A review by hardcover_hazel
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

_"Instead, she felt splintered; like she became, in his hands, an infinite number of pieces, an entire infinity herself. Like she and eternity and omnipotence were the same"_ 

Bees. Hexagons. Art. 
 6 conversations with a stranger. 6 forms of use in art (lines, shapes, etc. Something Regan used to believe was so limited). 6 because of hexagons. The perfect shape in nature, the one Aldo believes time travels through. Made perfect by bees. 

_"If this is what it is to burn, he thought, then I will be worth more as scattered ash than any of my unscathed pieces"_ 

This is an unhealthy love story. It's full of co-dependency, compulsion, obsession. But the characters don't care. They burn for each other. 

Regan is a forger. She disguises herself, pretending to be a different version for when it is required. Forgery requires precession, not art. Until Aldo sees the artist beneath it all. 

Aldo is obsessed with time. Trying to solve impossible puzzles. Or maybe not solve, love the possibility of solving. Which is probably why he loves her mind so much. 

They both think of time differently. Regan, as different dimensions split based on compulsive or spontaneous decisions. Aldo as a coping mechanism, something that found him that will always be around. 

_"Ether was what they called the air in the realm of the gods... So when people say we're alone in the ether... Alone in everything. In time, and space, in existence, in religion."_ 

Aldo will spend a lifetime trying to explain everything about the world. Regan has painted it for him as a love letter. 

_"This is what it looks like to love you; it looks like an abyss but it isn't, don't you understand? Falling comes with danger, Aldo, but not us. Not us, we float."_ 

They burn each other. They ignite each other. But they're two different things. 

Alone with you in the Ether was a beautiful read. Olivie writes beautifully 😭 the words come alive on the page, mixing with honey for you to swallow. 

5/5 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝