One For My Enemy

I love everything about this book. The tension. The Shakespearean references. The atmosphere.

Dragging. Had to force myself to finish this. I felt no connection with the characters.

A very interesting book. I like how it was written in acts and scenes that imitated Shakespeare’s original script.

I thought I’d never finish this book

the 4 stars are for Lev and Sasha

🤭

Written with the twists and tragedies of Romeo and Juliet in such poetic, fluid language. Wild ride.

“dima, you are the sun, the moon, and the stars.”

hm

Incredible, Incredible, Incredible. I don't think I'll ever tire of Olivie Blake's writing. She's complex and layered, simple and moving. Her characters are so easy to fall in love with.

Comparing this to the Atlas Trilogy is hard for me because they have a very different vibe, but going into this book knowing it's a stand-alone changes your perspective. I'm still reeling from the ending and trying to piece together everything I read.

honestly i liked this book

it started well, i think the author created an interesting world because of its simplicity but towards the end this simplicity also made the story lack of dept?? the magic system wasn’t magic systemying…. although i get that it was probably due to this book being a standalone

I liked the fact that they all were over dramatic on this, from a rational point of view it seems to be that this whole problem would be solved with the power of communication!!! but it’s a romeo and juliet retell so makes sense

the reason of why the families were enemies seemed so plain to me tbh like that rivalry wasnt serious enough to do all of that…… many things about them were left unwritten, the sisters were there just to solve the problems of the main characters for example

this may be unpopular but I liked more the sasha/lev pairing than the marya/dima but the latest one was so WELL written omg

also why they all had russian names? it felt like something that was left on air, apart from some mentions to russian folk tales it wouldn’t change the sense of the story if they were all just americans or else, it felt like this was a wasted element that could benefit the story if it had an actual purpose and was well developed

beautiful written, and entertaining enough to read in one go, and above all it made me wanna read the other books of the author

so this was going to be lower bc honestly I was bored through most of it and I think the writing is eh and dialogue is unbelievable and stiff, but I was surprised at how much I cared for the characters, especially sasha and dmitri, and how I was rooting for the two couples by the end, so at least there’s that! characters=good, plot=good, writing=sadly not my cup of tea

I feel like this one let me down a bit? Lol I truly wanted to love this one. Feuding witches, Shakespearean vibes, the immaculate aesthetic of the B&N edition, enemies to lovers..? But, the story more or less dragged on and on for me. Someone was dead. Someone was alive. No one likes Koschei the deathless. Idk, not much happens and there were just so many characters, a lot of it seemed pointless.

Would have been a two star but I did love the vibes and thinks it will be good for a fall tbr if this book is your vibe.

wow. the writing was absolutely beautiful, i get the hype for olivie blake now. this was just wonderful.

‘One for my Enemy’ is a phenomenal story of dueling families and the people and loves that get caught between them. Blake is the only one who could tell this story, her style being singularly spectacular for the genre of modern fantasy. Her characters can flip from confessing their love in speeches which would silence literature professors on one page to sarcastically disregarding a drug dealer on the next. The people are loveable, flawed, and use their hard-won skills to keep themselves, and their lovers across the battle line, unscathed in the midst of a family feud. The costs to keep themselves wholly intact are high.

'"Write me a tragedy, Lev Fedorov," she whispered to him. "Write me a litany of sins. Write me a plague of devastation."'

A Romeo and Juliet retelling, but with a witchy twist!

When I first read the synopsis of this, I inwardly groaned at the thought of another Romeo and Juliet retelling, but I should not have underestimated Olivie Blake's writing to be able to play such a refreshing twist on an over told story!

The format of this book was genius, playing on the old timeless classic play, but making it prose! The writing was beautiful and heartbreaking, and everything you expect from a tragedy!

The characters were exquisitely captivating! The character dynamics within the relationships explored were thrilling, as they constantly shifted from love to tension, trust to betrayal. To contrast from the original Romeo and Juliet, the play to make the women more powerful was thrilling! They were still being severely underestimated by the male characters, but this just made it all the more satisfying when then female characters used this to their advantage and flourished.

With all the high stakes romance and heartbreak you expect from a Romeo and Juliet retelling, but the added suspense of never really knowing which couple was headed for tragedy! I loved this more than I thought possible!

Probably one of the only Romeo and Juliet retelling I actually like. I loved the Russian witches take and the mentions of Slavic folklore, not to mention the artist did a great job at looking into old symbolism and using it in the illustrations "Bravo, Chmura." Blake really knows how to write a beautiful story that keeps you guessing all the way through. Took off a star since after about the half way point the story started to falter for a bit before picking up again towards the end. Still a remarkable book and I do highly recommend reading it.

4.5,,,, i cried yeah they got me 🫡 loved the characters and the story. took me forever to read tho, like maybe it’s cos of the pov type and the writing style took a while to get used to.

The writing just didn't work for me. It didn't flow very well and I had to reread some stuff just to understand what was going on. There were also a lot of continuity errors from one paragraph to the next which didn't help. The characters were fine, nothing special really. The plot was not only predictable but also repetitive and dragged on for no reason. The magic system was underdeveloped. I read this for the love story and the pairings had a couple of good scenes here and there but overall just added to the disappointment. My only joy was the second son with some of his unintentionally funny scenes.

Olivie has a way of writing complex and intricate storylines with an incredible ending, not to mention how most of the quotes captivated me so much.

olivie blake can write romeo and juliet, but shakespeare can't write one for my enemy. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS, BLAKE

i am made of shattered glass

2nd read This book did irreparable damage to my mental and emotional state. Somehow, rereading it is even more painful than when I read this book for the first time, and I think it's because of the knowledge I have of the fate of each characters, hence the anticipation towards the moments got emotional. I adore everything about this book, and the story is nothing if not riddled with intricate dealings. The complicated bond between siblings, past lovers, rivals falling for each other, and how it's not all black and white, I love everything about it. My favorite part has to be Masha Antonova being girlboss gaslight gatekeep and Dimitri Fedorov being mansplain manipulate malewife. And now, I will be sending my therapy bills to Olivie Blake and every editor that makes banger edits that, unfortunately, ruined my entire being. 1st read olivie blake always did it. her stories always captivate me and her writing had me floored every single time. this one... this one truly hit me harder (even if i don't quite feel for Sasha and Lev) and you know who really grip me? Marya Antonova and Dimitri Fedorov. Such an amazing story. And a heartbreaking ending too.