Sometimes, a moment of delight is just that : a moment. As soon as you identify it being a delight, the moment is gone and there is only a memory left, a memory that can still make you smile.
Sometimes the delight lasts longer. In this case I can even put down the time in detail : my last delight lasted 17 hours and 11 minutes. What kind of delight might that be?

I love to read, I love reading. Fiction or nonfiction. Real physical books or kindle books. I know, I should write here that I really prefer the touch of real books, the smell of paper, but I must admit : I prefer the kindle. How you can hold it in one hand with ease, how you can slip it in a handbag or even in the back pocket of your jeans. How it’s full of books, ready to be selected to read according your mood of the moment.

But there is a 3th way of reading that I started only a couple of months ago, a way that enables you to read while you are doing other things, like driving your car, doing the dishes, while in the shower or going for a walk.

You have guessed it well : I am talking about audiobooks.

Over the months I have learned how to chose the books ; not every good book has a good narrator. Not every narrator sticks to you. Sometimes I just don’t like the voice or the accent, some narrators even manage to make an interesting book sound boring. But then there are others, where you wonder, is the book this compelling? Or is the narrator? I suppose it must be both, it can’t be just one or the other.

‘The invisible life of Addie LaRue’ by V.E. Schwab is not a book I would take from the shelf, let alone read it, it is not my genre, but the reviews of this audiobook were so good, and I was desperate for a new audiobook that would entertain me during my long flight, that I downloaded it anyway, and I didn’t regret it for a second.

Julia Whelan, the narrator, pulls you inside the incredibly well written story of Adeline LaRue, who, in her desperate urge to escape from marriage to a man she does not care for, the desire to live the life she wants, the craving for freedom, prays to the Gods of the Dark and sells her soul. She lives through 3 centuries in different parts of the world, in complete freedom, but with the only desire to leave a mark, to be remembered in one way or the other : the only thing she can’t do.

Isn’t that what we all want? To leave a mark on the world, to be remembered in whatever way? As a friend, parent, child, in something we do, say or create?

What is the person, if not the marks they leave behind?

Addie LaRue

The narrator sweeps you through centuries in a way that you feel like you are present, you are there in the forest with her, you feel her despair, you feel your fingers grasping the dirt, the darkness creeping in, you taste the blood on your lips : you feel her fear and panic when she finds out what exactly has happened. But the deal is done. And then Addie takes you through 3 centuries and through the world on the exhilarating trip, even though it breathes despair and loneliness.

It’s joy and it’s pain and it’s unforgettable.
Addie LaRue is unforgettable.

Maryam Rz

Seventeen Hours and 10 minutes of pure delight. Now on Audible.

I am not a book reviewer, but read this if you want to find out more about this book.

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