Reviews with content warning for Grief - One for My Enemy

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake

38 reviews

lilly_reads98's review

dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“We can’t curse all the men in the world, can we?” “Not in a single day, at least.” I felt like this book would be epic and it was. It made me read the words as fast as my eyes could consume them, I didn’t want to do anything else but devour the story. I actually think I ended up reading it too fast because now I wish I was still reading it but I just couldn’t put it down! This book is so good, I haven’t read anything really like this. It definitely stands out a lot from anything I’ve read recently, I enjoyed it so much and want to re read it. I really enjoyed seeing the deep love between the love interests and the way it’s written when they’re talking about their love for each other is just so deep mad heart wrenching. It’s so nice to read characters that are just so in love 😭 I don’t think a lot of books actually show that or have dialogue like this book, the dialogue in here is so powerful. It was cringey at times, specifically I think with Sasha. But one of my favorite quotes is, “When you spend enough time with someone, as I have, you begin to learn them like a muscle. You learn their little ticks, their eccentricities, their thoughts. You learn the signs and read them like stars, like lines in a book.” (P. 255) all of the quotes with Masha and Dima are just so good 😭 I wish we could have read more of their backstory. I like Sasha and Lev, I like their dynamic. I think the story was going good but the author ruined it for me by making Sasha and Levi’s relationship purely about lust and not love. They aren’t in love, (until around the middle of the book) but if they were falling in love sooner everything would be way more impactful. Like I expected them to fall in love not just try and have sex every time they see each other. Epic love stories are about love not just that? That’s literally shown in Masha and Dima, they were in love and I was way more invested in their storyline and so confused why the author would not write Lev and Sasha to be falling in love. I think the plot of this is so good but there’s other things that also just kind of ruin it for me, like the cursing and the repetitive dialogue of constantly saying peoples names like 7 times on one page. These things just take me out of the story.. if they weren’t in it I feel like this would be a 5 star amazing epic read. Spoilers ahead:

It does get better once Lev and Sasha do say they love each other, but I wish we got to see them falling in love, we didn’t really get to see that so it just takes so much of the heart wrenching away. I hate Roman oh my god. I don’t like how much we have to read about Roman even after he ruins everything he won’t go away. I am annoyed by now the author uses the same plot point of when Marya comes back to life I expect her to immediately go to Dima but she doesn’t, which is so confusing to me. And the same thing when Lev and Sasha come alive again they don’t immediately go to each other? (When I found out Lev just doesn’t know, but still that brings my issue of why does he show no grief, none of the characters show grief when the other dies and then the next day they’re just talking casually about things as if the love of their life didn’t just get ripped away from them?) it makes no sense why a book like this wouldn’t allow their characters to show more sadness.

I realize I talked about my negative points a lot but I really was so immersed in the story and I loved it so much. It’s just that those things did bother me a lot and did bring down my enjoyment. I loved this part/ “When had Dimitri Fedorov known he loved Marya Antonova? He had known it like the voice of his soul, the sanctity of every prayer. With certainty equal to the changing of the seasons, borne on devotion as relentless as the tide. He had known he loved her like he knew he would rise each day, like knowing his lungs would fill with each breath, like knowing he could bleed with every puncture. With motions as practiced as each step he took. He had loved her with the whole of his being, as if he'd been made to do it; as if he'd been crafted that way by some divine hand. She was in his blood, beating in his chest, racing against it. He felt the ache of her now, pressed flat against the bone of his sternum. With each moment since he'd begun racing to reach her, a fraction of her heart had shattered more, each sliver of shrapnel as much his doing as hers. As much his pain as it was hers.” (P. 384) 😭

“I choose you. I will always choose you.” Dima is literally the most romantic and the best character. He shows his love and speaks it unlike Masha, why did she confess she still loves him but then after she dies and comes back she won’t be loving towards him?? This book is so confusing!!! She finally does and her quotes get to me so much on page 330, but like why when she first came back to life did that not happen??it’s not even explained why she acts like that and only way later do they resume how they were right before she died. Tell me why Bryn makes me think of the guy in that 70’s show that sells jewelry 😂 oh my goodness when lev and Sasha finally know about each other 😭😭😭 it’s so good. It’s so sos o good. But why is it only a few pages and then they start talking about reality again. Why do authors have to torture me 😭😭😭😭 I want to read about them being in love, being happy. But the author keeps switching to so many other characters it’s getting annoying like seriously it was getting so good that I have the 5 star feeling but then it gets ruined again😭 tell me why like seriously we do not want to read about Stas in the middle of Lev and Sasha finally seeing each other after waiting for that for so many pages. “LEV: this is my favorite book” 😭😭😭 I’m happy they got a happy ending but it would be so much better and more impactful if we actually got to see it for more than just a few pages. I hate how so many books just barely show you the happy ending like I read this whole thing and then the ending is just so short. I really enjoyed this book so much, I don’t know why I wrote most of my thoughts as my negative thoughts I’m so sorry 😭 I will leave this off with more quotes that I absolutely loved: “The ground was mossy, covered in leaves and vines. It looked like a fold between universes; like a page in a book of worlds. It couldn't belong in this one, not here, but couldn't belong to another, either. It was foreign and still, a place that had never felt an echo.” (P. 255)

"The past is nothing. We are everything… Give me all of you, take everything of me, and let's see who stands against us then." (P. 330)

Content Warnings

carla20's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

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4.0

I know I'm giving this only four stars, but I can't stop thinking about it??

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frantically's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Pretty writing does not a pretty book make.

This book has solid positives — rival families, Romeo & Juliet retelling without being too on the nose, fun family dynamics and pasts, and, of course, the pretty writing.

I especially enjoyed Mascha's character, who is just such a solid older sister: she makes wild choices for siblings, she's on the darker side of morally grey, would kill people for her mum but above all just loves her family, maybe a bit too much. We see a lot of her interactions with Sasha but I wish we would've seen more of the other sisters! There's seven of them and this book would've worked just as well with just Mascha and Sasha — a bit disappointing.

Sasha and Lev are the epitome of insta-love but this is a Romeo and Juliet retelling, so I feel like I have to forgive Blake for that. They're both living and acting in the shadows of their parents and older siblings and while Dima and Mascha have the more fascinating plot, it still works out so well that Sasha and Lev are our protagonists.

It seems like the magic in this story is merely a side note, if it's not being used to bring everyone who dies back to life. Seriously. You thought SJM was bad? This is worse. I can't really feel sad for character deaths (of which there were many) when they all appear alive again in the next scene. But besides that? Some witch drugs and not much more witchy stuff.

Still, an engaging and fun story, which I wish would've been worked out a little bit more.

Content Warnings

takarakei's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I would burn down the world for this love

Romeo & Juliet modern retelling with rival witch families.
Olivie Blake certainly knows how to write characters with depth and how to rip your heart out.

Content Warnings

midnightrose_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A magical contemporary fantasy set in New York City about witches caught up in a Romeo and Juliet-esque conflict. This is definitely a weird story (particularly towards the end), but I enjoyed the ride and Olivie’s beautiful writing. For fans of V.E Schwab’s books and Kat Howard’s The Unseen World duology.

Content Warnings

gardens_and_dragons's review

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In true Shakespearean fashion, this was full of tragedy, star crossed lovers, murder, and fae. But! It is also filled with witty dialogue, magical crimes, family secrets and drama. I loved most of the characters and wish that we got more screen time with Lev and Sasha, versus the surrounding epic of their families, but overall it was a good read.

Content Warnings

kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

olivie blake you will always be famous

Content Warnings

jessiereads98's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Olivie Blake has devastated me once again. She drags you into the old world hidden within the new and the hope within the tragedy. The characters are compelling and the prose is gorgeous. Hits just like a Romeo and Juliet retelling should.

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