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A review by heartbrekker
One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“I’m not here for a one-night stand, Sasha… The story we’re writing? It has chapters. Installments. I don’t want once.”
I did not expect to love One For My Enemy. I’ve been extremely disappointed in my two previous Olivie Blake books, so my expectations, to be honest, were LOW. And maybe that’s the perfect way to go into her books (for me) since it’s the same way I found my favorite book by Olivie—Alone With You in the Ether.
"My daughters are diamonds. Nothing is more beautiful. Nothing shines brighter. And most importantly, nothing will break them."
While I’d argue this is a loose Romeo and Juliet retelling, one of my favorite aspects is that by the end… you don’t know quite who the R&J retelling refers to... until it’s too late. Olivie weaves and reworks this retelling constantly because right when we think we know something, she pulls the rug out from under the reader. It’s honestly very satisfying to watch unfold, so I enjoyed it. I can’t think of any other example within Olivie’s books where the leads simply love one another so unabashedly, wholeheartedly, so I found it refreshing to finally see an Olivie Blake book where the lovebirds get to be fully focused on one another… or as much as they can due to their rival families.
"This is the important thing after all: nobody fears a beautiful woman. They revere her, worship her, sing praises to her—but nobody fears her, even when they should."
On a slightly separate note, I’ve seen plenty of people critique this book over the insta-love element. My first response to that statement is that this is marketed as an R&J retelling, so of course, there’s going to be a quick/ hard fall. That’s one of the selling points to the play! You can’t go into this book and critique it for following along with the tropes of the original work. But even then, the insta-love is not instantaneous, especially since one of the leads holds back from the other because they have more knowledge of their families rivalries/ circumstances. Ultimately, it did not bug me, and this is coming from someone who is not a fan of insta-love at all.
"I will always love you, I will love you until the day I die—and if you're the one to kill me, then by all means, you should know without a trace of a doubt that you will not have turned me away. I will have spent the final beat of my heart loving you, just as I always have."
Moreover, on the R&J elements of this story, I thought it was genius of Olivie to mimic an actual play with the format of this story. Before every “part” of the book (five total), Olivie gives us a sneak peek into character list, setting list, inventory list etc. She also indirectly spoils/ foreshadows what’s to come in the chapter with a cheeky little R&J quote. When authors have details like these sprinkled throughout their books, I can’t help but applaud them. And as a Shakespeare nerd myself, I can’t help but squeal with joy.
"To believe in destiny, one must also believe in succession. If the world is ruled by predetermination, then it must also be ordered, measured, paced out from first to last. If this, then this."
If you’re looking for an intricate, thoroughly explained magic system—don’t bother with this one, or at least going in with this knowledge because you won’t have those expectations. I actually think Olivie did well with creating this world, in part, because she relies on the background of New York to guide our senses, so the world felt grounded due to the setting being such a well-known location. Sometimes I just want to read a book where magic exists and that’s that. But in terms of specifics—magic for witches comes from their very essence of being a witch, but willpower and family heritage seems to heighten said magic. It’s part of the reason Baba Yaga has so many daughters because each one of them ends up with a different ability that only adds to her overarching arsenal. The mini plot point about magic residing in the organs of witches was a very interesting point too. The fact that a faerie could eat a kidney and be imbedded with magic for a period of time elevated the stakes and relationships between the witches and other beings. I wasn’t a big fan of the Bridge for quite some time because of his greed for witch magic/ manipulations of the leads, but by the end, his lil’ fae butt won me over.
"We might not have time for an entire book... Write me a tragedy, Lev Fedorov... Write me a litany of sins. Write me a plague of devastation. Write me lonely, write me wanting, write me shattered and fearful and lost. Then write me finding myself in your arms, if only for a night, and then write it again. Write it over and over, Lev, until we both know the pages by heart, Isn't that a story too?"
Overall, I’m obsessed with this story, and I cannot wait for more people to read it because it far exceeds The Atlas Six, in my opinion.
"We can't curse all the men in the world, can we?"
Thank you to Tor Books for sending me a finished copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I did not expect to love One For My Enemy. I’ve been extremely disappointed in my two previous Olivie Blake books, so my expectations, to be honest, were LOW. And maybe that’s the perfect way to go into her books (for me) since it’s the same way I found my favorite book by Olivie—Alone With You in the Ether.
"My daughters are diamonds. Nothing is more beautiful. Nothing shines brighter. And most importantly, nothing will break them."
While I’d argue this is a loose Romeo and Juliet retelling, one of my favorite aspects is that by the end… you don’t know quite who the R&J retelling refers to... until it’s too late. Olivie weaves and reworks this retelling constantly because right when we think we know something, she pulls the rug out from under the reader. It’s honestly very satisfying to watch unfold, so I enjoyed it. I can’t think of any other example within Olivie’s books where the leads simply love one another so unabashedly, wholeheartedly, so I found it refreshing to finally see an Olivie Blake book where the lovebirds get to be fully focused on one another… or as much as they can due to their rival families.
"This is the important thing after all: nobody fears a beautiful woman. They revere her, worship her, sing praises to her—but nobody fears her, even when they should."
On a slightly separate note, I’ve seen plenty of people critique this book over the insta-love element. My first response to that statement is that this is marketed as an R&J retelling, so of course, there’s going to be a quick/ hard fall. That’s one of the selling points to the play! You can’t go into this book and critique it for following along with the tropes of the original work. But even then, the insta-love is not instantaneous, especially since one of the leads holds back from the other because they have more knowledge of their families rivalries/ circumstances. Ultimately, it did not bug me, and this is coming from someone who is not a fan of insta-love at all.
"I will always love you, I will love you until the day I die—and if you're the one to kill me, then by all means, you should know without a trace of a doubt that you will not have turned me away. I will have spent the final beat of my heart loving you, just as I always have."
Moreover, on the R&J elements of this story, I thought it was genius of Olivie to mimic an actual play with the format of this story. Before every “part” of the book (five total), Olivie gives us a sneak peek into character list, setting list, inventory list etc. She also indirectly spoils/ foreshadows what’s to come in the chapter with a cheeky little R&J quote. When authors have details like these sprinkled throughout their books, I can’t help but applaud them. And as a Shakespeare nerd myself, I can’t help but squeal with joy.
"To believe in destiny, one must also believe in succession. If the world is ruled by predetermination, then it must also be ordered, measured, paced out from first to last. If this, then this."
If you’re looking for an intricate, thoroughly explained magic system—don’t bother with this one, or at least going in with this knowledge because you won’t have those expectations. I actually think Olivie did well with creating this world, in part, because she relies on the background of New York to guide our senses, so the world felt grounded due to the setting being such a well-known location. Sometimes I just want to read a book where magic exists and that’s that. But in terms of specifics—magic for witches comes from their very essence of being a witch, but willpower and family heritage seems to heighten said magic. It’s part of the reason Baba Yaga has so many daughters because each one of them ends up with a different ability that only adds to her overarching arsenal. The mini plot point about magic residing in the organs of witches was a very interesting point too. The fact that a faerie could eat a kidney and be imbedded with magic for a period of time elevated the stakes and relationships between the witches and other beings. I wasn’t a big fan of the Bridge for quite some time because of his greed for witch magic/ manipulations of the leads, but by the end, his lil’ fae butt won me over.
"We might not have time for an entire book... Write me a tragedy, Lev Fedorov... Write me a litany of sins. Write me a plague of devastation. Write me lonely, write me wanting, write me shattered and fearful and lost. Then write me finding myself in your arms, if only for a night, and then write it again. Write it over and over, Lev, until we both know the pages by heart, Isn't that a story too?"
Overall, I’m obsessed with this story, and I cannot wait for more people to read it because it far exceeds The Atlas Six, in my opinion.
"We can't curse all the men in the world, can we?"
Thank you to Tor Books for sending me a finished copy to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.