A very unusual premise; a young girl in a tiny village in France, 1714, chafes against the restraints that her gender and family put on her. She wants to see more of the world; she doesn't want to be forced to marry the first person who comes along, have a series of children, and grow old taking care of them. In short, she wants to be completely free - and so she makes a deal for her soul with the Darkness to be completely free and he can have her soul when she's tired of living.

Well, needless to say, a deal with the Darkness usually has strings attached and Addie definitely hasn't thought the details through very well. She ends up free- because everyone who meets her forgets her the instant she's out of sight. She ends up immortal - because she has to live long enough to become tired of living, but the conditions of her life are enough to make anyone tired of life pretty fast. She's forced into an existence on the margins of the world - stealing what she needs (although she doesn't actually need to eat, it hurts being hungry), unable to even rent a room because as soon as she leaves the landlady or hotel clerk they won't remember she exists or that the room is taken. She can make friends or lovers, but as soon as they part or fall asleep she'll be forgotten. In short, it's not a great life - but nonetheless, she is free, and determined to spite the Darkness and find things to enjoy about life year after year. Over the centuries, she develops a friendship of sorts with the Darkness; she's the only human he interacts with regularly (checking in most anniversaries of their bargain to see if she's ready to give up her soul yet) and she challenges and interests him. The whole book is really a battle of wits between the Darkness and Addie, and sometimes it's hard to tell who's got the upper hand. When she finally meets a boy who actually remembers her, against all odds, she thinks she's found a loophole. But has she really?

Anyway, it's a very interesting premise, poetically written in parts, although it dragged a bit long in the middle and there are quite a few too many references to black curls and seven freckles - we got the point already! Addie and Henry seem so young (despite the fact she's over 300) that it reads in parts almost like a young adult book. Anyway, it's an interesting premise and I enjoyed it, but 4 stars rather than 5 because I don't imagine I'd ever want to read it a second time through.