beauty in it. It is more about Addie’s internal struggles than it is an action-packed adventure.

The alternation between Addie’s life leading up to the present and the present was really well done. Addie has lived through a lot of moments of history, and I was afraid that there would be a lot of unnecessary name dropping. But this is handled very well, with Addie existing on the periphery of many of these famous peoples’ lives, but not making that the center of the story. In general, too, Schwab’s writing is beautiful. There are so many phrases and passages I want to return to; reading them was like eating a decadent dessert that you want to savor.

The book reminded me of the beauty of The Starless Sea, especially for all the moments of book love (but with less of the mind blowing, wtf moments). Both stories left me wanting to go back to the world as soon as I finished, too.

In short, this book is everything. It is one of my favorite books of all time. I am ruined for other books right now.

7 stars for this one (#iykyk)

TW: death; prostitution; loss