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mirandaleighhhh's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm still too overwhelmed to write an adequate review...
This was hard to get into, and all around pretty intense...but it fully sucked me in. Almost every character was unlikable and fairly un-relatable (mostly where wealth is concerned), and yet each was fascinating. I read this so fast I made myself sick. Olivie's writing is interesting, and there are some things I'm still not sure I understand...I'm going to need to let this marinate and come back with an official rating and review.
'When you learn a new word, you suddenly see it everywhere. The mind comforts itself by believing this to be coincidence but it isn't -- it's ignorance falling away. You future self will always see what your present self is blind to. This is the problem with mortality, which is in fact a problem of time.'
"So, somewhere out there, there's a hive of lady bees killing people for vengeance instead of doing what they're supposed to do?"
" yes, probably"
"That's--" Encouraging. Invigorating, even. Temporarily mesmerizing. "Interesting."
'Settle over me like the tide, cover me like a blanket, wrap around me like the sun.'
'See, I had a genius between my legs and held him inside me and swallowed him up, and then I made his brilliance mine.'
'I want you to say everything, anything. I want to have your thoughts, I want to bottle them, I want to put them in my drawer for safe keeping'
'It's you and me alone in the ether and you don't even know it, you don't even care, but still you are tied to this, and to me, and so be it, really.
So be it. This is what it means to live.'
'Because you and I, we are so different, aren't we, and yet we are more like each other than the rest of the world is like us, and for that I bless you, I condemn you, I sanctify you, I sustain you.'
This was hard to get into, and all around pretty intense...but it fully sucked me in. Almost every character was unlikable and fairly un-relatable (mostly where wealth is concerned), and yet each was fascinating. I read this so fast I made myself sick. Olivie's writing is interesting, and there are some things I'm still not sure I understand...I'm going to need to let this marinate and come back with an official rating and review.
'When you learn a new word, you suddenly see it everywhere. The mind comforts itself by believing this to be coincidence but it isn't -- it's ignorance falling away. You future self will always see what your present self is blind to. This is the problem with mortality, which is in fact a problem of time.'
"So, somewhere out there, there's a hive of lady bees killing people for vengeance instead of doing what they're supposed to do?"
" yes, probably"
"That's--" Encouraging. Invigorating, even. Temporarily mesmerizing. "Interesting."
'Settle over me like the tide, cover me like a blanket, wrap around me like the sun.'
'See, I had a genius between my legs and held him inside me and swallowed him up, and then I made his brilliance mine.'
'I want you to say everything, anything. I want to have your thoughts, I want to bottle them, I want to put them in my drawer for safe keeping'
'It's you and me alone in the ether and you don't even know it, you don't even care, but still you are tied to this, and to me, and so be it, really.
So be it. This is what it means to live.'
'Because you and I, we are so different, aren't we, and yet we are more like each other than the rest of the world is like us, and for that I bless you, I condemn you, I sanctify you, I sustain you.'
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
haerin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
a love story that isn't romance, in my opinion. i don't think this book is for everyone, especially the way it's written. that being said, it ruined me in a way i cannot explain. i haven't read olivie blake since a couple of her dramione fanfics, and i'm glad this was my first step back into her world.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Mental illness
Minor: Suicide attempt and Death of parent
kj888's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
paigehf's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content
gtutu5's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I didn’t know what to expect from this book because Jack Edwards spoke highly of it but when reading the blurb I couldn’t envision myself liking it at all! Nonetheless, I was surprised. The writing was sublime and I found the first few chapters enthralling and poetic. I loved how their relationship is developed at the start and how the reader gets a first seat to their relationship building, even before it becomes romantic. Sometimes two characters in a book fall in love and it’s not remotely believable, but I really enjoyed them together. I loved the buildup between their six conversations, and I found the church scene so wildly sensual, even though nothing happens. Again, the writing had me in a chokehold. Once the character got together and generally in the second part the pace was less effective, and also I didn’t enjoy a big chunk of the text being in 3rd person, I wish I could have been inside their heads instead. At times I wasn’t a fan of how codependency and going off your meds were portrayed and had i not read the acknowledgements i would be much more wary of it. All in all, the relationship or the characters may be quite flawed but I ended up rooting for them and enjoying it so much
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Addiction
Minor: Suicide attempt
aliciawithoutkeys's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
kittkat's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fuck Marc🤬!
Regan arbeitet in einem Museum, sie wollte mal Künstlerin werden, aber stattdessen ist sie fast im Gefängnis gelandet. Regan hat einige Probleme, die sie aber nicht ganz offen mit allen teilt, nach außen wirkt sie für alle wie ein kompliziertes Problem, das man sowieso nicht lösen kann, also warum sollte man sich näher mir ihr beschäftigen?
Aldo ist wohl der furchtbarste Mathe Prof aller Universitäten der ganzen Welt. Meistens denkt er über theoretische Mathematikprobleme, Quantenphysik oder Bienen nach (die Reihenfolge hier ist arbiträr). Sein größtes Problem als Dozent ist jedoch nur, dass er nichts wirklich verständlich erklären kann und er will das auch gar nicht können. Ignorant king 💁♀️! Aber dahinter stecken auch ganz viele eigene Probleme und vielleicht braucht er einfach diese Distanz zu anderen.
6 Gespräche könnten alles ändern. Oder auch nicht, aber sie werden nicht mehr zu ihrem vorherigen Leben zurückkehren können. 🤭
Schreibstil: 12/10 - genau so wie ich mir perfektes Storytelling vorstellen. Wenn ichs beschreiben müsste, würde ich sagen, es ist sehr „stream of consciousness“ (= so wie wir denken-mäßig)
Charaktere: sind echt/10 - ich kann nicht mehr ohne sie leben
Marc: -∞/10
Regan arbeitet in einem Museum, sie wollte mal Künstlerin werden, aber stattdessen ist sie fast im Gefängnis gelandet. Regan hat einige Probleme, die sie aber nicht ganz offen mit allen teilt, nach außen wirkt sie für alle wie ein kompliziertes Problem, das man sowieso nicht lösen kann, also warum sollte man sich näher mir ihr beschäftigen?
Aldo ist wohl der furchtbarste Mathe Prof aller Universitäten der ganzen Welt. Meistens denkt er über theoretische Mathematikprobleme, Quantenphysik oder Bienen nach (die Reihenfolge hier ist arbiträr). Sein größtes Problem als Dozent ist jedoch nur, dass er nichts wirklich verständlich erklären kann und er will das auch gar nicht können. Ignorant king 💁♀️! Aber dahinter stecken auch ganz viele eigene Probleme und vielleicht braucht er einfach diese Distanz zu anderen.
6 Gespräche könnten alles ändern. Oder auch nicht, aber sie werden nicht mehr zu ihrem vorherigen Leben zurückkehren können. 🤭
Schreibstil: 12/10 - genau so wie ich mir perfektes Storytelling vorstellen. Wenn ichs beschreiben müsste, würde ich sagen, es ist sehr „stream of consciousness“ (= so wie wir denken-mäßig)
Charaktere: sind echt/10 - ich kann nicht mehr ohne sie leben
Marc: -∞/10
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Addiction
murve's review against another edition
emotional
fast-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
Quite possibly my new favorite book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
jeslis's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Notes:
- Took a little while to get invested into the characters but after about halfway I fell in love with them.
- The prose was stunning! Insanely good.
- This was such an ethereal exploration of a relationship, mental health, what it means to have impact on others and the many nuances in the process of finding human connection.
- Much of this book's impact for me was that the experience of reading it matched the experience of Aldo and Reagan falling in love — an otherworldly feeling so as to render the finer details quite blurred and distant. Basically I loved this book but don't remember much objectively outside the fever-dream reading experience.
- Took a little while to get invested into the characters but after about halfway I fell in love with them.
- The prose was stunning! Insanely good.
- This was such an ethereal exploration of a relationship, mental health, what it means to have impact on others and the many nuances in the process of finding human connection.
- Much of this book's impact for me was that the experience of reading it matched the experience of Aldo and Reagan falling in love — an otherworldly feeling so as to render the finer details quite blurred and distant. Basically I loved this book but don't remember much objectively outside the fever-dream reading experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Suicidal thoughts