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katharina90's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
Enjoyed reading a novel about a female character who's child-free by choice. Also liked that we see a wide spectrum of experiences. Those who:
-don't want kids
-want kids but are struggling with infertility
-have kids and are struggling postpartum or have regrets
-have kids and are thriving
-are estranged from their adult children
-etc.
Didn't love the characters. Each of the four friends was self-involved and either judgmental or inconsiderate of others in the friend group.
A missed opportunity to write about women who meet their friends where they are, with curiosity and an open mind, and a willingness to be supportive even when they don't immediately understand the other person's choices or struggles.
-don't want kids
-want kids but are struggling with infertility
-have kids and are struggling postpartum or have regrets
-have kids and are thriving
-are estranged from their adult children
-etc.
Didn't love the characters. Each of the four friends was self-involved and either judgmental or inconsiderate of others in the friend group.
A missed opportunity to write about women who meet their friends where they are, with curiosity and an open mind, and a willingness to be supportive even when they don't immediately understand the other person's choices or struggles.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abortion
emmasrambles's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
abbiemreads's review
challenging
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.25
Olive was a book unlike anything I’ve read before. It covered the conversation of motherhood and expectations so thoroughly and filled me with uncountable emotions that snuck up on me out of no where as I read further and further.
This book was leant to me by my 30 year old, and recent mother of a 2 year old, sister and I can’t help but think she must have been at the perfect cross roads in her life to read this. Despite the constant pregnancy announcements and the feeling of everyone I have ever been close to moving on with their lives, on crazy journeys and becoming more adult than I’ve ever felt, I think this book was a year or two early for me.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it, or that I couldn’t relate to the characters. If anything I found it resonated quite well, it was just asking questions and showing view points I imagine would hit harder in a few years time. (I did have a good sob at the first scene though - thanks to my sister not telling me it was friends leaving their uni house when I started reading this 2 days after I left mine)
But I know it’s one that I’ll be thinking about for a while, and definitely a book I’ll be looking to reread when I reach those milestones.
Olive, Bea, Cec, Isla and their friendship makes me so happy. Seeing genuine female friendships, with each character developed fully, warms my heart and seems to be everything I’ve been searching for in those 20-to-30-something novels about growing up.
Even if some parts seemed cheesy or predictable it’s given me incredible food for thought, starting a discussion in my own mind that I’m sure I’ll extend to my friends soon. Olive is a talking point and something completely unique to my usual reads, which makes me glad to have stepped out of my comfort zone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility and Pregnancy
Minor: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death of parent
amyrandles1's review
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Minor: Eating disorder
allandanybooks's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The story is heavy with an important topic. The characters all have flaws and I feel like that’s one of the points of the book. Of them learning to adapt and accept that they are different and that is okay,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Death