Reviews tagging 'Murder'

One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake

50 reviews

eatallthestars's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I would rate higher but it just didn't have that 'spark' for my personal taste of books. Absolutely fantastic book for anyone a fan of Romeo&Juliet rewrites.

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gabi_715's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


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carrie_reads's review against another edition

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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

3.5

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

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e_riahh's review against another edition

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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

5.0


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toffeecrumble's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

4.5

The author's writing style really has a way of making you feel deep emotions alongside characters. But because of that, the mundane moments seem just so bleak compared to the heart-tugging/wrenching scenes
especially scenes with marya and dima or with sasha and lev's pov when they both thought the other was dead; the longing and heartache this made me feel was just chef's kiss
and I mean it in a way that the moments of no tension made me feel bored, when I know that there should be some interest
(Sasha and Lev's scenes together before they came back to life were pretty basic especially in comparison to Marya and Dima's)


The beginning
and end
of the book felt like it was lackluster in comparison to the middle parts. I get that the beginning of the book isn't really supposed to have as much going on as the middle parts but it felt like there was no "hook" where you'd be reeled in. So for readers who have no prior knowledge of the book other than the blurb, they might not be able to get into it as I did since I came across this recommendation in my IG reels and seeing comments on past reader's experience (which were all positive) made me pick up the book with a little more understanding of the flow of the story.

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praaliine's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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.

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elanuruysal's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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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

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irenetrexqueen's review

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

2.5

I love twists on classics, fantasy IRL, and Russian culture, so one would think this was perfect for me and boy would they be wrong. 

I like the Atlas series so I though give this one a try and honestly if not for my reading goal for the month this would have been a DNF 20% in. I dislike the explanation of the characters at the beginning, the way it is likened to a play, but lacks that structure. Almost no world building as one has to keep up with the 25 (exaggeration) characters and their 2 to 4 names. If the story was good I could get past that, but really it was the definition of meh. 

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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.

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