Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Alone With You in the Ether: Waterstones Exclusive Edition by Olivie Blake

4 reviews

witcheep's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

5.0

The story shows the struggles of two people who don't feel like they fit in with the rest of the society. The story is at times challenging to understand –it has many very complex subjects and issues depicted in it – but the narration complements this perfectly and makes it more understandable as a whole. I really enjoyed the audiobook experience of listening to this. The narration and the audiobook's narrator's performance are what impressed me most in this book.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Violence

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

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, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

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.

clairew97's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism