LOVED this book! Definitely not what I was expecting. I thought it would be more of a typical love story read. The writing was right up my alley, I swayed from loving and hating certain characters, which made this a real rollercoaster ride.
Can’t believe this is a debut novel!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

This is absolutely my favourite book I’ve read of 2024, evidenced by the fact that I was awake until 2:30am as I just could not put it down.

From the first page of this book I was absolutely hooked and felt immensely connected to Adelaide and so many of the side characters throughout. This is a story that so many can relate to and the way in which the author writes makes it impossible to not be hit with nostalgia page after page. Adelaide is such a relatable character and even when you want to shout at the pages over her actions, you can’t help but empathise with her.

The format of the book moving between years and locations to focus on the different characters is very satisfying and allows the pacing to be perfect. I really enjoyed how our main character was Adelaide and we understood her thoughts and feelings, with just a dash of the insight into other characters’ perspectives.

Though the book focuses on romantic relationships and love as the blurb suggests, the strength of true friendships and family feels just as prominent and even more important. The interactions between Adelaide and her friends feel well thought out and real.

This book reminded me of ‘Everything I know about Love’ by Dolly Alderton and the series based on it in the best way possible. Before I was even 20% of the way through the book I was searching for more by this author and was astonished and disappointed to realise it’s her debut novel! I can’t wait to read more from her.

This book will have you in tears in every way imaginable and will conjure memories and nostalgia from the very first to the very last page. I couldn’t recommend this enough (I already have to numerous people).

Firstly, thank you so much to Aria & Aries for this e-arc of Adelaide, I was so excited to read this.

*Trigger warning: suicide, sexual assault, mental health

'Jumped in with hesitation. It was chilling and exhilarating, like swimming outside in winter: an icy rush. But it was also painful and numbing and impossibly cold. It was never a comfortable kind of love, no matter how desperately she tried to bring warmth to their relationship.'

Adelaide is working in a corporate job in London when she suddenly stumbles into her Prince Charming, Rory Hughes. Yet, their not-quite-relationship sets the narrative's downward spiral for Adelaide's mental state. She can never do enough for Rory, always not quite slotting into his life, and she is never quite as good as his ex. It is a narrative that asks: what are the people in our life for, what do coincidences entail, and how can we love fully without losing ourselves?

Genevieve Wheeler's narrative opens with Adelaide's suicide before her downward trajectory is retrospectively recounted in real time for the most part of the book. This felt so much like the Prologue to Romeo and Juliet to me. We know what eventually happens to Adelaide. We don't know how her story continues, but we know that Adelaide is only half-alive at the start of the novel. What follows occurs in a misty haze that is overshadowed by this startling opening reality.

I found moments of reading the slippage of Adelaide's spiralling mental health to be quite difficult, and it is certainly a testimony to Wheeler's ability to formulate very real, disturbing and honest prose that this is the case. She captures trauma, the core values and beliefs that bind and sometimes constrict us, and the fallout that happens when we are betrayed so very vividly. So, although it was at points difficult to stomach, I really appreciate and value how Wheeler portrayed these dark realities of human experience, and how she never censored the more taboo aspects of mental health that are so important to speak openly about.

What I would say, though, is how much Wheeler's prose sparkles with her ability to make emotions resonate, capture the beauty of female friendships and relationships, and how she still manages to balance the darkness of her narrative with hope and humour. She also portrays personal characteristics and personality qualities, like people pleasing, and makes them relatable and sympathetic, rather than demeaning, an aspect of her writing style which I really appreciate.

I really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to read more from Genevieve Wheeler in the future!

What a powerful, emotional, raw and beautiful book.

Thank you so much to the publisher and author for the advanced reader copy. This one will stay with me for a while.

I could not put this book down. I related to Adelaide so much - her big feelings, her endless empathy and her feelings of never being good enough.

I loved that this wasn’t a traditional love story. Instead, it showed what love should really feel like - comforting, and how friendships can be all the love we need.

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous read and one I will highly recommend.

Thank you to netgalley and the author for giving me an arc to read this book before it is published in exchange for an honest review. I read this in a day and couldn’t put it down.

I felt so many emotions reading this book, so many that I feel absolutely drained emotionally (but in a good way).
This book took me on a whirlwind of emotions, I was flicking the pages (kindle pages) as quickly as I could to not miss any emotions or story about them. I felt so much reading this book that I think that the author did an amazing job writing such a poetic yet emotional story.
I felt:
- Sadness: Adelaide has so much going but yet Rory doesn’t seem to see what she is going through and how he is being selfish not validating her feelings. He is so consumed with grief that I felt like slapping him and shaking him to see what a beautiful person he has in front of him (that he doesn’t deserve)
- Anger: Anger that Adelaide is not opening her eyes at how he is using her. But mostly anger at Rory for making her hope and deceiving her.
- Joy: The first few chapters were beautifully written and showed so much joy to the reader. Seeing how their relationship blossomed and how she fell for him.

This book is a masterpiece of emotions and I really do hope that people enjoy it as much as I did. I would even recommend it to younger readers (16 and above) because it is such a good book to understand emotions in relationships and how sometimes we believe in something and are blinded by reality.
I would say that this book is very raw, it talks about pregnancy loss, self harm, mental health, emotionally abusive relationships and rape. It’s not a romance in it’s entirety and although there is a happy ending you have to go through a lot of hard feelings to get to it.

3.5 stars

This was not an easy read, despite how fast I finished it. The whole time I was reading, my heart ached for Adelaide. I saw a version of myself in her (unfotrunately), and I know many others can relate. We have been Adelaide at some point, or we’ve had close friends who experienced this particular brand of heartbreak: being the girl with so much love to give, falling for a man who continually falls short of giving her the love she deserves.

Adelaide is such a giver, her generous heart shines throughout the book. She loves her family and her friends so fiercely. And when she opens her heart to Rory it’s incredibly frustrating to see how he doesn’t feel the same way about her. What makes it even sadder is that this is the first time Adelaide has considered pursuing a serious relationship after a traumatic event in her teenage years (plus a few years of engaging in strictly casual sex with different men as a response to that trauma). Adelaide believes she has found her Disney prince in Rory. But she was sorely mistaken.

As a reader, it was painful to watch Adelaide do everything she can to make Rory fall in love with her. And while you can see the red flags from a mile away, when Rory does choose to shine his loving light on Adelaide, their connection feels magical and all the shitty things become worthwhile (or at least very easy to ignore).

*Sigh*
Baby girl, no. Just. No.

This is a story about a toxic situationship-turned-vague-relationship. This is about falling in love. About doing everything right and trying to make it work. About how sometimes you don’t feel like you are enough (oh but you are, you are). About letting go, about finally believing you deserve better.

And this is also a story about friendship. Adelaide has such a loving and supportive friend group in Maddison, Celeste, and Eloise. Navigating life when you’re in your mid-twenties can be complicated, but with solid friendships and a judgment-free support system, everything becomes a lot more bearable. And I am truly so happy that Adelaide has her friends.

Now, on to some things I had a bit of an issue with
I felt like Adelaide’s teenage trauma could have been explored more. It obviously had such an effect on her, but it was rarely brought up. Also I’m surprised Adelaide doesn’t have a therapist early on, considering her family has a history of mental health problems. But then again, if she had a therapist from the get-go, this would have been a very different book. I also wished we had more time with Adelaide in her healing phase because only get this in the last few chapters and epilogue. I wanted to see her heal and shine and thrive!

Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler is for the girlies who like sad books. This is for readers like me who enjoy being emotionally damaged by fiction, who welcome being vulnerable and emotional. That being said, there are some heavy topics in the book, please check trigger warnings before reading this.
Thank you to Aria & Aries and NetGalley for the ARC.

Review posted on Goodreads and StoryGraph
I will be posting a review on Instagram closer to publication date.

Adelaide is frustrating, annoying, and oblivious, but she is also Bridget Jones. My heart ached for her, and I adored her. I wanted to hit her on the head, cuddle her, wipe her tears, and give her a good shake. The author wrote a book about a character that I could really empathize with. I think this is the fastest I have read a book this year. I loved it and will get a copy for my daughter too.

This was an interesting read which required multiple sittings for me to dive into. It’s a very honest, raw and truthful read and was full of very delicate topics which I think were handled well.

I found Adelaide a really interesting character to read about. She is a bundle of love and I would characterise this as a book of love. I appreciated her love for her sisters when it could have been portrayed in a negative manner. The highlight for me was the love between her friends and the difficulties there can be with navigating this whilst people are moving on in her life.

There are two many Rory’s in this world and he makes me sick. I suppose this also leads to my few criticisms of this book which was how even with her wedding vows she’s thinking of him…!! I also didn’t really like the lack of acknowledgment that yes, she did sometimes suck as a friend. She obviously was so full of love and this got misplaced. There was a comment earlier in this book on have you done this because you want to or do you want to be perceived as a nice/ kind person. There are so many lists of nice things she did for Rory but not for her friends and so the comments Madison made really hit home.

I loved the theme of people and things enter your life at particular times for a reason, this is something I believe strongly with books. I think I would love to read this book again in a few years when I’m in my late 20s.

If you’re looking for a toxic relationship, look no further. Adelaide and Rory provide it in abundance. Adelaide loves Rory with her whole heart and Rory is trash.
This is the book I didn’t know I needed but mended a little piece of my heart or at least helped me let it go, just like Adelaide. The most frustrating part about this story is that we have all either been an Adelaide before, or we know one. The frustration came from Adelaide allowing Rory to be completely terrible to her. She loved him so hard that she lost herself until she broke. She couldn’t see what her friends were seeing, she just kept trying to love him even harder until he loved her. Unfortunately, that never happened and Adelaide hit rock bottom.
I went through so many emotions through this book, and although there was so much sadness, it was so beautifully written that you come away feeling happy. Happy that Adelaide had so many good people around her and I just knew from the moment Bubs appeared on my page that I would love him.
Please don’t ignore the trigger warnings before reading this one – rape, emotional abuse, suicide. It’s a hard read.
“She knew not all love felt the same, but she tended to experience love in all consuming, dizzying proportions. She dove in headfirst. It was the only way she knew”

Navigating relationships in your twenties can be all encompassing and Wheeler captures beautifully raw way as well as Adelaide’s emotions and experiences from adolescence to adulthood. From the beginning you know where things are heading, but getting there it is heavy read (please look up trigger warnings before starting) but it is worth it. I wanted to keep turning the pages while also having to stop myself at moments from how much this book had me feeling.

I was a bit worried by the selling point being for fans of Normal People as I'm not a fan of Sally Rooney's work as a whole but this book (for me) was fortunately nothing like this.

I liked the characters a lot (even if in the main they all live charmed, fairy tale lives) and found the explanation for how Adelaide reached rock bottom to be far more affecting than a lot of books with suicidal/depression themes. By the end I was really rooting for Adelaide and wholeheartedly loved the ending.

holy hell this was scarily relatable.

i... don't even know where to start or what to say? this is the story of Adelaide, an American twentysomething who is now living in London. Adelaide has a bit of a rough history, with mental health, men, her family life [in regards to mental health], etc. we meet her at a point where she's out living her life with her friends, drinking, having one night stands. until she meets Rory, when her world will never be the same again...

this is a very complex romance that delicately deals with mental health, death, and just how much you can love and care for someone and do everything for them who doesn't feel the same. Adelaide breaks by the end of it, but thankfully we have a satisfying final few chapters, epilogue, and resolution.

it is blatantly obvious how much of a red flag Rory is, though Adelaide is so willing to look past it and blame herself for not being enough. at some points she is genuinely conflicted with this, but Rory always draws her back in. Rory is a very complex character which is unpacked across this book, and i feel a mix of sympathy, hatred, and care for him (much like Adelaide did). doesn't excuse the toxicity that he exudes though (which, unfortunately, is very relevant in todays culture).

i think a lot of people will relate to this; especially in todays unfortunate dating culture. i felt so bad for her, how much she wanted to love and give her love to the wrong person, and i was rooting for her to have her happy ending (which she got!). this is a story of love, loss, addiction/abuse, mental health, and thankfully, healing.

this was beautifully written, tender, heartbreaking, but oddly satisfying. in some areas it reminded me of Claire Daverley's Talking at Night, a book i absolutely adore. Adelaide i think is a necessary read if you're in your 20s dealing with mental health/relationships/friendships and all. i cannot recommend this enough!

i feel like this review is a bit jumbled because i have no idea what to say but so many thoughts. i can't believe this is a debut novel!!!

thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc, much appreciated!

the book follows the journey of a woman as she ends up attempting to end her life after her relationship ends.

the story touches on such relatable topics. such as, relationships, teenagedom and mental illness in such a raw way.

the author perfectly portrays a toxic relationship between two people, through their story telling.

i enjoyed how the story touches on adelaide and rory’s lives before, during and after their relationship.

I feel like whatever I say isn't going to live up to how much praise this book deserves...
What I can tell you is, I ATE up every single word of this, and when I'd finished? I just started at the wall, because WOW.

I was an emotional wreck, let me tell you.
Genevieves writing style is beautiful, and I defy anyone not be be deeply moved by Adelaides story. She has captured true heartbreak and devastation perfectly. I spent about 75% of this with a huge lump in my throat. I was screaming inside for Adelaide to run away, wishing she'd wake up and see she deserved so much more... but that's love isn't it? You're wrapped up in the lust and excitement. You're infatuated, ignoring the red flags and toxicity. We can all see bits of ourselves in Adelaide.
If you want real, raw and honesty, you'll get it in this book.

For a debut novel, I can only say I'm truly excited to see where Genevieve goes next. This was STUNNING! And the ending couldn't have been anymore perfect.

I had an eye out for this book for a long time, so thank you for sending me this eARC!

As I'm writing this review, I'm still thinking about the story and trying to process it. This is not a light and fun story, but it's a story that slowly weaved itself into my heart, one that'll live there rent-free forever.
My heart broke for Adelaide. Seeing her put others' needs first and be such a kind person to everyone but still getting hurt was painful to read. And even though heartbreak plays a huge role in this book, it also covers topics like abuse, mental health, growth and the importance of (female) friendship. Adelaide's story isn't one of sunshine and roses but of healing and growth. That was portrayed beautifully in this book. It was great to see her asking for and getting help both professionally and from the amazing women in her life, who never judged and always supported her and to see her setting boundaries while staying true to herself. Adelaide never gave up, not on life and not on love.
Moreover, the writing was phenomenal. I'm a fan of Sally Rooney and her lack of quotation marks and I loved that that was the case here, too (don't worry, speech is written in cursive). The way Wheeler wrote about mental health was truly amazing because it felt authentic and respectful. Also, there's a quote that'll probably stick with me all my life:
"Pain is pain is pain. It was important to recognize your privilege, yes. To show gratitude, to count your blessings. But it was also important to acknowledge and accept your pain, to understand that no matter how large or small your problems, your losses, your wounds - they are yours. And you're allowed to feel them. The hardest loss will always be your own."
I apologise for this slightly chaotic and unstructured review, but these are just my thoughts at the moment ;)

Thank you to Aria Fiction for gifting me a copy of this book, I can honestly say this has been my favourite book I’ve read recently. Yes it’s pretty hard hitting and discusses some very delicate themes but my goodness it’s written so beautifully. A true raw and real read. The way it’s written is so clever, I became totally immersed and lost in the characters! I also enjoyed that all the characters were so different and it’s safe to say we all know a Rory! The ending was so profound and I just loved every bit of it. It makes me jealous of those people who haven't read it yet, I would love to experience it all over again!

Beautiful and a moving exploration into what it is to love, and to be loved. I saw a lot of myself in Adelaide, in her way of loving, running her tank empty, and desperately seeking love. Wheeler wrote this book with so much compassion and care that I found myself borderline tears several times. I hated Rory, and loved him at the same time, for what he did to Adelaide, but also how he forced her to find herself. This entire novel is overflowing with love. There is love on every single page, between friends and sisters and found family. I simply loved the entire reading experience. This was like looking into myself a little, with my heart on my sleeve and reading about someone who was a lot like me, but also vastly different. Simply breathtaking.

I can’t recommend ‘Adelaide’ enough. I really, really loved it. It hit all of the notes for me; strong writing, depth and complexity of the relationships, characters I fell in love with, fully -fleshed supporting characters and a really strong sense of place.