Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Alone With You in the Ether

i'm really struggling with rating this book! instinctually it feels like a 4, but i bump up against the use of the narrator voice and the back-and-forth of traditional use of he saids and she saids vs how blake formats conversations between aldo & regan speak. although i think that adds to the mania and the often descending and ascending moments they have. olivie sure writes good dialogue, though, and i'm certainly in awe of that. so much of this felt so personal, too, like olivie knew me and wrote me down. i know i've changed, though, because i would have sunk my teeth into this character and bit down. instead my teeth grazed and remembered i'm vegetarian now, i can't let myself indulge in this meat.

think i'm landing at a 4, but be wary. love and love alone will not be the thing that buoys you, at least not in my opinion. this was sick, olivie blake. your game is recognized.

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moonpeach's review

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adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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anapsc's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Even though this is a love story, I don’t think it’s a romance (in the traditional sense).
And if you are a romance reader, I recommend reading the acknowledgements before starting the book!

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hollyleapurtill's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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njthk's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.5

I think what makes or breaks this book for *many* is the writing style. For me it absolutely BROKE it lol.
It's very experimental but it just does not work for me.
The prose is sooo overbearing it's a constant barrage of fancy words, which at worst distances me from the character, at best makes me cringe😭
And I usually like flowery writing, but only if it means something.
It just feels like 200 pages of stream of consciousness.
I know that this could be attributed to Regan being manic later on, but that doesn't make it better.
At least reading it was easy and I could have finished it in one day if I had had the nerve.
I didn't care for the characters and their romance and I *felt* the moments that could have been pivotal (the curch hand touch scene) but they made me feel nothing unfortunately.
It's just pretentious, not in a good way.
And it's not that deep.

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opheliahamlet's review

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

One of my most re-read books. The prose is stunning and I love everything about it.

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ells___'s review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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