The Lazy Girl Library
The Lazy Girl Library is a charming book podcast hosted by two best friends. Expect laughter, witty banter, and a generous sprinkle of fun as we dive into the stories that have captured our hearts and minds. So grab your favorite blanket, a cup of tea or coffee, and curl up with us as we embark on a captivating literary adventure.
The Lazy Girl Library
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab - Book Talk
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What would you do if you were cursed to be forgotten by everyone you meet? Join us as we celebrate the milestone of our 10th episode and unravel the mysteries of "The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" by Victoria Schwab. This episode promises a thought-provoking journey through themes of immortality, memory, and the essence of human connections. We discuss the fascinating themes, characters, and the overall impact of this unforgettable novel.
SPOILER WARNING!
Start: 7:07
End: 58:15
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Welcome to the Lazy Girl Library , the podcast , where reading is a pleasure and captivating adventures happen from the comfort of your couch . I'm your host , darby , and I'm Mikayla , and if you've ever spent more time rearranging your bookshelf than your priorities , then you , my friend , are in the right place . Episode 10 the invisible life of Addie LaRue .
Speaker 2book talk time , episode 10 already . Oh my gosh , we did it . We made it double digits . Yeah , incredible .
Speaker 1I'm excited . I'm really excited to talk about this book . I feel like we're gonna have a good discussion .
Speaker 2Yes , I think so as well . So welcome back to our book talk , this episode . We're talking about the invisible life of addy larue , by victoria schwab I can take it away and read the book description .
Speaker 1Take it away , darby . So the book description for this book is a life no one will remember , a story you will never forget . France , 1714 . In a moment of desperation , a young woman makes a faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets . Thus begins the extraordinary life of addie LaRue and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents , across history and art , as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world . But everything changes when , after nearly 300 years , Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name . Across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name . So if you haven't listened to a book , talk before kind of what happens and what we'll be covering . We're going to cover our thoughts on the book , answer some book club-esque questions and then give our final ratings
Life Update
Speaker 1.
Speaker 2Before we get into it , because we did kind of jump right into it . How are you doing ?
Speaker 1Oh yeah , sorry , I'm just really excited to talk about the book and also for those um listening . We definitely talked for a long time before this we had like a good michaela derby catch-up . We pressed record and we were ready to jump in I'm doing good .
Speaker 1Um , so at work things are starting to pick up . So I basically planned two big events for my job and we just had like our committee kickoffs and we're kind of just hopping back into the swing of things . And then also so that's like busy , but in a good way , because it's all exciting and new , fresh start . And then in home life it's football season . I love the UCF Knights , as do you .
Speaker 2Sure John baby .
Speaker 1It's so fun . That TCU game was crazy Wild .
Speaker 2It's so fun um , that tcu game was crazy .
Speaker 1So fun to watch um , and I just put up all of my fall decor so I really feel revived , like I'm not kidding I think last month I was feeling so like sluggish and just like down and I lit one fall candle and I am like beaming , like I literally , like it , filled my whole cup up , like I feel like a new person because we are going to enter the best three months of the year .
Speaker 2I feel like it helps with like the change in season because it's almost like a new beginning . So it makes you feel like renewed in , like a new season kind of thing , too . I'm sure helps . Yeah , what's going on with you ? Well , I've actually had a lot . I feel like I've been pretty busy . Um , I did find my wedding dress , so super excited about that . She's not showing me she's not showing anybody .
Speaker 2I'm not showing anybody . The only people that know what my wedding dress looks like are my mom and my sister , because they're the ones that came dress shopping with me . Everybody else it'll be a surprise for the day .
Speaker 1She did show us some um pictures of dresses she did try on , though that wasn't like the one . Let me just tell you , this girl is gorgeous . She looked stunning in every single one of them . I'm just like so excited . Thank you to see you I'm really excited too .
Speaker 2That was one of those , like I put it on my sister when I walked out , instantly knew like that was it even before I did um and we tried on a few others , and then we narrowed it down to two um where she put the veil on . And as soon as she put the veil on and I walked out , I instantly started blubbering . I didn't think I'd be that person , but I was , and so that at that point I'm like yep , that's it . We can't , we can't ignore the cry . Was everyone crying ?
Speaker 2no , I thinkby got a little bit teary-eyed , but no , tears fell , and same with my mom , and they just like the the well in the eyes , but no tears for me , though I was a blubbering mess so good , so you're gonna look like how josh is gonna look when you walk and if he doesn't , we're going back and we're redoing it until I get those tears . But yeah , no , so that was really exciting uh , and that was special that I got to do that with them . Um , so a really special time , uh , so that was fun uh , and we celebrated my birthday with some friends . Happy birthday , thank you thank you .
Speaker 1What'd you do with your friends ?
Speaker 2so we had a powerpoint night . I don't know if any of our listeners know what this is , but it went around on tiktok and , uh , we thought it'd be really fun , where all of our friends make powerpoint presentations about what they do for a living , like they're nine to five , what are they doing , explaining their job , for work , responsibilities , their company , that kind of thing , but in a very like non-formal way , like very much more like funny , personable , like this is what I actually do , so you kind of understand next time when I'm talking about it , kind of way when I told my dad about what we were doing , he was like he basically was kind of like bashing on it and he was like so you're gonna work after work ?
Speaker 1and I'm like , no , it's fun . Yeah , like I don't know how to explain it , but it really was so much fun it was .
Speaker 2Everybody really leaned into it and I had such a good time and I actually did learn a lot yeah , a lot about what my friends do yeah .
Speaker 1I still don't know . If someone like asked me like what certain people do , I don't think I would eloquently be able to tell them , but I would know like I would . I would know , yeah , no , no same .
Speaker 2but yeah it . But I would know , I would know , yeah , no , no same . But yeah , it's funny because you hear them talk about it and obviously we've been friends for a long time , so you hear them talk about it for a long time . But it wasn't until seeing their presentation where it kind of clicked in my brain and I truly understood what they were doing . And everybody made it really funny and understandable and we ate pizza and cookies and had a grand old time .
Speaker 2so that was really fun and I appreciate all my friends for coming and doing that for me yeah , celebrate you any day thanks , um , but yeah , that's kind of what's been going on for me , and a lot more wedding planning to come , but we're just taking it day by day , all right
Reading Recap
Speaker 2. Well , to get back into our book now we're gonna go ahead and do a reading recap . So this is a long book , so not everything is going to be covered in the summary , but so we do highly encourage you to like read the book to get the full meaning of it all . So this is very much just spark notes version of what we got going on , so that way , for those of you who didn't read but still want to participate the episode , have an understanding of what's going on
Spoiler Warning!
Speaker 2warning book spoilers ahead .
Speaker 1Please head to the description and show notes to find where to skip to . You have been warned . Yeah , so um , for a lot of this book . It switches between the past and the present and telling the story . We meet adeline um , also known as addie larue , who was born over 300 years ago in uh villon , a small french village I don't know if that's how you pronounce it . That sounds right to me , I like it uh .
Speaker 2So she's kind of like uh , this wild child in the village uh loves her dad uh , and is becomes really close with this local woman called Estelle , who is kind of like witchy vibes , the old hag of the village lives off on like the outskirts of town .
Speaker 1Picture kind of like in Moana , the grandmother , like people think she's a little like kooky , but it's like she's just in touch with the spirits .
Speaker 2you know Yep , exactly , and this is France , so most people are Catholic . But Estelle believes in the old gods and prays to the old gods and she teaches Addie all about them growing up and warns her not to call on them after dark because you'd never know who's going to answer after dark , which can be dangerous .
Speaker 1Yeah , and so in the beginning of the story we also learn that in 1714 , when Addie is a young 23 , she is engaged , but not of her own will .
Speaker 2It was kind of like an arranged marriage 23 is almost like old hag in a way at that point in time too . So it's like her family's trying to get her out of the out of the house yeah so .
Speaker 1But she , from a really young age , just wants to travel and see the world . She doesn't want to feel trapped . And so this engagement feels like you know , like she's going to be trapped forever . And so right before the wedding , um , they're getting ready to go and she like runs out of the house and she just starts praying to the old gods to be free . She just kind of like over and over again . She's like frantic , freaking out , um , like panicking , and is just praying and praying to the old gods . And as she's praying , night falls and the darkness answers .
Speaker 2She doesn't realize the darkness because she's in such a frantic state .
Speaker 2And so then one of the dark gods does answer , and Addie asks to live freely and to have more time to do as she pleases , to explore the world .
Speaker 2Um , as a gift to the old god , she offers her favorite possession , which is a carved wooden ring that was made by her father . Um , that was like really , really special to her and she's had it since , like birth . It's like a lucky token for her , but the darkness like rejects it . So instead , in like this state , she offers her soul . So when she has lived her life to the fullest the way she wants to , then she'll give her soul over to this dark god and with that he accepts , so she is given eternal life . But the catch is that no one can remember her because she wanted to live freely . So this was like the be careful what you wish for aspect of it all , and so as soon as she leaves their sight , they completely forget about her , and thus she can live freely , but with major consequences to that . Yeah , one of those being that she can live freely , but with major consequences to that .
Speaker 1Yeah , one of those being that she can't even leave a mark on the world . She can't say her name , she can't , like , make a drawing , but she kind of finds loopholes in how she can influence others and the mark that they leave on the world . So , kind of fast forward to present day . Addie survives by stealing , sneaking into others' apartments to sleep . She can't say her real name because people can't know her . So , or her story , the background , no one knows .
Speaker 2She's like , physically incapable of saying , no matter how hard she tries .
Speaker 1Yeah , so she can't keep home , can't keep possessions the only exception is the wooden ring actually comes back to her and she can't get rid of this anymore . Um , which kind of you learn more about it , like later on , like the meaning of it , um , but again , as she's just kind of , it's been 300 years and she's been trying to figure out this life , and so one day she walks into a bookstore to steal a book , but she's caught by the clerk , henry um , and he ends up letting her take it , but because stealing is really the only way that she can get away , because she can't hold a job to make money , because nobody remembers her past the day or even around the corner after every minute , and so she finds that the way that she gets by is by stealing , because as soon as she turns a corner , they forget that she even was there and stole anything .
Speaker 1And a lot of times she returns the stuff .
Speaker 2So , like the book that she's stealing , I think she's planning on bringing it back after she read it Right More like a library kind of thing , um , and so this book kind of hops between , like present day in new york , where she ran in and uh , where she was at this book store , and back to paris where , uh , her story was like just starting . So , uh , going back to paris , the darkness appears to her like yearly . Each time asking Addie if she's ready to relinquish her life and her soul , each time she declines because he's trying to wear her down . He made this like curse , so difficult for her , in hopes that she wouldn't actually want to live an eternal life , that she'd be so down and just depressed that she'd just give in to him . Um , but she is petty and is holding a grudge against this guy and is like absolutely not , you will not win , I'm gonna live forever and you'll never get me yeah , and one thing he does is .
Speaker 1So , before the curse , she was very big into drawing , I think , with charcoals , and so , um , one thing that she drew constantly was kind of like this dream man or this man that really just kind of like appeared to her in her mind and the darkness takes on this form of the man that she has drawn and also kind of takes on a nickname of the name that she had named him . So luke is what he's called , um , and it's the imaginary stranger that addy once daydreamed about . Then , going back into present time , um , addy goes back to that bookstore but henry recognizes her and remembers her , so she goes back to exchange the book that she read and he remembers her , which has not happened throws her into a whole tailspin of like how the heck , what's special about this guy ?
Speaker 2was it a blip ? What's going on ? And so she becomes very intrigued by Henry and she convinces Henryry to go on this date with her um and , to her surprise , after getting to like know him , um , and really talking , and realizing that , like , this isn't a blip , this wasn't a one-time thing , like seeing him for multiple days . He remembers her every time .
Speaker 1And she can tell him her name . That's a crazy thing too . She's never been able to like say her name .
Speaker 2And her story and like what's going on , but we hadn't .
Speaker 2So she's kind of trying to navigate this best way to handle things with Henry , because even Henry can remember her anytime he introduces her to like his friends , or if they're out somewhere , like obviously those people can't remember Addie , she's completely forgotten about , which she has to be able to explain to Henry at some point because he's gonna ask questions and it's gonna get weird .
Speaker 2So , uh , when Henry's friends don't recognize her , addie later decides to tell him the truth about her bargain with the darkness , ie Luke , and to her surprise , henry admits to Addie that he actually made a deal with Luke a year ago and so they figured that's how he's able to remember her is because it's kind of like a loophole in the curse , and so for him he was going through a really really bad breakup and feeling very depressed , and so he exchanges his soul to be loved essentially , but obviously everything comes with a price . Loved essentially , but obviously everything comes with the price . And so , uh , even though every person that he comes across like loves henry , they only see henry for what they want to see in somebody like what they see as the perfect boyfriend , the perfect son , the perfect best friend and not who henry truly is .
Speaker 1Um , so that's like the catch to his curse , uh , which kind of complements addy's a little bit as well , because , uh , she can see the true him yeah , and so they think that they've just found this flaw in the curses that luke bestowed upon them , and so one thing that they do is henry writes down addy'sie's story , with Addie dictating the whole thing and sharing her story and he's writing it all down .
Speaker 1But meanwhile , when we jump back into past chapters , the book sort of describes Addie and Luke's relationship over the course of 100 years , from the 1700s to the end of the 1800s , and so during this time Addie travels across Europe with Luke , travels across Europe with Luke , visiting usually on July 29th , but he skips some years . He'll occasionally rescue her from you know sticky situations that she finds herself in , claiming he wants to be the one to break her or he'll whisk her off to some place . Addy accuses him of being lonely and in wants of company . Um , because of kind of like , his intrigue with her as well , in 1914 luke admits to liking addy's company and gives her a wooden ring so she can call on him which . This is the wooden ring we talked about earlier . Um , she finally uses it in 1944 when she gets captured during world war ii .
Speaker 2So like during this whole time they're playing cat and mouse kind of it's like , anytime she puts on the ring he'll come .
Speaker 2But then it's like , okay , addie has this ring but she never wants to use it because it's like she holds the power now , even though luke held the power for so long , because now there's feelings involved , it's like , well , they won't they , who's going to break ? First kind of situation . And so he comes to visit in 1952 , admitting that he wants her , and they end up in this affair that lasts for years and Addie falls for him and Luke says that he loves her too . But then in the 1980s , addie asks Luke to release her from her deal , thinking that he loves her and so he'd like do this for her . But he says that in order to break the deal because like magic's involved , he would it requires her to surrender to him , to like essentially make a new sort of deal in its place or like the break it , which Addie obviously is distraught to hear and lashes out at him and they have this huge fight and Luke then doesn't appear again to her for another 40 years because they're like staying away from each other at that point .
Speaker 1And then , jumping back to the present , addie learns that Henry's deal comes with another consequence , and it's that this deal was only meant to last , smarter with her words of saying I'll give you my soul when I'm done . Henry was not so smart with his words , and so after that year he's going to die and his hole is going to go to Luke's , and he only has a month left . And so Addie is now distraught again for other reasons , and she decides to call on Luke to beg him to change his deal with henry . One other thing luke tells them that he purposely put them in each other's paths , kind of like he was the mastermind all along , as if , like you thought that I made a mistake .
Speaker 2Like I don't make mistakes , you know , he thought he was giving , like addy , what she wanted , like the human love and affection that she wanted . Because he knew about that , like because they're both cursed , like obviously henry's kind of immune to his curse on addy . So he in his love quote unquote for addy , thought he was giving her what she wanted , but then showing her the heartbreak that comes with human love because he's dying in a year , thinking that she'll come running back to him at that point yeah , and so when addy's you know begging luke , luke refuses her until addy promises herself to him in exchange for releasing henry and luke accepts .
Speaker 1But this isn't something that the reader is aware of until it actually like happens . So when it comes down to it , and it's like the end of henry's last day , henry is thinking that he is gonna die and this is their last day together . And then that's when addy reveals what actually happened . When addy begged luke and he accepted the switch Like how she saved him essentially .
Speaker 1And so in part seven we hear about Henry living and writing a book based on the stories that Addie has told him . And he publishes the book . And I don't even think it's based on the stories , I think it is exactly what Addie said to him . So he publishes the book , the life of addy larue , as fiction and without an author , which is like kind of like crazy when you were like the reader reading the book , because it's like the book is the invisible life of addy larue . I'm reading the invisible life of addy like it was kind of interesting , um , and then , to top it all off , the ending , luke , you know , thinks that he's won , because addy , it's not that her soul is his , but she is surrendered and is now like with him . But addy knows that her new deal only requires her to stay with him for as long as he desires , and so addy plans to break his heart and drive him away Because she was good with her words .
Speaker 1The end . So that was a lot , but I think it really helps to kind of Give context . Yeah , give context , and then also for people who have read the book , to just like jog your memory , because even myself I read this , like I've read quite a few books since this , and so doing these I think helps to jog your memory when we talk about things
Initial Thoughts on the Book
Speaker 1. But I'm so curious what were your initial thoughts , michaela ?
Speaker 2so I really did enjoy this book . Um , I thought it was a fascinating concept , even though , like the concept of like living forever being forgotten isn't like new . I think it was done in a very new kind of way , with like the fantasy vibe of it and like the god aspect of it , and I thought , like the life lessons that they have kind of mixed in were really well done , because it doesn't give you like a clear answer , it just gives you like those kernels to think about as you like move on from the book , which I really appreciated . So what about you ?
Speaker 1I agree it was like much more thought provoking than I thought it would be . I really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed the ending as well . I thought it was just like it was done really well . But it's funny because so the first time I saw this book was through a TikTok . So thanks , booktok , you're not always wrong , sometimes it's right . But in the TikTok it was like just the bookstore scene where he like remembers her and like she comes to that realization of like he remembers . So that's all I had like coming into this book and I was like , oh okay , so it's like meet cute , like this guy remembers her .
Speaker 1And then I read this book and I'm like , oh my gosh , yeah , wow , like your words have so much power and meaning in the way that you say things Like be careful with your words , mm-hmm , and your words have power . Yeah , and what you want out of life . You know , kind of like your brain doesn't always know what it wants , because it thinks it wants one thing and then the grass is always greener on the other side , kind of thing .
Speaker 2Yeah , but once you get it like you don't know what you have till it's gone .
Speaker 1Yeah so it was so interesting . Like you said , it was done like in a different way , like it just wasn't like something regurgitated , but it felt new , which was really nice
Favorite Part
Speaker 1, it was refreshing .
Speaker 2I really appreciated it . Did you have a favorite part ?
Speaker 1I did Honestly , I just like I found it so interesting when she fell in love with Luke and like the intricacies of their relationship . Of course , being fantasy-like readers and the love of fantasy , you're always rooting for the villain .
Speaker 2I know .
Speaker 1Like you're always like oh , oh , my gosh , she has dark hair . Like okay , let's get it down .
Speaker 2Like you know , so my toxic trait throughout this whole book I'm not gonna .
Speaker 1I'm like wow , luke is just like so hot I really feel for him . He's probably lonely yeah .
Speaker 1I'm like no , he wants her , so I just I was really into that and like I wanted more of that , but I also I I really liked her story being remembered and then like validated , like that was like really touching too . Just everyone wants to be like seen in like the world , and so it was cool to see someone felt like as though they were seen by someone , and , of course , this was very like exemplified or magnified , because they had two curses and so they were the only two people that saw each other . But so I I liked that as well what about you ?
Speaker 2um , surprise , surprise . I love the complexities of the book . What , uh , no , but I think like the moral complexities of the book and its characters were really like my favorite parts , but I found the most fascinating and the most well done . Like the uh , is it right or wrong for addy to be stealing to live ? Um , that like pang of empathy you have for luke he supposedly develops feelings for Addie even though he's really like the bad guy , quote unquote in this book . And like the love complex of is it true love or is it like love of convenience between Henry and Addie and also Luke and Addie because of like the situations that they're all in . I just loved the complexities of it and I think that the author did such a phenomenal job like laying it all out for you and giving you essentially all the facts for you to like take with that what you will kind of which , yeah , I love , like that's always my favorite part .
Speaker 1It's why we're talking right now , because it's like , what did we think ?
Speaker 2yes , and I think it like a lot of books do it , but I think she is probably one of the best to do it in my opinion . I think that that was like really well done the way that I agree um , where it really wasn't leaning too heavily like one side or another good , bad , right , wrong um , it just left it all out there , bare for you to kind of figure out where you lie in it . Yeah , yeah , that's definitely my favorite part so
Least Favorite Part
Speaker 2good , what about least favorite uh ?
Speaker 2the pacing of this book was a little slow for me I think I was really into it and then we got about towards that like middle third of the book and it started to really slow down for me . I'm like I need , I need . This is the part where I need to like , pick up on me , like this is where we're like gaining traction , gaining steam . But I'm like I need , I need . This is the part where I need to like pick up on me , like this is where we're like gaining traction , gaining steam . But I feel like we weren't at that point and I wanted to hear more about , like , her adventures through history .
Speaker 2I feel like we focused so heavily on the build-up of her life in paris yeah , that I didn't . I wanted to hear more about the adventure she had like throughout history leading up to that point , because she lived through so many historic events . How was she involved ? Was she involved at all ? Where was she during certain time frames ? I feel like we spent so much time on the front end of her history that we only got very , very little blips and like brushes of it um , throughout the rest of that history leading up to the present , and I wanted more of that more meat and potatoes there yeah , I agree the pacing wasn't my favorite .
Speaker 1But also , at the same time , I'm wondering if she'd paste it that way almost intentionally , so that you could kind of feel like how like tired she was and like how , yeah , and like how like this is a long life she's been through , like like it's the same thing , like she's gone through all this stuff like so tiresome . And then when you get to all the present chapters that's why it's like almost even more like magnetic , that's a phenomenal point .
Speaker 1Thanks I , it just came to me . It's not in my notes , it just came to me . But so I'm wondering like if , if that was intentional and if it is like that's crazy , like good on you , um , but that's a really good point I mean because it kind of makes sense it puts you in that like feeling that she had of life where she's waiting for the pacing yes , yeah
Speaker 1that's a phenomenal point , darby thank you , I didn't even think about that . That really changes my perspective on that a little bit . Yeah , and then I think for me . So the pacing was not my favorite , but now that I've been enlightened- it's also changed it . But for me my least favorite part was when her parents didn't remember her Like ugh sob .
Speaker 1Like that was just so sad , kind of well really , when , like anybody that she like knew didn't remember her because it just like if you like can try and confront it yourself , like picturing , if I were to come over to do the podcast and you were like , who are you get out of here , like you're freaking me out , this random like , oh my gosh , I would be bawling , like so , just oh , trying to like even feel a kernel of the fear and the sadness that she felt . Oh , so sad , and I don't like feeling sad so constant .
Speaker 2Least favorite like the constant starting over , because it's like you get to know somebody on your side for , like , you've known them for two , three months . You're really learning like the intricacies of them , but every time they meet you it's for the first time , so they're never getting to know you .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , that's it's yeah , what's funny is so , um , right before we were recording this , we actually were talking about new people and hanging out with them , like how tiresome that can be and like how much energy it takes to like ask the questions and get to know someone and like to constantly that's the your only life is , you know , reintroducing yourself , relearning about people , like I'm surprised that she didn't go completely insane , like the strength of will is incredible .
Speaker 2yeah ,
Love and Curses
Speaker 2um , but let's talk more about Addie and Luke . Okay , so they had a really interesting dynamic . Like , did you believe that they ever both truly cared for each other ? Do you think it was a matter of convenience power ? Like , talk to me about it .
Speaker 1So I wish I knew what the author like , what they think , because I don't think we'll ever know for sure , but I'd love to imagine that it was both . I think that , knowing each other for so long and them , you know which we don't know enough about luke , maybe he had like other side pieces , but I'm just saying like maybe addy wasn't his only one , but from what we know , like they've just known each other for so long that I think it just ebbed and flowed in many different things . So I think for at times for both of them it was about convenience and power and at times for both of them it was about actual feelings for each other . So I think I don't know , but I think that both were felt in the relationship no , I I agree .
Speaker 2Um , in my heart that's what I'm going to believe because that's what I want , um , but I mean , like it happens in real life too , people fall in love with toxic people and they have these toxic relationships .
Speaker 2So , even though they're not like good people for you , you can still have these like passionate love for somebody , and I feel like that's kind of where addy landed with luke .
Speaker 2I do feel like it helps that he remembers her , so it fills that like longing . But I think two things can be true at the same time that those feelings did develop because it was such a long relationship and , like you said , from like luke's perspective he's the only addy's , the only one we know of , and makes it sound like she's the first and only for him and how , when they were at like the speakeasy , like he gets lonely too , and so the fact that he's able to check up on addy and addy has been like playing this cat and mouse game with him gives him almost like enjoyment and entertainment for him to fall in love with her . So I truly believe that there was like real love there , but not to say that power didn't and convenience didn't like assist that and play a big role in that developing either , and that it was obviously a toxic relationship that it was obviously a toxic relationship and in a way , luke and like in his position is very similarly cursed to addy , like he's doing the same thing every day you know .
Speaker 1So I think maybe , if we do play into the love portion of it , he can relate to how lonely she's feeling and how it's all like though she's living free and can experience new things . It's not new when you get to the root of it , because it's just reintroducing and no one knows you , no one sees you , no one feels like can understand how you're feeling , and so I'd like to think that , because luke is in almost like a similar position of like well , yeah , he's cursing people every day . They could be new curses , but no one knows him , no one's hanging out with him , like he probably feels similarly another phenomenal point I didn't think of .
Speaker 2Thanks , you're on a roll .
Speaker 1They're really just coming to me as we're talking .
Speaker 2I knew this was gonna be good conversation as soon as I .
Speaker 1So I don't know what's been going on lately , but I've been finishing the book talk books before michaela , which didn't used to happen , and so , like after I finished this , I was like Michaela , you need to read this and it's gonna be like so good , like we're gonna have such great talks . And we're having such great talks , if I say so myself you are on it .
Speaker 2You've got that philosophical brain on and hats off to you . You're making phenomenal points because that's another one . I didn't even think of , but you're so right how he totally can relate to addy's feelings in that and I'm sure helped , yeah , build that relationship . Yeah , no , absolutely hey . Uh . Similarly , though , uh , do you think henry and addy were truly in love or were they just bonded by their circumstances ?
Speaker 1so I'm not gonna lie , I liked luke a lot better than henry . I really liked henry , but so , like , I didn't even think about this thought because I was , like too involved with luke and addie . But I think this one was more circumstances because it was so quick , um , but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing . Um , it's just kind of the love that they were offered and so for them it worked . So I think it was because of circumstances that they fell in love , but I don't think that that's bad .
Speaker 1Now , if they didn't have curses , would they still have fallen in love ? I don't know . But I think that they did feel so strongly for each other and so , seen by each other because of how , like , where they were put which again is kind of like real life , you know Like would I have met Justin if I didn't go to UCF ? Like would I be married to him ? I don't know , but because of the circumstances that brought us together , we did meet each other and we did fall in love , right , and we are in love . That's kind of like Henry and Addie .
Speaker 2I think . No , I agree , it wasn't my favorite either . I did prefer Luke .
Speaker 1The darkness green eyes I know .
Speaker 2It just gets me . But , yeah , this one definitely felt more bonded through circumstance , because Addie was obviously desperate for human connection and Henry was desperate for somebody to see like the true him it's the whole reason like he was in that mess in the first place . So they really like gave that to each other and it's not to deny that there was an attraction , but it was definitely , I believe , more circumstantial . But I feel like it kind of like shows the difference in how not to invalidate one love versus another , but how love can be so different for people , because there's the love that's like the passion and like the more heavy-hitting , deeper-feeling emotion that's more like wrecks you that she has with Luke Versus , like the soft sentimental .
Speaker 2Soft sentimental , like feeling of playful and fun , more like delicate with henry , and that's not to invalidate , like one is more like the true emotion of love than the other .
Speaker 1But it's just like how different love can be yeah , and I think it is too like a little bit healthy and unhealthy of like .
Speaker 2With Henry it's safe , you can be vulnerable and still like feel secure , whereas with Luke you can be vulnerable and then feel belittled by like someone so , and it's like the trap that I feel , like so many girls land themselves in between , where it's like the bad boy complex , where you just like us , who we loved throughout the book even though he was very clearly the toxic one . It's the trap that we all fall into .
Speaker 2Then we're married and engaged to be nice but yes , that was an interesting way that she kind of like portrayed that . Yeah , all in all , yeah , we like , I like luke yeah , I think that one was better , but okay , I love this question that you proposed .
Speaker 1What curse do you think is better or worse ? Henry's or addie's ?
Speaker 2I would say addie's , solely because at least henry is remembered so he can hold a job and he can like have like an apartment and like live somewhere . I feel like both of them are very , very lonely . Curses like it can leave you feeling very isolated , alone and forgotten about , because even though henry is remembered , it's never for him in the true him he knows . Anytime anybody looks at him , it's not him that they're seeing , it's like their dream version of him . So I think both are lonely but at least , like in henry's circumstance , you can go on living a semi-normal life , yet lonely , albeit lonely but still normal .
Speaker 2Versus addy's , circumstances were way different yeah and that was on henry for not barking for enough time too . Yeah , because he could only live like the year versus like . Addy was careful with her words and like had eternity yeah , I agree .
Speaker 1At first for some my first thought was henry's , but then I quickly was like no it's . I think addy's curse is worse . I think one thing that's nice is henry does kind of have his one friend that like doesn't like need to see more , like she already saw him , like for what she wanted and out of him and so like they have a normal relationship . But , um , they both are so hard . I do think addie's like she truly has no one . And I think for some people , like in real life , like they kind of act out henry's curse in a way in that they do only see what they want to see out of people . Like , for instance , sometimes with my sister , like her and I are vastly different and like we like different things , but a lot of times I tend to see her as my childhood sister , as if she hasn't grown up , and I'll treat her like that sometimes because sometimes that's what I want you know , so that's a good point .
Speaker 1Like I think sometimes that just happens because you've you all have different perceptions of somebody , and sometimes people just want to perceive you as what they want . And now that's not gonna work forever , but like it does kind of happen , right , I think yeah , no , that's a really good point on it , darby , on it thank you . Thank you , I mean , you're on it too I'm very much enjoying your words as well .
Speaker 2No , no , take . Take the comment you are . You're killing it today . Thank , you um , so obviously the curses addy and henry are given have like a negative twist to their biggest desire . So addy wants to live freely , but no one will remember her . So henry wants to be loved , but nobody will love him for him . So what would be like your biggest desire and how do you think luke would spin it negatively if you made a deal with him ?
Speaker 1okay . So , like joking about this , it's to eat and to not have my body change at all . That would totally be the best curse . We're eating hibachi all day , um , but I don't really know , because it's kind of hard for me to like think of like what do I want most ? Because , like , I'm a very religious person , so , um , a lot of times I think about how , like this earth like isn't our eternal home and this is just kind of like we're passing through and we're gonna spend eternal , like eternity , like with God , and that's just my own personal spiritual feelings . So it was kind of hard for me to like think of , like what do I desire most ? Because I just desire to be with jesus , um , but , thinking about it , maybe my desire would to be happy and to just , you know , I just want to be happy . What ?
Speaker 1about making others happy so I think I'm too self , like I I want to be happy , like I want others to be happy too , but I think I feel like you're a people pleaser I'm for sure people pleaser but so what ? But I'm thinking of , like , if I'm in like a frantic state , kind of like henry and addie , and if I'm , if I'm like in a vulnerable place and in a dark place , I'm gonna be more selfish as well . So I'm thinking that I would say to Luke like I just want to be happy , and so I think his curse and the twist might be like either not letting me feel any other emotion besides happy , or that others around me are never happy , and that would be really bad and really sad .
Speaker 1both of those are really good twists so I don't know , but that those are my thoughts . Interesting , yeah , I like the thought , I like the thought and I , I , but then it's hard because it's like , well , if other people around me aren't happy , then it's like I'm not happy , but would luke consider happiness just being like being able to obtain whatever I want . Like being able to obtain whatever I want , like being able to like do , quote , unquote whatever my like dream life is . But just whoever I'm surrounded by always has like a hardship going on , right , like so .
Speaker 2Or like never feeling any other emotion , kind of negates , like the significance of feeling happy if that's all you feel .
Speaker 1Yeah , and it's like you . You know , like I know that something's different , but I can't help but just smile and it's like but I know that this is not right , but I can't figure out what it is right , like I don't know what . About you ? What would your curse ?
Speaker 2be um . So again , it's kind of hard to think like what's my biggest desire ? But it's a big question . Yeah , it is , and so I'm not gonna say that what's my biggest desire , but it's a big question .
Speaker 1Yeah , it is .
Speaker 2And so I'm not going to say that this is my biggest desire , but the one that came to mind is I am such a why person . I love to know the why of everything .
Speaker 1You are a questioner .
Speaker 2I love like the fun facts behind things . It's hard for me to take things at face value . I'm like even ever since I was a little kid , my mom could never tell me , like , don't touch the stove . It's because you know . It's always like but why can't I touch the stove ? Like , why can't I do these things ? Why is this the way it is ? Uh , and so I feel like if , like that was like my thing , he might give me the knowledge to know everything . Or like never question , like why something is , I'll just automatically know . But then maybe , like the twist on that would be , nobody would ever believe me when I tell them what the lie is so that could like be backfire when you're trying to find a solution .
Speaker 2I'm thinking like you know , like covid , right , like maybe I know the solution to covid and like how to save all these lives , but I could never tell anybody because nobody would believe me anyway , even though I know the truth . I feel like that would be a really big twist .
Speaker 1And then it's like , well , do you just never participate ? And then people are like , why aren't you helping ? Or do you try ? And then like , exactly , yeah , that's a good one too . Yeah .
Speaker 2Like a Cassandra from from like greek mythology , you know like that kind of like complex of it , yeah , or I feel like it could also be like uh , so it's like spin to like the why of like everyday things like um , knowing like why josh came home late from work maybe it was because he was . He tells me like oh , he just had to work late , but the real reason was that he was stopping to like get me a surprise from target or something like that then . But because I know the why he was late , it ruins like surprises or things like that for like everyday things .
Speaker 1So I feel like it kind of depends on like what context you or almost just like knowing too much information , like almost like a mind reader yeah , like you go crazy with it yeah , just like information overload that's a bad one too , yeah , but I feel like that'd be mine yeah , yeah ,
Predictions and Surprises
Speaker 1interesting , okay . So I know you are a thinker and you definitely like to guess when things happen . What , which of the like , reveals or plot points did you see coming ? And then , which ones were you surprised by ?
Speaker 2if any . Oh , this was really funny , um , with luke being the love interest . Immediately when he popped up , I'm like okay , so this is going to be the thing . But then you know you're reading and he's the one that's cursing . I'm like , no , but kayla , this is a . This is not a sarah j mass book . You need to get your mind out of that . But this is a very different like this is the bad guy . And even like , getting through , like halfway through the book , you're still like I have to keep reminding myself . Like this isn't that type of book , this isn't the type of book . That's not where it's going . Like let's focus on the story at hand , stop like bringing in outside influences . Lo and behold , later on we find out that it is a love interest .
Speaker 2I was like , wow , I shouldn't I need to stop gaslighting myself , enjoy the story a little bit more . So that one I did see coming , despite gaslighting myself that it wasn't actually coming . Um , I also knew that henry was cursed by luke when she like first met him and he like remembered her . Of course , like that wasn't . For me that was like an easy okay , I understand like where that came from , but the question is , what was his curse ? Was he like living forever , like what was his thing ? But I figured like that would be the reason .
Speaker 1I did not see that one really . Yeah , like it definitely made sense , but that I just didn't initially go there , sure , I just was like , oh my gosh , that's so great for her , she can say her name not when I was thinking about it , like how would he be able ?
Speaker 2that's like the first thought that I had .
Speaker 2Oh , when you asked why , exactly exactly , um , but the thing I did not see coming was the un I don't say unhappy ending , but the uh , minimal closure ending of the book . I was not expecting , like I knew , addie would save Henry in some way , like you kind of expected that . But I expected more of a resolution for her story with Luke than the leaving off on an almost interpretation cliffhanger of okay , she made herself an out , but you don't get to hear about it and like whether she makes it out or not , or her whole situation with luke , whether they stay in love , or how that all works out .
Speaker 1Darkness babies exactly , or it's like is he over her ?
Speaker 2does he ever like get tired of her or is he actually truly in love with her and she's stuck forever in this situation ? Like that part I didn't see coming . But I'm not mad at it . I'm actually really happy about it and I think it really added to the book . But I was just kind of like that's it , like that's where we're ending , and for me that was the big one . Yeah , what about you ?
Speaker 1so for me , I definitely saw it coming that like she's gonna be cursed as soon as like she's running away from the like wedding . I'm like , okay , well , things are not gonna be like happy like it's not gonna be good .
Speaker 1um , and then I didn't know that henry would be cursed as well , or that she would not necessarily , that she would have chosen to switch , change his plans . Because for me , because the book was so like heavy on , like how hard her life was and just like how this curse ruined her , I didn't necessarily think that the author was going to let her have any sort of like resolve or happy ending . I almost saw it happening as like she thought she had one thing and he actually took this away too from her .
Speaker 1So , that's how I thought it was going to , which I'm happy that like it didn't like it worked out better . But that's where my thought was . And then I also didn't expect for her to have her own plan . But I was like get a girl , but also like what ? If he likes you , right it leaves you on that open end .
Speaker 2Yeah , oh yeah . Yeah . But I think that kind of like the fact going to your point of like with Henry being cursed or like that she would choose like to switch with him . I think that even shows more about like Luke's feelings for her , or at least his what he thinks are feelings for her , the fact that it's like he normally he deals in souls like that's his thing . So the fact that he was willing to let henry go just to like keep addy in his clutches , I think , almost like there's like one more drop in the bucket of like feelings .
Speaker 1Whether that's feelings of like control and power , feelings of love , that's still to be determined , or maybe it's both , um , but at least that it uh it kind of like control and power , feelings of love , that's still to be determined , or maybe it's both , um , but at least that it uh , it kind of like shows those strong feelings for her that he was willing to let it go yeah , also one thing , jumping back on to like henry a little bit , I think a reason why or maybe not for you , but for me , I think a reason why I also lean towards luke is because her relationship with henry like he just felt very young and very naive , so it just it just felt like they were just in way different places , which obviously they were , because she had lived for so much longer but so their like love and relationship felt so like like out of convenience and just that he , just that he was like baby , you know .
Speaker 2So I think it's kind of like that moment when she was like stealing and he was judging her for it . It's like , on one hand you're like initially I was getting upset with henry for like his reaction towards her and for that , because like that's how she's able to live , and the fact that he's like judging her for that , when that's how she's made it for so long , felt like wrong to me and like kind of showed his naivety to like the whole situation . But then you think about it more , it gets into the complexities of it all because what she is doing is really wrong , and so it's like kind of bringing her and like it wasn't him judging her truly for how she's living , but more like let me help you , like let me bring you out of that and onto like a good path , and like let me provide that for you . Yeah , um , so that way you don't have to do like this immoral thing anymore . Um , we can , you can survive and I can provide that for you .
Speaker 1Like , like in a more like moral yeah , see , now that was a good point . I didn't think about that .
Speaker 2That does make it feel , or make him feel a little more mature , of like him wanting to be like listen , I see that you had to do that , but like you , don't have to do that anymore , like I can help you that was good , but it's kind of both too , because I see the , the , the uh in other like circumstances or in other situations of their relationship , the naivety of it all , but even in that situation , in itself it's like you see , both like the maturity and the not in that so complex characters crazy .
Speaker 1I love them . Do you think you'd read another book by this author ?
Speaker 2I do . I really like the writing . I enjoyed the writing . I enjoyed the character , complexities , um , it was really interesting , uh , and I'd be really curious to see , like , what other books by her are like . Um , I think she has like a mystery book , if I'm not mistaken . Maybe I'm , but that's what I think . So I'd be curious to see , like , what those are like . Yeah , um , but yeah , I would what about you ?
Speaker 1definitely , this was so interesting and I definitely have high hopes that her others have to be good too . Like this was so good that , like , even if her other ones aren't , you know , as good as this one , I feel like they're still gonna be like a good , solid read . So I would definitely read more . So I gotta check her out on good reads
Final Thoughts and Star Ratings
Speaker 1what are your like ?
Speaker 1final thoughts , star ratings how we feel , so I did give this one a five stars . Um , I think like I audiobooked this one and it so it really made me feel like I was in the story , like um , and I felt her emotions so strongly . And it also made me think about like rash decisions more wisely and just like I can't just spew like words and I feel really like that . I'm really bad about . That is like a lot of times I'm saying the first thing that comes out of my mind or it's like oh , I can relate to this person this way , like , oh , let me say this , like I can join in and like I just gotta listen more , like I can just listen and then speak . When I've thought about it , I feel that , but have power yeah , they really do . Um , but I would love to read a sequel of this book or something from luke's point of view yes like imagine the whole story , but like from luke .
Speaker 1So it's like we hear from like the beginning of his time , or like the beginning of when he first notices addy , like maybe he notices her , like when she meets estelle and when they're talking , like before she even like comes to him and like she .
Speaker 1Like he is forced to watch her do these things and it's like what if he is so torn up inside because , like he didn't want to curse her , but that's his job ? Like what if there's someone above that darkness and this is just his darkness role and so he has to watch her do these things , while he's wanting to pour his heart out and , like , welcome her in , but he can't because , like this is the sarah j mass talking in a navy .
Speaker 2But like what if he is just like really restricted and there's someone like above him ? Oh my gosh , I need it . Victoria , if you are listening this is a phenomenal idea . Please take it and write this book , because I need Luke's perspective .
Speaker 1Also a final thought , which I don't know if I told you this , but I think it's funny to tell the listeners .
Speaker 1So I was audiobooking this and I typically listen to audiobooks in the car but I was so into this book that I was like , okay , I have to listen to it right now .
Speaker 1But I didn't like like I didn't have any laundry to fold or something to do while I was listening to it , and it's really hard to listen to an audiobook , like just sitting there , like staring at a wall . So , um , for those who don't know , I'm very good at Tetris and so I played Tetris for like an hour and a half just so I could do something that like didn't take up too much mind power and then like also listen . So I like did this Tetris where it's like it's called like a marathon , so I just was like going and there was no like like it wasn't an actual game where like things would happen , like I literally was just like practicing and I did that for like an hour and a half and I was crying playing Tetris , listening to it , like because I listened . I finished it while I was playing Tetris and so I just that was not on my bingo card to be sobbing while being on my like 456th , like Tetris line . That's so funny .
Speaker 2So that's a final thought I have wow , I don't know if I could top that one . That's like that's a great thought . I like wish I could have recorded it . It was so funny , um my thoughts . So I rated it four stars , um , because I did really love the story and the complex feelings that the book gave me , but I did wish that it was a bit more upbeat with the pacing um , and I got more of her journey , although I am starting to question that after you brought that up , because I do think , if I'm thinking back on it now as we've been talking um , it really did make me feel that anxious , like stuck feeling that I'm sure she was feeling a lot .
Speaker 2I just feel like this author was so intentional with like everything she did that like it wouldn't surprise me if that was on purpose too yes , so I'm really starting the question that because that was the only reason I gave it four stars . So this might really be a five stars for me , but I don't change my ratings , so it's stuck there for right now I'm gonna comment on her , everyone comment on her goodreads and say we know this is five stars um , but I did really enjoy the book though , and that really was my only qualm with it was the pacing .
Speaker 2When I initially gave it the four stars . Um , I loved the way that the author entered the book , so really great book overall . Unfortunately , I didn't play tetris and cry when I finished the book , um , so I can't end on that , but I did enjoy it and it was fun and yeah good books .
Speaker 1Gosh , this is a good one , I really liked this one yeah and you guys will have to let us know your thoughts . Do you feel similarly to us ? Are there things that you're listening to us and you're like heck ? No , I totally thought this was completely opposite , because I really am enjoying , like the philosophical portion of this , and I really want to know what you guys think .
Speaker 2Or what were your desires that you think could be turned into curses ? Yes , love to know . Leave us comments at Lazy Girl Library Insta or or on our website , lazygirllibrarycom .
Speaker 1We want to
End of Spoilers
Speaker 1hear it , but that was the invisible life of addie larue . A great book . What an adventure , yeah .
Next Book Club Pick
Speaker 1And what are we ? What are we reading for our next book club ?
Speaker 2we're getting cutesy with our next book . We're getting a little spooky , little cutesy , so spooky , spooky season . We're going to be reading the Ex-Hex by Aaron Sterling . So I believe this is a romance book , but it's witchy , so we figured for spooky season this would be a perfect little book to read to get into the spirit of Halloween . We haven't done a romance in a while either , so a little throwback to romance where we started .
Speaker 1Hopefully this one's better than the worst best man I'm thinking this one will be a lot more lighthearted than the invisible life of addy larue . So give everyone a little break for a little breather yeah , but I can read the book description take it away darby I know you love to hear my I do I live for it ?
Speaker 1All right , the Ex-Hex by Aaron Sterling . Nine years ago , vivian Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would Vodka , weepy music , bubble baths and a curse on her horrible boyfriend . Sure , vivian knows she shouldn't use her magic this way , but with only an orchid hayride scented candle on hand , she isn't worried . It will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two . That is until Reese Penhollow , descendant of the town's ancestors , breaker of hearts and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was , returns to Graves Glen , georgia . What should be a quick trip to recharge the town's ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong , with one calamity after another striking Reese . Vivi realizes her silly little ex-hex may not have been so harmless after all . Suddenly , graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys , a pissed-off ghost and a talking cat with some interesting things to say . Vivi and Reese have to ignore their off-the-charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the breakup curse before it's too late .
Speaker 2This I'm really excited for . It sounds really cutesy . It sounds like very rom-com-y and spooky vibes and I think it'll be the perfect thing to set the tone for spooky season .
Speaker 1Yes , I'm excited about this one too . I'm hoping it's a good one .
Speaker 2Me too , and if not , then it'll make for a good discussion . Why not Exactly
Borrows & Returns
Speaker 2Other books , though ? Borrowers and Returns ? Taking the Wade Derby . What are we reading ? What are we borrowing , what are we ?
Speaker 1returning . I you're returning . I don't know what's in the water , but I've still been like reading like a mad woman . So I have quite a few returns . Um , honestly , I'm actually gonna do my borrows first , because there's less borrows and returns . Um , so , obviously , how to win friends and influence people . I haven't touched it , but that's on there . And then , um , the fate of the sun king . So I think I mentioned that as my borrow last time , but I actually didn't read that one because I was like I need a break from this world because the second one wasn't that great . But the third one in this series is going pretty well and I'm enjoying it , yeah , but yeah , I'll talk about that one more when I get to my returns , because I'm not finished with it yet . But this one it's going a lot better and I'm like really happy with the decision she's making and writing For returns .
Speaker 1So I did read the Friend Zone and the Happily Ever After playlist by Abby Jimenez . I really liked them both . I've said it before , but this really gives me Emily , henry vibes and I really love those romance books . So these are both really good . One thing that I thought was kind of funny is , in the friend zone , the narrator for the girl , I just like I couldn't take her seriously because like she chose to have this accent , like I've heard her narrate other books , so she chose to have this accent and it was like chapter seven , kristin , and like she did that on purpose because I've heard her do other things and I was like that is so like funny , like I don't know . So I didn't like love that , but it was still a good book and a good story , just like light-hearted romances , um . And then I did read powerless and reckless , so we kind of talked about that in the book .
Speaker 2Yes , give me the thoughts . Was it a copy paste ? Was it good ?
Speaker 1So there were definitely like identical themes in it , but I don't think that you could say it was copy and paste For the the Red Queen series . So if you didn't listen to our last episode one , you should go back and listen . Series . So if you didn't listen to our last episode one , you should go back and listen .
Speaker 1But just kind of a quick little recap is that there was kind of like book talk sayings that powerless was a complete ripoff and copyright of the red queen series , which I really liked the red queen series when I was in high school and I just reread it like last year , um , and it is still really good , I really like it . Powerless definitely was super , super similar , but I think it was still different enough to where , like you can't call it copyright , especially because every fantasy book you're reading it's like , okay , we're looking for the villain , like the enemies to lovers , like there's lots of similar tropes and I don't know . Some things were really like , okay , this is really similar , right . But it's also hard because I think powerless might've been done better than Red Queen so .
Speaker 1I don't know , Maybe that's why I'm like you can't call it copy and paste , because like this is better , Like I don't know , but I'm excited , excited I think the third book comes out like next year and I'm really excited to read it so it was really good , even if it was similar .
Speaker 1I really enjoyed both of those books . Um , and sorry , I didn't say who the author of those were , but powerless and reckless is by la Roberts , so that is the author of those . And then the last book that I read was Carvel , and that is by Stephanie Garber and I gave that . So I gave that four stars and well , like 3.8 stars . But that one was so interesting and I really want you to read it , michaela , because the world building in there is really like neat and there's definitely like twists and stuff that I did not see coming and that I just was like it's like I was in a state of confusion like the whole time reading it , but kind of in like a good way , so I don't know that was it was just like weird , yeah , like good , yeah , I don't really know how to explain it .
Speaker 2It seems like a very interesting concept . I do own the book Shout out , Abby . Thank you for my Christmas present , but it's been on my list for a while so I did plan to read it , and now I kind of want to read it even more so we can talk about it . Yeah , and our friend Madison has also read it . So three interesting perspectives there . Yeah , so I do want to read it . It looks like , yeah , an interesting kind of concept .
Speaker 1Yeah , so those are my returns . They were all really good . I gave four stars to Carvel , reckless and Powerless , and then I gave three stars to the Friend Zone and the Happily Ever After playlist , which , again for me , three stars is still like a good book . It's like there's things I really liked about it and things that I was like , eh , I didn't love this .
Speaker 2It's just a solid book , but still a solid read . So good borrows and returns for me . You are crushing the reading game right now . I don't know if it's healthy , but I'm enjoying it . I'm enjoying all the books . That's all that matters . Happiness right .
Speaker 1My 2024 , like year in review of books is going to be crazy . That's happy for you , proud of you . You're killing it , thank you . What about you ? How ?
Speaker 2are how are your borrows and returns going ? Um , so mine is much shorter . That's um for my borrows . I'm currently reading a conspiracy of kings by megan whalen turner . It's the fourth book in the queen's thief series that I've been reading . This is that like political , more political fantasy . Yeah , um series that I've been reading . Not to say it doesn't have action , but it's definitely much more mind games , political alliances , things like that , and how it plays out more in a ruling court than the battlefield . But I'm obsessed with this series . I love it so much . I'm about halfway through this book I'm excited to finish .
Speaker 1There's two more because there's six books total that's a good like series it is , and it's a finished series it is , I believe . So that's so nice I need to stop reading and like they're not really long either .
Speaker 2Like each book's like 300 ish pages , so they're not terrible at all to get through , uh , but there's so much like twists and turns packed into each page that it's like I've gotten to the point . Obviously this is my fourth book . I know that they're coming , so I try to pay like extra close attention . But the thing with her books that keeps me eating them and wanting to read them more is that I never figure it out before the end , despite like knowing it's coming . So , oh , megan yeah , I know megan's crushing .
Speaker 2It's really like it's a very um unique concept .
Speaker 1I feel like oh no wonder you're hooked you don't know what's happening .
Speaker 2I love it so much . I gave it to our friend jack , which shout out jack . I feel like he's one of our number one supporters on here . So I love you , jack , if you're listening , uh , shout out you . Uh . But I did give him the first one to read , so I I'll be curious your thoughts .
Speaker 1Jack , I'm so curious .
Speaker 2So , yeah , I'm continuing that Really excited . I'm also going to I haven't started it yet , but I will be starting it tomorrow on my commute to work . An audio book called Agrippina , the Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World , by Emma Southen Interesting . It's a nonfiction book about this woman from the Roman Empire , essentially , and how she rose to power and then essentially like fell from power . I came across my Goodreads as like a recommended or something .
Speaker 2Yeah , seemed interesting and I haven't done like a good history audiobook yet , so we're gonna give it a shot and see okay , um , and then my probably the most , the biggest thing on my list , uh , is I was convinced to start the harry potter series for the first time . I actually haven't read this okay , I'm glad I'm not the only one .
Speaker 1I feel like a fraud sometimes , because I've been reading since middle school , but I never read the big ones . I haven't read Hunger Games , I haven't read Divergent , I haven't read Twilight , I haven't read Harry Potter .
Speaker 2Oh , the only one I've read is Hunger Games out of that list .
Speaker 1Okay , that makes me feel better because I'm like , I feel like a fake reader .
Speaker 2So many people have given me such a hard time about not reading Harry Potter because apparently I look like a Harry Potter adult , which I guess I'm a dizzy adult , so it kind of like goes with it . Maybe I'll be obsessed with it by the time I finish . You know , we'll time will tell . We can take a trip to Universal . Yeah , I did it . Lazy Girl Library meetup , harry Potter world let's do it . Put a beer on me , um , but I love the movies . I've watched all the movies and I did enjoy the movies , um so , but uh , our friend sarah convinced me that I've . She thought that I've read them . I had not , and now she won't speak to me until I do read them so we're starting the series .
Speaker 2It'll probably take me a while because there's so many of them and I'm not gonna be like doing it back to back . No , we're gonna mix in books in between , um , but we're gonna start that .
Speaker 1I think spooky season's a good time to start that you'll have to let me know if you think it's like worth it .
Speaker 2I will , because then maybe I'll hop on the I'll keep you all updated on my harry potter journey . Yeah , because it'll be a time .
Speaker 1Do you know like what house you're in um ?
Speaker 2I took the test , I always thought that I would be a hufflepuff , but I I am a Gryffindor , according to the most official test you can take .
Speaker 1So everyone thinks I'm a Hufflepuff , but the Pottermore test said that I'm a Ravenclaw .
Speaker 2Yes , I see it .
Speaker 1So thank you . No one ever sees it . No , I see it . Just because someone is friendly and nice doesn't automatically make them a Hufflepuff . Okay , I can be intellectual . Yes , you can also . I was talking to . Sorry , I don't mean to talk over your borrows and returns .
Speaker 1But I was talking to my friend Eddie one time because we were talking in depth about this and I was . I was questioning my own Ravenclaw-ness and I was like yeah , but I don't know , because I'm not like that book smart . And he was like well , I think you're socially intellectual in the way that you talk to people and I was like this is so nice .
Speaker 2Darby , how many philosophical things did you bring up just in this podcast today ? I totally see you being a Ravenclaw , but it's also with limited knowledge from me too , but take it with a grain of salt , but I think I mean , yeah , we're talking about two people we're talking about houses when we haven't read the book this is so hypocritical , but still I feel like it's a potter more test which is like her official one I guess it's like ingrained in society .
Speaker 1I feel like we yeah , and we've seen the movies . We can talk about it to a point . Anyway , sorry , continue , you're good . Uh , also , I really do see ravenclaw for you as well . Oh well , I wish I was no , I don't , I mean not ravenclaw , sorry . Uh , yeah , sorry , that's what I meant I .
Speaker 2That's the one that I did not see for myself at all . I always thought hovel puff or maybe ravenclaw , but I feel like .
Speaker 1So . Gryffindors are known to be brave , and I feel like you're someone who stands up for people like very strongly and passionately , and I feel like sometimes you have to be brave to do that , and so that's just one of the ways or reasons I think that you match the gryffindor . Thank you , you're welcome .
Speaker 2Well , I'll find out more , we'll do my research in the books and we'll we'll discuss more love um , for I only have one book for my return , so we're really not talking about much . Um , but it was becoming bulletproof . By evie pump boris . Uh , this was the audiobook that I was listening to . That was kind of like self-help , self-defense . Uh , five star read for me , loved it . I think it was so well done . I talked about it a lot in the last episode so I'm not gonna go super in depth again .
Speaker 2But essentially , like the first half of the book , the author was a Secret Service agent for many years and like was on the service for , I believe , presidents Clinton through Obama , and so she wrote this book . Half of it is on like self-defense , how to keep yourself safe so you're not like you can be prepared for situations without having to live in constant fear , and like the whole theme of the book is so to like live fearlessly . Um , because they're like you can't get rid of fear . Fear is always going to be prevalent in your life , but it's like how to not let your life be ruled by fears and like preparing yourself for that and like how to navigate a world with it . So the first half she talks about like true self-defense , keeping yourself safe , being aware of certain situations , creating like exit strategies , things like that . And then the second half is much more psychological how you can influence people .
Speaker 2That I really appreciated the first half of the book .
Speaker 2But the second half of the book was fascinating to me because she really got into the like , how uh to me .
Speaker 2Because she really got into the like , how uh the subtly influence people in their subconscious . Because you , if you pick up , for example , um , on certain ways people speak and you start to mimic those ways , not in like a a harsh way or like a uh , in a more subtle way , uh , people will trust you more and you're building that rapport more because you sound more like them and people are drawn to people like them . And so it's like things like that that she talks about and how you can use it in your real life for , like you know , getting along with co-workers or networking or you know , convincing people to like go on the vacation that you want to go on , like whatever , just how you can use it in life . It was fascinating and she did a really good job talking about like , laying all the facts out for you and making it very easy . Um and not adding too much fluff that would like take away from it , but enough information for you to understand what she's talking about interesting .
Speaker 1I do really want to listen to it . Our friend Janine . I talked to her about it . She read it . She did not feel the same as you Really . I think she might have given it three stars . I could be lying , I'd have to go back , but I know that she didn't love it .
Speaker 2I'll have to talk to her about it . I'd be curious to hear what she thought .
Speaker 1But I loved it .
Speaker 2It sounds . Hear what she thought . Yeah , I loved it . Um , it sounds really interesting and I love how she sprinkled like personal stories in it throughout . Um , but it wasn't too much , but it was like just enough to like give like a good story , to like the context of whatever she's talking about at that point . So that's so good . Really enjoyed it . Five star book for me but that's it .
Speaker 1I love it , but that's it for this month's book club episode . I'm glad that we had a great book talk . Be sure to let us know what you thought about this book . If you have any recommendations for books that you want us to read , if you want to tell us what Harry Potter house you think we should be in , let us know .
Speaker 2What house you're in ? Yeah , what I need to know . Get me prepared to read this series .
Speaker 1But thank you so much for joining us . Be sure to again just leave your thoughts and maybe a review of our podcast .
Speaker 1That would really help us always much appreciated , yeah we just love to hear from you guys and we'll talk to you again . Bye . Well , dear listeners , we find ourselves at the end of another episode and remember , the Lazy Girl Library is not just a podcast . It's a community . We absolutely love hearing from fellow book lovers , so don't forget to share your thoughts and your favorite reads with us on our social media . You can find us on Instagram at Lazy Girl Library . Make sure to check out our website , lazygirllibrarycom , your one-stop shop for all things Lazy Girl . Before we go , we want to take a moment to thank all of our wonderful listeners , whether you're listening from your cozy bed , on your way to work or anywhere in between . Thank you for making us a part of your day and for being a part of our Lazy Girl family . So keep those pages turning , keep those imaginations flourishing and remember the best stories are yet to be discovered . Until next time , stay lazy and happy reading .
