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Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'
Alone With You in the Ether: Waterstones Exclusive Edition by Olivie Blake
135 reviews
nikogatts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I would characterize this book like I characterize Wuthering Heights (a famous line from which is paraphrased in Part 6 of Ether): not as a romance, but as a love story between two mentally unwell, deeply insufferable people. Alone With You in the Ether is the story of Regan and Aldo and the process through which they fall into an all-consuming love. The author does not shy away from the main characters' insecurities, unhealthy fixations, challenging family dynamics, or cycles of toxicity; instead, these behaviors and relationships are portrayed with the type of honesty that more people should utilize in real life. As their relationship solidifies, Aldo and Regan's bad habits interact -- not being amplified, not disappearing, but coexisting in a way that seems to suit both parties. It would be almost romantic if I didn't find the people involved just so exhausting and their mutual love a bit scary in its obsessiveness. Like with Cathy and Heathcliff, I don't like either of these characters, but their story was compelling.
The one theme that irked me was Regan's relationship to (and avoidance of) psychiatric help. I understand that the author of this book has a similar mood disorder and, like Regan, chooses to live without medication, and she states in the afterword that she's not advocating for others to make the same choice. But I went down a path similar to Regan's when I was younger, believing that it was more "authentic" and creatively freeing to not take medication, that medicating my anxiety and depression was somehow suppressing and stifling me. Eventually, I realized that emotions being "authentic" doesn't make them healthy, and I was able to function much better once I found a medication that worked for me. So while I acknowledge where this part of the story originated, it still rubbed me the wrong way and I'm glad that (without spoiling anything) Regan's approach to her treatment kind of evens out by the end of the book.
I gave this a 3 (point 25-ish) for the above reasons, and because the writing, while good from sentence to sentence, dragged on in some places. The conversations in third person were the worst -- while it's an interesting play on back-and-forth dialogue, it got irritating when the "talking" went on for pages.
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Infidelity and Abandonment
gbeene'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
4.0
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual content
nclausel25's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Drug use and Infidelity
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Drug use and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content
e_riahh's review against another edition
- 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
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
readerette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If you are bothered by relationship drama, this may not be a story for you, but I enjoyed the philosophical musings of both characters enough to balance out the drama (I especially resonated with Aldo). I've never had exactly the thoughts or obsessions these two had, but some of their wonderings and worries definitely struck a chord for me that made the book quite an emotional journey.
Graphic: Cursing
Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual content
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
cnannery19'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
3.5
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
- 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
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Drug abuse and Sexual content
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
elderwoodreads'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: Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
wokekoala's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Drug use