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A review by lezreadalot
Alone by E.J. Noyes
4.0
I swallow, like I could be nourished by her name.
I went into this book thinking that it would be more of a mystery/thriller than it actually was. And if I have a 'disappointment', that would be it. Around 20% in I made a note like 'I bet this is going to happen' and then around 50% in I was convinced that said thing was the case, and I was totally right. The setup of the book being what it was, I figured there had to be a twist, and that was the most obvious one. And usually I'm pretty bummed out about figuring out major plot points early on in books I read. But here, I didn't really care because I loved this romance so much!!
My favourite thing about this book is... what Olivia did was deeply fucked up, and we got to see how sorry she was, see her explain herself and atone, but what made it good was that it was so believable and so real. After having two girlfriends cheat on her, and one commit suicide, and for all of them to fully or partially blame Liv for being emotionally distant, too much in her own head, not connected to them... I fully understand that after falling in love with Celeste from afar, watching her on those screens and reading her logs (which btw is painfully romantic to me, lol, even if I can admit to it being slightly weird) that she would insert herself into the experiment, do everything in her power to hold on to Celeste, and fall for her even harder. The description of that helpless kind of love, how weak she was to resist it: gah, I loved it so much. Seeing her logs at the end of the book made me so emotional!!
The resolution didn't come quickly either, which I enjoyed. Celeste needed time and distance to work through the ways she was hurt. I didn't really enjoy the fact that she blamed herself for being "naive and stupid enough" to not realise who Olivia was, and I kinda wish Olivia had done more to assure her that it wasn't her fault? But other than that, I loved how it was all wrapped up, and the ending lines filled me with so much... idk peace and happiness?? Man, I really liked this book.
I'm too lazy to become the type of person who makes up playlists for books, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this Hozier song was playing in my head all through the epilogue.
Honey, when you kill the lights and kiss my eyes
I feel like a person for a moment of my life
I went into this book thinking that it would be more of a mystery/thriller than it actually was. And if I have a 'disappointment', that would be it. Around 20% in I made a note like 'I bet this is going to happen' and then around 50% in I was convinced that said thing was the case, and I was totally right. The setup of the book being what it was, I figured there had to be a twist, and that was the most obvious one. And usually I'm pretty bummed out about figuring out major plot points early on in books I read. But here, I didn't really care because I loved this romance so much!!
Spoiler
Noyes has lovely writing that was easy to get into, and I'm already halfway married to Abby Craden's voice so that was a good match off the bat. She cemented that feeling of isolation and loneliness, and when Olivia was introduced, the desperation that Celeste felt, to keep hold of her, to keep her secret from the controllers, to not let her leave, was so good and so real and so visceral. (The only thing I DIDN'T get was why she was so determined to see the experiment through even after she became attached to Liv, but, eh.) Celeste and Olivia are practically the only two characters that we get to see on page, in action but Natalie, Riley, Joanne, Heather... their presence was DEEPLY felt.My favourite thing about this book is... what Olivia did was deeply fucked up, and we got to see how sorry she was, see her explain herself and atone, but what made it good was that it was so believable and so real. After having two girlfriends cheat on her, and one commit suicide, and for all of them to fully or partially blame Liv for being emotionally distant, too much in her own head, not connected to them... I fully understand that after falling in love with Celeste from afar, watching her on those screens and reading her logs (which btw is painfully romantic to me, lol, even if I can admit to it being slightly weird) that she would insert herself into the experiment, do everything in her power to hold on to Celeste, and fall for her even harder. The description of that helpless kind of love, how weak she was to resist it: gah, I loved it so much. Seeing her logs at the end of the book made me so emotional!!
The resolution didn't come quickly either, which I enjoyed. Celeste needed time and distance to work through the ways she was hurt. I didn't really enjoy the fact that she blamed herself for being "naive and stupid enough" to not realise who Olivia was, and I kinda wish Olivia had done more to assure her that it wasn't her fault? But other than that, I loved how it was all wrapped up, and the ending lines filled me with so much... idk peace and happiness?? Man, I really liked this book.
I'm too lazy to become the type of person who makes up playlists for books, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this Hozier song was playing in my head all through the epilogue.
Honey, when you kill the lights and kiss my eyes
I feel like a person for a moment of my life