4.5 rounded up

The reviews for this book seem very polarized - love it or hate it. Through the first few chapters, I wasn't certain where I would land. I typically don't love books where the main characters are sad a lot. But there is also a lot of appreciation of life in this book, so by the end, I decided this one worked for me.

The book itself is pretty long, but the plot is completely fascinating and the characters are deep and intricate. The characters are what kept me hooked! Even the darkness is personified in a way that tore me back and forth throughout the story. The number of bi characters was laid on a little thick for my taste in the beginning but doesn't come on as strong in the latter half of the book. The story bounces between Addie's origin story around 300 years ago in France and her New York-in-2014 self until the stories eventually meet to provide the reader with a full picture. I like the way the stories are told in parallel - it works well for a more dramatic telling of this story.

Overall, I really liked it!