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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Its a complicated book, that spends a very long time building to the big climax. However the climax didnt feel worth it in the end.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.75 stars (weirdly specific but I was stuck between 3.5 and 4 so here we are)
I wanted to like this book so much more than I did, because the premise was AMAZING, and anything that is compared to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (my beloved) I want to give a read. But honestly that comparison feels so unfair. This is not even in the same league as Addie LaRue, unfortunately, and it's very weird to me that V. E. Schwab blurbed this. But whatever.
My main issues: I think this book had such a strong premise but the execution wasn't there for me.
We are told that these characters have this epic, century-defying, amazing LOVE but never really shown it. Like, at all. I think one or two chapters at the very least to help show us how this relationship once started or at least how they GREW to love each other given how they met would've done wonders for this book. Because of this lack of foundation, the flashback scenes to their different lives, while fun in their own right, felt very repetitive. In fact, a lot of the language in the book is the same over and over and over again and it gets annoying tbh. Also, this book is not a fantasy or romantasy. It's magical realism at best and it makes me think the publisher/author jumped on the romantasy train to get it marketed better.
I think if you're going to try and tackle such a huge storyline — a reincarnated love that lasts over and over — you HAVE to make your characters strong. I found Branwen's character to be there, but Arden's felt half-backed, and their relationship just felt like there was no depth to it despite the fact that they've been 'together' for 1,0000000 years....
ANYWAY. All that out of the way, I still kept reading. I loved some of the language/prose in this. I also really enjoyed the play of gender identity and sexuality the characters explore throughout their lives, it added so much to the flashbacks. I loved the themes the author explored: love and the human condition, grief, fate. And I will say I did not expect that twist, (or the second one at the end which felt kind of unnecessary in some ways bc it just undid the last 3 chapter before it lol) - so that was fun.
My struggle with this book was that I enjoyed it, but I wanted more from it. I think if the execution had been a bit better, this would've been a solid 4 star read for me. That's why I couldn't give it a 4 star but also didn't feel like 3.5 worked either.
I wanted to like this book so much more than I did, because the premise was AMAZING, and anything that is compared to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (my beloved) I want to give a read. But honestly that comparison feels so unfair. This is not even in the same league as Addie LaRue, unfortunately, and it's very weird to me that V. E. Schwab blurbed this. But whatever.
My main issues: I think this book had such a strong premise but the execution wasn't there for me.
We are told that these characters have this epic, century-defying, amazing LOVE but never really shown it. Like, at all. I think one or two chapters at the very least to help show us how this relationship once started or at least how they GREW to love each other given how they met would've done wonders for this book. Because of this lack of foundation, the flashback scenes to their different lives, while fun in their own right, felt very repetitive. In fact, a lot of the language in the book is the same over and over and over again and it gets annoying tbh. Also, this book is not a fantasy or romantasy. It's magical realism at best and it makes me think the publisher/author jumped on the romantasy train to get it marketed better.
I think if you're going to try and tackle such a huge storyline — a reincarnated love that lasts over and over — you HAVE to make your characters strong. I found Branwen's character to be there, but Arden's felt half-backed, and their relationship just felt like there was no depth to it despite the fact that they've been 'together' for 1,0000000 years....
ANYWAY. All that out of the way, I still kept reading. I loved some of the language/prose in this. I also really enjoyed the play of gender identity and sexuality the characters explore throughout their lives, it added so much to the flashbacks. I loved the themes the author explored: love and the human condition, grief, fate. And I will say I did not expect that twist, (or the second one at the end which felt kind of unnecessary in some ways bc it just undid the last 3 chapter before it lol) - so that was fun.
My struggle with this book was that I enjoyed it, but I wanted more from it. I think if the execution had been a bit better, this would've been a solid 4 star read for me. That's why I couldn't give it a 4 star but also didn't feel like 3.5 worked either.