Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

38 reviews

jeslis's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Notes:
- Took a little while to get invested into the characters but after about halfway I fell in love with them.
- The prose was stunning! Insanely good.
- This was such an ethereal exploration of a relationship, mental health, what it means to have impact on others and the many nuances in the process of finding human connection.
- Much of this book's impact for me was that the experience of reading it matched the experience of Aldo and Reagan falling in love — an otherworldly feeling so as to render the finer details quite blurred and distant. Basically I loved this book but don't remember much objectively outside the fever-dream reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

writingcaia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book hooked me from the start with the amazingly beautiful writing and narrative, that so mirrored each character in each of their POVs, and thus I fell into the hole that was the psychological conundrums, obsessiveness and traumas of the two main characters Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan since their meeting at the Art Museum where Regan volunteers and where Aldo goes to enjoy the white noise of people while he obsesses with his studies of time travelling.
I felt like I was being held by the hand through the maze that was their meetings, their lives with their mental issues and prior problems, and the love that bloomed and burned.
It made me cry, laugh, and hurt for them.
Regan bipolar in a loop of unhealthy love relationships and familial trauma, living in avoidance of a true life and true dream, always in spite of all, and Aldo anti-social and depressive, living a disconnected life with only his father as an anchor to it.
How can love survive the mental problems of these two,  the prior relationships and abandonments? My heart ached for them throughout and I truly could not see a happy ending, although I wanted it so much for them, Aldo wanted it, but did Regan, or was Aldo just another escape from her issues, another spoke on the wheel of her avoidance like the boyfriend she had when she met him?
Loved it so much I read it all in one day unable to stop until it finished at 5am.
After this one I’m craving to read all of Olivie Blake’s books, especially the standalone ones.
A truly candid love story that I wished had not ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Drug use

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Death of parent and Suicidal thoughts

yilliun's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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 spent much of my early adult life living in Chicago, so this book felt doubly real to me. I cried, I laughed (pride and prejudice reference anyone?), and most importantly I fell in love with these beautifully complex characters.

Regan with her anxious attachment and self destructive tendencies felt like I was reading about myself at times. She struggles to connect with the world around her and her struggles felt so honest to me as a reader. I am so glad I picked up this book. One of my top reads this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction

Minor: Grief

This book deals heavily with toxic parental and romantic relationships. It also centers on two characters dealing with what it means to be mentally ill and also trying to be a good person.

arturo_luzen's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Classism

katiesbeengone's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

jg34's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

5.0

I liked this! I could see how people wouldn’t like the writing as it’s a bit ~*weird*~ but it was balanced for me, beautiful but meaningful, thoughtful but not too pretentious. It reminded me a bit of This is How You Lose the Time War but this book actually made sense

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Addiction

embelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

I don’t even know what to write for this review, as I still haven’t fully processed this book. I feel like I could read this book 5 times and still not be able to process it. I’m convinced that this book is unlike anything I’ve ever read before or anything that I’ll ever read in the future. Just wow wow wow. The Acknowledgements from Olivia Blake also totally had me in my feelings too 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, and Cursing

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

lucielockettreads's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

1.5

Spoiler

I feel bad for rating it so low because it might just be the writing style that doesn’t work for me, but I did not enjoy this book.

There were snippets I read and it did feel deep and philosophical, as though Blake herself was peering into my soul and wrote the words on paper. Then all the other parts, they just… muddled together. I started skipping pages and pages of waffle which of course is charlottes mania. But the message to do with mental health therapy and TAKING MEDICATION I  hated. I study psychology and counselling at university and there is absolutely in my mind a support for therapy, and sometimes medical intervention where therapy is not effective enough, this story says screw therapy and screw my meds! 

I understand that the FMC is bipolar and maybe that’s why she never bought it up but the therapist should of saw them signs earlier. 

Also aldo and his father are a wonderful story and I actually  enjoyed it mostly when they were talking to each other 

Also also, sex doesn’t heal everything!!!!!!

TLDR; not my type of genre, which I learnt through reading this, and the writing style… some good moments but a lot was not, although that does relate to the FMC personality. 

Check trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Infidelity, Murder, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction

aileron's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

Minor: Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, and Suicide attempt

c0zyreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-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

If you hate this book, I am happy you have such a healthy and productive brain. I believe this book is mostly written for those that fight with their demons every hour of every day. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts