Thank to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: April 4, 2023

I just love Olivie Blake's writing. This one started off a little slow for me but wow did it build. Her writing is so descriptive, and emotional, and poetic. I love the super strong and smart, don't mess with me female lead who had everything figured out.

For the most part the audio narrator was very good, great voices and emotion and speed. There were a few spots when she was just reading the narration in the beginning/middle that the cadence and tempo started to bother me, but then I either got used to it or it was more dialogue and thoughts so it didn't happen as much or I just got so sucked into the story I didn't notice anymore. ( )

I am not even going to play it off... this book flung my Feels about like a battered ship in a deadly storm that eventually found its way to land (weathered and beaten yet cherised all the same) and that patch of hallowed land just so happened to be none other than my (ever elusive) Favorites pile.

A bit much? Maybe... ok, ok, yes, BUT it paints the mood a perfect shade because...

This witchy Romeo and Juliette reimagining was Awesome! There was drama (of course), and there was tension, betrayl... single, double and triple agent fakeout betrayl, and then there was the nasty business of Murrrrder... dum dum dummmm.

Well, where do I begin? Wrangling my thoughts in order to review this gem is proving difficult, so I'll just dive in and hope it makes sense in the end. I feel that I have to praise the character development right off the bat. The characters were artfully molded, and the dialogue was incredibly natural... so natural that it's likely you'll close your eyes and believe wholeheartedly that you are there, eavesdropping on private moments. You'll instantly be transported to the thick of the action... action rife with angsty/witchy drama and dastardly machinations. Our MCs, Sasha and Dima, are complex and compelling. They are not our Romeo and Juliette pair, although they are each one half of that dynamic duo for another... confusing? It'll all make sense once you decide to take the plunge.

Will I go on and wax poetic about the dialogue some more? Heck yeah, I will! It was organic and came off as effortless... and the gorgeous (tragic) pledges of undying adoration were expertly sculpted & perfectly delivered. It was firmly, 100%, in the Goldilocks Zone. The gut-wrenching declarations (and subsequent actions) of love were precisely doled out... it wasn't too much as to oversaturate and spoil the entire story with sappy prose. YET, it was also not too skimpy where you'd question if they even really cared at all. In fact, speaking of amore... I found that I couldn't help but love more than just our 2 MCs... I adored almost all of the characters and detested the rest (as I'm sure you will do too)... that is, until we learn some of each person's backstory... then I'm sure you'll waffle on those (previously believed) loathsome characters as well.

All of this emotional tug-of-war lends backup to my claim that this book had some truly excellent character development (a key factor for an amazing story, imo). Those tender/heartfelt declarations of love were hard to listen to without my eyes brimming... yes, it's allergy season here BUT I'll tell it straight... I cried... a LOT, BUT in my defense, the touching moments were pure gold. I was him... I was her... I was a combination... I was a whimpering mess. In fact, I dare you to read/listen to the (audio)book and not shed a single tear at a few clutch places... not even a wet eye?? You, my biblio- hellion, might be soulless! Or not, you might just be stoic... or a psychopath... I'll never know.

You also might be asking yourself, "How good could a retelling of such an iconic story be? One that was not only created by a master artist... a linguistic genius, BUT a reimagining that has been replicated over and over again adneausium to boot? Could it be done convincingly? Better yet, how could it possibly be unique??" Wellll, let me tell you that it was done so well that it blew the original out of the water! I know, I know, that seems like sacrilege, BUT I don't remember Shakespeare making me feeeel this way. Not only was I a sniffling mess, but I also had to endure very judgmental stares... stares from neighboring cars as I drove along... openly weeping... they were a combination of pity, confusion, and "omg, omg, don't look over, but there's a total headcase bawling her eyes out in the car next to us... don't make eye contact, I don't need to be dragged into her crazy" (eh- at least that's what their faces were saying)... that's what I get for listening to this audiobook out in the wild... but let me just lay it down here... it is SOOOOO worth it! (End run-on rant).

Overall:
I can't say enough about how much I truly adored this retelling. And that ending?? Olivie Blake crafted a true work of art, especially with that ending... it was a thing of beauty how Masha's (Sasha's sister and Dima's soulmate) long game played out in the end. It was just....
*** mmmmwah- chef's kiss ***
I also feel compelled to praise the narrator. She was extremely adept at voicing the different characters regardless of gender or age.

So, as you can probably surmise, I highly recommend this book, not only to genre specific readers but to any and all bibliophiles as well. I mean, how much more praise can I sing other than it now resides comfortably among my other favorite reads (an impressive feat to be sure). Go forth and indulge, I might be doing so again sometime soon. I can't wait to read what you think...

~ Enjoy ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/04/2023043-one-for-my-enemy-olivie-blake.htm... ( )

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake is a stunning novel. Every aspect of it hit all the right notes for me. I want to reread it to experience the magic I felt while reading it the first time. Because it was a magical reading experience. The world felt a little brighter, and people didn’t seem quite as…well, ignorant. Ms. Blake put a spell on me with One for My Enemy, and I do not care.

I had my doubts about One for My Enemy. The opening few chapters have a strong Romeo and Juliet vibe, which is not my favorite Shakespeare play, and I contemplated whether I wanted to sit through another retelling. Then, with one scene, everything changed. I went from questioning it to wanting to read as fast as possible and yet as slowly as possible to savor each word.

The prose in One for My Enemy. Oh, the prose! I found myself lingering over passages in a way I do not do. Taking pictures of quotes to remember them later. Rereading them to see if they are just as impactful the second time. I am not one to get excited about someone’s writing. I am not a collector of quotes, and I don’t savor words. I did both for this novel.

From the Slavic families and traditions to the revenge plots, from the dueling families to the lovers, there was nothing about One for My Enemy I did not enjoy. The story may seem similar to Romeo and Juliet initially, but there is more depth here, more of a story in Ms. Blake’s version. The characters are so much stronger and more intelligent.

Plus, I never felt the romance between Romeo and Juliet. I felt every ounce of romance between our two couples. In fact, I felt more than romance; I felt their anger, frustrations, and pain. Their pain almost did me in, as it was so intense and so visceral. I don’t expect to feel that level of emotion based on someone’s printed words, but while reading One for My Enemy, I felt all of it.

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake was my favorite book for February and will be at the top of the list for my favorite book of the year. Ms. Blake blew me away with One for My Enemy, something I was not expecting but welcomed with open arms. It really was a magical experience. ( )

But why did they love each other? But why was there magic? ( )