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lainiereads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
azrah786's review against another edition
3.5
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: mental illness, suicidal ideation, drug use/abuse, alcohol, addiction, toxic relationship, panic attacks, emotional abuse, infidelity, sexual content, abandonment
--
Olive Blake is an expert at writing messy, chaotic characters that you can’t help but be engrossed by and highly introspective narratives that really get you thinking.
Alone With You in the Ether is not your conventional love story. It’s about two people whose lives colliding sets them both on a journey of finding love and acceptance of themselves, of each other and of their place in the world. As made evident in the author’s note/acknowledgements it is a deeply personal book and after reading that part and seeing the idea at the core of the story it really enhanced the meaning behind everything.
However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have issues with it and this for the most part comes down to the writing. Sporadic and inconsistent is probably the best way to describe it which I guess sort of reflected the protagonists themselves but it did also get confusing at times. At first you’d have random cut off where external narrators would jump in and say their piece in between the main story. Eventually I thought this was pretty cool, I mean characters breaking the fourth wall to add a detail every now and again gave the story a film like feel. Bu then this then stopped happening midway and diverged into chunky monologues from the leading characters. Now I’ve personally come to realise that I don’t exactly vibe with the rambling monologue narrative style which is probably why I didn’t wholly enjoy it.
Though I will say that I really enjoyed the “conversations” section of the book, it was the part that hooked me onto the characters the most. Blake has shaped two beautifully realistic and flawed characters through her words and I found that I couldn’t help but fall in love with the deep bond that formed between them despite elements of their relationship coming across as a little toxic.
If you pick this one up it is without a doubt going to stick in your mind for a long while.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
CW: mental illness, suicidal ideation, drug use/abuse, alcohol, addiction, toxic relationship, panic attacks, emotional abuse, infidelity, sexual content, abandonment
--
Olive Blake is an expert at writing messy, chaotic characters that you can’t help but be engrossed by and highly introspective narratives that really get you thinking.
Alone With You in the Ether is not your conventional love story. It’s about two people whose lives colliding sets them both on a journey of finding love and acceptance of themselves, of each other and of their place in the world. As made evident in the author’s note/acknowledgements it is a deeply personal book and after reading that part and seeing the idea at the core of the story it really enhanced the meaning behind everything.
However, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have issues with it and this for the most part comes down to the writing. Sporadic and inconsistent is probably the best way to describe it which I guess sort of reflected the protagonists themselves but it did also get confusing at times. At first you’d have random cut off where external narrators would jump in and say their piece in between the main story. Eventually I thought this was pretty cool, I mean characters breaking the fourth wall to add a detail every now and again gave the story a film like feel. Bu then this then stopped happening midway and diverged into chunky monologues from the leading characters. Now I’ve personally come to realise that I don’t exactly vibe with the rambling monologue narrative style which is probably why I didn’t wholly enjoy it.
Though I will say that I really enjoyed the “conversations” section of the book, it was the part that hooked me onto the characters the most. Blake has shaped two beautifully realistic and flawed characters through her words and I found that I couldn’t help but fall in love with the deep bond that formed between them despite elements of their relationship coming across as a little toxic.
If you pick this one up it is without a doubt going to stick in your mind for a long while.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Alcohol, Addiction, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse
kenziewol's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Addiction, and Drug use
Moderate: Drug abuse and Infidelity
klor's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was one of the most enthralling and intimate read I've had of this year. While I don'y usually read romance, this is one of the books that made me understand why people like falling in love. The book was beautifully written and the characters were really fleshed out that their actions often don't need a lengthy explanation, it just makes sense. I must say the writing style of this book is such a fascinating addition to it, from the random narrators to the artfully addition and subtraction of punctuations. There's this soft hum of intimacy all throughout the book that just keeps pulling you in it, even when you sometimes have to stop and just take it in. I already wish i could read it for the first time again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Infidelity
jessicaludden's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
“Bees are for you.”
I don’t even know how to describe how much I love this book. It’s definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I usually do a favorite quotes section in my review, but I won’t be able to do that for this one because it would basically be the entire book. I loved everything about this. I loved all the theoretical thinking and existentialism. I loved Olivie Blake’s writing style. It’s very on brand for her with the pretentious writing. I loved the characters and all their flaws. There wasn’t much plot in this, but I barely even noticed because I was so focused on the characters. I loved hearing their thoughts and getting their different point of views. It was so interesting to see how Aldo and Reagan live their lives with their respective mental illnesses. I loved their love story and I loved how the author made a place for mental illness in their love story.
I don’t even know how to describe how much I love this book. It’s definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I usually do a favorite quotes section in my review, but I won’t be able to do that for this one because it would basically be the entire book. I loved everything about this. I loved all the theoretical thinking and existentialism. I loved Olivie Blake’s writing style. It’s very on brand for her with the pretentious writing. I loved the characters and all their flaws. There wasn’t much plot in this, but I barely even noticed because I was so focused on the characters. I loved hearing their thoughts and getting their different point of views. It was so interesting to see how Aldo and Reagan live their lives with their respective mental illnesses. I loved their love story and I loved how the author made a place for mental illness in their love story.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
margozaldivar's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Mental illness
nightfell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book was written for all the pretentious readers, and while I respect all the small and complex ideas discussed in this book, I just didn't care. I wanted to like this book, but I felt no emotional connection to the characters and their love story. I would equate this book to looking at a famous piece of art that is revered by everyone and knowing that it is beautiful but not feeling attached or connected to it in any way.
The whole time I was reading this book, I couldn't understand why Regan was so infatuated with Aldo aside from her cycle of finding and dumping men. She seemed like the type of person her boyfriend, Marc, described her to be the entire book. I know he was supposed to be an antagonist, but I believed what he said about her, not in a spiteful or negative way, just as fact. I couldn't believe that she was give him the time of day, and I don't know why she was so deeply interested in him. Aldo was a cute character, but I'm not attached to him in any way, and I feel like his character was lacking in true depth. It was included towards the beginning, but neglected in favour of Regan's character arc, which was well done in an objective viewpoint but I didn't like her character as much, so I was frustrated reading.
I much preferred the first half to the second half, as the first part had many different narrators which was interesting to read. Once Regan and Aldo became romantically involved, there were so many unn sex scenes (in my opinion). It became very repetitive to read them having sex at random times which would have been fine, if not for the weird way it was written. It followed the abstract writing style of the book which made reading the sex scenes just too much for me.
Overall, it was good, I just didn't care.
The whole time I was reading this book, I couldn't understand why Regan was so infatuated with Aldo aside from her cycle of finding and dumping men. She seemed like the type of person her boyfriend, Marc, described her to be the entire book. I know he was supposed to be an antagonist, but I believed what he said about her, not in a spiteful or negative way, just as fact. I couldn't believe that she was give him the time of day, and I don't know why she was so deeply interested in him. Aldo was a cute character, but I'm not attached to him in any way, and I feel like his character was lacking in true depth. It was included towards the beginning, but neglected in favour of Regan's character arc, which was well done in an objective viewpoint but I didn't like her character as much, so I was frustrated reading.
I much preferred the first half to the second half, as the first part had many different narrators which was interesting to read. Once Regan and Aldo became romantically involved, there were so many unn sex scenes (in my opinion). It became very repetitive to read them having sex at random times which would have been fine, if not for the weird way it was written. It followed the abstract writing style of the book which made reading the sex scenes just too much for me.
Overall, it was good, I just didn't care.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Blood
marcelas_'s review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Abandonment
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