A review by kabrahams
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

3.5

I should've known this wouldn't quite be my cup of tea based on my experience with "Atlas Six," but I wanted to give Olivie Blake another try because of all the hype. Some of the writing is so beautiful and in about the middle I was really swept up in it and couldn't stop reading, but most of it felt flat or overwritten. The narrators at the beginning were very annoying to me and I was glad when they went away, but also confused as to why they went away if they were included at all. A lot of things near the end happen in summary, so it was hard to be present in the moment and that didn't help me connect to characters that I already found hard to connect to. The characters feel very real, just not especially likable. The world feels at once too real and also too highly filtered by philosophy, passion, and artistry. I was also alarmed at how much the characters depended on each other to stay mentally healthy (and, to a lesser degree, their other passions/projects) because that's not healthy at all! I understand why so many people love it and I wish I'd loved it too, but alas.