{AD|GIFTED} This book explores a messy relationship and two people in all their breathtaking complexity. It's ugly, authentic, and beautiful. The author uses exquisite prose with unforgettable turns of phrase that almost engrave themselves into the reader's skin. Reading this was an experience I won't forget anytime soon.

I desperately want to love Olivie Blake’s books, but unfortunately I think they’re just not for me. I liked The Atlas Six and would read The Atlas Paradox just to find out what happens. The blurb for this one sounds great and I was really looking forward to reading it, but unfortunately I did have to DNF it. I feel like I’m not smart enough to understand and enjoy this book. So many big and complicated words were used, I was reading but not understanding. And I really struggled because it was written like it was half fiction book and half play, and all of the actions and narrator sections just made me more confused. So many people love Olivie Blake’s books, I’m sure people will love this one. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

4.75/5

Thank you Pan Macmallin and NetGalley for the early release!

Olivie Blake has become one of my favourite and autobuy authors in the last year. There's nothing she writes that I do not love. Alone With You In The Ether is no exception!

The writing is lyrical, even beautiful, and oftentimes haunting.

Charlotte's impulsiveness, although it would annoy me in different circumstances, was written in such a way that I found I understood her. Blake writes Regan's thoughts in such a clear manner that I understood her.

Now, math has never been a strong subject of mine, so Aldo's explanations of math went right over my head, but the more you get to know him, the better you understand his thoughts.

This book showcases that loving someone could be an endless persuit, and I loved it!

To be outright honest, I nearly put this book down. The beginning was so disjointed and confusing that I didn’t think I could cope if the whole book was like that.

Well spoiler alert, it wasn’t. Somewhere along the line, I couldn’t easily put it down anymore. I think the issue was that there was a “narrator” at the start that kept jumping in. I don’t know if it was the way the proof was formatted on my kindle, but it broke the flow of the story and made it feel too segmented.

But apart from that, I LOVED the characters and the story behind it. Aldo and Regan felt so real. Olivie really nailed the point that we all have our flaws and life is messy. It’s never straightforward.

The maths stuff went a bit over my head (and the art too) but you don’t need to understand it to enjoy the book. It’s messy, it’s real, it’s life.

Also how the hell did Olivie Blake make handholding feel so erotic??? It felt so seductive. And I feel weird saying that.

So yeah, maybe the writing itself had a few issues that made it feel a little all over the place. But behind that is a story worth reading.

I kindly thank pan macmillian for inviting me to review alone with you in the ether <3

firstly, I was a huge huge fan of olivie blake's 'the atlas six' and I loved how she addressed vulnerability in relationships and created such believable chemistry. it's no surprise she managed to write a blockbuster romance and sell out in a couple of days, despite it being her first time diving into the romance genre.

secondly, I am aware that I rarely dabble in romance novels, especially adult ones, but all I can say is as long as olivie blake writes them, I'll read them all a million times in my lifetime

The perfect love story. Honestly feel like it changed me as a person the first time I read it. I don’t think I’ve ever highlighted a book so much in my life.

This book is amazingly beautifully written, though the language used does not make the narrative flow easily, or at least it did not to me. It is a book of love, science, space and time; and if that appeals to you then you need to give this a go.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. While I recognize that it won’t be for everyone—especially traditional romance readers—for me, it was perfect.

I absolutely love Olivie Blake’s writing and, in my opinion, this is her best. She crafts the most gorgeous, almost desperate, atmosphere with really lyrical writing and I just ate it up.

This is absolutely a character-driven book—Aldo and Regan are the plot. The author did an incredible job of making them real and complex, both as a couple but also as individual characters. Seeing them so wholly as individuals made seeing them as a couple that much more special. There’s so much focus on the small tiny moments between them that it felt like such an up close view.

This book does deal with some really heavy topics but they’re handled in a really realistic way. Although this is a romance, it doesn’t shy away from showing the grittiness of being in love when you’re mentally ill and I really appreciated that.

As a romance, or story in general, this won’t be everyone. It could be seen as slow or pretentious or unsatisfying, but I love it. Not only do I personally relate to Regan and Aldo (not a compliment, I know) but I think Olivie Blake did the most perfect job of balancing the character development with the romance. This is a book I’m going to re-read for the rest of my life.

Content warnings: Mental illness, bipolar disorder, addiction, drug use/addiction, overdose.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Alone With You in the Ether' by Olivie Blake.

'Alone With You in the Ether' is one of those novels that I feel like I couldn't explain in words because it's a book that deserves to be read. It speaks for itself and I found it fascinating, raw, beautiful and every adjective I could think of off the top of my head.
This is my 4th Olivie Blake (4th arc too so thank you so much to the publisher) and each one is so different but her words always speak uniquely in their own way.

I don't think my review can ultimately summarise 'Alone With You in the Ether' but what I know and will say is: Go read it.

Fun fact, I finished reading Alone with You in the Ether just a day away from the announcement of it being picked up by Pan Macmillan/TOR. I was lucky enough to acquire the self-published version from Olivie Blake and be in love with it, so the news of it being picked up by a beloved publisher to be traditionally published made me very happy, as that means a lot more people will be exposed and have access to this book more easily than before.

A word I would choose to describe Alone with You in the Ether: Consuming. I would argue that Alone with You in the Ether is not exactly a romance, It's an exploration of Aldo and Regan, and how their dependency on each other shapes them to be the way they are. Another thing I love was the unique formatting and also the way this book somehow is able to realistically portrays mental health.

And the QUOTES. I loved Olivie's writing for the Atlas Six but I love hers in Alone with You in the Ether more. I consumed this book quickly like air, and was left breathless by the end. Aldo and Regan still stays in my mind until now.

“It is perilously wonderful to suffer so sweetly with you.”

Thank you sooo much to @netgalley and @panmacmillan for the arc!!

I have found my calling in life and it is to read Olivie Blake’s works and to convince everyone else to read them and love them too. This book was so wonderfully written I devoured it in a day and I want to go back and read it all over again immediately. I adore Blake’s writing style, she’s one of my favourite authors of all time and this book is no different.

This story is about two mentally unwell individuals and how they find each other and attempt to coexist in the same space, in a relationship and all the messy and realistic stuff that you would expect comes with it.

I have never read a book that perfectly depicts how had it can be to have a relationship whilst mentally unwell and the characters in this book are going through so much. It was so interesting to read. I also connected a lot with both of the characters in different ways it felt like Blake had gone into my head and plucked out my own way of seeing the world at times and it was almost jarring to read it on paper.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is an Olivie Blake book so you bet the writing is dense and pretentious (in the best way) but it also amazes me how much story she got into such a small book. The DETAILS of all the tiny things were what really drew me in and made me fall in love.

Overall, don’t expect to be reading a lovely little romance book because this book is a love story that shows all the ugliness behind relationships and mental illness in a way that is heart wrenching and captivating.