Reviews with content warning for Death - Für immer dein Feind

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Für immer dein Feind by Alexandra Jordan, Olivie Blake

79 reviews

gabi_715's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

carrie_reads's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

I absolutely loved Sasha scaring the shit out of Roma - I was laughing so hard I couldn't handle it.

Content Warnings

e_riahh's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-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

Content Warnings

praaliine's review against another edition

4.0

emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

this was a story about family, duty, and love. it was devastatingly romantic. the prose was so silky smooth and i lost count of how many memorable quotes there were (i made sure to mark every single one). however, there was hardly any magic practiced by any of the characters, considering what the premise of the book is. also, at some point, i was expecting a bit more depth from the characters (not to say that they completely lacked depth). but these little quirks just felt so insignificant as i read on. i won’t be forgetting this one anytime soon.

Content Warnings

sissizc's review against another edition

2.5

emotional hopeful sad tense 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

Olivie Blake is a wonderful character driven author who creates unique characters with their own voices and narratives. She, however, doesn’t set these characters up for success in a plot that lacked world building and action sequences mostly only told through dialogue and not shown.

It made it hard to really connect to the characters on the intensity of the situation. The origin of the rivalry wasn’t impactful enough to have made me justify the continuation of it on a years long scale.

The premise is also set on these characters being magic users but the magic doesn’t really get shown until 1/3 into the book. I almost forgot it is a family of witches.

Content Warnings

mrs_bastos's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

carly_reads's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious tense

Alright I loved this more than I thought I would. It’s not surprising that a modern day Romeo and Juliet retelling with rival witch families and Russian folklore, set against the backdrop of NYC would get me. People either like Olivie Blake’s writing or they don’t, and I happen to like it. The flowery prose really adds to the ambiance of the storyline. Since you know it’s a R&J retelling, you know you’re in for some heartbreak and turmoil, but I still gasped several times while reading. I do also appreciate the number of declarations of undying love. This was a very interesting exploration of power, family, duty, betrayal, loss, and love. This was also genuinely funny- some of the characters were so sassy and the quips were perfectly executed.

Sometimes it was a bit hard to follow along because everyone is constantly making deals, and you switch between various characters story lines often, but ultimately, the vibes make up for it. The ins and outs of the magic system are not explained at all but that doesn’t really bother me. The real strength of this book was all of the amazing quotes:

“Tell Koschei that Baba Yaga sends her love,” she said simply.

This is the important thing, after all: nobody fears a beautiful woman. They revere her, worship her, sing praises to her—but nobody fears her, even when they should.

“Why didn’t you let me choose you?” he asked hoarsely. “I would have gone to you, Masha, if you’d asked. You would’ve only had to ask, and I would have chosen you over everything.”

She was a fucking nightmare and he was desperate to keep her, to have her for himself.

At best, Dimitri Fedorov was Marya Antonova’s greatest weakness. At worst, she was his.

“Write me a tragedy, Lev Fedorov,” she whispered to him. “Write me a litany of sins. Write me a plague of devastation. Write me lonely, write me wanting, write me shattered and fearful and lost. Then write me finding myself in your arms, if only for a night, and then write it again. Write it over and over, Lev, until we both know the pages by heart. Isn’t that a story, too?” she asked him softly.

“What does it mean to be a Fedorov son if we destroy ourselves in the process?” Dimitri asked, and his expression was nothing Lev had ever seen on his face before. “What does it mean to be this family or that, if loss is the only thing that comes from it?”

The universe spoke a language, if you were paying close enough attention. Many languages, even. Stars, leaves, flowers, cards, dirt—the universe was constantly spelling things out, though people rarely listened.

Power is knowing what you’re capable of and choosing if and when you give it to the world. Power is knowing when to be delicate and soft, like my sister, and when to make foolish, small-minded people think beauty and goodness are the same.

Content Warnings

farfromsarah's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I liked this book but I feel like it didn’t really know what it was trying to be, the closest thing I can compare it to is Shakespearian tragedy (not that I’ve read much of that). It was entirely character driven which I usually like but I felt the lack of a plot goal made it feel very unstructured and ungrounded. However Olivie Blake, as always, is a master in character writing and that is something that does not fall flat here. RIP the lack of banter though.

Content Warnings

jnaeraeshele's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

THIS. BOOK. WAS. SO. GOOD. All I knew about this book was that it was a Romeo and Juliet retelling and honestly, I think that's all you need to know. Reading this book was soooo much fun! I don't know if it's because it's an urban fantasy or what but I found this book to be easily comprehensible. Like I was able to understand at least 90% of what was going on in this book which says a lot because I feel like with a lot of fantasy books it can be really hard to grasp so I do recommend this book if someone is just starting fantasy.

I love the romance in this book!

The other romance. Dima and Masha literally own my heart! I LOVE them! Now THAT'S enemies to lovers. I will be chasing a romance like Dima and Masha's in every enemies-to-lovers book I read. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! I honestly wanted this whole book to be about them. Don't get me wrong, I did like Lev and Sasha but they weren't "epic" to me. And Sasha got on my nerves sometimes. The stakes didn't seem high for them to me, and I think that was purposefully done because it is made clear in many ways, especially with the ending which coupe was THE epic romance. Ughhhh! I just LOVE them so much! I feel teary-eyed even thinking about them! I'm still not over them!🤧❤️

This is my first Olvie Blake, but and I here her writing changes depending on the book, but I just have to say I really enjoyed the writing in this book. It's been a hot minute since I've read a book with flowery and lyrical writing and reading her book made me realize just how much I missed reading writing like that. Here are some quotes that I like:

"No. No. Masha, I am my own man."..........."Why didn't you let me choose you?"........."I would have gone to you, Masha, if you'd asked. You would've only had to ask, and I would have chosen you over everything." - Dima (pg 102)

"I love you,"........."I will always love you, I will love you until the day I die—and if you're the one to kill me, then by all means, you should know without a trace of doubt that you will not have turned me away. I will have spent the final beat of my heart loving you, just as I always have. Only you, Masha,".........."Only you, forever, I promise." - Dima (pg 102)😭💔(how do you not fall in love with them after this?!)

"I want you," he murmured, twinning her fingers with his, "and you have me so easily, without lifting a finger. But don't use me." - Lev (pg 147)😟

"Sashenka," Marya said, "you are not incomplete because a piece of your heart is gone. You are you, an entire whole, all on your own. If you have loved and been loved, then you can only be richer for it —you don't become a smaller version of yourself simply because what you once had is gone. " (pg 252)
Hate and love were really not so different, Ivan thought. He wondered if Koschei and Baba Yaga knew it just as well—that hate and love were so very similar. Both were intestinal, visceral. Both left scars, vestiges of pain. Hate could not be born from a place of difference. Hate was only born from the opposite sides of the same coin.

And the conversation that Bryn and his mother have about love (on page 400 is freaking hilarious😂

Now, the criticisms of this book are valid. I understand why someone wouldn't like this book. The magic system was not explained like at all. The political system isn't explained. The deaths

and the bringing people back to life isn't explained and just so many other things go underdeveloped.

Most of the characters in the original Romeo and Juliet story were flat and I think the author purposefully didn't flesh out the magic of the world because that wasn't the main focus of the book, but I can understand how that would still unnerve some people. You were just supposed to roll with it. And honestly, that's what I did. It would've made this book 10x and maybe even a 5-star if more things were fleshed out, but you know what I still enjoyed it regardless because I think that was the point. I definitely want to reread this book and annotate it! I just loved it so much!🥰

Spice Rating: 🌶️/5

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