Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - One For My Enemy

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake

4 reviews

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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

Content Warnings

karenreadsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Olivie Blake, what have you done to me? You took me on a roller coaster ride and broke my heart and pieced it together and broke it again. Over and over.

The foundation of this story was Romeo and Juliet, but this is a story completely on its own, though it is enhanced by the comparisons with the play.

Back stabbing and betrayal, loyalty and family, and love. So much contained within these pages. I cried. I underlined and annotated so many pages.

Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. Most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book.

I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

premise:

urban fantasy set in New York City, NY & loose modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet with Russian/Slavic folklore weaved in
third-person POV, which mostly follows ~4 main characters?
two rival families begin a war with the other for you know, the usual: vengeance, pride, scorned egos, power, control, etc.
Baba Yaga and her seven Antonova daughters (most notable are eldest Marya/Masha & youngest Sasha) run an apothecary which sells intoxicants/elixirs
crime boss Koschei the Deathless and his three Federov sons -Dimitri, Roman, & Lev- makes a living out of extortion, what a guy!
Marya finds out that someone has been reselling their products at a higher price, and she comes to exact revenge on Dimitri, her ex-love and who she accuses of the crime
Lev and Sasha unknowingly bump into each other and begin a forbidden romance
there is a faerie named Bryn/The Bridge who makes deals, lots of miscommunication happens, and chaos ensues
this is closed-door / fade-to-black
cw: violence, murder, gaslighting, toxic relationship, toxic parent/child dynamic

thoughts:
I *think* this is my favorite book by Olivie Blake (not including her non-magical teen romance/coming of age book My Mechanical Romance!!!) I thoroughly enjoyed the angst, longing, and devastation of it all! Olivie is a beautiful writer, and I did highlight SO much of this book.

I know they weren't the primary players, and that Marya was very much an antagonist, but I have said it before, and I will say it again: I support women's wrongs !!! I loved how angry, unpredictable, and exacting she was. Maybe I'm projecting my mommy issues onto her, but I love the trope of realizing your parents ain't shit! Is that the official name? Idk, but I co-sign any book with this trope hehehe. Marya and Dimitri were hell bent on breaking generational trauma, and who can deny them that?!

In the beginning, I was a bit of a simp for Lev, because he was just so quick-witted and confident (in a sexy way, not in a "let me interrupt your expertise with my confidence cishet gross way"). I thought Sasha was also hilarious; her energy was giving "that don't impress me much" but much more calm, cool, and collected. I loved that the two youngest siblings were given a chance to reflect on their family legacies at a much younger age than their elder siblings, and that they recognized the privilege in that. in realizing they could take a different path.

While there were so many hits in this one for me, there were also a *few* misses so please forgive me but the insufferable Virgo in me must point them out! I still don't fully understand the magic system, and I wish it had been introduced earlier in the book, because the first half of the book could probably pass as contemporary new adult fiction (almost zero magic detected!).

I needed a bit more explanation on how people were brought back to life, or simply shown the scenes of it happening. You know in The Vampire Diaries, when someone died, their friends could travel to the underworld, and bring them back? Sure, that's *wild* and I still had some questions, but it made sense and was explained. I feel like I somehow was missing out on context that I was supposed to know about the world, witches, or afterlife that I simply never was looped in on? What kind of magic, spell, or world-building rule was present so that they could bring the person back to life?! It was confusing, and I wish it had been fleshed out more. It could have replaced maybe 15% of the flowery, verbose prose? (I love her writing, but I'm just saying we could've switched them out!)

quotations that stood out to me:
It was their usual détente: Someday. Not today, but someday.

My daughters are diamonds, Yaga so often said. Nothing is more beautiful. Nothing shines brighter. And most importantly, nothing will break them.

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.

Not just anyone could touch Masha. She was full of sharp edges; always a pointy little thing, a rose lined with thorns. Nobody got close to Masha unless she had already let them.

She could no longer live a quiet life, nor have any quiet success; she would need to be powerful, so powerful she could not be ignored, and so, with Masha at her side, she remade her reputation from that of Marya Antonova, the quiet, dutiful wife of the Borough witch Antonov, to simply that of Baba Yaga, shrugging on a new and undeniable skin. Everyone knew Yaga’s intoxicants were the best, slicing out a piece of Koschei’s profits when they turned to her instead, but what could he do? At best, he was only a very apt middleman. Koschei procured products; he didn’t make them. He and his sons ...more

There would never be another love for Masha like the one she’d had for Dima, and rightly so. That love had made her soft, and like her mother, Masha endured no softness.

SASHA: do people ever tell you you’re impossible? LEV: from time to time LEV: I take it as a compliment LEV: don’t you? it’s so easy to be possible LEV: seems silly to limit myself to that SASHA: you’re impossible LEV: stop LEV: I’m blushing

SASHA: I honestly don’t know what to say to any of this LEV: good LEV: personally I like the idea of rendering you speechless

SASHA: hate to break it to you but you left “too eager” about two hours ago and now you’re somewhere in the realm of “zealously available”

“I’m not here for a one-night stand, Sasha,” he told her. “The story we’re writing? It has chapters. Installments. I don’t want once.”

“You’re nothing until somebody wants you dead, Bridge, remember that,” she informed him, pulling her coat over her shoulders. “Until then, you’ve done absolutely nothing worth a damn.”

For better or worse, she had always shared everything with Dimitri—until the day she’d shared nothing at all.

“I remember how joy looked on you, Masha. I remember life, and I don’t see it now. I certainly didn’t see it when I saw you last, carrying out your mother’s wrath—so tell me, are you happy? Being the great Marya Antonova,”

“We are only witches, Dima. Not gods.”

To believe in destiny, one must also believe in succession. If the world is ruled by predetermination, then it must also be ordered, measured, paced out from first to last: If this, then this.

How was it possible to feel such greatness in one’s bones and yet be kept from it by some inconsequentiality of birth?

But Dimitri Fedorov, like all heroes, had one near-fatal flaw.

“I am only for you,”

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

It was a promise and a threat, a declaration of hierarchy, and it tore at the ties between brothers.

Could he really taste so sweet, being her enemy? There was no doubt that he was, now and always, and maybe the scathing cosmic joke of it all was that instinctively, like muscle memory, she’d known it all along.

“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. He hesitated. “This isn’t the story I wanted for us.” “It never is,” replied Sasha, who knew better.

but if I can only have you as a fire, Sasha, as a flame of what you are, then I want you to burn for me.

“I’m your enemy in the morning,” he whispered. Fair warning. His hand traced the shape of her scapula, fingers brushing the length of her spine and then curling upward, possessive. “I’m your enemy tonight,” she said, and kissed him again.

“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?”

“Do you really believe people are so isolated that when they’re gone, nothing grows in their place? To really kill something, you have to kill everything. You have to raze it to the ground.”

Blood for blood. The most elementary of principles. The most ancient of reparations.

“Roman Fedorov is only Koschei’s blade. A knife doesn’t wield itself.”

“No ifs,” Koschei said, cutting him off. “The devil lounges in the word if, Roma. The circumstances of our conditions are not for us to ponder without slowly losing our minds.”

“Strength comes from struggle,” Marya said. “Each time we bid farewell to a piece of ourselves we become different than we were. But each time we rise again in the morning, it’s a victory,”

She was fantasy incarnate, and she had chosen him.

People believe shadows represent darkness, but that isn’t technically true. For one thing, a shadow can’t exist without light. A shadow, which is itself a slice of darkness, can only be seen when light persists, which is to say it can only be seen in the context of something brighter.

The trouble was always in the consequences, not the doing.

She was soft and unbending, delicate and impossible in his hands. She was power, and powerful, and full of little intricacies that he felt with a sudden thrill of fear he’d never fully know because it would be like counting the stars, like naming grains of sand, and there could never possibly be enough time for any of it.

“I’m glad your wisdom gives you peace, Mama. Even if it came at the price of my pain.”

“You do forget. You forget that while I have always been on your side, you have never truly been on mine.”

If it was a dream, he seemed to say, then let it end in the morning. Let the sun do its worst.

Had anyone ever given Marya Antonova as much as she had given them? He suspected the answer was no.

Still, there was a moment, Lev knew, as he stepped out onto the sidewalk, when he could see the blend of night and day—the sun, the moon, and the stars. There was a moment when all of it aligned, and he didn’t want to miss it.

Content Warnings

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is going to be my entire personality for the rest of the year. I loved it so, so much! Easily a favorite read of the year! Definitely my favorite book of may!! I loved the characters and the magic system, the romance and action. SO good.

Content Warnings

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