A review by emleemay
Almost Love by Louise O'Neill

4.0

And I was left waiting and waiting and waiting, morning turning into afternoon, turning into evening, my world shrinking, folding itself around the phone, willing Matthew's name to flash onto the screen. The less he texted, the more I seemed to want him.

After the mindfuck that was O'Neill's [b:Idol|58908158|Idol|Louise O'Neill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639601982l/58908158._SY75_.jpg|92815608], I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but I expected it to be awful. And it was. But [b:Almost Love|35958295|Almost Love|Louise O'Neill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503603974l/35958295._SY75_.jpg|57515118] is a very different book to [b:Idol|58908158|Idol|Louise O'Neill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639601982l/58908158._SY75_.jpg|92815608]. It's a quick, sharp, painful read with a narrator who is simply horrible. I can see why some readers don't like it.

Reading [b:Almost Love|35958295|Almost Love|Louise O'Neill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503603974l/35958295._SY75_.jpg|57515118], I felt like I was bearing witness to some of the most self-destructive behaviour I've ever come across. Where Samantha in [b:Idol|58908158|Idol|Louise O'Neill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1639601982l/58908158._SY75_.jpg|92815608] was a messy character who I was able to empathise with in some ways, Sarah was a far more challenging character. She is one of those toxic people I would advise anyone I know to run the hell away from. It is unpleasant being inside her head.

I never liked her but I felt upset and embarrassed for Sarah. The reader can see her desperation and neediness for what it is even as she can't. You can see her family pulling away from her. You can feel her friends' disgust. Matthew is a classic sleazeball and it is cringey how you can see him playing mind games with her and Sarah falling for it.

This is one of those books where it is so frustrating because you feel like you want to intervene, to give the MC a good shake and somehow stop her from going off the rails. We probably couldn't anyway, but it is painful to watch someone have so much and destroy it.