Time Travel discussion

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

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. /

Remember to use spoiler tags. Happy reading and discussion.

Started this yesterday, and now, 70 pages in, I am hooked...very good, very unique

I'm second in the queue for a paper copy, which I much prefer over ebook.

I ordered mine Dec 30 and got it Friday

Jeff wrote: "Started this yesterday, and now, 70 pages in, I am hooked...very good, very unique"

Nice!

I’ll probably start the week after next.

150 pages in...WOW, best book read since Covid started, good story, good characters, want to keep reading but not too fast as don't want to finish it and have nothing to look forward to

I’m getting excited to read this!

you have a bit of the time traveller's wife, bit of 11/22/63

well half the book read...really torn to keep reading without stopping but don't want to get to the end

I thought of this group read when I saw the commercial :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bW0P...

70 pages left...don't want to finish it

Jennifer wrote: "I thought of this group read when I saw the commercial :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bW0P..."

That is funny!

Finished book...amazing, best read since pandemic started

Well here's hoping that you remember it well enough to participate in the discussion when it starts in February!

I just started!

how far in

I left off at page 114, part 2, chapter 4.

so what has happened

Jeff wrote: "so what has happened"

In 1714 she has made it to Paris. In 2014, she is on the roof of a building and we meet Sam.

Waiting list is still huge... I may not actually get to it this month. :(

yes, Paris tough on her, but forgot already who Sam was (see the curse works well)
I find the book did make me think, what would it be like to live that long a life

Jeff wrote: "yes, Paris tough on her, but forgot already who Sam was (see the curse works well)
I find the book did make me think, what would it be like to live that long a life"

At the part where she is going on a date with Henry.

(view spoiler)[I am wondering why he remembers her? I am also curious why the entity that cursed her stopped visiting her after the fifth year? (hide spoiler)]

In reference to my spoiler comment, he came back. LOL

Now I wonder if (view spoiler)[if the entity will visit Henry on his anniversary? But his is in September and it’s only March. Addies anniversary is in July. (hide spoiler)]

I am getting close to the end. It’s anniversary day, July 24, 2014.....

I finished! So good!!!

Here is a reading questions (I know, I don’t usually do them but I was thinking about it while reading):

How do you feel about being immortal or living a very long life? Would you jump at the chance or say ‘no thanks’?

I really enjoyed the book. I think it would be very interesting to live a very long life but the price she paid was a bit heavy and I don't think I would have had the stomach for it.

Nancy wrote: "Here is a reading questions (I know, I don’t usually do them but I was thinking about it while reading):

How do you feel about being immortal or living a very long life? Would you jump at the chan..."

Can think of nothing worse.

I always have fond memories of the Star Trek episode where they discover a race of people who put themselves 'to sleep' at 60 (or thereabouts) regardless of health, to save the pain and heart-ache of old age and illness. The episode took the obvious course where the Federation had to convince them that they should change their ways, but I remember having other thoughts on it...

Nancy wrote: "I finished! So good!!!"
so how, in the end did she beat Luc

Nancy wrote: "Here is a reading questions (I know, I don’t usually do them but I was thinking about it while reading):

How do you feel about being immortal or living a very long life? Would you jump at the chan..."

hard decision, fascinating to see all the changes, but remember she could not have her own place to live, could not work, had no connections at all...I think people are built to be with others

would love to see a sequel

Jeff wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I finished! So good!!!"
so how, in the end did she beat Luc"

(view spoiler)[She hasn’t. The game continues and we are left to our imaginations (or we hope) that eventually she somehow beats him. (hide spoiler)]

Jeff wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Here is a reading questions (I know, I don’t usually do them but I was thinking about it while reading):

How do you feel about being immortal or living a very long life? Would you ju..."

Yes, whenever I read a book where people live forever or very looooong lives like that, I always think about everyone I will eventually leave behind. I don’t like the idea of me living 300 yrs later when my family is long gone.

I guess that is one benefit she had, since no could remember her she didn’t have those connections only to lose them and start again over and over.

Jeff wrote: "would love to see a sequel"

I was wondering if the ending left open for a sequel?

I read this at the end of last year, but I don't remember any time travel in it. We're technically all time travelers if Addie qualifies since we're all moving forward in time. She's just experiencing more time than the average person since she's immortal.

It was definitely one of my best reads of last year though. I always love a good immortal story about as much as a time travel story.

However, it really bothered me that she couldn't seem to successfully steal a hotel room key. That would seem to be something easy to do before key cards, especially in small-town motels that are never really busy. With probably only one key hanging on the hook, they wouldn't rent the room out to anyone. Plus, there are some rooms that just don't get rented out as often.

I also wonder how different this story would have been if Addie had been Adam. It would have been far easier for a man to make a living than a woman back in her early years.

I never thought of a hotel room. You’d think she would be able to somehow get a key.

of course not cause that would mean registering at the hotel, the clerk would forget he registered her right after she left

Amy wrote: "I read this at the end of last year, but I don't remember any time travel in it. We're technically all time travelers if Addie qualifies since we're all moving forward in time. She's just experienc..."

would have been different if she was a man...just like in the book, The Mirror. If the switch had been with a male relative would have been easier...women had it a lot harder and had less of a voice back then

Didn't she have that issue with renting a room where she asked for a receipt but the woman refused to give it to her and then forgot her having paid? That might have put her off registering but as for stealing a key I'm not sure if the key wouldn't have disappeared on her like things often did.

I felt this was more of a historical/romance novel and not time travel. I enjoyed the journey though.

Jeff wrote: "of course not cause that would mean registering at the hotel, the clerk would forget he registered her right after she left"

The key word is “steal” a key. Can’t really do that now with the electronic card keys but maybe back when they had actual keys. Maybe not because if the key was missing you might assume the room had an occupant but you might check your records and see it didn’t unless you could somehow write it in the book or enter it enter the computer. It’s probably not that an easy an option.

A man could definitely work as a day laborer and it wouldn’t matter if they forgot you the next day (as long as you get paid for that day) but they could forget you while you were working and it would be a waste of time for you. As soon as the supervisor turned their back, you’d be forgotten even if you are a man.

I was wondering, everyone loves time travel books, how many explore their own family history...sometimes its even more fascinating than fiction

Jeff wrote: "I was wondering, everyone loves time travel books, how many explore their own family history...sometimes its even more fascinating than fiction"

I do genealogy research on mine and my husband’s family. It is fascinating!

how far back did you get

My husband side seems to be more difficult. His mom’s side only 1780’s for a few but mostly early 1800’s. His dad’s is harder. Both great grandparents immigrated in 1890’s (from Italy and Germany) so it is more difficult finding info from foreign countries.

My dad’s side someone paid a professional genealogist to do his surname. Which goes back to 1780. I have managed to find a lot of the other family on his side. Some as far back as the 1500’s.

My mom’s side (with help from my uncle) I can go back to around 1720.

I can go back farther with my dad’s family because too many were from England and there are a lot of old books written in the 1800’s with information.

Once you get to someone whose parents immigrated it’s get harder. Especially if you can’t find out who their parents were!

oldest relative can be traced back to 995 in France

Jeff wrote: "oldest relative can be traced back to 995 in France"

Wow!

I had a relative fight on the wrong side of the Revolutionary War. He lost his land and was tarred and feathered. Also can go back to the 1500's to a relative with the middle name Submission. That sounds like a great time to live...

Finally got the paper copy. So intimidating! Lots of pages, and fine print hard on my old eyes. And too much like the book I just finished, Time Traveler's Wife, maybe. I want Science Fiction one of these months! All this poignancy, hard choices, challenged love affairs, etc., it's getting old month after month.

So, yeah, I fell asleep at p. 84, and don't really want to pick it up again. If nobody is still looking at this discussion, it's certainly not worth it to me to keep going.

Sorry, this isn’t scifi. It’s a good story. I think I like it better than Time Traveler’s Wife, though.