Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Alone with You in the Ether

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

matildaesandell's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I am too dumb for this book, or at least that is how it is designed to make you feel. The first half was boring and the only positives I see are the creativity and individuality of it, and I think the writing is beautiful and lyrical.

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saoreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book takes you on some mind-f*ck emotional experience—the phases of falling in love that are not exactly defined in the usual ways—it speaks in another language, differing from the means of poetry or typical romance. There's truth and nonsense and ecstatic to an escalation that relentlessly pulls you forward to the center stage, not being a part of ridicule but being a part of one's imaginary world (2 worlds with the main characters)—absorbing to curating images of personas—is that really the person? or a made-up one? The concepts of change and obsessions with it, the repertoire of control and not having it at the same time. This book is posed with humor and sarcasm, making you psychologically challenged, and it was absolutely delivered with as much perfection as possible.

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cassidylee's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

Listening to this audiobook was immersive and intriguing, almost consuming.

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kittkat's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

tullyndmom's review against another edition

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challenging 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

This is the kind of mental health and neurodivergence representation we need in books!!

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jeslis's review against another edition

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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.

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agirlnamedellie's review against another edition

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challenging 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

3.0

First book I have read by Olivie Blake. Enjoyed but wasn't enthralled; I found in places it was slightly slow making it a bit difficult to get through. However, I do think it was a great depiction on mental health and the characters felt like they were real. I really liked reading about the supportive and loving relationship between the male MC and his father.

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