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A review by podanotherjessi
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I am convinced this is the perfect book for someone, but it is absolutely not me. I knew very quickly that I didn't really like this book, but I just couldn't seem to stop it. So I'll say one thing for this book, it is compulsively readable. You can't look away, much like a train wreck.
The one thing I really liked - and the main reason it's not much more lowly rated - was the writing style. It's like definitionally overwritten, but that works for me. I'm very glad the narrator interjections were dropped after part one. Once past that, the writing is really creative and conveys a lot about the characters.
Almost everything else I felt neutral about at best.
Regan feels like such a textbook manic pixie dreamgirl, but I can give this book some credit in that the story doesn't follow the stereotypical plot. But neither character felt like they grew at all in this story. They actually seem to regress, which can be great if it feels intentional, but in this book it felt like the reader was supposed to celebrate the self-destruction of the characters.
But that I could forgive. What I just can't get over in a book that advertises itself as a romance is a romantic pairing I don't root for. I hated this romance. It was incredibly toxic and never felt like love. It felt like obsession and infatuation and not meant to last. And worse, the book made it out that I was the problem. "If you think this is unhealthy, then you just don't get it" was all but said verbatim both in the novel itself and in Blake's author's note.
I do appreciate that not at the end overall. It's clear this is a very personal novel for Blake. But I just couldn't get over the flaws I saw. I didn't even start on the medication and therapy representation in the book. I think this will be a wonderful book for a lot of people, so I don't want to universally un-recommend it. But I just didn't like it much.
The one thing I really liked - and the main reason it's not much more lowly rated - was the writing style. It's like definitionally overwritten, but that works for me. I'm very glad the narrator interjections were dropped after part one. Once past that, the writing is really creative and conveys a lot about the characters.
Almost everything else I felt neutral about at best.
Regan feels like such a textbook manic pixie dreamgirl, but I can give this book some credit in that the story doesn't follow the stereotypical plot. But neither character felt like they grew at all in this story. They actually seem to regress, which can be great if it feels intentional, but in this book it felt like the reader was supposed to celebrate the self-destruction of the characters.
But that I could forgive. What I just can't get over in a book that advertises itself as a romance is a romantic pairing I don't root for. I hated this romance. It was incredibly toxic and never felt like love. It felt like obsession and infatuation and not meant to last. And worse, the book made it out that I was the problem. "If you think this is unhealthy, then you just don't get it" was all but said verbatim both in the novel itself and in Blake's author's note.
I do appreciate that not at the end overall. It's clear this is a very personal novel for Blake. But I just couldn't get over the flaws I saw. I didn't even start on the medication and therapy representation in the book. I think this will be a wonderful book for a lot of people, so I don't want to universally un-recommend it. But I just didn't like it much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Infidelity