Reviews

Olivie Blake is just such a hit or miss. I really enjoyed the Atlas trilogy, and the premise of this sounded so good - rival mafia families with a bit of magic in the mix... But this was all over the place. Not only was the worldbuilding clumsy, the characters mostly fell flat for me. Blake really very clearly just wanted to tell Sasha and Marya's stories, so there were too many sisters used only as plot devices; and the romance between Sasha and Lev was rushed and didn't work for me at all. Marya and Dima were the most compelling characters, but (as tends to be the case) became less interesting exactly when their relationship was consummated. And still, I would've very much preferred it if they'd been the main couple and none of the other siblings existed, because they were misused and discarded anyway.

readsbysimba's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

Salivating over the way Olivie Blake shoves so much depth into her characters.

belle2022's review against another edition

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4.0

What a fantastic book!! Oh Blake knows how to write some truly terrific characters with so much depth. How is it possible she makes you fall in love/hate a character in a few pages? Such stunning quotes I’ve highlighted in this one.

This was based on a Romeo and Juliet retelling but not like any retelling I’ve read. There are the two families (witch families) and we’ve got our star crossed lovers but not just one pair…there’s two!!

Lev and Sasha stole my heart I have to say. They have a lot of parallels to their siblings Marya and Dimitri. Whose love never worked out. There were so many twists and turns in this, enough to keep you on your toes and quite a few times I’ve had to put the book down in disbelief!!

Now that ending, gosh I was close enough to tears. It was stunningly heartbreaking. And then another twist which had me jumping for joy because I surely thought it would never work out. This book was a work of art and also emotionally draining because there was just so much going on one minute only for it not to be true the next. I loved the multiple POVs.

I think my favourite character was Roman. He was singled out, the odd one, the one who wanted to keep his brothers/family together who couldn’t understand how loving an Antonova had changed his brothers. He was the middle one, not favoured by the father and not loved like the youngest, just kind of there and that was so so sad to read. It was truly heart breaking to see him struggle because I think I would have been like him. Trying to keep everyone together…when no one really wanted to be.

jennabeck13's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

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

2.0

One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake

⭐️⭐️ (2/5)

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

About 405 pages

One For My Enemy is a modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a twist, witches. The Antonovas (Baba Yaga and her daughters) and the Fedorovs (Koschei and his sons) are sworn enemies. At one time the families were close but one decision set them on different paths. Over a decade later, a line is crossed that neither family can ever come back from and that will lead to tragedy, bloodshed, and mutual destruction. But simultaneously, two of the siblings will fall in love. Forcing each family member to evaluate who and what is important to them.

I’m actively trying to get into fantasy but I will admit I’m struggling a bit. The concept of warring families with a forbidden love story was interesting to me. However, I’m not sure I needed the fantasy element here. I think I would have liked the story better if it was based in reality and was just two mob families… I also had a tough time understanding why certain characters had loyalties to others as it felt like the characters weren’t well developed but rather just had their “defining” characteristics repeated endlessly.

Favorite Quote: “We don’t have to be like this, it doesn’t have to be this way for us. I like that we’re already settling into our relationship problems,” he added with a bitter laugh. “You know, you’re messy, I’m near, our families insist on bloodshed, I chew with my mouth open sometimes—“

clairedickerson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

mollybyrne's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

rwilliams22's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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