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mandaraffe's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Bullying and Emotional abuse
kbriney's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
This book gave me all of the feels (even more than Dade's book that's actually called "All the Feels"). I laughed out loud, I cried, I got hot under the collar, and generally experienced a whole range of emotions but in the best way possible.
The book follows Athena as she gets dumped by her fiancé Johnny one month before their wedding under his older brother Matthew's encouragement. That's awkward enough but the bigger problem is that Athena bought the "spite house" (a 10-foot wide, 4-story embodiment of "f--- you, I'm going to block all of your sunlight even though it makes for a ridiculously small house") that shares a wall with Johnny's house as a wedding gift for her (now) ex-fiancé and has nowhere else to live. And if that's not bad enough, most of the spite house's windows face the row house across the 4-foot alley that belongs to... Johnny's older brother Matthew. She's in a Vine brother sandwich and decides to be the embodiment of her house's moniker.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Athena aims her spite at Matthew, particularly by blasting smutty monster romance audiobooks out of her windows and into Matthew's. The author pokes fun at monster romance while at the same time supporting the genre by having multiple characters enjoy it. The snippets of fake books are hilarious and the character's reactions to them even more so.
The other part of the book I enjoy is how the author deftly moves us through Athena's grief, determination, and pride into eventually falling in love with Matthew. There are, of course, bumps along the way but it's a naturally down-out tension between two people who were immediately attracted to each other but also bring complex histories and even trauma to the relationship. The pacing and emotional barriers the characters put up felt just right -- untangling the emotions was neither too fast to be believable nor too slow to keep the plot moving. And there was a fair bit of groveling at the end to round everything out.
Overall, I loved this book due to the depth of emotions the characters are dealing with and how they end up supporting each other. Do check out the content warnings (historic death of a child and mental health struggles) because some heavy topics are addressed. But if hurt-comfort is a favorite trope (and even if it's not), I encourage you to check this book out.
The book follows Athena as she gets dumped by her fiancé Johnny one month before their wedding under his older brother Matthew's encouragement. That's awkward enough but the bigger problem is that Athena bought the "spite house" (a 10-foot wide, 4-story embodiment of "f--- you, I'm going to block all of your sunlight even though it makes for a ridiculously small house") that shares a wall with Johnny's house as a wedding gift for her (now) ex-fiancé and has nowhere else to live. And if that's not bad enough, most of the spite house's windows face the row house across the 4-foot alley that belongs to... Johnny's older brother Matthew. She's in a Vine brother sandwich and decides to be the embodiment of her house's moniker.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Athena aims her spite at Matthew, particularly by blasting smutty monster romance audiobooks out of her windows and into Matthew's. The author pokes fun at monster romance while at the same time supporting the genre by having multiple characters enjoy it. The snippets of fake books are hilarious and the character's reactions to them even more so.
The other part of the book I enjoy is how the author deftly moves us through Athena's grief, determination, and pride into eventually falling in love with Matthew. There are, of course, bumps along the way but it's a naturally down-out tension between two people who were immediately attracted to each other but also bring complex histories and even trauma to the relationship. The pacing and emotional barriers the characters put up felt just right -- untangling the emotions was neither too fast to be believable nor too slow to keep the plot moving. And there was a fair bit of groveling at the end to round everything out.
Overall, I loved this book due to the depth of emotions the characters are dealing with and how they end up supporting each other. Do check out the content warnings (historic death of a child and mental health struggles) because some heavy topics are addressed. But if hurt-comfort is a favorite trope (and even if it's not), I encourage you to check this book out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, and Suicidal thoughts
aileron's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Child death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Medical content
savannahsshelf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
I really enjoyed this! Love Matthew so much overall for me this was so great except that it was too long I felt it dragged a bit but really a good read! can’t for more in this series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Child death and Grief
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Abandonment
aishoka's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Child death and Abandonment
lutheranjulia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Child death
janneke2302's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely adore this book. It's the fluffy funny romance I expected, but at the same time so much more. It's depiction of depression is so recognizable. While reading that part was a struggle and did hurt, it hurt in a good way. I'm very glad I picked up this book. I love it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Grief and Child death
Minor: Abandonment and Medical content
lololovesthings's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5 STARS!
I loved "At First Spite" by Olivia Dade so, so much. This book is an utter delight. It is sweet, smart, sexy, deep, intricate, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny. Dade balances serious mental health struggles with over-the-top sunshine-y-ness and zaniness as she introduces us to her new series that takes place in the fictional town of Harlot's Bay.
I adored the main characters, Athena and Matthew. Athena is pure plus-sized sunshine on the outside, but has a lot of doubt and self-questioning/self-loathing on the inside. She has struggled to find her place in the world and frequently gets bored with work and school, so she is really good at a lot of different things and possesses many varied skills. Dr. Matthew Vine the Third is an innocent, virgin, caregiver pediatrician who is ignorant when it comes to pop culture, internet slang, and memes. He is headstrong because he has always had to be. He doesn't show emotion, is as grumpy as can be, is severely judgmental, and just so happens to have fallen head-first for Athena in just a couple of minutes, only to realize that she is his brother Johnny's fiance, the one he has been trying to get him to dump since getting engaged. When Athena moves to Harlot's Bay to live in the "Spite House," the wonkily built home situated next door to her fiance's house and was purchased for him as a wedding present, she seems to run into Doctor Matthew Vine the Third quite a bit. Running into the guy who broke up your pending nuptials is a tough, tough thing to deal with. They both live in the same town but remain as lonely as ever. Dade treats depression, mental health, and loneliness with tenderness, care, and heartbreaking accuracy, never once chastising Athena or Matthew despite the wrongs they may have done in their lives. I clung to each and every word of this well-written, thoughtful, wonderful novel. Please read this unputdownable, lovely book!
Thank you to NetGalley, Olivia Dade, and Avon and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
I loved "At First Spite" by Olivia Dade so, so much. This book is an utter delight. It is sweet, smart, sexy, deep, intricate, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny. Dade balances serious mental health struggles with over-the-top sunshine-y-ness and zaniness as she introduces us to her new series that takes place in the fictional town of Harlot's Bay.
I adored the main characters, Athena and Matthew. Athena is pure plus-sized sunshine on the outside, but has a lot of doubt and self-questioning/self-loathing on the inside. She has struggled to find her place in the world and frequently gets bored with work and school, so she is really good at a lot of different things and possesses many varied skills. Dr. Matthew Vine the Third is an innocent, virgin, caregiver pediatrician who is ignorant when it comes to pop culture, internet slang, and memes. He is headstrong because he has always had to be. He doesn't show emotion, is as grumpy as can be, is severely judgmental, and just so happens to have fallen head-first for Athena in just a couple of minutes, only to realize that she is his brother Johnny's fiance, the one he has been trying to get him to dump since getting engaged. When Athena moves to Harlot's Bay to live in the "Spite House," the wonkily built home situated next door to her fiance's house and was purchased for him as a wedding present, she seems to run into Doctor Matthew Vine the Third quite a bit. Running into the guy who broke up your pending nuptials is a tough, tough thing to deal with. They both live in the same town but remain as lonely as ever. Dade treats depression, mental health, and loneliness with tenderness, care, and heartbreaking accuracy, never once chastising Athena or Matthew despite the wrongs they may have done in their lives. I clung to each and every word of this well-written, thoughtful, wonderful novel. Please read this unputdownable, lovely book!
Thank you to NetGalley, Olivia Dade, and Avon and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death
jensreadsromancebooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5 ⭐️
3 🌶️
“I know you’re lost right now Athena…But you’re seeking new worlds, sweetheart, and sometimes that’s what happens. It doesn’t mean you’ll never set sail again. And no matter what happened before, no matter what happens next, you couldn’t be anything less than glorious if you tried.”
“If she did leave, Matthew wanted her to do so with an unburdened heart, knowing she’d done nothing wrong. The fault was all his. And even if he spent forever without her, he’d always be grateful she existed somewhere in the world and he’d once had the privilege to be loved by her.”
My favorite part of this amazing book was Matthew’s groveling scene. It was everything and made this book. I will say that this book touches are some very real topics. It hit home for me in so many ways and I cried my eyes out so much. This is by far my favorite book of 2024.
Tropes/Warning:
🏡Forced Proximity
🥔Ex’s Older Brother
🏡Small Town Feels
🥔Plus-Size Positive Heroine
🏡Child Death(off page)
🥔Depression
🏡Mental Illness
🥔Abandonment
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Child death
booknerdxo88's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Preface: This really hurts! Olivia Dade is one of my auto buy authors. I absolutely love that she includes characters that are plus sized and/or have mental health issues. However, due to recent events in my life, I am struggling with depression and this book triggered me. I don’t normally get triggered from books, so I wasn’t expecting to hit me like it did.
At First Spite follows Athena, Johnny, and Matthew. In the beginning, Athena and Johnny are engaged when he calls off the wedding shortly before the big day…all because his big brother, Matthew, tells him to. Athena then moves to Harlot Bay into the house she bought as a wedding gift for Johnny, but who ends up being her neighbor? Matthew Vine the Third.
I wanted to love this one, but in the end, I was frustrated with the choices that were being made by all of the characters. I don’t think either brother deserved to be with Athena. I almost DNFed this one, but I ended up finishing it out only to be disappointed in Matthew’s choice.
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
At First Spite follows Athena, Johnny, and Matthew. In the beginning, Athena and Johnny are engaged when he calls off the wedding shortly before the big day…all because his big brother, Matthew, tells him to. Athena then moves to Harlot Bay into the house she bought as a wedding gift for Johnny, but who ends up being her neighbor? Matthew Vine the Third.
I wanted to love this one, but in the end, I was frustrated with the choices that were being made by all of the characters. I don’t think either brother deserved to be with Athena. I almost DNFed this one, but I ended up finishing it out only to be disappointed in Matthew’s choice.
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Child death