At the end of last year, the Bookstagram community was all over The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue. I really find the best recommendation through those readers! And as usual, i'm about 6 months behind on reading. I finished this one up the first week of March and really liked it. It started a little bit slow for me but by the halfway point, I was totally hooked.
Adeline prays to the old gods after dark and her prayer is answered. She prays to be saved from a forced marriage that she doesn't want. She is, but she will now be forgotten by everyone who ever meets her. The book flips back and forth from the 1700's where is starts to present day NYC. We start to discover how she now lives in this world where her heart gets broken daily and everything she might want gets lost. As we go back and forth in time, we find that the dark god (is it the devil?) stays with her. Luc appears to her from time to time always playing with her and occasionally reminding her of his power. He is waiting for her to give up and hand over her soul. She will not. Finally in the present day, she meets someone who remembers her. The first time in 300 years! I can't tell you about Henry because that would be giving away parts of the story you need to discover.
Here's the thing... I gave this 5 stars because I read it in 3 days because I was hooked. I liked the writing, the story and the characters. BUT it might really be 4.5 because I wanted more! I wanted to know more about some of the years she skips over. How did she really get to America, she hints at her role in the wars but I wanted more of that. There were too many years to cover and I wanted to know what happened in all of them. I'm also not 100% sure what I think of the end.
But, overall a great read and I would highly recommend.
https://variety.com/2020/film/news/v-e-schwab-novel-invisible-life-of-addie-larue-film-1234788936/
I am pairing it with Chocolate Cinnamon Bread. This is a recipe from Starbucks. Anyone reading this probably knows i work at the corporate headquarters and we published this recipe years ago with we sold the product. SInce then the recipe was pulled from the website but several food bloggers saved it and keep it posted. I make it every year from a dear friends birthday because she loves it!! I love it too but i give it all away because it is too tempting to eat the entire thing. SOOOOO good. I thought it went well with this book because it is unforgettable after all of these years and it is dark and delicious as some might think Luc is. It just seemed to fit.
here is the official SBUX recipe!
Starbucks.Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
INGREDIENTS
- 3 sticks unsalted butter room temperature, 1 1/2 cups
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 5 eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
FOR THE TOPPING:
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground ginger
- Pinch of ground cloves
- 1/4 cup sugar sparkles, for decorating
NSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9x5 loaf pans with parchment paper with enough that they are hanging off both sides for easy bread removal.
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the topping EXCEPT the sparkle sugar. Set the topping mixture aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Then add in the eggs, one at a time, incorporating them well after each addition.
- In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, water, and vanilla extract.
- Alternating between the dry mixture and the buttermilk mixture, add the contents to the bowl of the stand mixer, mixing at a low speed. Mix until ingredients are well incorporated. You may need to scrape down the sides of your bowl once or twice.
- Divide the batter evenly among the two prepare loaf pans. Divide the topping mixture between the two loaves then sprinkle the sparkle sugar on top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes (or longer). Use a toothpick and insert it into the middle of the bread to check for doneness. The toothpick should come out clean when bread is done.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before pulling up on the parchment paper to remove the bread from the pan and letting it cool completely on a wire cooling rack. Let cool before slicing.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Ok.. this inspired me 💚 I'm getting the book and making the bread. ☺️
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