Name: Bailey Gilbert's review of Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
Item: Alone With You in the Ether
Rating: 5
Author: Bailey Gilbert

Olivie Blake

From the no.1 international bestselling author of The Atlas Six 'Olivie Blake is a mind-blowing talent' - Chloe Gong Chicago, sometime. Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different. Both obsessive, eccentric personalities, Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan struggle to be without each other from the moment they meet. The truth - that he is a clinically depressed, anti-social theoretician and she is a manipulative liar with a history of self-sabotage - means the deeper they fall in love, the more troubling their reliance on each other becomes. Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake is a glimpse into the nature of love, what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken. Reader reviews for The Atlas Six: ‘The most brilliant, immersive, magic-made-real book I've ever read!’ ‘Deftly woven plot and amazing ensemble cast’ ‘Believe the hype! Absolutely fantastic!’

Alone With You in the Ether

i v e t t e 

They both paused, sipping from their respective thoughts. “I like it,” he said. “What?” He loosened the wine from his lips. “Your brain.”

“fingering the stem of his glass. “And I don’t enjoy the necessity of having to predict how other people think.” “You’re doing it now, aren’t you?” He shook his head. “I’m not trying to predict you. I’m trying to understand you.”

“She hated all scenarios preceding the assumption that someone could predict her taste. Either they thought it universal enough that she could be lumped in with masses or they thought (usually incorrectly) that they understood her specific needs, and she wasn’t sure which crime was worse.“

“If it helps, not too many people are all that difficult to puzzle out, comparatively.” “I find that difficult to believe.” “Most people are a very specific set of variables. You know, goals, motivations, flaws, varying degrees of psychological trauma—” “No,” she corrected, “I meant I find it difficult to believe I’m in any way complex.” He stopped for a moment, tilting his head."

"Curiosity was unspeakably worse and far more addicting than sexual attraction."

One mildly flattering review said, “Damiani is really fucking smart and probably a lunatic. Good news is he grades strictly to the department-mandated curve, so statistically speaking someone will magically wind up with an A.”

"When you learn a new word, you suddenly see it everywhere. The mind comforts itself by believing this to be coincidence but isn’t—it’s ignorance falling away. Your future self will always see what your present self is blind to. This is the problem with mortality, which is in fact a problem of time. It isn’t constancy that keeps us alive, it’s the progression we use to move us. Because everything is always the same until, very suddenly, it isn’t."

"Eventually she would marry him, and then everything she was would vanish into his name."

"so the process is about the moment of catharsis. The reverence is in making art—in being part of its creation, but then leaving it open to destruction. What Native Americans did with sand, Jackson Pollock did with paint, which is perhaps an empty rendition of it. In fact, he never openly admitted to adopting their techniques—which makes sense, as it’s far closer to appropriation than it is to an homage. But could you do it?” She turned to look at The Husband, sparing him a disinterested once-over."

"His mind was like a computer with multiple applications open, some of them buzzing with contemplation in the background. Most of the time Aldo did not give others the impression he was listening, a suspicion that was generally correct."

"because everything was a consequence of something and therefore what became of them was somehow predetermined, or no, it did not matter at all, because beginnings and endings were not as important as the moments that could have happened or the outcomes that might have been."

CHICAGO, SOMETIME-Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different. Both obsessive, eccentric personalities, Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan struggle to be without each other from the moment they meet. The truth-that he is a clinically depressed, anti-social theoretician and she is a manipulative liar with a history of self-sabotage-means the deeper they fall in love, the more troubling their reliance on each other becomes. An intimate study of time and space, ALONE WITH YOU IN THE ETHER is a fantasy writer's magicless glimpse into the nature of love, what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken.

jean

Knowing her would mean knowing everything, not just her thoughts or her truths or the way she liked to be fucked. Knowing her would mean knowing her future, having it for himself. It was knowing what her children would look like, and what she would look like someday, when the youth was gone from her face and replaced by something else; by what? A mnystery. 

Maybe this is why men rule the world, because they were clever enough to convince women that virginity is precious, that sex itself should be secret, that being penetrated was sacrosanct. 

He lived each day over and over, with only his memory of rising each morning to prove that his existence fol- lowed the same rules of motion as everything else. He didn't know it was vacancy until his new life was overfull, bursting, his sense of stability lost to the effort of pacing himself to her. When she moved, he moved, and it was unsteadying: debilitating.

“So this is what it is to love something you cannot control, he thought. It felt precisely like terror.”

He didn’t see the problem in loving her that way, with a savagery that felt as ancient as his sorrows, until he realized that he could no longer recall a life without her. It was as if the older versions of him had been erased and could no longer exist. He realized that his relationship with time, whatever it was before, was now forever altered.”

“He lived each day over and over, with only his memory of rising each morning to prove that his existence followed the same rules of motion as everything else. He didn’t know it was vacancy until his new life was overfull, bursting, his sense of stability lost to the effort of pacing himself to her. When she moved, he moved, and it was unsteadying; debilitating, at times.”

“The idea that even he didn’t recognize happiness when he felt it was comforting, in some way. She was comforted by knowing he was equally as stupid and hopeless as she was.”

“If this is what it is to burn, he thought, then I will be worth more as scattered ash than any of my unscathed pieces.” 

“If she were any less impulsive, she wouldn’t be with me and I would have never known what she was, or how it felt to hold her. I would never have known what it was to matter for once; for the first time, and for the only time that I have ever known.”

“She and his thoughts were inextricably linked now, to the point where even math, which had always been pleasing for being solitary, had become profoundly lonely.”

“he doesn’t want to be the person she hides from, he wants to be the person she hides with.”

“Can you love my brain even when it is small? When it is malevolent? When it’s violent? Can you love it when it doesn’t love me?”

Haya Baroudi

i have read and reread this book again and again. i love it dearly and i think about it all the time. a gorgeous exploration of two people, and a slow steady shift from being an outsider in their lives to being inside their minds and understanding who they are. a book about knowing and being known and having conversations. spectacular. 

Bailey Gilbert

It broke me apart, it told me that we can love a person with flaws, be with them, support them, even if we cannot fix them with our love. It was an extraordinary mix of both science and art.

bees, 6 conversations, time travel, hexagons, babylonians & utterly romantic 💗

Kaarthik sekar 

It broke me apart, it told me that we can love a person with flaws, be with them, support them, even if we cannot fix them with our love. It was an extraordinary mix of both science and art.

bees, 6 conversations, time travel, hexagons, babylonians & utterly romantic 💗

To be loved even when your mind is in chaos, to be understood so thoroughly it will be forever engraved into their system.

A glimpse into a joining of hearts and minds as Aldo and Charlotte meet and fall ever deeper into love. They'll need to face their fears and the fractures within themselves - and still love as if they've not broken.

Alone with You in the Ether

without getting too personal: many things clicked into place this time, my third go-round with the audiobook, fourth overall read. the narrative structure and the general narration will not work for everyone, but i think if you know what it's like to hear yourself and not like yourself and feel listless and desperate for something to spark a fire in you, then let this be an offered match. 

cee 

previously was rated 3.5 stars. 

without getting too personal: many things clicked into place this time, my third go-round with the audiobook, fourth overall read. the narrative structure and the general narration will not work for everyone, but i think if you know what it's like to hear yourself and not like yourself and feel listless and desperate for something to spark a fire in you, then let this be an offered match. 

i used to burn out, but now i just burn.

i don't even know how to put into words how this book altered my brain chemistry. it's one of those books that doesn't feel like just a 'story' — it was an experience. it's messy, gut wrenching, but so fucking beautiful. oddly comforting how i see myself in these two characters. literally everything everywhere all at once. and hexagons. 

The book was written beautifully, as was the story behind it. I wouldn't recommend it to those who get bored easily or don't like to overthink. While reading, I experienced a mix of emotions—at times I felt joy, butterflies in my stomach, sadness, concern, and moments where I just wanted to scream and cry.

gitsa

read this at the peak of covid in 2020. bawled at the end, mental illness shrouds one’s executive functioning but the love, will always be felt. very meaningful story, will not forget the rollercoaster of emotions i felt reading this

From Olivie Blake, the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six, comes an intimate and contemporary study of time, space, and the nature of love. Alone with You in the Ether explores what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken. CHICAGO, SOMETIME— Two people meet in the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist, undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. By the end of the story, these things will still be true. But this is not a story about endings. For Regan, people are predictable and tedious, including and perhaps especially herself. She copes with the dreariness of existence by living impulsively, imagining a new, alternate timeline being created in the wake of every rash decision. To Aldo, the world feels disturbingly chaotic. He gets through his days by erecting a wall of routine: a backbeat of rules and formulas that keep him going. Without them, the entire framework of his existence would collapse. For Regan and Aldo, life has been a matter of resigning themselves to the blueprints of inevitability—until the two meet. Could six conversations with a stranger be the variable that shakes up the entire simulation?

A Love Story

I am so remarkably changed by this book i had to read it twice 

Stella 💫

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes an intimate and contemporary study of time, space, and the nature of love. Alone with You in the Ether explores what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken. CHICAGO, SOMETIME-- Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. By the end of the story, these things will still be true. But this is not a story about endings. For Regan, life is a finish line of mutually assured disappointment. Her method of coping with the dreariness of existence is to project herself into imagined multipotency, spinning new threads of destiny with every impulsive decision she makes. For Aldo, life is a plague of constancy--a structure of rules and formulas that keep him going, without which the entire frame of his existence would collapse. For both of them, life is a matter of resigning themselves to the blueprints of inevitability, until six conversations with a stranger form the variable that glitches the entire simulation.

Kirsten Kim

I cannot explain the ways in which this altered my brain chemistry as I was reading it. Tortured artist & tortured mathematician fall in love and the world, time and parallel universes are all nothing, everything and also hexagons.

For plot driven people, this is not for you,  unfortunately. If you are looking for a book to help you feel a little deranged this is it. Do with that information what you will. 

Kate B-L

I cannot explain the ways in which this altered my brain chemistry as I was reading it. Tortured artist & tortured mathematician fall in love and the world, time and parallel universes are all nothing, everything and also hexagons.

For plot driven people, this is not for you,  unfortunately. If you are looking for a book to help you feel a little deranged this is it. Do with that information what you will. 

Yes, this is one of my favorite books that I reread every year. Yes, this is a 3-star read. I've found that whoever I find the most annoying during my read is who I relate to at the moment, and this time it was Regan and all of her impulses. Regan and her insatiable needs. Regan and her mania, and her desire to create, her struggling and trying to find equilibrium. 

When I recommend this book, I always say that this is not a love story, but it is about romance. It's about finding love in the mundanity, about what ties us together. Regan's human fears of people leaving her when the shine wears off, and Aldo's passiveness of letting life pass him is what causes their conflict. It's what makes their love story—their mutual obsession—explosive, and when it does fizzle out... it pieces itself back together. Time cycles. People are creatures of habit. Love is not easy and clear cut and we keep moving. And things are the same, but shifted slightly to the left. 

Yes, this is one of my favorite books that I reread every year. Yes, this is a 3-star read. I've found that whoever I find the most annoying during my read is who I relate to at the moment, and this time it was Regan and all of her impulses. Regan and her insatiable needs. Regan and her mania, and her desire to create, her struggling and trying to find equilibrium. 

When I recommend this book, I always say that this is not a love story, but it is about romance. It's about finding love in the mundanity, about what ties us together. Regan's human fears of people leaving her when the shine wears off, and Aldo's passiveness of letting life pass him is what causes their conflict. It's what makes their love story—their mutual obsession—explosive, and when it does fizzle out... it pieces itself back together. Time cycles. People are creatures of habit. Love is not easy and clear cut and we keep moving. And things are the same, but shifted slightly to the left. 

Heather Margaret

My new favorite book. I am so in love with this story and the writing and everything.

Anjorin Molayo 

I can’t believe i stalled this book. I can’t believe i didn’t finish it when i picked it up at first, only to find out that’s it’s actually really good. I went through an emotional roller coaster while reading this book. I cried a bit because it’s was sad. Mental illness is real, and it could end something so beautiful, but they scaled through. 
I loved the fact that Charlotte and Rinaldo understood each other, they cared for each other and they were there for each other. Their love and the way they treated each other made me feel soft. sigh. 
My favorite part was when she decided to paint him; the way the author writes makes the imagination easier because you could almost feel every single thing she’s writing about. Here, she writes about Charlotte painting Rinaldo; it was as if one was actually there, it was so real. 
The other part I loved so much was “firsts”; the first time they had sex, the first time they argued, their first time for everything. 
I love this book so much. The writing style is different, different from any book i’ve ever read and I’m so invested in it. the author writes like she’s writing poetry omg. I really wish i could read this book for the first time again. 
A solid 5/5.

Elisavet Rozaki 

I need someone to wipe my memory so I can read this book again for the first time!!! Olivie Blake's writing is so unique and introspective for the characters!!! Most beautifully written story I've read this year <3

This book took me on a journey through the minds of the characters, but also through my own. Painfully beautiful prose.

sani

what if i say this is actually one of the best books i have ever read? it shattered my heart, changed the trajectory of my brain, made me feel sick and what not. 

“i love him, and for a moment it doesn’t matter whether he loves her back. it is enough to have known that the inside of her chest is more than a place for storage.”

i relate to regan so much that it scares me. her moodiness, her obsession with change, her repulsion for emptiness. so on point. “without the volatility of her extremes, what was she?” exactly. what am i without my extremes? Regan's monologues tore me apart because how can i unhealthily relate to a character that much? Aldo is so precious. now, i cannot help but see bees and time in a wholly different light because of them. 

AldoRegan were so realistic, complex and layered, just like us normal people. wish i could read it again for the first time!

arwen

found myself getting so distracted throughout the entire book. Although there is a lot of beautiful quotes throughout and made me think a lot. 

Lex Forbes

aileeeeeeen

I have no idea about this. was this good? yes, a little perplexing? yes. but I know that this one is beautifully written. the characters, moments, personas, they were all exciting and well-made. but one thing that I know that this book is dedicated for pretty girls, boys and they who are hopeless romantic.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Krys C.

Beautiful writing, realistic depiction of mental health, lots of meaningful quotes and passages, and highly character-driven. It takes us deep into the characters' brains and thought process and motivations. Unfortunately, it did not personally appeal to me and I found myself bored half the time I was reading.

Not for me but I can really understand why people love this book so much. First 35 pages and I was feeling uncomfortable and bored; so close to DNFing which says alot since I rarely do that. Once Aldo and Regan met, I really started to love it, the beginning of the middle if you really understand what I mean was what I loved, it felt so fresh and new and real and authentic: the 6 conversations was my favourite part. Now, as we went further and futher into the "middle" of the book and even closer to the end, everything became really blended and just muddled up, where alot of the time the author was just assuming we'd understand what was going on, and I'm guessing people did, but I really didn't. Didn't really understand what was going on last 15 pages because something very big and theatrical and melodramatic happened but I didn't have a clue about what was going on. I love the characters though; Regan's mental issues which she used to fix with pills which she tries to ditch, and neurodivergant Aldo, who's confusing in terms of his obsessions with maths and theories with time. 

Didn't understand anything, but in theory this book is great. Wouldn't really recommend. 

surtified™

Not for me but I can really understand why people love this book so much. First 35 pages and I was feeling uncomfortable and bored; so close to DNFing which says alot since I rarely do that. Once Aldo and Regan met, I really started to love it, the beginning of the middle if you really understand what I mean was what I loved, it felt so fresh and new and real and authentic: the 6 conversations was my favourite part. Now, as we went further and futher into the "middle" of the book and even closer to the end, everything became really blended and just muddled up, where alot of the time the author was just assuming we'd understand what was going on, and I'm guessing people did, but I really didn't. Didn't really understand what was going on last 15 pages because something very big and theatrical and melodramatic happened but I didn't have a clue about what was going on. I love the characters though; Regan's mental issues which she used to fix with pills which she tries to ditch, and neurodivergant Aldo, who's confusing in terms of his obsessions with maths and theories with time. 

Didn't understand anything, but in theory this book is great. Wouldn't really recommend. 

this is a pleasant surprise for me. i went in blind and now i came out speechless. wow

ayoni

Laura Rodrigues de Pina

Íntimo, sensível e reflexivo. Tenho pra mim que esse é um livro pra ser lido com a maior atenção possível e digerido aos poucos, mas eu não consegui, a leitura me prendeu do início ao fim ao passo em que Aldo e Regan entravam na vida um do outro como um furacão, eu me afundava na leitura cada vez mais. 

As emoções ou falta delas, transmitidas de forma que eu sentia junto deles. Nos momentos de intimidade física ou não era como se eu estivesse interrompendo algo, presenciando momentos que não deveriam pertencer a ninguém além dos dois. E quando ouvia os pensamentos de Charlotte me vi um pouco naquelas páginas de maneira que não esperava me ver. 

Bem, o dia que comecei a ler disse que esse seria um livro que eu sentia que iria mudar minha vida e assim como o casal protagonista, que sabem que nunca mais seriam os mesmo após tudo, acho difícil eu ser a mesma também.

Infinite stars. There just aren't enough words. Read it

Haya Baroudi &
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

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Haya Baroudi &Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

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Haya Baroudi &
Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake