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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'
Alone With You in the Ether: Waterstones Exclusive Edition by Olivie Blake
136 reviews
geriatric_turkeys's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Minor: Drug use
leiaamy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting
rceparski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug use and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide and Toxic relationship
dantastico's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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!
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
melusinedln's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Alcohol
Minor: Abandonment and Injury/Injury detail
sukidookie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Drug use and Sexual content
chasinggrace's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Medical content
eviereadsallthetime's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Drug use and Mental illness
Minor: Drug abuse
witcheep's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
The audiobook's narration is a little unorthodox: it matches the characters mind in a creative and very depictive way. The book's narration is in the third person, sometimes coupled with explicitly named external narrator's sidenotes with different narrator's voices. The female main character Reagan has mental illness which's treatment includes therapy and medication; the latter she wants to forgo. The male main character Aldo struggles with interpersonal relationships and often finds himself drifting off to his own thoughts. Both of them have gone through very dark times, and they share them with each other.
These chaotically organized minds of the characters are reflected with the narration, and this has nuances with chapters focalized by different characters. Regan is very impulsive and thrives in chaos; the chapters in her pov are told with a rushed pace, sometimes multiple voices speaking at the same time. Her chapters revolve around Regan's feelings of the events around her and those are what dictate her interactions with the world. Aldo is very organized and relies on patterns and stability. His pov chapters are more calmly paced, and the subjects are dissected with rationality. He is open to listening to other people as well.
Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Violence
claireisagrisha's review against another edition
- 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
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.