A review by luisasm
Althea & Oliver by Cristina Moracho

3.0

This was a well written book, with complex characters and an interesting and realistic plot line, with a variety of important themes discussed. But it's highly unpleasant to read. It's so desolate. It's drastically pessimistic, the characters are sometimes easy to hate, the relationships toxic, the realities uncomfortable. There are happy moments, but they're cloaked in alcoholism and drug addiction. I guess it's truthful, but it does sometimes romanticize those things. I also had complaints about the possible rape that happens, which is practically dismissed by everyone, but I guess that's realistic too, unfortunately. You wish desperately things will work out, but in the end they don't. Almost nothing is resolved. It's all so realistic, and while I appreciate the truth in fiction, I personally read books to escape a little. The biggest problem I had was that we got almost no evidence that Althea and Oliver were friends at all. In fact, almost everything we see of them seems unhealthy and unsettling. It's barely surprising that things don't work out. It's well written, don't get me wrong. But it's no fun to read.