nikinem's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Torture
Minor: War
parfait52's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
If you enjoy reading gorgeous, languid writing that feels almost burdensome at times, with some insightful peeks into the mind of an unfortunate soul, this is the book for you. If you enjoy a clear plot with characters that are revealed through actions instead of long ramblings, this is not the book for you. Ultimately, I am glad that I read this book but I probably wouldn't want to do it again. Kind of like life itself.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, War, Death, Abandonment, and Stalking
Minor: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Torture, Confinement, and Cursing
avie_j's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny and Gaslighting
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, War, and Sexism
bentobookdragon11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Cursing
Moderate: Alcohol, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction
Minor: Toxic relationship, War, Death, Torture, and Blood
*the darkness/devil/LOWER CASE G god*limewheel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
My only pitfall with this book has to delve into spoilers, so read at your own risk.
Spoiler
The romance and love triangle was corny at best, and teetering on infuriating at worst. It wasn't Henry that was the problem—his and Addie's relationship actually seemed like a natural progression of the story—but rather Luc and Addie's "relationship". It came out of nowhere and seemed annoyingly out of character for Luc. Sure, he'd been trying to whittle down Addie for centuries before, but that was entirely out of spite. Spite is the very basis of their relationship: Addie wants to live forever to prove Luc wrong, and Luc wants her to give up to prove Addie wrong. In any other book, this might make sense for it to take a romantic turn, and I don't even blame Addie for developing feelings towards him because she's human, but the difference is that he's not. Luc is a god with innumerable souls to reap and even more waiting to make deals with him. Why is Addie so special? At the end of the book, she says that she'd spent 300 years learning the ins and outs of his behavior, and that he'd learned nothing of her in that same time, so why did he want her so bad? For having this love triangle between Henry and Addie and Luc take up, like, 1/3 of the book, it was more than enough to taint my enjoyment.The characters were alright, but most fell flat, even the main few. Addie, of course is wonderfully fleshed out, because, after all, this book is about her invisible life. But I just grew bored with the other two, Henry and Luc. Henry, specifically, I became frustrated with because I want to like his character so bad, but everything about him is just so... insignificant. And that's a big problem for a main character. I truly could not care about his struggles because he's a poorly written coward who wallowed in pity . Now, I have nothing against cowards, or characters who wallow in pity, but being poorly written is where I draw the line. Next to nothing happens with his development for almost the entirety of the book, except that he falls in love, and even that barely changes him. His problems had been solved before he and Addie crossed paths and that's probably what made him so stagnant to me. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Luc, well, he was just a not not evil guy whose only purpose was apparently to torment Addie sometimes. Kinda boring and kinda predictable, but I can barely fault him for it because he is a nonhuman god, and they tend to be like that. Whatever.
There's not much else for me to say about this book. I loved Addie and her circumstances, but everything else was pushed to the sidelines. That about sums up why this is rated 3.25.
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Mental illness, and Drug use
Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/injury detail
anapthine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Abandonment and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Suicide attempt, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Mental illness, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts
maddox22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, War, Violence, and Body horror
wordrevel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The reason I decided against a full 5.0 rating is that I found it odd that in her 300 years and with such a curiosity of languages, Addie's nine languages were all romantic or germanic languages. She hadn't learnt any Asian or African languages, even though she lived in New York, which has had a sizeable immigrant community for a long, long time.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War
Minor: Alcoholism
lizaleoma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Torture
madmilliner's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
It is the ultimate manic pixie dream girl vs depressive demon nightmare boy, I felt it was trying too hard and was somehow ¿oversaturated?
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Torture, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Biphobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, War, Violence, Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, Child death, Blood, Addiction, Abandonment, and Torture