“I will always love you, I will love you until the day I die— and if you’re the one to kill me, then by all means, you should know without a trace of doubt you will not have turned me away. I will have spent the final beat of my heart loving you, just as I always have. Only you, Masha. Only you, forever, I promise.”

Ughhhh. Inject this into my veins.

There is something about Blake's writing that has me in a CHOKEHOLD.

If you're looking for somewhere to start with Blake's writing, I scream from the rooftops that this is the one to start with. It is less complex than The Atlas Six without being simpler, if that makes any sense? It's an Urban Fantasy with some of the most beautifully written relationships I've read. Considering it was done so well over the span of a single book is even more impressive.

I swore, after trying and failing TWICE to read These Violent Delights that I was done with any kind of Romeo/Juliet retellings, but Blake reeled me in and wouldn't let me go until I had finished this, which is why it's midday and I'm only just thinking about starting work. It's also why I'm running on about 4 hours of sleep. I didn't want to put this down.

But thus is the magic of Blake's writing. I always think I know who I'm going to become attached to when I go into one of Blake's books, but every time, I find myself surprised. The complexity of not only the romantic relationships but the sibling relationships was so well done that I didn't care that the world building in this was a little lackluster. Blake more than makes up for it with her characters and the magic system she created for this story.

This is definitely a book I need physically on my shelf, and it's definitely one I'll reread non-stop.

I feel like that kid at school that nobody wants to sit with at lunch. I’ll pretend that doesn’t cause me severe deja vu.

I’m kidding, but seriously I just couldn’t follow the hype of this book. Truthfully, the hype of Olivie Blake is easily deserved - her style is specifically non-specific. She has a borderline ostentatious, confusing and oftentimes nonsensical approach to stories but without question manages to accomplish whatever genre of story she sets out to accomplish with ease. She’s different - and different is cool. The trouble for me is that her writing style doesn’t actually work for me - I don’t like the deliberately confusing timelines or characters - but sometimes the plot is enough to get me through.

The Atlas Six has a great plot with arrogant characters I loved to hate whilst Alone with you in the Ether had a psychological assassination of characters which was totally compelling. Here though, we have an urban fantasy marketed as a take on Romeo and Juliet (although clearly influenced by many other romances of its kind as well), and the characters AND plot just weren’t enough to get me through.

I’m the minority - this book has glowing reviews - but there were just some glaring issues for me I couldn’t get past. There are many POV’s in this book, but none were compelling to me; I couldn’t care less about any of the characters, and some I struggled to even remember half the time. The romances were silly, and whilst I get that miscommunication and instant attraction with needless demise is sort of the point - I really did find it silly and hard to believe, particularly in a mature, urban setting.

So it’s likely a case of this being a “me” issue, rather than the book. But I didn’t like it regardless. If you typically adore Blake’s work, you’ll enjoy this. If you sit in the middle, you likely won’t.

ARC provided from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC of 'One for My Enemy' by Olivie Blake.

'One for My Enemy' is the latest Olivie Blake to be published traditionally. This is my fourth Olivie ARC now and everything I receive a new one, I always get excited to see what's coming up. This book was much more complex plot wise to follow but I was immersed, as usual, and felt like the complexity added to the atmosphere of the story. Without giving too much away, this book is a definite favourite of the year already and I highly recommend it.

However, what I do need to mention is THE ART. Little Chmura's art shines brightly through the story as always. The artwork correlates perfectly and I just found myself staring at the art from time to time and getting lost in the little details.

Two rival witch families fight for wealth, status, and power in New York City. But when borders and lines are crossed the dichotomy between them begins to blur, too.

Olivie Blake can WRITE! I already knew and loved how this author constructed her prose, from reading The Atlas Six series, but was delighted to find the same extraordinary beauty featured here. It is through the lyrical wording that I really felt I understood each character's emotions. Their thoughts and feelings come alive and so, too, do their characters because of it.

The setting I wished had been payed a similar amount of attention as I found it a little less atmospheric than anticipated, but no less enjoyable for this. The characters drive this story and the background noise really does fade away as you become consumed by their many plights.

This was a heavily romantic storyline with magical inclusions played out in an urban setting. Urban fantasy will never appeal to me more than epic fantasy does but I remain engaged by all facets of this and Blake pens a story in such a way that makes any genre appeal, regardless!

🌹 One For My Enemy review🌹

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

“Write me a tragedy Lev Fedorov. Write me a litany of sins. Write me a plague of devastation.”

Thank you so much to @netgalley for the arc of one of my favourite authors!

This book certainly did not disappoint. The story of the Fedorov’s and the Antonova’s was captivating, romantic and tragic and the sprinkle of magic made it all the better. I loved all of the characters, Lev being my favourite he is the best boy.

I cannot fan girl enough over Olivie Blake’s works. She is by far one of the best writers at the moment and one of my all time favourites I just love her writing style it’s so lyrical and captivating I adore it.

Overall, an amazing Romeo and Juliet retelling I can’t recommend enough if you like urban fantasy. Honestly I just want Olivie Blake to ruin me with her worlds over and over.