Stuck the ending, which is rare for books to do. I enjoyed Henry and the modern parts of the story more than the historical bits, which surprised me. Beautiful language and storytelling- but felt long, and sometimes I felt like I had to slough through exposition to get to the gems. Still enjoyable overall! ( )

Adeline immortale ( )

I first read Addie years ago and it’s lingered in my mind since then. I loved it even more the second time. Not just a good story and fantastic characters, the way the story is told is exceptional. ( )

Schwab created an interesting take on a time-travel story which crossed with the trope of selling your soul to the devil. The main theme of the story seems to be what happens when people have their wishes granted and the unanticipated consequences of those wishes. Addie finds that living her life as she wishes and for as long as she wishes results in her being absolutely forgettable by (nearly) everyone she meets. However, even with that consequence it eventually becomes clear that Addie does leave an impression on time in the form of art and ultimately words. Once she and Henry meet up, the pace of the story seems to pick up but it takes a bit to get there. There were a feel stretches of the narrative that dragged and seemed misplaced (or unnecessary) until I learned that Henry wrote down Addie's story. At that point, it made sense that Addie would have shared these seemingly out of place events from your life with Henry. This is also the point where it becomes quite obvious that this novel could potentially be considered a "dear reader" or found-manuscript story. ( )

I waffled between 4 and 5 stars on this book, but ended up giving it 5 stars. I was waffling between the two because it was a exceptionally well written piece, and I absolutely loved the characters, it was first and foremost a romance novel. As such, it's not really my cup of team normally. I think it's a testament to the quality of the writing and the story that I finished the book anyway.

As someone who's not a fan of romance, because Schwab was able to draw me in enough to finish the book means that it was really a great piece of literature. The world building and the premise were both great, and I always love a strong female lead.

Overall, I'm not sure it's a book I would recommend if you are a fan of Schwab's other work, but only because while it has the characteristic thread of darkness through the story, it's a very different kind of story than her other work. But it's a worthy piece on its own, and worth your time. Just remember, it's a supernatural romance and if you go in with that expectation, I'm sure you'll enjoy the story. ( )