An honest review thanks to NetGalley. Noyes is one of my favorite authors but I put off on reading this because the description was so different than anything she has written and I didn't want to hate it. I was completely wrong, this was amazing. I have never read anything like this before from anyone and I loved it. I could see instantly who Olivia was when she showed up in the forest but as the plot continued I started doubting myself until the truth came out. This plays with so many psychological issues and trust. This book is outstanding and you will not be disappointed in reading it.

The premise for this was interesting but I didn't like how it was executed. I think that Celeste could have been a bit more fleshed out in places as there were moments she seemed like a 3d character but for the majority, she seemed thin and underdeveloped.

Love this author and have read all of her books. Gold is one of my top 5 books of all times so this book had a lot to live up to. Was not sure how I would like this storyline but again all I can say is wow! Great job! The author painted such vivid pictures that I found myself feeling like I was inside of Celeste 's deepest thoughts. I tend to be somewhat of a loner myself but cannot imagine living without any personal contact for years. Needless to say I did not want to put this book down. I don't want to spoil it for anyone so all I will say is buy it - you will not be disappointed!

This book grabbed me with its interesting premise and great cover. For me it didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but I did enjoy reading it and I liked the ending.

Alone by E. J. Noyes is without a doubt one of my top reads for 2019. What a fabulous book! Wow, wow, wow.

I won’t do a synopsis because I don’t want to spoil anything and if you read the blurb you’ll know enough going in. Buy the book, schedule some time (because you won’t be able to put it down once you start) and just enjoy the ride. It’s all perfect. The plot, the characters, the pacing, the dialogue, the sex, the twist (although I did guess that one). Noyes is just at the top of her game here.

Celeste Thorne and Olivia Soldano will stay with me for a good long while. It’s gripping, it’s dark and unsettling and it will break your heart but at the same time it’s also full of hope and love. This book will ruin you in a good way. Buy it now.

f/f explicit and very steamy sexy times

Themes: SE9311, total isolation, experiment, drug addict mother, child abuse, voices in your head, journal, what is real, hug tree, board games, slow time.

5 solid gold stars

* A free copy was provided by Netgalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

"Alone" is a very interesting book. Celeste must live for 4 years by herself in an isolated location to win a large payout. She has lived there almost for the 4 years, when an interloper comes into her space. This whole new situation throws Celeste for a loop. Olivia is holding a secret from Celeste that changes everything. Will Celeste be able to forgive Olivia and give the two of them a chance or will she not be able to forgive her? A very intriguing book and a must for anyone that is looking for a book that is unusual and not your typical lesbian romance.
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

5/5

Celeste Thorne’s life changes when she enters a study where she has to spend four years in complete isolation. ALONE. No faces. No voices. In the middle of nowhere.
When she encounters a wounded hiker she struggles with the decision of helping the hiker and jeopardizing the experiment. When her attraction towards the stranger grows she starts to question her sanity, what's real? who can she trust?

This book was an immersive experience that had me guessing what was real and what wasn't. I love this kind of books where the writing is so good that you can get completely lost in it.

The writing was great and the book flowed effortlessly. The character development was great as well. It is a page turner that I will definitely be recomending.

ARC provided by NetGalley and The Publisher in exchange for an honest review

E.J. Noyes continues to impress. Alone is a masterpiece. We’ve all pondered what life on that imaginary deserted island would be like (some of us would need a power supply for our kindles) but Noyes brings this fantasy to life by placing Celeste in isolation for years for research purposes. She has her routines to follow each day and regular check ins with faceless controllers. I loved the contrast between her chaotic past and this organized present. Just when the voices in her head make her question her sanity a new challenge in the form of lost hiker Olivia complicates Celestes isolated life.

What an emotional rollercoaster. I loved the theme of endurance, both physical and emotional, how her past hurts and insecurities crash into her present mindset. The slow doling out of information kept me engaged and desperate to understand her relationships with her mom and sister. I loved the raw attraction she feels toward Olivia all the while questioning whether her response is reactive or genuine. The sexual tension between the two is off the charts.

I simply loved everything about this book. A stellar must read.

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

The synopsis of this novel peaked my interest. I am beyond thrilled that I was granded permission to read and review because this book was incredible! The synopsis does not do it justice! Celeste is a fantastically well written character. Her time in the habitat was written in such a way that the reader was truly in her head. The dialogue she has with "other characters" is deep and thought provoking. When Olivia came into the picture, the reader was forced to wonder was she even, in fact, real. I can't honestly say enough good things about this book. It is beyond anything I've ever read before and I highly recommend it. After finishing it, I can't wait to read it again now that I know what happens. Thanks E.J. Noyes for another amazing book!

Since I'm one of the latest to review this book, I won't go in to a great description that you can read on your own.
I will add that E.J. Noyes has written (and I must say, very well) an exciting and entertaining book. I couldn't put it down. From page one I knew I was hooked.
Noyes has an exceptional talent to write a book that will keep your attention and move your emotions. I highly recommend.

I forewarn anyone whose about to read this review, because it's going to be a lot of gushing. If you only read one sentence from this, I'll just say buy this book because holy hell it was SO GOOD!

E.J. Noyes has officially entered my top 5 favorite writers in this genre. I finished the Ask, Tell books before reading this one and now I don't want to go back into the lukewarm waters of some other writers.

When I complain in reviews about the dialogue not being enough of the content, or not great, THIS book is what I'm talking about when it comes to pure talent and ingenious dialogue. Her main character is alone for a nice chunk in the beginning, and she was still able to make the scenes completely entertaining. Not only with her inner dialogue, but her...inner dialogue?? AKA her slight hallucinations.

Then when Liv shows up, it's still just a book centered on two people in a cabin together. That's it and it's BRILLIANT! What a completely daring book to even attempt to write, let alone actually succeed in creating something so different but so thoughtful about the human mind and human connections. I did warn about a lot of gushing.

All of this talent helped create two characters that I just wanted to stay with forever. I know there would be no reason for a sequel, but I selfishly want one so I can hang with them just a bit more. On that note, I'm going to read this book again. Seriously.

Not only is this easily one of the best books of 2019, but it has worked its way onto my personal all-time top 10 list. There is not one formulaic thing going on, and it's "unputdownable". I don't want to spoiler anything here as this book is a continual "WHAAAAAAAT???"

A couple of months ago I read Ask, Tell and it was my first experience with EJ Noyes. Immediately I had to read Ask Me Again. I haven't yet read Gold or Turbulence but I will, and soon. This author has become a must-read for me. Her work is impossible to describe and is definitely a cut above.

This book is easily one of the best books I've read in my life. I pre-ordered a paperback copy of the book the minute I finished reading the ebook because this is something I need for my collection to read over and over again. I felt so raw after reading this book, it's so real and emotional. Humanity is beautiful and complex and EJ Noyes did an excellent job in portraying this in this exceptional novel.

For half a million dollar's all Celeste has to do is stay in a house, Alone, in the middle of nowhere for four years, as part of a psychological experiment. She's confident she'll make it to the end of her contract. As long as she sticks to her routine she'll be fine. But then one day an injured hiker arrives on her doorstep and everything changes. Celeste struggles with her feelings for the woman and the consequences of possibly breaking her contract.

This is an amazing example of what a first person book should be like. This was mastery. It drew you in to Celeste's every thought and feeling, but you still had a viid picture of the world she lived in and the people around her. Celeste showed us her feelings and her world. We were part of it. We went told about it. It was just mind-blowing. This book really evoked the senses, especially smell. The writing in this novel blew me away. I have no idea how the author kept all the voices in Celeste's mind straight but it was brilliant. The romance was gorgeous, sensual and sexy. But this book was so much more than a romance. I loved the way Celeste rediscovered herself and her humanity as she fell for Olivia.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a superb novel, from concept to execution. Celeste Thorne is a little tired of her life and job when she notices a flyer with an interesting opportunity on it. She signs herself up for an experiment to live on her own for four years with a big pay check at the end of it. After a thousand days in solitude she finds a hiker on the border of her habitat. Not having human contact for so long and now having to consider somebody else is a daunting prospect.

The beginning has a very gentle pace but gives enough time to have a really good impression of what Celeste is going through and how she’s coping on her own. She’s at the point where voices from the past are interfering with her but she still manages to keep her routines and daily chores going. Celeste is a fantastically well-created character and I hadn’t realised how invested I was in her until the page started blurring and tears were running down my face.

So much of it reads like speculative fiction and I suppose, in many ways, it is, by taking the familiar ‘trapped-in-a-cabin’ to an extreme and then adding in the psychological experiment aspect to it. I sometimes struggle with characters in a vacuum because there’s not enough interaction but Noyes counteracted that brilliantly by bringing to life the influences in Celeste’s past.

This novel elicited so many emotions and responses from me. It’s clever, beautiful, sad, romantic, imaginative, humorous, unusual and completely engrossing.

Book received from Netgalley and Bella Books for an honest review.

I wanted to give this five stars pretty much as soon as I started reading it. I've never read a Noyes book before so I was definitely in for a treat.
Loved the plot, fascinating, different and almost completely perfect. The detail and the beauty of the writing was astounding. The character depth was enthralling. I would have kept reading this forever. I didn't want to read too fast lest I miss a spellbinding sentence, but I wanted to read what was next and next and next.
Without doubt, this is a book you should read.

All I can say is just WOW - the plot of this book is one I don't think I have come across and I have read A LOT of lesbian romances. This is not only a romance but a psychological roller-coaster ride that I want to ride again! I have read 3 other books from Ms Noyes, my favorite being Ask Tell and Ask Me Again, but this book is right up there with those 2!

Ms Noyes truly pulls at your emotions as a reader, her characters are not perfect by any means, which makes them so real. My heart just broke for Celeste, not so much for her 'situation' she put herself in, but just the emotional baggage she has with her upbringing. As I said Ms Noyes really knows how to bring emotional wounded characters to the reader that makes us just want to help them ourselves. What I also like about Ms Noyes and her writing is she also brings strong characters to support and encourage, just brings great balance to her books.

This book has such a refreshing plot, given the 'experiment' and the writing really brought to the readers what it was like to be alone for so long (not sure how Ms Noyes came up with this plot but you would think she went through it herself by the way she writes, so clear and emotional). The physiological impact to Celeste and the surprise 'drops in' of Olivia and what that does to a person, was just amazing. I could not put this book down and finished it at 5 in the morning!

I look forward to more from Ms. Noyes, this book is going to be hard to surpass but from a readers perspective, I JUST CAN"T WAIT for what is next!

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-Psychological roller-coaster ride, I want to ride again

I feel as if the overall storyline could have used a tad more work, but overall I really enjoyed this book. It certainly lived up to my expectations.

There is so much I want to say about this book, I hardly know where to begin.

Before I forget, I want to talk about the cover. It did exactly what it was supposed to do. It grabbed me. Long before I read the blurb, actually. I love places like the one depicted on the cover, so I hoped the story behind it was as captivating as the cover. Kudos to the cover artist!

I'm going to parrot my partner here for just a second...I've never read anything like 'Alone'.
Ever.
I love psychological fiction, LGBT or straight, it doesn't matter. This book though...surpasses all of them. Because the writing gives us not just a glimpse, but an extended, intimate look into the psyche of someone who can live over a thousand days completely alone. It takes a very strong kind of person to be able to do that, I think. Whether the voices were a manifestation of Celeste's Self, or Ego, or just cracks of insanity....it was both fascinating and disturbing to read. What kind of a mother does those sorts of things to a child? (I might never look at my cast iron frying pan in the same way)

How did Olivia...hmm, nope, can't ask that without giving this other thing away.
How does one live like that for over a thousand days with only themselves for company? I mean, yeah, I need my alone time too (and rarely get it) but a thousand plus days worth? While reading this, I often wondered how I would have coped.

Just before I opened 'Alone' I finished reading a book that had something like thirty characters, many f whom I forgot who they were and who they worked for. So to read a book just after with only two characters (not counting the voices) was a bit of a relief. And those two characters were so relatable, so easy to see, smell and hear that it was remarkable. I understood thier motivations, their secrets and their anguish in the last third of the book. And it made perfect sense when those sweatpants showed up again.
(Read the book, you'll understand)

I started the book just after dinner last night and I'm not ashamed to say that I was hooked by page 3. I read for a couple of hours, slept for a few and then was awake far, far earlier than I needed to be.
I woke up thinking about this book and cannot get it out of my head now. (I understand my partner's comment now when she said "What do I read now? It's ruined me")
I am a fast reader by nature, but I consumed this book. I ate it up like a starving person.
It. Is. That. Good.

I cannot give this anything more than five stars, but damn I wish I could. I would give it 15.

I've never read anything else by this author, but I sure will now. You're crazy if you don't get your hands on this book. It's brilliant.

Wow, wow, wow...

I can honestly say I have never read anything like this book before, in a really positive way. My mind is still slightly blown from all the thoughts and ideas firing about my brain while I was reading 'Alone', so I really hope I can do it justice here and not just drool all over my laptop about how much I love it!

I've read and loved E.J. Noyes other four books (I highly recommend them all), so I tried to savour Alone and not finish it inside one day but in the end I just couldn't wait and I stayed up until 03.30 to finish it. I just couldn't stay away.

'Alone' is told from the perspective of Celeste, a participant in a psychological study. To earn a six figure pay-check all she has to do is spend four years in total isolation; we join her after she's passed the three year mark and is suffering from hallucinations. Looking at her own face in the mirror treats her to a horror show of faces from her past. She's constantly on edge, anticipating interruptions from her Mother or other voices she has left behind. These phantoms are described in unnerving details; the smell of Celeste's birth-mother's cigarettes and meth, her younger sister's voice full of love and childish glee and the shiver-inducing thought of feeling a slight touch on your back when you know you're completely alone.

Perspective and perception play a big role in this novel, from the fact that it's a first person narrative (I know lots of people don't like it but trust me, this author does it incredibly well), to the fractured way that Celeste experiences time in the habitat. She also struggles to understand her interactions with Olivia, the hiker she rescues, as her relationships with others are based on the shifting sands of her memories of her childhood with her birth-mother. Celeste has to weigh up the value of the lessons and 'rules' from her past, that kept her alive but without any family or social ties against a future requiring her to take risks.

To sum up, this book is incredible; I was completely swept up by both Celeste and Olivia, became utterly smitten with them, giggled, cried my eyes out at one stage, the whole shebang. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, yes there's a lesfic romance element but it's also a brilliantly written novel on our human needs, strengths and weaknesses. I also love the way the author, through Celeste and Olivia explores concepts of truth vs reality.

Buy this book, you won't regret it. I got an ARC but I have already pre-ordered this book from Bella, these are not just idle words!

Oh yeah, massive thank you to E.J. Noyes for the correct use of the term "butterfly kisses"! :P

There are only a few books out there so compelling they seem to take control of you and force you to read them as quickly as possible. You can’t put them down. You just want the world to go away and leave you alone until you can finish this story. <i>Alone</i> by E.J. Noyes is that book for me.
This novel is absolutely wonderful. The pacing of the story is perfect. It grabs you, pulls you along and will hardly let you stop to breathe. The main characters are realistically created with both strengths and flaws that affect their personalities and interactions with each other. Celeste is especially well drawn. The tale is written in first person through Celeste’s eyes, and I am amazed at the depth of her character. Ms. Noyes makes the reader feel every emotion, hear every thought, and experience the world as Celeste experiences it. This is a fine example of this author’s wonderful talent.
<i>Alone</i> is the first novel I’ve read by this author, but it won’t be my last. This book has my highest rating and is definitely going into my favorites folder. Don’t miss this fascinating and brilliantly written novel.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bella Books for an honest review.