Part 3: Part 4 & 5 – Pages 224 – 360

Hi everyone and welcome to Taste Test #3. I have no clue if people are actually reading these but I enjoy writing them. I am writing this on January 23rd, and my brain has already started thinking about the logistics of the next book and what the calendar is going to look like. But before I move forward with that I want to write this quickly.

Overall, this part of the book has felt the most different when you compare it to the first 223 pages that we have read. Focusing on Henry and Luc was not on my Bingo Card for this but I am pleased with what I have read. You will see that Part 5 has a lot less written then the other parts but I was just so taken in by those pages that my brain was struggling to really think critically and clinically on what was going on in the context of the bigger picture. But I hope you get something out of my discussion, because again I feel like I am speaking into the void.

Side note: I bought a voice recorder because sometimes I do not want to put the book down just to write a note or something, as the act of putting it down disrupts my brain and I can loose the thread that I am following. So starting with out next book we are going to see how my notes and discussion change. Thanks for reading this, I’ll be talking about it more in the daily blog eventually.

Previous Questions:

• What sort of deal do you think Henry has made?
  • Henry wants to be enough so I feel he made a deal to become just that. People seem to be drawn to him and he is meant to be the parallel of Addie so I think where people forget her, people really see and remember him.
• Addie goes home after decades of being in Paris to see her former life. What do you think the reason is, what purpose does it serve at this current point?
  • I believe it is to reconnect her with her purpose. Being in Paris and exploring the city has made it easy for her to forget why she is doing what she is. She has gotten caught in the routine of her life and her lack of roots causes her to feel uninspired. Going home allows her to remember her old life and feel the freedom rather than the curse that she has been give.
• Our of the all of the past moments we have seen so far which has been the hardest to read, which has been your favorite?
  • Remy was honestly so hard for me.

Part 4: The Man Who Stayed Dry in the Rain

So Henry made his deal 6 months before he met Addie, meaning that if he was only given an extra year I believe Rosh Hashanah 2014 will be the time that Luc comes to collect. The watch is the timer, Rosh Hashanah – New Year is this when his life will be expiring and the darkness will come and take what he wants. I wonder if there is any thing special with this holiday and the soul. I am curious.

Henry, in depth

When I talk about mental health, especially with one of my old counselors, I always would talk about feeling plugged in or being unplugged. There have been times where I have felt like I had an electrical current flowing through my mind and body, it kept me moving, smiling, happy, and so on. However, there have been times where I have felt the lack of energy, and my body and mind struggle, I cry a lot more and I feel things a lot deeper). With that being said a majority of the time though I feel “normal” no extra energy, no lack of energy, and I go about my life in relative ease. I say all of this because Henry feels too much. He has the rainy days and the sunny droughts but from the way he is written, he has no control. Life is speeding by him and there is nowhere for him to grab and hold on, almost as if his life is a pinball game and he is just being toss around, not having any control on what he feels and what he does.

I am so happy for this part because we get to really get to know Henry, which is refreshing because there are few books that really dive into the history and perspective of the “love interest” that I have read. It moved Henry from Love Interest to Main Character. So lets continue our dive into Henry.

Henry while in his previous relationship it was mentioned that he was changing “for her” and that is such a death trap for a relationship. Having that sort of mentality means that you do not think you are worth enough. I can understand there are instances out there where you can change for someone and it be a good thing, such as where to put the dishes in the dishwasher, but that is not what Henry was doing. He was changing the fundamental things about himself for her, and not himself. This is dangerous and we see that it did not work out. After Henry was rejected he wanted to be alone but not actually and I feel that deeply in my bones.

“I want to be alone” The biggest lie he’s ever told

The darkness can sneak up on anyone and with Henry just wanting to be enough it was an easy score for The Darkness. Instead of being something like what Addie is now wanting, he wants to be enough and the difference there is great.

Having the ability for Addie to open up is such a gift, seeing her as the light that Henry sees is beautiful but is has a twinge too it because it also feels haunting. (The other show about to drop)

Okay so what broke my hear was Robbie being in love with Henry and now we see why. He is seeing such a different version of Henry then what is actually there. And that is just painful.

When Bea was talking about Henry and wanting to see him happy and there was something that she said that really stuck out to me. She noticed that Henry hums when he is happen and he hadn’t hummed in a long time. I have said that about myself before with singing. When I am in a good mood I will float around the house singing random songs and when I am not feeling myself I don’t sing. I just think it is so touching that his friend noticed

“Art is about ideas. And ideas are wilder than memories. They’re like weeds, always finding their way up.”

Henry and I are the same age and I feel more connected to him way more than I think I did the first time I read. I just am so sad knowing that Henry really wants to be seen by his family and close friends rather then the strangers around him. He wants to be loved and accepted and to fit in. Not whatever Vanessa was doing with those rose colored glasses. Robbie wants changed Henry and I think that is what hurts e the most. Henry is still lost at this point, not knowing what he wants. It just hurts me to read this

So the Artifact has some deeper meaning but first there I really want to go there. “They don’t see you at all” was something that Henry said and I think there is another deep meaning there. Because Addie is seen for who she is but no one remembers her.

This story is such a romance. I can’t help it. It is sweet and poetic and also henry hurts me and fills me with hope. He is a story collector and she can finally tell it. The Artifact is a place where her story really starts because that is what she is.

Part Five: The Shadow Who Smiled and the Girl Who Smiled Back

This part was so quick. It bounced between Addie and Henry spending days together and going back to Addie’s anniversary’s with Luc over the years. Addie goes back home on an anniversary only to have to face down Luc. Symbolic this trip was for her, facing off like that back where the deal was made. What a way to start off this section!

In this section we get to see more of Luc both as a harsh monster and a sweet man. Addie mentions that Luc starts to not bring up their deal and enjoys the brief moments that they spend together. I think this is all part of his plan, his way to be the one that breaks her giving her this rest from his plan in a way to make the actual ask that much harder for her to turn down. I think it is masterful how Schwab goes back and forth between Luc and Henry, as it forces us to create a comparison between the two. When she is with Henry there is this light (haha) but Addie is free and open, making the best whereas when she is with Luc she is at the mercy of his whims and has to be calculating to make it out ahead.

There is a moment with Luc that I think her messed up and it was with Beethoven and bringing Addie along to take his soul. In this moment Luc shows most of his cards. He has now shown the sweet and kind, but also the darkness that he is and that was another tool that Addie can use.

“Everyone wants to be remembered”

This quote above is the point that I am thinking is getting made with Luc. Addie and Luc talk about being remembered and Addie stumbles on the idea that Luc want’s Addie to last so there is someone out there that will remember him. Give him more purpose than just making and collecting deals. So I think this is why he showed her the collection of the soul. If he showed her the entirety of himself, then Addie can remember and still choose to be with him and thus giving him more meaning that soul dealer. Now I do think there is a game her that Luc is playing but I feel Luc showed his cards and is allowing Addie to be one step ahead, even if we do not see it just yet.

There is one further thing I want to talk about in this post. Addie is starting to come apart at the seams and it is Henry’s fault. For 300 years Addie has been free, no ties, nothing that she can call hers and thus there is nothing she can truly loose. That is until Henry, she is not only being remembered and the want to not be forgotten but also that she is falling in love.

Questions

• Why is Bea the only one that notices her in history? What is special about her?
• How do you feel this story is going to end?
• As of right now, who’s curse is worse?