Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

64 reviews

dantastico's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Romance! Obsession! Feeling Seen! Love?

What I liked:

• 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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

starrylight's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

bookishdragonshoard's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

chasinggrace's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Medical content

claireisagrisha's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Regan was a complex individual, as was Aldo. Regan's journey with mental health, and how it influenced her art, was truly beautiful, paralleling the way a writer creates books. There is great depth to Regan's character. Aldo is well-described, and he has a strong affection for bees. He also has an interest for math. (Personally, I'm not a fan of math.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

The main character has bipolar disorder.

kimzeyk's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.5

Beautifully written, even while I found it somewhat anxiety-inducing being inside of the characters’ heads.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

e_riahh's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

anclibrary's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Suicidal thoughts

cnannery19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I expected to enjoy this book, but not nearly as much as I did! It was beautifully written, first of all. The amount of utterly gorgeous quotes in this book is incredible. It's the kind of writing that has the ability to tackle super complex topics and ideas and explain them in ways that both make them make sense (if they need to make sense at all) while also emphasizing just how complex they are. I loved following these two characters. I will never forget about Aldo and Regan and their story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts