My thoughts on The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Finally completed reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. My rating? 3 over 5.

I found this book getting recommended a lot at Kindle Philippines fb group so I thought I'd give it a try after finishing Hopeless by Coleen Hoover (which I rated 4/5). Didn't think it would take me 3 months to finish it. I'm a slow and uninspired reader, and even by my standards 3 months is too long for a single book hahaha. It was so dragging.

SPOILER ALERT

Here's the summary from GoodReads...

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.

---

Interesting right? My favorite part about the book is really the writing style, beautiful prose poetry that vividly takes you wherever Addie is. I loved the time jumps between past and present, her relationship with her father, her child-like wonder whenever they head out of town, her frustration about getting stuck at their village forever, and her friendship with Estelle, who's probably my favorite character in this book.

But whenever it jumps to the present, I always lose interest. 

There are three main characters in this story; Addie our 300 year old heroine, Luc the god he struck a deal with, and Henry... Addie's special sadboi lol.

None of them had any character development throughout the story. To think Addie has lived 300 years, she didn't seem to have wisened up. The only thing special about her is her unorthodox distaste for being a homemaker and staying in Villon forever. But beyond that? We see nothing more, she's just loitering around, I wouldn't say the world but, Europe and America, looking for affluent artists who could draw her like one their French girls, char.

Perhaps it's a consequence of having lived three centuries. At a hundred she's learned enough to survive the world despite her curse. Another hundred and the weight of losing loved ones has taken a toll on her psyche. Another hundred and she's desensitized to loss and being forgotten, as it becomes a recurring theme in her god-knows-how-long life. Maybe that's why it seemed like she's not grown enough. Maybe this book should've ended when she's around 200.

Given Addie, it's hard for me to imagine how she found some kind of favor in Luc's eyes. As a god who answers in the dark, I had high expectations of his might. But he's just all flair. Their snide banters aren't even that clever. For a god who's in the business of souls, he probably a low ranked grim reaper who's more concerned about looking cool.

And don't get me started on Henry. He's an empty shell. Before and during the deal. There's nothing special about him. He exists solely to write about Addie, which consequently gave him the recognition he's yearned for so long, so yeah, good for him. Not for the readers though.

I don't know. I feel like the premise was wasted in trying to establish a love-hate relationship between Addie and Luc. I probably had wrong expectations. I wanted to revel in the sinister nature of Faustian bargains, much like in the TV series Once Upon a Time, because the writing style could very much pull off such vividry, but I guess it's too much to ask of someone who just goes with the flow, an undaunting villain, and a weak male character (Addie, Luc, and Henry respectively).

Motivational BS

I attended a seminar our company set about building resilience in these trying times. I believe it's the second time they organized something like this, so almost the same topic, just with a new speaker. Someone old and big in the BPO industry, employee #000001 in Convergy's I heard. Someone who has written a motivational book, of course haha. Such hype. Much wow. She was even introduced twice! First by Jack Canfield, creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul (wow!), through a video recording, and next by our very own country director.  Who the heck gets introduced twice in a speaking engagement right? Gotta be someone so good. So our director said a lot of great things about her, being an institution in the call center industry and all, how his dad is such a fan they even had coffee one time, yadda yadda yadda. Anyways, within the first ten minutes of the session my expectations rose from 0-100%. I was so excited to listen to her.

Only to be disappointed.

So she made us do an excercise to illustrate the power of the mind. She said to put our hands in a prayer position, making sure to align the lines at our wrist as a guide. Then she asked us which of our middle fingers appear shorter. And to the hand containing the shorter middle finger, she told us to talk to it, yep, and say "Grow longer" 8 times. Oh boy. She's not joking. She asked everybody to turn on their cameras and we all have to fkn talk to the hand live at the same time. Of course I didn't oblige with the video. After chanting we were asked to put our hands back to prayer position, possibly so we could ask God why we're being taken as idiots, and observe how the finger has actually grown. Wow.

Needless to say, some were conned into believing their middle finger actually grew longer. Magic! The power of the mind! And it doesn't end there. It's silly, I know. I was waiting for her to take it back and say of course I'm joking you dummies. But man, there's a 2nd part to the act. Now to the middle finger that has grown foolishly in your eyes, you have to say "Back to normal" 8 times. And it will be back when you put your hands in prayer. Right. Prayer is the key.

It know it's a ridiculous exercise, some of use were laughing. I was waiting for her to take it back, you know, in case some people actually take her seriously. But you know what she said to the naysayers? TRY AGAIN. Keep talking to it. Wtf. She ain't joking. Apparently you can now grow your finger just by telling it to frkn grow up. Eight times for maximum effect, and in prayer position for some divine intervention. What can I say, my mom has tried that on me a hundred times in my childhood, and here I am, just grown but not grown up. Safe to say it doesn't work.

That's it. That really put me off. Idk if it's a bad joke, but she never took it back, or somehow expressed that she's joking. There's gotta be other ways to teach placebo without messing with your anatomy.

Well it's not all bad. I actually got my shorter middle finger to be taller for a while. I guess because I put the rest down.

ui ipad mini 6 hahaha

iPad Mini 6

I love it! I knew it's only a matter of time before the mini conforms to its bigger siblings. Been waiting for Apple Pencil 2 support and it's finally here! So now the iPad Mini looks like the pros, gone with the touch ID button at the front and in with the all-screen design,. Other notable upgrades would be 5G support, 128GB starting storage, aaaand touch ID integrated into the top button -- super cool.

Will I upgrade though? Of course not. I barely even use my iPad mini nowadays, its only purpose would be for Procreate and following workout videos. It's just nice to know that the features I want are already available... for whenever I decide to upgrade hahaha.

fully vaxxed at last

Before I begin drowning in work, again, quick update:

We just got fully vaccinated over the weekend. Thank you Lord! We got our 2nd jab of Moderna on Saturday, which we prepared for by taking a leave the day before to do errands. Good call though cos Jeckie and I were both knocked down the whole weekend right after the shot. Fever, headaches, body pain, and the usual heaviness on the arm. I had 38deg fevers. My husband had chills, which he kinda enjoyed cos his rattling jaw feels funny daw haha. We had very little strength to do anything productive, we ordered from GrabFood the whole time and watched the days go by, mostly confused at why I'm rolling up the blinds at night and eating breakfast at 3am. It was crazy. My body clock was kinda lost.

But now I'm feeling better. Definitely better. Except for work. Argh.

Backtrack. We got our first dose Aug 12 at Robison's Forum after seeking help from a neighbor to submit our Mandavax registration to the Brgy Hall.

It was very very frustrating having to get a schedule. As early as March we were already preregistered online, but now that it's our turn to get inoculated, we were told we have to submit our papers again and personally pa at the city hall! The fudge was ONLINE preregistration for? I'm so mad at the system but I know it's a waste of energy to dwell on it.

So we sought help from one of our neighbors to submit our registration confirmation on our behalf. We paid for printing and delivery tapos a few days later biglang our condo admin also offered the same service. Lol sayang. Anyway.


This country sucks. So much red tape, glaring corruption, ineffient processes, and a hell lot more. How do I leave.

K back to work. Urgh I hate this.

What's up in bullets

✱ Work. Hay. I'm feeling super duper tired from work. There's just too many things to do and they're piling up uncontrollably on my lap! I can't seem to be able to finish a project lately and it feels bad. Well, I haven't been feeling so good about work lately and it's already feedback season haaay. :(

✱ Three weeks ago my dad and sister tested positive for covid so they had to quarantine themselves. My parents are both fully vaccinated already but my sister hasn't had a single shot yet. Thank God it's only mild. My dad experienced fever, cough, colds, loss of taste and smell. My sister had the same symptoms plus rashes which made everyone panic. The doctor said the rashes are possibly an immune response and should go away as they go on with the treatment. And it sure did. Now they're doing okay. My sister is back to work (wfh) but they're still not listed as fully recovered. 

A bunch of things that made me happy lately

✱ This black silicon Kindle case I got form Lazada. It took 10 days to get delivered but it's worth it cos it's so cute specially with my latte popsocket on!

✱ Our airfryer! My husband gifted me an airfryer and I'm loving it! Thought it would be helpful for eating healthy but as it turns I'm cooking a lot more now cos it's more convenient, plus I can bake now too so there goes the mandatory muffin and cakes being added to our "healthy" diet haha. 

I'll probably do a Youtube review someday, when I've gotten the hang of it. I already have a bunch of cons to discuss but ultimately it's been great cooking with this! 

✱ Milk Lab. I've been seeing this a lot on socmed and CHB. They say it's the best milk for your coffee. You know I only take my coffee black so I never really considered this. Until I bought a kilo of coffee that didn't taste good in plain black. I thought adding milk could save it so at least I gotta get the best out there haha. Actually I just needed an excuse to try it. So yun.

Well, the hype is real! It really tastes good. It froths well, unlike other milk brands that are too bubbly and not foamy. This one tastes divine. It's really good for coffee. But as a plain cold full cream milk? There are better options (ie. Pure & Best!) hehe.

It's pricey though and you can only order online. It's ₱234 in 3's plus shipping so it comes out at around ₱90/L. Grand Nourriture is the official distributor and they ship really fast. 

Anyway. This is a very happy discovery for me but the phase didn't last, hindi sustainable for me haha. Ang gastos maadik sa Milk Lab no eh automatic drip coffee maker lang meron ako. Hassle pa magprepare I have to warm the milk then froth. If I want another cup, same procedure. It's time consuming haha. But the drink is super good so it's kindof worth it. Specially with drizzled caramel sauce from Torani! Aaaaahh

I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to go back to enjoying black coffee after being blown away by such good homemade latte, but I when I made myself a cup of black this morning... aaaahh, iba parin yung feeling, yung aroma, hindi indulgent, lasang lasa mo yung kape. It's all in the grounds talaga. So I'll most probably give away whatever's left of the bad batch I got and go back to drinking plain black coffee, specifically Basilio's Muni-muni blend hehe.

✱ Yeah I guess that's it. Ah! I got dual monitors now at home thanks to our local IT who sent in my docking station. Just in time for this testing project I have that requires multiple monitors haha yeyy?

✱ Haaay Lord. Hope everything will be okay. I want to take a good long break, it's already our anniversary month and with MECQ persisting, we can't go to Baguio na huhu.

Anyways! Stay safe everyone! :D

Life Lately

Heya. Thought I'd write something before my mind gets scrambled even more today. I have so much going on at work and I'm feeling very very overwhelmed. Sometimes I wanna blame myself for procrastinating too much, but at this point I have no other choice but to hammer on. If only I could put a stopper on any new tasks until I've finished everything that's on my plate right now. That would be awesome. But oh well. 

✱ Reading
I'm around 30% with The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and finally, finally, it's starting to pick up.

✱ Watching
Naruto with my husband and The Circle on my downtime.

✱ Listening
To nothing.

✱ Thinking
About how saddening it is that we now celebrate our selves more than we celebrate God's goodness in our lives. I'm appalled at the rate at which our society is turning more and more individualistic, putting one's self above everything else. It's a sneaky way to slowly remove God in our society.

It all sounds so good... loving yourself, taking care of your body, accepting your flaws, prioritizing your mental health, etc. etc. and they're all valid. But without the intention of honoring God, it's all self-serving and the happiness it brings can only be fleeting. You become tied in an endless pursuit of self-gratificaton, until you realize that it's useless pursuing things in this world. Material posessions, validation from others, nothing matters when you die. Things get lost, memories are forgotten. I always remind myself not to get too caught up in this world, and it's a daily struggle. And that's why we pray.

✱ Smelling
Nothing.

✱ Wishing

To get vaccinated already. Whatever brand. Even though I prefer Pfizer or Moderna, I can't be choosy now when the virus is mutating faster than the rate at which we're being inoculated.

I've re-registered at MandaVax...
Also registered at Makati under A4 category...
I'm also waiting for a schedule with my husband's company... 
And patiently awaiting for our own company as well.. if they even have plans on jabbing us.

So much for going back to the new office. I really wanna start working there because this girl needs her dual monitor setup so so badly. Like hell I'm about to embark on a project that requires multiple screens. I'm bad at multitasking but multiple monitors make me seem like one hahaha please Lord pleeeaase

✱ Wearing
My regular wfh garb which is v-neck shirt and relaco shorts from Uniqlo. 

✱ Loving

My new office chair. I got the one in the middle - in black. It's ErgoHome's Ventus Midback chair. My wish is really my command haha. Thank you Lord at least now I can sit at the proper height without the armrests hitting the table hehe.

✱ Wanting

For everything to be back to normal na but that's a reach no? At least bring back restaurant dine-in haha. Jeckie was upset we couldn't eat outside during the weekend so we cooked steak at home na lang. Ang gastos namin sa food lol.

✱ Needing

To manage my projects and time more efficiently. It seems like I'm always drowning in work. Gusto ko na sumuko argh. Tapos may sisingit na mandatories on how to communicate with impact, manage your priorities, and be a good leader in general blah blah blah. Ironic how it's exactly what I need to learn right now but hindi ko sya priority cos I'm hella swamped. Hahahuhu #PaanoNa

✱ Feeling
So freaking tired from work. Please pray for my sanity.

Hala sya

What the heck, I forgot I was supposed to attend this Communicating with Impact workshop my boss signed me up for. To be honest, I really forgot about it. It didn't help that I may have accidentally ignored the calendar reminder because uhm, force of habit. Anyway, it's a frkn 4-hour class with lots of succeeding sessions and tons of pre-work. Sa totoo lang it's too much work for me right now cos I'm already drowning in work tapos may mga "extra-curricular" pa lol. Nahiya naman ako sa boss ko. I even uploaded a new profile pic on facebook and he frigging 👍 it tapos biglang hindi ako umattend sa meeting. Busy ba talaga ko.

Hay Lord, when the hell is this gonna end. Pwede bang magpa-demote na lang lol unless this is really how it's gonna be for the rest of the year so might as well get paid more for it lol. #ThisTooShallPass

Earlier this afternoon I went to LTO to have my driver's license updated to my current address. I've been postponing this for the longest time but I need a valid ID with my correct address asap so I could get vaccinated in my LGU. In fairness to LTO Pasig, it's my second time transacting with them this year and I really love how quick and easy it is to do my business there. Siguro kasi it was mostly online, from scheduling, to uploading of revelant docs, and to payment. I only had to go there to have my license reprinted. They were even expecting me while I was lost looking for the right window. Galing hehe.

After that errand, I went to get some new specs at Owndays. My current glasses are already 2 years old, not sure if it's already due for an update but it's become quite uncomfortable to wear recently. So yun. In fairness to Owndays, 20 mins and I'm out. I got a new frame with blue light filter, and it looks great.

Here's a selfie! It fits better and doesn't fall down, considering I got one without adjustable nose pads. It's cool. My eye grade increased a bit I think. And I'm having a really bad headache right now. Baka naga-adjust pa. Everything's clearer and mejo nakakahilo panning around. Hope I get used to it soon. I just worry cos I don't remember getting a headache with my first glasses but ganon huhu.

In other news, kuya Rey from TSP asked me if I'm still okay working for Super Labandera cos they're planning to reprint it next year under a different publisher. I'm all for it! Buti na lang the timeline isn't too tight so I still have time to improve my skills. Sana gumaling ako kasi nahihiya ako dun sa una kong gawa hehe. I'm pretty excited!

Also, I got my first sale from Redbubble. I already forgot I had some merch up in there haha. I got 10 cents from a sticker sale hahaha yeyy?

Hay Lord I want to rest. I don't know how to deal with my workload. It's too much. Kanina lang I got a call for two new projects, right when I haven't cleared up my to do list. Nakakalula na andaming kelangan gawin tapos ang sakit pa ng ulo ko huhu. Here's what's on my plate:

Robot for documents exclusion
Robot for CRM cleanup
Robot for proforma generation
Robot for new matters

And just now, a new task came along. I'm gonna be doing another Desktop Regression test using Eggplant na sobrang limot ko na juskopo tapos kelangan ko pa isetup yung license aaaarrgghh.

I'm so so so so tired. 

When will it get better.

Please pray for my sanity. 🙏