A review by bookbelle5_17
One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Review of One for my Enemy
By: Olivie Blake
            Two witch families, both alike in magic, in dangerous Manhattan we lay our scene. From ancient rivalry, results a new war for power where wicked deals make wicked hands unclean.  From forth the heirs of these two witches, two pairs of rivaled lovers are forced to make a sacrifice. 
            This is a paranormal retelling of Romeo and Juliet that was sexy and exciting as the next generation must bear the burden of their parent’s greed.  Blake creates several characters that each have their own personalities, but because Blake only wanted to focus certain a lot of the other characters suffered lack of development. The romances were enjoyable to read, and the sexy times aren’t two graphic. Sasha was my favorite of the sisters.  I was disappointed by the Fae, Byrn, who was introduced as someone playing both sides.  He is implied as half human and half Fae, but he came as a weak and passive character, just sassy.  He doesn’t have much power, and the witches have more power that he covets.  I know the author wanted to focus on the witches being the dangerous ones, but I guess I’m used to Fae having more power than humans.  There is drug use with characters selling drug that causes hallucinations and puts you in euphoric state of mind.  There is also violence, because this is a mafic type of story but with witches and magic. I liked the references to Russian mythology and fairytales combined with the retelling of the famous Shakespeare play. There’s a lot of clever ways Blake pays homage to the original Shakespeare play, but if you’ve never read or seen Romeo and Juliet you can still enjoy this story. 
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