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jelkebooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a book that I've seen so incredibly hyped, and that hype has actually scared me off a little bit despite being quite excited to read it. Therefore I am indeed incredibly mad at myself for putting off reading this one for so long, as I absolutely loved it. Now, I don't think it is going to be for everyone. It is a quiet book, a slower moving one, and if it doesn't click I can imagine this one being quite a bore, but I thought it was incredible.
I was just almost immediately enamoured with Addie. I thought she was such an interesting character to follow, and I loved the switches between the present day, and past timelines. Seeing Addie make the deal, and then figuring out her life (how it looks like, how to survive), and that contrasted with her almost 300 years later having learned so much, was incredibly interesting. I also feel like Addie's desires were very simple, and also very relatable. I love how V.E. Schwab added in art, and storytelling into the story. The discussions around creating, and wanting to leave your mark on the world was absolutely incredible, and really well done.
The story does fully kick off however when Addie meets Henry, and I absolutely adored their relationship, and how it developed. They had an incredible meet cute, and I loved the moment Addie realised someone could remember her for the first time ever. Henry was also just a really interesting character, quite different from Addie in so many ways, but ultimately they are also really similair. They just made a really great match. Their love story throughout the book was just so beautiful, it had its difficult moments, but overall it was just so sweet, and pure.
The ending to this book wrecked me. I mean, I did see something emotional happening coming, but it still wrecked me. It's incredibly sad, but there's also something beautiful to it, and overall it just made my heart ache, even hours after finishing this book. So yeah, I adored this book in case it wasn't obvious.
I was just almost immediately enamoured with Addie. I thought she was such an interesting character to follow, and I loved the switches between the present day, and past timelines. Seeing Addie make the deal, and then figuring out her life (how it looks like, how to survive), and that contrasted with her almost 300 years later having learned so much, was incredibly interesting. I also feel like Addie's desires were very simple, and also very relatable. I love how V.E. Schwab added in art, and storytelling into the story. The discussions around creating, and wanting to leave your mark on the world was absolutely incredible, and really well done.
The story does fully kick off however when Addie meets Henry, and I absolutely adored their relationship, and how it developed. They had an incredible meet cute, and I loved the moment Addie realised someone could remember her for the first time ever. Henry was also just a really interesting character, quite different from Addie in so many ways, but ultimately they are also really similair. They just made a really great match. Their love story throughout the book was just so beautiful, it had its difficult moments, but overall it was just so sweet, and pure.
The ending to this book wrecked me. I mean, I did see something emotional happening coming, but it still wrecked me. It's incredibly sad, but there's also something beautiful to it, and overall it just made my heart ache, even hours after finishing this book. So yeah, I adored this book in case it wasn't obvious.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Drug use
reneek's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death of parent, and Sexual assault
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, Cancer, and Classism
shannonjo's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse and Suicide
moond4ncer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
"They teach you growing up that you are only one thing at a time - angry, lonely, content- but he's never found that to be true. He is a dozen things at once. "
This book made me feel many things. Intrigue, curiosity, adoration, suspense, wonder, reckless abandon, frustration that Addie was never more into travel beyond parts of Europe and the US. Every step of the way the times being featured reflected the social structures, values and expectations. Overall this was a fantastic reading experience and I loved the runaway thoughts popping up throughout my days about Luc's potential influence in our real world (who else has gone out like Beethoven?!). Time to dive deep into this author!
This book made me feel many things. Intrigue, curiosity, adoration, suspense, wonder, reckless abandon, frustration that Addie was never more into travel beyond parts of Europe and the US. Every step of the way the times being featured reflected the social structures, values and expectations. Overall this was a fantastic reading experience and I loved the runaway thoughts popping up throughout my days about Luc's potential influence in our real world (who else has gone out like Beethoven?!). Time to dive deep into this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Suicide, Abandonment, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
bi_n_large's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
samanthafrati's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book was so slow. I really struggled to finish it and while I like a dark ending, the ending was not satisfying enough to justify how slow and repetitive the book was. The writing is beautifully, however, and the story was very clever.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
minkiortage's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Was hooked at the end, last 30 or so pages. I liked the concept, it had lots of things I wasn’t expecting towards the end and I did enjoy how it all played out. The book in the end did make me reflect of the precious time on earth and time we have with loved ones. I really liked how it speaks to larger themes of women in society and what is expected of them. The cons for me were that the writing/descriptions/dialogue were very repetitive and some things seemed too much of a coincidence at times (Bea and her thesis could be a example). The characters also seemed to not have as much depth as I would have hoped/liked and there were parts in the book that were a bit meandering for me; The book was hard to read at times because of that. Another con for me was that there wasn’t much diversity and it is definitely Eurocentric, however this is more of a reflection of my own reading preferences. Overall, I give a solid 3 stars, it was an okay read for me and my tastes (I did really enjoy the ending) and I could see others enjoying this book more than I did
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
alli_thomas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow - I don’t know what I expected but this book blew me away.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicide
loesm's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide
aruggiero49's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was so bored for the majority of this book, and then it took a major turn. I did find the last few chapters emotional and the story’s premise interesting, but it was very repetitive (intentional but still annoying to read) and I struggled to connect with the characters, especially Addie. The ending also made me burst out laughing because it was just that ridiculous. All in all, not one for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt