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A review by 2treads
One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake
sad
tense
medium-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? No
4.0
Oh, what a tangled web she weaves. I never thought I would so love a story of doomed romances, shady dealings and re-dealings, family love, loyalty, and dysfunction.
What keeps pulling me back to Blake's stories is her unwavering willingness to make villains of both the good and the not-so-good. Evil is never clear cut with ther characters and I love that, because every one person has a certain level of complexity with a capacity for being evil. Everyone gets a chance to choose themselves, most times in a roundabout way and when they embrace it, it is great to see on the page.
With witches, fae, shadow creatures, and the living dead, One For My Enemy was quite enjoyable. From the very first unrequited love to the two that follow in the next generation, I was invested in this story of two families using their unique talents to build empires and garner power, to the deals made and unmade to undercut each other, to the banter and the constant plotting.
There isn't much world-building here as it is set in a fairly modern New York and I didn't mind in the least as it was the characters and their interactions that I was most interested in and that hooked me into the story.
And what intentions there were. All the plans that are dismantled and remade, the truths and lies that motivate, the loss and grief that begins to forge changes in all, but at the root of it, it was the loyalty to family and the greatest hurt that comes when one is betrayed by family, that remains with me.
What keeps pulling me back to Blake's stories is her unwavering willingness to make villains of both the good and the not-so-good. Evil is never clear cut with ther characters and I love that, because every one person has a certain level of complexity with a capacity for being evil. Everyone gets a chance to choose themselves, most times in a roundabout way and when they embrace it, it is great to see on the page.
With witches, fae, shadow creatures, and the living dead, One For My Enemy was quite enjoyable. From the very first unrequited love to the two that follow in the next generation, I was invested in this story of two families using their unique talents to build empires and garner power, to the deals made and unmade to undercut each other, to the banter and the constant plotting.
There isn't much world-building here as it is set in a fairly modern New York and I didn't mind in the least as it was the characters and their interactions that I was most interested in and that hooked me into the story.
And what intentions there were. All the plans that are dismantled and remade, the truths and lies that motivate, the loss and grief that begins to forge changes in all, but at the root of it, it was the loyalty to family and the greatest hurt that comes when one is betrayed by family, that remains with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: Misogyny