Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Das unsichtbare Leben der Addie LaRue

This is a book that I kept seeing good things about so I was really happy when I found a copy.
I have found it really hard to sit down and write a review about it. I really enjoyed the book. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes curses, prophesies, the movie Labyrinth, pansexual characters, book shops, art and music, and croissants. (if that's you, don't read the review, just go and get the book)

Addie La Rue is a semi-mortal person who has been gifted and cursed by an old god, to have all the time she wants, but never be remembered by anyone longer than she is in contact with them. This includes writing anything down, breaking things, or appearing on cameras, but does not include people drawing her or writing down things about her. It's a really cool premise for a story and provides a lot of scope for her interactions over the centuries. The story is not told in fully chronological order, but you don't get lost.
How would you react if you ordered a coffee but couldn't get it unless it was delivered to your table number, rather than you personally, because you are literally "out of sight, out of mind"?

Addie develops a perverse relationship of sorts with the one entity who can remember her; the one who cursed her in the first place. This creature of Darkness who she names Luc, has a definite Goblin King vibe and much of the feel of their relationship, and the crap he pulls, could easily have been straight from the movie Labyrinth.. the parallels are not lost on me.

Running into someone who can remember her is incredibly emotional and goes against all the things Addie has learned in her last centuries of life. They spend time figuring out the limits of her curse, and why it is that it doesn't work on him.

Honestly, the story, the growth, the recurrent nature of having to go through first-time meetings (over and over again) is a captivating puzzle. My son who is interested in SCP found himself spending time pondering about the limits of such magical restraints, what she can or cannot do, and what might happen if she encountered someone else with different powers or limits.

I really love this book.

Content Warnings

chasingpages1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Content Warnings

giulianasbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

No sé ni por dónde empezar con esta reseña, lo que sí quiero decir es que durante toda la lectura he sentido un amor-odio con este libro impresionante. Mientras lo leía, no quería que se acabara pero a la vez no veía el momento de que se acabase (si es que eso tiene algún sentido). Hay momentos en los que el libro es bastante lento pero la autora escribe TAN bien que te cautiva desde la primera página.
He llegado a odiar y amar a los personajes de una forma inexplicable. Addie está durante sus más de trescientos años de vida anhelando un amor que nunca llega, porque el “amor” que siente por Henry y el “amor” que siente por Luc son ambos TÓXICOS. Está con Henry porque es la única persona que se acuerda de ella, así que decide aferrarse a ella al igual que Henry decide estar con Addie porque es la única que no tiene esa “bruma” en los ojos cuando la ve; con Luc, Addie siente una “atracción” y tienen una tensión sexual de la hostia, pero se aferra a él simplemente porque durante tantos años él es el único que la conoce y la recuerda. Eso de “eres mía” me ha hecho 0 gracia por todo el tema de que una persona no es una posesión OBVIAMENTE.
Me hubiera gustado haber visto más de la vida de Addie, como por ejemplo más eventos de su vida, porque, durante 300 años, solo parece importante decir que fue la musa de muchos artistas y pues aunque eso no es nada malo, me parece algo demasiado perfecto (no sabría ni cómo explicarlo😂).
Aún así, el final me ha hecho sentir totalmente vacía por dentro. No sé si 4 estrellas es demasiado para este libro, pero ahora mismo me parecen las adecuadas, y no voy a darle más estrellas porque, como he dicho antes, es un libro bastante lento y también creo que le sobran bastantes páginas.

Conclusión: Ten cuidado con lo que deseas y nunca le reces a los dioses de la noche.

Content Warnings