Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - One for My Enemy: A Novel

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One for My Enemy: A Novel by Olivie Blake

21 reviews

bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Review of One for my Enemy

By: Olivie Blake

Two witch families, both alike in magic, in dangerous Manhattan we lay our scene. From ancient rivalry, results a new war for power where wicked deals make wicked hands unclean. From forth the heirs of these two witches, two pairs of rivaled lovers are forced to make a sacrifice.

This is a paranormal retelling of Romeo and Juliet that was sexy and exciting as the next generation must bear the burden of their parent’s greed. Blake creates several characters that each have their own personalities, but because Blake only wanted to focus certain a lot of the other characters suffered lack of development. The romances were enjoyable to read, and the sexy times aren’t two graphic. Sasha was my favorite of the sisters. I was disappointed by the Fae, Byrn, who was introduced as someone playing both sides. He is implied as half human and half Fae, but he came as a weak and passive character, just sassy. He doesn’t have much power, and the witches have more power that he covets. I know the author wanted to focus on the witches being the dangerous ones, but I guess I’m used to Fae having more power than humans. There is drug use with characters selling drug that causes hallucinations and puts you in euphoric state of mind. There is also violence, because this is a mafic type of story but with witches and magic. I liked the references to Russian mythology and fairytales combined with the retelling of the famous Shakespeare play. There’s a lot of clever ways Blake pays homage to the original Shakespeare play, but if you’ve never read or seen Romeo and Juliet you can still enjoy this story.

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thehannahclaire's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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chasinggrace's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I cried - a lot. If you’re a sucker for all-consuming declarations of love, this is your book. Knowing that it was a Romeo and Juliet retelling didn’t make it any less hurtful!!

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kwthor's review against another edition

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challenging sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

What a fantastic roller coaster of a book. The plot drove relentlessly forward, the main cast of characters were clearly outlined from the beginning but were filled in as the story progressed, and the foreboding air of tragedy hung above the whole time but didn’t fall predictably. It really did feel like reading a tragic play; the focus was entirely on the characters and their relationships and histories and the worldbuilding really only consisted of “vaguely moody New York City but with some witchcraft”. I didn’t mind the sparse setting details seeing as the plot was so active I never felt bored. The stakes were high and the tensions were higher and I enjoyed watching things fall apart and get rebuilt as everything spiraled into tragedy.

Read if you like dramatic tragedies with both poetic speeches and also realistic dialogue.

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eatallthestars's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I would rate higher but it just didn't have that 'spark' for my personal taste of books. Absolutely fantastic book for anyone a fan of Romeo&Juliet rewrites.

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farfromsarah's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked this book but I feel like it didn’t really know what it was trying to be, the closest thing I can compare it to is Shakespearian tragedy (not that I’ve read much of that). It was entirely character driven which I usually like but I felt the lack of a plot goal made it feel very unstructured and ungrounded. However Olivie Blake, as always, is a master in character writing and that is something that does not fall flat here. RIP the lack of banter though.

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

Definitely a character driven novel and only enjoyable if you are in the right mood for it, however, I was, and I loved it!! So many laughs, gasps, sad faces, just so good.

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ramunepocky's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“You are not incomplete because a piece of your heart is gone. You are you, an entire whole, all on your own. If you have loved and been loved, then you can only be richer for it- you don’t become a smaller version of yourself simply because what you once had is gone.”

this review is not spoiler free

This was my first Olivie Blake book even though I own most of her books and it was a very strong place to start. Her writing style is absolutely gorgeous and she has a real way of pacing and describing drama that makes it so enthralling. I loved this book so much!

I would have liked to have see a bit more character development and development of the character dynamic before we really got thrown into the thick of the drama, I especially would have liked to have seen Lev and Sasha’s relationship develop a bit more because whilst I was rooting for them and it was devastating for Sasha to have to experience Lev die like that, I would have liked to have seen a stronger bond develop first. I guess it’s just me being cynical about how quickly people can fall in love that makes me want that. The drama did also help with the character developments tbf, especially where Dima, Masha, Sasha and Roma were concerned, I feel like all the events that unfolded gave us a real glimpse into their characters and we got to see them change and suffer and grow from what happened. I also think that that helped me grow more attached and sympathetic to characters that I had not been as impartial to before.

The feuds between the families and the reasons behind the hatred was very interesting to learn about it and it was so unsurprising to find that it all boiled down to points of pride more than anything else. Pride is many people’s downfalls.

My favourite character was absolutely Lev. Was it because I kept picturing him as Lev from Haikyuu?? Perhaps. But also, he had such complete and utter golden retriever energy. He made me laugh. He was loyal. He was loving. He was just the absolute sweetest character, and I really felt for him being torn between his loyalty to his family and his brothers, and his feelings for Sasha as the enemy. I was absolutely distraught when Stas killed him because wtf. No. You can’t do that to my boy. But thank every god that his “enemies” brought him back. It was really sad though that he thought that Sasha was still dead when she was the other half of Masha’s plan and I was so happy when they finally got to reunite again. I also loved the fact that Lev had faith and belief in Masha simply because she reminded him of Dima and the way that he thought and planned, and because he worked out that the two of them had been in love with one another.

I also loved Dima a lot. I wasn’t sure about him at first because ofc we don’t really see much of him before BAM he’s put in a magical coma. But reading about his history with Masha and the two of them being (briefly) united before Roma stabbed Masha made me really warm up to him. It was extremely clear just how much he loved her. How much he would have sacrificed for her. And I mean, tbh, bit far to cut out her heart when she was dead to keep it safe, bit of a literal interpretation of what she said to him all those years ago, and I cannot imagine how vile it must have been to have been going to bury her heart and seeing it beating right there out of her chest, but I’m glad it made it clear to him that she was alive and that he could stop hurting. Dima’s story is as tragic as Masha’s tbh, and the fact he would have chosen her above his family if she’d given him the choice all those years ago shows how much he loves to, and to be able to do what he did in the end, to stab both her heart and himself, to follow her into the afterlife, was devastating, but it was clear he could not live without her and he would have blindly followed her anywhere.

Masha was a very complicated character for me. I didn’t love or hate her. She was a very complex character to understand and very interesting as she always had motives on top of motives and kept her true intentions hidden at every turn. She was extremely smart and calculated in the risks she took and worked everything out to a tee. She was also very ruthless, even before Dima carried her heart and it wasn’t in her chest, she was always trying to swallow her emotions and refused to show a single one of them on her face despite being in constant pain. I do truly believe that she always acted with her sisters in mind though and her hope to find Dima again. It was literally heartbreaking when the two of them died together at the end, but getting to see them reunited and together on the other side made me sob so hard. The two of them had been in so much pain their entire lives due to their parents and I’m glad that they finally got their peace and to be together. It’s what they deserved.

I also had very mixed feelings on Roma, I wasn’t his biggest fan to begin with, but I started to feel bad for him as I imagine it would be hard to grow up in a household where eit is clear that you are not the favourite or cared for as much as your siblings and to always live in their shadows. I absolutely called him being the one behind what had been happening to aggravate the feud, especially as he was so pushy about Lev getting involved and it was pretty much confirmed for me the second that Dima refused to tell Masha who was actually behind it because “she would kill them” even though we didn’t get actual confirmation that it was Roma until a bit later. I also thought it was hilarious when Sasha was “haunting” him and gaslighting him into believing his father was responsible, it was pretty funny tbh and he did deserve it given that he killed Masha, killed Stas and was, by extension, responsible for Lev and Masha’s deaths too. I did end up feeling bad for him though as it was evident that his guilt about what happened was really weighing on him and driving him to insanity. It was nice in the epilogue too to learn that he’d worked with the faery whose name I can’t remember in his law firm, twas nice to know that he was beginning to turn things back around for himself.

I have more to say but my brain has officially left the building so yes.

Overall, I enjoyed this book; it had witches, it had interesting family and character dynamics, it had drama and suspense, and I could certainly see the Romeo and Juliet element. Was it my favourite retelling? No. Would I read it again?? Absolutely. And you can guarantee that if Fairyloot ever bring back their special edition of it, I’ll be buying it in a heartbeat bc the colour scheme has a chokehold on me.

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amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A spectacular r+j retelling. I don’t usually like r+j retellings as the plot is too obvious but this was a really interesting take on it. It follows two magical mob families, The Federovs-a patriarch and his three sons, and The Antanovas-a matriarch and her 7 daughters. We slowly find out the reason why they are rivals as it destroys all of their lives. A story of political intrigue, mafia deals and murders, and forbidden loves.

I loved the characters and the plot kept me guessing. The constant perspective switching was also fun. The shakespeare/r+j references were also great.

My only complaint is that Olivia Blake’s writing can sometimes be too long and flowery. It’s lovely to read but sometimes I just want to read faster.

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