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A review by bookishmillennial
At First Spite by Olivia Dade
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
I loved the Spoiler Alert series by Olivia Dade, but I had issues with the pacing in some of those books. Months or weeks would pass, we would be thrown into a whirlwind of exposition, and then boom! Conflict! Resolution! Alert the presses, they have *fallen in love* !!! I had very similar issues with this book, and that's not to say that I didn't appreciate or like this book. I really did! I thought it was heartbreaking and represented one person's experience with depression so carefully and bravely. I just wish we had less exposition, and more showing on-page.
The pacing let me down in the prologue and first few chapters of this book especially. I am an unimpressed, judgmental, pretentious asshole so when I learned that the main character Athena moves in right next door to her ex-fiance Johnny's older brother Matthew, I immediately got the ick. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, and I don't want to act as if I am better than anyone (I'm not, and I can't say I wouldn't do it!), but even though it was so clear that Athena and Johnny weren't each other's "person," it felt too jarring and too quick to posit his brother Matthew as her new love interest. I adore a little forced proximity and some forbidden love, but this just felt too soon. I literally jumped from the prologue into the first chapter thinking, 'Oh my GOD, is she going to get with his brother? The same one who convinced Johnny to break off their engagement, which commenced this current spiral of heartache and ennui?!'
Besides the romance, I didn't feel invested in or pulled into the book until about 60% in, which I think is too long to begin to care about characters or feel enticed to read your book. There is a massive tragedy that happens in Matthew and Johnny's family during their childhood and infancy (Matthew is 7 years older than Johnny), which essentially rips the entire family apart, so I felt that devastation and the desperation to hold onto any semblance of family that one had. I can only imagine the horror of what this family endured.
When it came to the steamy scenes, I think we can all agree the window scene was chef's kiss. It was the belle of the damn ball. Nobody is taking that away from Miss Olivia Dade. However, the dirty talk in some of the other scenes felt like I was watching a 70's porn video, I am SERIOUS! I was like, 'wait wait wait, WHO talks like this?' Maybe I am outing myself as a pillow princess or something, but come on. Some of that dialogue was so goofy hahaha.
I will say that the way Olivia Dade wrote the representation of experiencing the ebbs and flows of going in and out of depression was quite thorough and with great care. The scenes of Matthew tending to and caring for Athena were this couple's shining moments. He is truly a big ol' sweetie, even if he is a grumpy curmudgeon, but he's very soft for Athena.
Steam rating: 3/5
see content warnings below!
I loved the Spoiler Alert series by Olivia Dade, but I had issues with the pacing in some of those books. Months or weeks would pass, we would be thrown into a whirlwind of exposition, and then boom! Conflict! Resolution! Alert the presses, they have *fallen in love* !!! I had very similar issues with this book, and that's not to say that I didn't appreciate or like this book. I really did! I thought it was heartbreaking and represented one person's experience with depression so carefully and bravely. I just wish we had less exposition, and more showing on-page.
The pacing let me down in the prologue and first few chapters of this book especially. I am an unimpressed, judgmental, pretentious asshole so when I learned that the main character Athena moves in right next door to her ex-fiance Johnny's older brother Matthew, I immediately got the ick. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum, and I don't want to act as if I am better than anyone (I'm not, and I can't say I wouldn't do it!), but even though it was so clear that Athena and Johnny weren't each other's "person," it felt too jarring and too quick to posit his brother Matthew as her new love interest. I adore a little forced proximity and some forbidden love, but this just felt too soon. I literally jumped from the prologue into the first chapter thinking, 'Oh my GOD, is she going to get with his brother? The same one who convinced Johnny to break off their engagement, which commenced this current spiral of heartache and ennui?!'
Besides the romance, I didn't feel invested in or pulled into the book until about 60% in, which I think is too long to begin to care about characters or feel enticed to read your book. There is a massive tragedy that happens in Matthew and Johnny's family during their childhood and infancy (Matthew is 7 years older than Johnny), which essentially rips the entire family apart, so I felt that devastation and the desperation to hold onto any semblance of family that one had. I can only imagine the horror of what this family endured.
When it came to the steamy scenes, I think we can all agree the window scene was chef's kiss. It was the belle of the damn ball. Nobody is taking that away from Miss Olivia Dade. However, the dirty talk in some of the other scenes felt like I was watching a 70's porn video, I am SERIOUS! I was like, 'wait wait wait, WHO talks like this?' Maybe I am outing myself as a pillow princess or something, but come on. Some of that dialogue was so goofy hahaha.
I will say that the way Olivia Dade wrote the representation of experiencing the ebbs and flows of going in and out of depression was quite thorough and with great care. The scenes of Matthew tending to and caring for Athena were this couple's shining moments. He is truly a big ol' sweetie, even if he is a grumpy curmudgeon, but he's very soft for Athena.
Steam rating: 3/5
see content warnings below!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Grief