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kbowles24'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Grief
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism
felofhe'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism
ailiaris25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual content
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury
jessicadoom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
(Can you tell I'm a chronic people pleaser?)
But, we're moving soon and I'm trying to work on my physical TBR. With that, I'm trying books that I'm not sure I'll love enough to keep. This fit the bill, and the audiobook was available on Hoopla. So, I dove in.
For the first, oh, three-quarters or so of the book, I was in love. I couldn't wait to see where the narrators took us. How would their stories end? And, with this, I begun writing my own ending to their stories in my hopeful little head. (Writers....)
This is not the ending we received, however. I hit part six and all of a sudden my mood towards this book shifted a bit. Yes, the writing was still beautiful. No one can say that the style of this novel isn't lyrical, poetic, artistic, etc. However, the plot (or lack thereof) took me to a place I wasn't ready to go. So, we ended at a solid four out of five instead of that glorious five stars I planned to issue.
The highlights for me were the blatant queerness of both narrators, the history we were able to witness through Addie's eyes, and the small reveals that really did help to drive the book forward. Would I read it again? Probably not. But I'm certainly not upset that I did give this one a try. It just might not be something I take with me to my next home library.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content, Stalking, and War
questionable ability to consent, plot? what plot?meguniqueuser's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I feel that this book has potential but ultimately falls short of being insightful or entertaining.
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Stalking
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
laurenbaggy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, War, and Classism
msradiosilence's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Full review to come. :)
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Biphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Rape, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
kaziaroo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
But then Henry appeared. I honestly think I would have enjoyed the book more if I'd just skipped Henry's chapters. The story would have mostly made sense without them and I would have those hours of my life back. Although I related to some of his struggles with choosing his career path and specialism, and his situation is also sad, Henry's chapters were just boring. He mopes around all day and whenever he feels a little worse he just downs a mixture of drugs with gay abandon and no consequences the next day. His and Addie's "love" was totally unconvincing; compared to the other lovers we see her meet, Henry is by far the most dull and she only likes him so much because he remembers her. She becomes the only interesting thing about him.
I wish the book had either explored the world and history a bit more or been a couple of hundred pages shorter. I had no interest in watching Addie and Henry having nice days out and going to endless bars and clubs, or sleeping with everyone they meet. The flowery writing desperately tried to make me fall in love with the characters and settings, but it was all style over substance. My overall feeling about this book is disappointment after the hype.
I would recommend this to fans of Matt Haig's "How to Stop Time" and who want nice, deep-sounding quotes to put in their Instagram captions.
TL;DR: it was well executed for what it was but the writing was flowery, the male lead boring, the female lead unadventurous, and there was too much sex, drugs and rock & roll for my tastes.
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War
erebus53's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
espressoreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship