Review by hello_lovely13 - Alone With You in the Ether

hello_lovely13 's review for:

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

3.25

emotional reflective 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

The first third of the book was my favorite, and it essentially consisted of two strangers meeting, finding a connection in each other, and deciding to psychoanalyze each other. All of their conversations were enjoyable, as they had good chemistry and made me think and reflect on myself as well as the individual characters. During this section, I preferred Regan's perspective (as I did for a majority of the book). The random perspectives added in made the format of the book unique, though I don't think all of them (most of them) added much other than some character to the writing style. At first, Aldo's perspective came across as the stereotypical white man literary fiction narrative, but thankfully he endeared himself more and moved away from cringe.

I liked that when they were reaching the end of their initial agreement for how long their relationship would last (6 conversations) they mutually decided to

elongate the time by either making new rules saying that certain things didn't count as conversations, and thus stretch out their time together

. The way they were initially drawn together in these conversations was something that interested me, and I liked the way this was written. However, I am not sure that Olivie Blake can write endings very well that mesh with my taste (I have read the entirety of the Atlas trilogy). Once Aldo and Regan got together (

surprisingly early in the book, not even halfway through

), things became obsessive on both sides, and I kept growing more concerned for Regan' mental health. Her mood disorder isn't something that I have ever consciously encountered while reading, so that aspect was interesting, and her character in general had a great arc that I was interested in seeing through. Aldo's perspective became more interesting because it was slightly more rational than Regan's by the end, so it was a way to still follow Regan's storyline while still being immersed in the obsessive nature of their relationship with a slightly more stable thought-process. Aldo and Regan's individual flaws were interesting and well done, but for Regan in particular, she got increasingly more manic, which shot off huge red flags for me (which was somewhat intentional, but I didn't vibe as much with it because I was no longer rooting for their relationship to succeed).

I wasn't expecting to read a book that focused so much on bees after so recently reading The Starless Sea, but the discussions surrounding them as well as time travel were interesting, and the metaphors woven in were well-crafted. The same goes with art, though there was one spot at the end (

Aldo's monologue/rant about someone "wrongfully" describing Regan's art as "pretty"

) that felt overboard and too intense (though that also goes along with the obsessive nature of their relationship). I like how the title is introduced in the text

first in the second half of the book with a brief discussion on ether, and then, most notably, as the title of the paintings Regan has in the exhibition at the end of the book

.

I liked Masseo (Aldo's dad), and how he contributes to the building and sustainment of Aldo's character. He is kind hearted and has a good head on his shoulders. Regan's family is interesting as well, with all the typical rich girl relationship dynamics, but I liked that Madeline (her "perfect" older sister) likes Aldo. The way that towards the middle of the book Regan's voice starts to overlap with her mother's was very interesting, and definitely unsettling. I like this technique because it gave insight into her mental state as well as why she thinks and acts the way she does. Mark honestly doesn't deserve too much of a note. Some conversations are interesting, but I didn't like him in general (not that you are supposed to). The way he talked about how he knew Regan and knew what she was always going to do was unsettling, but was one of the few times I thought his character served a purpose outside of being a mere symbol representing her self-destructive nature.

The whole thing with the pills was weird to me, but I do think it was executed well enough. I particularly like how it was resolved by the end with her discussion with her therapist about how

they would have 6 conversations (paralleling her start with Aldo; I loved how this was reintroduced!) and then they would determine whether or not she should keep taking her pills.

I liked her therapist in general, but this was definitely her most interesting moment.

I enjoyed reading this, but I don't think I will ever reread it.

Content Warnings