Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler

Adelaide Williams moves to London and meets the man of her dreams, or so she thinks. He’s not exactly what she expected: he disappears from time to time, he doesn’t consider her his girlfriend and always makes her feel like she's not enough, but she’s certain that she can make him love her the way she does, even if that means setting aside her own needs in order to make him happy.

This book is deeply emotional and unfortunately relatable. I wanted Adelaide to act differently and make better decisions, but that’s what makes this book so poignant and real. It’s beautifully written and it serves as an example of why we should never sacrifice ourselves or the people we love, especially for an unreciprocated love.

Adelaide is not an easy read. It explores heavy topics like suicidal ideation, mental illness, grief, psychological abuse, and miscarriage.

The audio narrated by Caitlin Kelly was excellent! Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley or the complimentary copy. I highly recommend it!

Thank you to the publisher for a free audio copy of Adelaide. I really enjoyed this story. For me, it was heart wrenching, relatable, and hard to look away. Adelaide was an honest and vulnerable character who just made you feel seen and sane in whatever you're going through in your own life. The first-person storytelling and audio narration specifically engaged me from the start, and I felt like I was friends with Adelaide, experiencing with her the sometimes toxic and confusing turbulence of the 20-somethings era of life. I wanted the absolute best for her and she didn't always treat herself the way she treated her friends, but she came so far in her character development that I felt gratified by her progress by the end. Things wrapped up a little quickly for my taste at the conclusion, but that's my only gripe. Worth the read and subsequent reflection on life.

Some people who are drawn to trauma corn might find this book just up their alley. It's a depiction of emotional abuse in the relationship in real-time. My review could contain triggering content as the book pertains to self-harm, abuse, and suicide. Please, if that is not something you want to read about, feel free to scroll away and find another wonderful read.

The main character, Adelaide comes to the conclusion that she wants to end her suffering in a final way. She admits herself to the hospital. After this introduction, we got to know what happened that drove her to this decision. She falls in love with a taker. Simple as that. The whole book is just a depiction of various moments in which the guys are walking and talking red flags. There are a couple of chapters from his point of view, which I would skip altogether because of how big of a piece of crap he is. But okay. The fact that the character in the book drives me to such emotions should tell you everything.

This is not a book I'm comfortable giving star reviews. Mostly because this is a specific type of lit. As compared to Sally Rooney, I think it has nothing in common and just stands on its own, which is a compliment. Yet, certain tropes are repetitive. All together I'll leave it to your discretion whether you read it or not, knowing that if those triggers are not influencing you, you will meet an awesome female character who will sometimes drive you up the wall, but overall is hard to dislike her.

This book was like a big hug. I loved it so much. Adelaide was such a lovable character who had you cheering for her every step of the way!

Unfortunately had to DNF this one at 27%. I just couldn’t connect to the MC and couldn’t listen for more than 30 minutes at a time because she just annoyed me so much. I’ve seen so many people who loved this but I just couldn’t get past the opening setup info to get into the meat of the story.

I really hate fuck boys. And Rory is the king of the fuck boys.

And important and unfortunately relatable story that needs to be told. I do wish however that the actual mental health aspect had gotten more rep and wasn’t swept under the rug as much

This was such a beautiful story that took such a great approach to mental health. I really enjoyed this story and felt all the emotion that went along with it. Thank you, NetGalley.

What an absolutely stunning book, I understand all the great reviews I’ve seen before diving it to read it myself.
Adelaide is the type of book that will break your heart and feel like a warm hug all at once.

Adelaide and Rory’s relationship takes you on a long journey - through their present together, their individual pasts that have helped shaped who they are, and begins to reveal what the future may hold for the two.
This also is not your typical girl meets Prince Charming, Prince Charming is perfect, girl falls in love type of romance story. At times, it felt more like reading Adelaide’s personal diary and a coming-of-age story filled with flawed and extremely realistic characters. Genevieve Wheeler took the time to give everyone such complex emotions, it’s hard to believe they aren’t real, which is also why I think it’s so easy for many of us to see ourselves within these pages.

On top of the relationship throughout the book, there is a depiction of what true female friendship is, it also highly touches on mental health (check trigger warnings), shows that it’s okay to ask for help, a wonderful exploration of grief, and shows what it’s like to love and be loved in return.

Like many others have mentioned in their reviews, a young Brianna would have also loved to read a book like this. But current day Brianna cannot wait to read what Genevieve Wheeler writes next.
Adelaide is worth the hype, pick up a copy today!

First, please check trigger warnings.

Second, this story grabbed me from the depths of my young girls soul. I think as a woman, all of us have either been Adelaide or have known Adelaide. I wanted to scream at her so many times, and others wrapped my arms around her and never let her go. I cried with emotions that came haunting me from my young years, and I could relate in so many ways. Which I know others will as well. I will say her writing was descriptive and had me in those moments.

Third, this is a strong 3.5 ⭐️ for me! I will be honest, I listened to this as an audible through NetGalley. I do not believe I could have read this book with the different styles of writing that this author took. However, the cover is amazing, and I had chosen that as a BOM purchase. I am glad I have the physical copy to display. The narrator was fantastic as well. The different accents and M vs. F voices were exceptional. I will definitely be listening to more of Caitlin Kelly.

Please add to your TBR if you are looking for a book about learning to love oneself, the battles of mental illness, the strength of a woman, and sincere and dedicated friendships. This is a book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this free audible version.

DNF'd at 75%

I just couldn't finish it.

Adelaide has an excellent premise and good start, but after the halfway point I lost interest and have no desire to finish. The book pulled me into a depressive state and all I could think about is Eda Mode screaming 'My God girl, PULL. YOURSELF. TOGETHER.'

Maybe because I'm older and wiser than I was in my early 20s I couldn't stand it. And I was absorbed enough in the characters and story to even care how it finished.

I enjoyed the narrator and thought the audiobook delivery was great. I always appreciate a flawed main character and I think there are a lot of women who will (unfortunately) find Adelaide and what she goes through relatable. 

As for the rest ...

The book started off promising. But once I hit the 40-50% mark things started to feel repetitive. Having to constantly read about what a jerk Rory Hughs is and how Adelaide couldn't see past his "Disney Prince" façade, was infuriating. Unfortunately, I can relate to Adelaide in many different ways, but for the life of me, I don't understand how she got to the point of love.

All of that aside, my biggest issue was how glossed over the mental health and suicidal ideations were handled. This was essentially the main plot of the book and they were swept under the rug in a matter of pages.

Because I enjoyed the narrator and small parts of the story, I will stick with a 2 star rating.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my arc in exchange for an honest review

This was a great book that hit on some hard truths and I loved the way it was played out. The narrator did an amazing job of making me feel connected to the story. I really enjoyed this book.

ADELAIDE is a book about love, about not being loved enough, about freedom and friendships and toxic relationships and heartbreak and hard work and also mental health. It is interesting to think that of as many books I read involving heartbreak and the painful volatility of young love, very few deeply explore mental health. Adelaide changes that, and digs in to how a history of mental illness can shape a person and a family. When Adelaide's heart breaks, yours breaks. When she expresses her adoration and thoughtful attention for Rory over and over and it is so devastatingly obvious that the emotions are not reciprocated as deeply, your heart aches. With that said, she did frustrate me with the endless ups and downs, it was hard not to grow impatient for a character that was so together in some aspects of her life, and such a mess in others.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. First, I want to say that this book is beautifully written. The writing itself is so amazing and flows so nicely. Second, the narrator for the audiobook is amazing.
This book is extremely heavy and emotional. Please check trigger warnings before reading as the content is so raw that it can feel like a stab to the heart. The story follows our main character Adelaide and her relationship with a boy (I saw boy because man is too strong a word for this fella). What starts off as a good relationship quickly turns horrid. Adelaide puts every speck of her soul into the relationship only to be abused and used by her partner. This story will leave you hurting for the main character and wanting to strangle her partner.

Well written (and narrated) story about what a legitimate and meaningful relationship should look like when you have unrecognized mental health symptoms.

ARC from the publisher via NetGalley, but the opinions are my own.

I know my feedback is late but wow. I need everyone to know going in this is sad and for some it will be triggering and hit home. I want to hug everyone this connects to.

Did this author write a book about Me? Because it sure feels like she reached into my heart and wrote all the things I felt growing up and even now sometimes. Adelaide was such a beautiful emotional story! About how things effect us and how our inner dialogue works even when the outside is looking perfect and acting perfect. I loved how the author wrote her, I wish I could of given Adelaide a hug so many times through out this book and I wish I could pinched Rory so many times!! I thought the author did a great job of explaining how toxic relationships work and how it’s hard to see what’s really Going on especially when you’re being gaslit constantly, never feeling like you’re good enough worth enough even when you’re giving it all you’re all. How even though you’re fighting a battle in you’re own head someone else’s tragedy always feels worse and that yours isn’t worthy of attention. Intill you can’t fight it anymore. I loved the ending to and thought it showed a very realistic way of healing and how it works, I was so happy for Adelaide in the ending. I also Listened to the audiobook version of this and through the narrator did a great job! It was really easy to listen to!

I wasn’t able to finish this book. I stopped at 30%. The writing was good, but the story line just didn’t hook me. It wasn’t enjoyable for me. I did like the mental illness and chronic illness representations and I wanted to enjoy this book.

It started off very heavy. Here are some subjects covered:
Suicide (immediately)
Anxiety
Depression
Obsessive compulsive tendencies
Endometriosis
Sexual assault
Rape

A miss for me. I found the main character at age 28 child-like throughout the book. I was put off and often wanted to throw in the towel. My younger self was nothing like her. Consequently I was not able to relate.

I persevered through the idiotic profanity, and all my heavy sighs and eye rolls. The choices Adelaide made were really far out of my realistic thinking. Suddenly as the end approaches (I'm grateful) and as far as I'm concerned out of nowhere, the author tags the main character with a substantial mental illness. At this point I was literally exhausted and ready to wash my hands of this mess and move on. The problem was I then spent 15-20 minutes trying to figure out how I was blindsided (eye roll).

The narrator was okay. I found her voice to be younger than late 20s, that added to my disappointment. I felt like I was listening to a gum smacking teenager. A narrator can move me to like a bad book, but not here.

Published: 04/18/23
Narrator: Caitlin Kelly

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review Adelaide.

This book wrecked me in the best way possible. I was captured from the very beginning and unable to get off the rollercoaster until the end. The author's voice and storytelling ability are so strong and unique that I was surprised to learn it was a debut!
This story will live in my head and my heart for a long time to come.