Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Alone With You in the Ether

Love how Blake made me want something desperately, gave it to me, then immediately had me begging for the opposite multiple times. Like yes, take me on a journey!
Once things picked up I raceddd through this. A lot of it felt like a car crash I couldn't look away from. It's messy and unhealthy and problematic but I loveee an obsessive all-consuming "love" story, sorry!!!
There were some real tender moments between Aldo and Regan, and I was really rooting for them individually. And the way they genuinely saw vs. romanticized each other, the way they helped vs. hurt each other... I liked that it was all there.
Blake plays with the narrative structure a lot, and *some* of these choices worked for me. Especially the parts that really made me feel like I was in Regan's head. Great way to show how she rationalized things but also how off things were.
Miss girl really knows how to build the tension!!
Bees (when Aldo talked about them, sorry Regan).
Chicago.

What I didn't:

On the often-changing narrative structure note, the narrator gimmick in Part 1 made me almost put the book down. And then it comes back at the end randomly? Throw it out.
Sometimes really pretentious ngl. Or I'm dumb and Didn't Get It, but a lot of things that were probably supposed to feel super deep kinda just had me rolling my eyes.
Again maybe me Still Not Getting It, but a lot of the time travel/multiverse/hexagon conversations had me boredddddddd. I was rocking with the bees tho.
I don't know if it would have worked, since this was really about these two together, but I wish there had been more insight into Regan's Big Thing from her perspective and Aldo's Big Thing from his.
Bad ending. [4 hour later edit: This is harsh. Fine ending. Wrong ending to me. Fitting ending for them, I suppose.]

I would not call this a good love story, but there is romance and chemistry and tension! Leaves me reflecting on how easy it maybe could be to romanticize, use, or get lost in others and that big nasty question of What Is Love (bell hooks tap in).

I've seen critiques about the portrayal of mental illness/medication, but I feel like if anyone reads this and walks away thinking "that was normal" or "I should be more like them," that is a reading comprehension problem.

Will probably re-read and feel completely differently, time will tell!

Content Warnings

melusinedln's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.0

Content Warnings

emilysharpley's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

bookishdragonshoard's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This book took me on a journey through the minds of the characters, but also through my own. Painfully beautiful prose.

Content Warnings

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Content Warnings

chasinggrace's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow

Content Warnings

lil_owl_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-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

4.0

An emotional whirlwind that captures the intricacies of love and passion and desire and choice. The authors note really tied it all together for me personally (

Regan is inspired by Blake’s own experience with BPD, but Blake notes how no two experiences are the same; aka her ability to stop medication is not prescriptive, but personal.

) I truly loved the ethereal writing and descriptions and experiences this book contained.

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