“What she needs are stories. Stories are a way to preserve one’s self. 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.”

– The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab was one of my favourite books I read in 2023 and it may go down as one of my favourites of all time. Before even starting the book, I found the concept so unique that I didn’t want to miss out on reading it. After diving into it, I found that the writing style was incredibly vivid and detailed. In addition to this, each character was so captivating that by the end I felt as if I had lived life alongside them. Which, inadvertently, I guess is the purpose of reading to some extent – to escape reality for a short period of time and experience the viewpoint of somebody else.  

For those who don’t know much about the book, here is a description from StoryGraph.

“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.”

I loved this book so much that I decided to cook a dinner inspired by Addie herself. My menu consisted of the following.

1. Arugula salad with strawberries, walnuts, and an Italian dressing
2. Steak with garlic lemon pasta
3. A glass of red wine

Knowing the character of Addie, in knew whatever I decided to make needed to be rich and decadent. To me, this menu fit the bill.

Side note: I initially planned to make a chocolate mousse for dessert but I was too full!

Making steak was new to me so I followed a recipe I found online: Pan Seared Steak, and it turned out delicious.

This was such a fun way to bring a book character to life and the process of cooking was the perfect calming activity I needed on a Sunday night.

Uncategorized Book Blog Book Review Books fantasy Literature Reading v-e-schwab