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A review by sueread2030
Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I have never loved a Romance as much as I'm obsessed with this book ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Alone with you, .. do you understand why I called it that, what it means? Because you and I, we are SO different, aren't we. and yet we are more like each other than the rest of the world is like us.
.... because what We are is holy
I think this book is the ultimate guide to "what true love should be"
It is not "at first sight" but through communication and understanding
It is not "a field or roses" but lined with arguements and heartache sometimes
It is not "one melting into the other" but mild compensation
Regan and Aldo... Two people who in concept should never have worked
"Emptiness repulsed Regan, filling her with abject terror, but the concept of zero was something that Aldo had come to accept"
but as the rules of physics state, opposites attract, and each of them has something that completes the other.
⚜ rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
⚜Genre: Drama Romance
⚜Theme: Second-Chance Paranormal romance
⚜Targeted audience: Adults
⚜Characters: Regan, Aldo, bees and hexagons
⚜Representation: Mental Disorder, POC
⚜ driven: Character driven
⚜Pace: medium
⚜TW: drug abuse, dysfunction family, allusion to self harm
⚜ tropes: slow-burn
⚜ POV: dual third person
⚜ spice 🌶
⚜standalone: yes
⚜Ending: satisfying
⚜Book read: physical
What happens when two mentally disordered, somehow broken souls are brought together by the universe?
There are many themes and styles tackled her. This is not a book for those looking for the fast-fashion romance, or the swoony "you are mine" tropes
This book is read with the utmost concious of one seeking art in the written words
Mental Disorder
In her acknowledgment (and yes you should read it), Blake clearly states that the main characters of her book suffer from "mood disorder" as does the author.
You can clearly see that in the weird shift of the writing style which was done to convey that it was indeed written by a bipolar.
From the swift shift the third person POV, to the strange appearance of "Narrators", to the divisio of the book into parts like a play, and the third-person report of dialogue, all aimed to show that this is loud and clear a love ode to mental disorder.
So, I guess , this writing style will not be for everyone.
As you go into the story, you can clearly see that Regan's problems started early with her family. We are told that Regan is a "forger", she mimics others work. That is because since she was a child, Regan was told to act like a certain person and to be like her sister. The idea of mimicing has been ingrained in her.
"she typically liked to be a mirror of whoever she was with"
Even the way she dresses
she felt like she was in a costume as a Good Girl, though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She was usually in some sort of costume, one way or another.
Regan's chaotic life, marked with impulsiveness, led her to use lithium highlight the delicate balance between managing one's mental health and retaining personal identity.
“Without the volatility of her extremes, what was she?”
Regan's rebellious existence is a whirlwind of disorder, never the same; even Aldo, with his vast calculations, finds her unpredictability a puzzle. At the narrative's outset, she's entangled in a loveless relationship with Marc, who criticizes her for pattern behaviors. Abhorring monotony, Regan seeks to infuse her life with fervor and purpose.
She agrees to meet Aldo eventhough she had a boyfriend
She calls him at 4 in the morning just to chat
she offers to cut his hair
It is because Aldo accepted and loved her spontaneity that she starts with her art to find herself
Eventhough Aldo, unlike Regan, hails from a nurturing family environment, he grapples with mental health issues too, having survived a near-fatal overdose due to substance abuse. His father's deep concern inspired him to stop, yet he still turns to cannabis to calm his restless mind.
His life is a series of routines, lists, and mental exercises that help him navigate daily life. Thoughts of oblivion often cross his mind, but Regan's presence gives his existence new purpose, transforming him from a mere space occupier to someone with a cause.
He commits to aiding Regan in achieving emotional well-being, which in turn helps him regulate his own emotions "Even if Regan couldn't see the magic around her, it was there. He promised to reveal it to her, to help her see the beauty he could see. And when she finally saw it, he'd know he had communicated it in a way that resonated with her"
Aldo and Regan's bond is passionate and stormy, with Aldo struggling to match her dynamic nature. Regan fears Aldo might tire of her or dislike the person beneath her facade. She provokes him, questioning the depth of his affection "You adore my intellect? Even when it leads me to despair, to moments of self-destruction? Is your love strong enough to embrace my mind even when it turns against me?"
Their relationship is a dance of give and take, with Aldo sometimes just holding on. Ultimately, the narrator reflects that ‘healthy’ for them will always be a relative term”, as their journey isn't about conquering mental illness, but about embracing it, finding strength in what others may see as a flaw.
Aldo's intrigue with bees and their natural hexagonal constructs stems from his theory that time itself may mimic these patterns. He regards hexagons as nature's paramount shape and theorizes that navigating through hexagonal routes could make time travel a feasible concept. Aldo's musings about the multiverse spark a cascade of thoughts in Regan, as she contemplates the existence of her countless alter egos. This idea of infinite possibilities intrigues her, stirring a curiosity about the paths not taken. Could there be a way to revisit the past and alter the course of events? Such questions challenge the very nature of reality and our place within it.
Aldo's life is a monotonous cycle, indistinguishable from one day to the next, until Regan enters his world. He muses that routines are time's nemesis, trapping one in an endless loop devoid of milestones. In contrast, Regan's zest for life and varied days leave imprints on Aldo's existence. "Alone with You in the Ether," the book's title, alludes to the old concept of ether—a medium thought to fill the universe and carry light—as explained by Aldo to Regan. This idea of ether parallels Aldo's musings on time travel and encapsulates the poetic yet isolating experience of being solitary in an immense cosmos, yearning for a path through the stars.
"Aldo" Regan said "what's the ether?"
"It's what people used to believe the univers ewas filled with"
"ehter was what they called the air in the realm of the gods. A shining, fluid substance"
"So when people say we're alone in the ether....?"
"Alone in everything. In time and space, in existence, in religion"
Despite Aldo being logical, he is still influenced by what others think. When his father, Marc and Regan's family question her motif for being with him, he somehow succumbs to the doubt they put in his mind.
The concept of Love
Aldo and Regan's love is a Composite of Contradictions and Opposites
Their relationship is rooted as opposites on a spectrum of emotion and outlooks on the world. Regan is drawn to chaos and intense emotional experiences, while Aldo cherishes structure, predictability, and his own company. Social and sensual, Regan thrives among others, whereas Aldo is more reclusive, seldom considering intimacy. Yet, they share a troubled history with addiction, a love for pasta, and a penchant for introspection. Aldo has embraced life's inherent emptiness, a realization Regan is still grappling with.
but it is Aldo's mind that attracts Regan and it is Regan's impulsivness that draws Aldo in
“She’s contradictory—honest even when she lies, and rarely the same version twice. She’s confounding, really intricate. Infinite.....She’d have to be measured infinitely in order to be calculated, which no one could ever do”
Being with Regan fills a need in Aldo that he didn’t know he had: a need for excitement, wonder, and a different sort of problem to consider.
RRegan's rollercoaster of emotions finds equilibrium in Aldo's steady demeanor, and as time passes, they enhance each other's lives. Aldo's unwavering faith in Regan's artistic talents inspires her to recognize her own abilities.
in short "He doesn't want to be the person she hides from, he wants to be the person sh ehids with."
and for Regan "it doesn't matter whether he loves her back. it is enough to have known that the inside of her chest is more than a place for storage.
and so comes the bees and hexagons
I won't say anything
read the book to go on this Whirlwind journey
sex
the book is a very much closed door when it comes to sex scenes.
Regan is a very sensual person and finds that conveying her emotions works best through sex because that is how she was told that men want from women
With Aldo, and though sex is crucial in their relationship, it is not her body he craves but her mind
I love your brain. ..She doesnt know what to deal with first, the use of "love" or the fact that it isn't what she was expecting, or the idea that anyone can possibly think fondly of her brain when she has put almost no effort into molding it.❤️❤️😍😍
however, I have to say that there was a scene in church that involved only touching hands that left me so hot and bothered
favorite quotes
** “There was wonder here, even if Regan no longer saw it. Even if she no longer felt it, he would feel it for both of them, He would translate it for her later […] Yes, he would draw it for her, and then she would see it. She would watch it take shape and he would know he’d said it in a way she could understand, and then she would know that even this, with its ordinary features, was wonder and glory, too.”
** “Oh, you love my brain? Well, do you love it when it does this thing, or this thing? Do you love it when it means I’m lifeless on the floor, curling my tongue around a pill or a stranger’s dick? Can you love my brain even when it is small? When it is malevolent? When it’s violent? Can you love it when it doesn’t love me?”
** “Afraid, always afraid, that this was still some splintered version of pretend, that she was only crafting a new version for him when she wanted to believe she was really herself. Afraid that she was Aldo’s Regan, which meant that Aldo’s Regan could fade into obscurity, that her honesty with him was just another version of a lie.”
** "Does she have any idea how difficult he finds it to exist with toher people? And then here she is, this mystery, this puzzle, does she even know how much he loves her unpredictability, her twist and turns? She thinks her brain is some sort of problem? Fine, good, he loves problems.
Alone with you, .. do you understand why I called it that, what it means? Because you and I, we are SO different, aren't we. and yet we are more like each other than the rest of the world is like us.
.... because what We are is holy
I think this book is the ultimate guide to "what true love should be"
It is not "at first sight" but through communication and understanding
It is not "a field or roses" but lined with arguements and heartache sometimes
It is not "one melting into the other" but mild compensation
Regan and Aldo... Two people who in concept should never have worked
"Emptiness repulsed Regan, filling her with abject terror, but the concept of zero was something that Aldo had come to accept"
but as the rules of physics state, opposites attract, and each of them has something that completes the other.
⚜ rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
⚜Genre: Drama Romance
⚜Theme: Second-Chance Paranormal romance
⚜Targeted audience: Adults
⚜Characters: Regan, Aldo, bees and hexagons
⚜Representation: Mental Disorder, POC
⚜ driven: Character driven
⚜Pace: medium
⚜TW: drug abuse, dysfunction family, allusion to self harm
⚜ tropes: slow-burn
⚜ POV: dual third person
⚜ spice 🌶
⚜standalone: yes
⚜Ending: satisfying
⚜Book read: physical
What happens when two mentally disordered, somehow broken souls are brought together by the universe?
There are many themes and styles tackled her. This is not a book for those looking for the fast-fashion romance, or the swoony "you are mine" tropes
This book is read with the utmost concious of one seeking art in the written words
Mental Disorder
In her acknowledgment (and yes you should read it), Blake clearly states that the main characters of her book suffer from "mood disorder" as does the author.
You can clearly see that in the weird shift of the writing style which was done to convey that it was indeed written by a bipolar.
From the swift shift the third person POV, to the strange appearance of "Narrators", to the divisio of the book into parts like a play, and the third-person report of dialogue, all aimed to show that this is loud and clear a love ode to mental disorder.
So, I guess , this writing style will not be for everyone.
As you go into the story, you can clearly see that Regan's problems started early with her family. We are told that Regan is a "forger", she mimics others work. That is because since she was a child, Regan was told to act like a certain person and to be like her sister. The idea of mimicing has been ingrained in her.
"she typically liked to be a mirror of whoever she was with"
Even the way she dresses
she felt like she was in a costume as a Good Girl, though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She was usually in some sort of costume, one way or another.
Regan's chaotic life, marked with impulsiveness, led her to use lithium highlight the delicate balance between managing one's mental health and retaining personal identity.
“Without the volatility of her extremes, what was she?”
Regan's rebellious existence is a whirlwind of disorder, never the same; even Aldo, with his vast calculations, finds her unpredictability a puzzle. At the narrative's outset, she's entangled in a loveless relationship with Marc, who criticizes her for pattern behaviors. Abhorring monotony, Regan seeks to infuse her life with fervor and purpose.
She agrees to meet Aldo eventhough she had a boyfriend
She calls him at 4 in the morning just to chat
she offers to cut his hair
It is because Aldo accepted and loved her spontaneity that she starts with her art to find herself
Eventhough Aldo, unlike Regan, hails from a nurturing family environment, he grapples with mental health issues too, having survived a near-fatal overdose due to substance abuse. His father's deep concern inspired him to stop, yet he still turns to cannabis to calm his restless mind.
His life is a series of routines, lists, and mental exercises that help him navigate daily life. Thoughts of oblivion often cross his mind, but Regan's presence gives his existence new purpose, transforming him from a mere space occupier to someone with a cause.
He commits to aiding Regan in achieving emotional well-being, which in turn helps him regulate his own emotions "Even if Regan couldn't see the magic around her, it was there. He promised to reveal it to her, to help her see the beauty he could see. And when she finally saw it, he'd know he had communicated it in a way that resonated with her"
Aldo and Regan's bond is passionate and stormy, with Aldo struggling to match her dynamic nature. Regan fears Aldo might tire of her or dislike the person beneath her facade. She provokes him, questioning the depth of his affection "You adore my intellect? Even when it leads me to despair, to moments of self-destruction? Is your love strong enough to embrace my mind even when it turns against me?"
Their relationship is a dance of give and take, with Aldo sometimes just holding on. Ultimately, the narrator reflects that ‘healthy’ for them will always be a relative term”, as their journey isn't about conquering mental illness, but about embracing it, finding strength in what others may see as a flaw.
Aldo's intrigue with bees and their natural hexagonal constructs stems from his theory that time itself may mimic these patterns. He regards hexagons as nature's paramount shape and theorizes that navigating through hexagonal routes could make time travel a feasible concept. Aldo's musings about the multiverse spark a cascade of thoughts in Regan, as she contemplates the existence of her countless alter egos. This idea of infinite possibilities intrigues her, stirring a curiosity about the paths not taken. Could there be a way to revisit the past and alter the course of events? Such questions challenge the very nature of reality and our place within it.
Aldo's life is a monotonous cycle, indistinguishable from one day to the next, until Regan enters his world. He muses that routines are time's nemesis, trapping one in an endless loop devoid of milestones. In contrast, Regan's zest for life and varied days leave imprints on Aldo's existence. "Alone with You in the Ether," the book's title, alludes to the old concept of ether—a medium thought to fill the universe and carry light—as explained by Aldo to Regan. This idea of ether parallels Aldo's musings on time travel and encapsulates the poetic yet isolating experience of being solitary in an immense cosmos, yearning for a path through the stars.
"Aldo" Regan said "what's the ether?"
"It's what people used to believe the univers ewas filled with"
"ehter was what they called the air in the realm of the gods. A shining, fluid substance"
"So when people say we're alone in the ether....?"
"Alone in everything. In time and space, in existence, in religion"
Despite Aldo being logical, he is still influenced by what others think. When his father, Marc and Regan's family question her motif for being with him, he somehow succumbs to the doubt they put in his mind.
The concept of Love
Aldo and Regan's love is a Composite of Contradictions and Opposites
Their relationship is rooted as opposites on a spectrum of emotion and outlooks on the world. Regan is drawn to chaos and intense emotional experiences, while Aldo cherishes structure, predictability, and his own company. Social and sensual, Regan thrives among others, whereas Aldo is more reclusive, seldom considering intimacy. Yet, they share a troubled history with addiction, a love for pasta, and a penchant for introspection. Aldo has embraced life's inherent emptiness, a realization Regan is still grappling with.
but it is Aldo's mind that attracts Regan and it is Regan's impulsivness that draws Aldo in
“She’s contradictory—honest even when she lies, and rarely the same version twice. She’s confounding, really intricate. Infinite.....She’d have to be measured infinitely in order to be calculated, which no one could ever do”
Being with Regan fills a need in Aldo that he didn’t know he had: a need for excitement, wonder, and a different sort of problem to consider.
RRegan's rollercoaster of emotions finds equilibrium in Aldo's steady demeanor, and as time passes, they enhance each other's lives. Aldo's unwavering faith in Regan's artistic talents inspires her to recognize her own abilities.
in short "He doesn't want to be the person she hides from, he wants to be the person sh ehids with."
and for Regan "it doesn't matter whether he loves her back. it is enough to have known that the inside of her chest is more than a place for storage.
and so comes the bees and hexagons
I won't say anything
read the book to go on this Whirlwind journey
sex
the book is a very much closed door when it comes to sex scenes.
Regan is a very sensual person and finds that conveying her emotions works best through sex because that is how she was told that men want from women
With Aldo, and though sex is crucial in their relationship, it is not her body he craves but her mind
I love your brain. ..She doesnt know what to deal with first, the use of "love" or the fact that it isn't what she was expecting, or the idea that anyone can possibly think fondly of her brain when she has put almost no effort into molding it.❤️❤️😍😍
however, I have to say that there was a scene in church that involved only touching hands that left me so hot and bothered
favorite quotes
** “There was wonder here, even if Regan no longer saw it. Even if she no longer felt it, he would feel it for both of them, He would translate it for her later […] Yes, he would draw it for her, and then she would see it. She would watch it take shape and he would know he’d said it in a way she could understand, and then she would know that even this, with its ordinary features, was wonder and glory, too.”
** “Oh, you love my brain? Well, do you love it when it does this thing, or this thing? Do you love it when it means I’m lifeless on the floor, curling my tongue around a pill or a stranger’s dick? Can you love my brain even when it is small? When it is malevolent? When it’s violent? Can you love it when it doesn’t love me?”
** “Afraid, always afraid, that this was still some splintered version of pretend, that she was only crafting a new version for him when she wanted to believe she was really herself. Afraid that she was Aldo’s Regan, which meant that Aldo’s Regan could fade into obscurity, that her honesty with him was just another version of a lie.”
** "Does she have any idea how difficult he finds it to exist with toher people? And then here she is, this mystery, this puzzle, does she even know how much he loves her unpredictability, her twist and turns? She thinks her brain is some sort of problem? Fine, good, he loves problems.