Whenever I read an Olivie Blake novel, I can’t ever quite find the words to adequately review it. Her stories suck you in and consume your life until you’ve reached the end. And oftentimes you have to start at the beginning and experience it again just so you can attempt to work the story out of your system. This story was no different. This is a Romeo and Juliet retelling, so I was all in the from the beginning, since that’s my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. I loved that this was an urban fantasy, but I’m so glad there wasn’t much world building or intricacies to the magic system. Keeping up with all the characters was enough for my brain. I was so immersed in this story that I actually woke up in the night thinking about the characters, wondering what would happen next. Once again, Olivie Blake amazes me with her lovely prose, and her brilliant storytelling.

I am so happy to have received this Advanced audio from NetGalley and Tor publishing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillian for the audiobook e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to have a like. charming and sufficently thought out review but really this book is designed for people who at one point, in their lives, did not sleep because they got REALLY invested in a long an elaborate au fanfic where the author of the fic put more thought into expanding the worldbuilding than the content's author ever did, and made a huge sprawling mess of intertwined character dynamics to boot.

Incredibly charming, incredibly fun, I had a delightful time with all of this!! A perfect book to listen to when I didn't want to think and just wanted to feel Big Feelings.

A witchy Romeo and Juliet retelling.

I love this retelling! It was a captivating story full of love, heartbreak, betrayals, and spells. I can see myself rereading this over and over again! If you're a fan of Romeo and Juliet, this is a must-read!

***Thank you to NetGalley, Olivie Blake, and Macmillan Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

Synopsis:
From New York Times bestselling author Olivie Blake comes an intricate web of love, magic, and rival witch families in New York City.

In modern-day Manhattan where we lay our scene, two rival witch families fight to maintain control of their respective criminal empires.

On one side of the conflict are the Antonova sisters — each one beautiful, cunning, and ruthless — and their mother, the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants, known only as Baba Yaga. On the other side, the influential Fedorov brothers serve their father, the crime boss known as Koschei the Deathless, whose community extortion ventures dominate the shadows of magical Manhattan.

After twelve years of tenuous co-existence, a change in one family’s interests causes a rift in the existing stalemate. When bad blood brings both families to the precipice of disaster, fate intervenes with a chance encounter, and in the aftershocks of a resurrected conflict, everyone must choose a side. As each of the siblings struggles to stake their claim, fraying loyalties threaten to rot each side from the inside out.

If, that is, the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy them first.

Also by Olivie Blake
Alone with You in the Ether
Masters of Death
The Atlas Six
The Atlas Paradox

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

RATING: 3.75-5 Stars

REVIEW:

Olivie Blake knows how to write. Her words are lyrical in feel as if she has written songs upon the pages of her novels and your eyes are the spark igniting her sound. Every book is thoroughly thought out and complex. Her characters are unlikable at times and yet you love them all the same.
This is what has me coming back every time she writes something new.
One for My Enemy is no exception. I was able to consume this via audiobook thank you to Macmillan Audio & Tor for the privilege to listen in exchange for my review.

This feels like a Romeo and Juliet retelling but it ends in a way that is satisfying beyond measure. It takes what was infuriating about Shakespeare's famed play and makes it right. Does that mean you won't be frustrated at the lack of communication or avoidable death? Absolutely not. Those aspects are what make the story move. It wouldn't feel like a retelling without some sense of longing for everyone to just communicate their needs and let go of their anger.

This is a story of two rival Family Heads who make their children bear the responsibility for their misguided choices made in misunderstanding. As Blake unfolds the plot you think that it will be straightforward. Two young people in love who sacrifice everything for the greater good. Yet halfway through you realize it's deeper than that. The Story continues to unfold and you're left with something much more impactful on your heart than you imagined.

There were moments I was unsure of what I heard and had to back up to listen to it once more. There were also times that I felt secondary characters were given too much story or not enough which reflected in my rating. However, overall I really enjoyed listening to this story. I highly recommend it to anyone needing a break from the norm. It is fast-paced and quick to fall into.

I’m sad to say this fell a little flat for me! Idk if I just couldn’t get into the main characters or what but I wanted to love this so fiercely but I’m sad I didn’t. This is a modern, fantastical retelling of Romeo and Juliet and while Olivie Blake’s prose is lyrical… I sometimes found myself confused?! This book was definitely Shakespearean in that it was dramatic and had tragedies that could’ve been completely avoided lol. It was a 3 star for me because it was good enough for me to keep going and not bad enough to DNF.

Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! One For My Enemy is our April 4!

Just... wow. Let's start with this, my expectations were high.

Having read quite a few books by Olivie Blake (aka Alexene Farol Follmuth) and being completely taken specifically with the Atlas Six & Atlas Paradox books, not to mention Alone with you in the Ether which I absolutely tore through the arc of too; I was expecting this book to be good. That being said, I am wrecked and vaulted into the atmosphere and torn to pieces and put back together and just.... blown tf away.

By whatever name she may choose to write her next book, I will be first in line for it.

I listened to this arc on audio, and the narrator was wonderful for this book, I have not had the pleasure of being read to by her before, but I would absolutely choose a book knowing she is involved again.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, I am looking forward to this book in print as well!

One For My Enemy by Olivie Blake
5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

It seems a crime that the original One For My Enemy has been around since 2019 and so few people have read it. I am so excited that Tor picked it up and it is being republished with new material and new artwork.

One For My Enemy interweaves multiple plot lines and stories but, most prominently, tells the story of two of the Federov sons and their love for two of the Antonova daughters. Sasha Antonova and Lev Federov meet by chance and everything that happens after is a story of love, loyalties, and the meaning of family. Masha Anotonova and Dima Federov have loved each other for years and their love just might be what brings the war between their families to the surface.

The writing is captivating, our side characters are amazing, and the ending is absolute perfection. This will be a top 2023 read for sure.

Read this book if you like:
- waring families with disobedient children
- a Romeo & Juliet retelling with a twist you won't expect
- a unique story setup that allows you to see multiple settings and point of views
- "in this life or any other"
- star crossed lovers
- lyrical writing
- hot witches

One For My Enemy will be released on April 4th and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

I didn’t enjoy the storyline or the characters. The premise and the little sample seemed so amazing but for me the whole thing fell completely flat and felt a little to inflated and a bit too pretentious. This book felt like it would have gladly insulted me and then make me feel like it was my fault for being “in the way”

Plot: 1
Prose: 1
World building: 1
Characters: 1
Themes: 1
5/5

Spice: 0/5 - fade to black but with such beautiful writing; you won’t miss it!

In true Olivie Blake form, One For my Enemy is a character-driven, beautifully written retelling of Romeo and Juliet. She makes up for a slower paced plot by weaving stunning prose that made me melt into a puddle.

Look, I hate Romeo and Juliet. I usually don’t like retellings of it either. But this was a great take on star-crossed lovers and the things people sacrifice for the ones they love.

I also enjoyed the magic, as they are witches but wanted more depth. It stayed pretty vague and whimsical, which does work for the story. I just love the details. It doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story at all.

I love Lev and his words. I’d die for someone to talk to me like that. Lol!

I listened to the audiobook and read this with an eArc. The narrator does such a wonderful job! 4/5 on the audiobook!

I would 1000% recommend this book to fans of The invisible like of Addie LaRue and for fans of Shakespeare retellings.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook. This is my honest review.

I have read a lot of Olivie Blake's books and I never really know how to feel about them. They are always well written and captivating, but I can't tell if I ENJOYED them.
That is until this one. I REALLY enjoyed this book. It is obviously based on Romeo and Juliet, but with magic. But this book was so much more than a retelling. Maybe I don't remember all of Shakespeare's play, but instead of hitting beat per beat, this book captured the FEEL of Romeo and Juliet. And there was enough of an unknown that it kept it interesting and riveting.

This is my favorite Olivie Blake by far. It is a well-done "fairy tale" retelling that possesses both an old-world and new-world feel. The characters were great, as was the world-building. This had the feel of one of my favorite Naomi Novik stories, so I really enjoyed it.

The audio narration was fantastic.

I only can't recommend this book to my students because it is a new adult/adult book, but I will recommend it to anyone else.

I love Olivie Blake more and more and want to own every book she ever writes. This book was so beautifully written. I laughed. I cried and I loved every single character for who they were, flaws and all. I loved the various points of view and I think that despite all the points of view, having one narrator didn't take away from that. I don't think having multiple narrators would have made it better. The narrator does a good job.

I want all of her books. Over and over again.

It's so hard to review a novel that you felt was meh, but yet you love the author and her exquisite writing. I think my biggest disappointment was that this was less about magic (like much, much less) and more about family drama and rivalry. I wish there was more magic, but it only existed to fluff up the (barely there) plot.

I'll start with the good. This is definitely subjective, but I really like Olivie Blake's writing style. It drips slowly like honey, but attacks you like poison. Her writing in this novel isn't quite like Atlas Six (which is still my favorite out of her four novels that I've read now), but there's inklings of it here.

The second half is so much better than the first half imo. The midpoint is a kicker and really drove things into action. Olivie Blake knows how to write second and third acts.

The narrator, Ferdelle Capistrano, was perfect for this type of family drama, backstabbing, magical mafia type of story. Her voice was alluring and mysterious, if that makes sense.

Now for the bad parts. The first half of the novel was slow and read too much like an insta love romance novel. There were some hints that things weren't all good and I wish more would've been focused on the rivalry and secrets between the Antonovas and Federovs. These are eventually revealed but it takes so long that I honestly might've DNF if this wasn't an arc.

Too much emphasis was focused on Sasha and Lev's insta romance. The two families, the magical politics in NYC, and even the Bridge were more interesting than their bland love-at-first-sight fling that somehow turned into a star-crossed lovers type of thing. Why not write more about the two sisters who can see death? Or write more about the magical NYC boroughs? Like literally anything else would make for a better first half.

But at least this novel was better than Alone with You in the Ether and had some semblance of a plot, although it was still pretty thin and could've benefited from following an actual three act structure.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this arc.

Amazing audiobook of a classic literary retelling of Romeo and Juliet, mixing in magical realism in our modern day world! Ferdelle Capistrano is an award winning narrator with a beautiful youthful energy, and I loved how she narrated One For My Enemy by one of my favorite authors, Olivie Blake. Blake has written three other books I have read this year, two from the Atlas Six series and Alone with You in the Ether. The prose in One For My Enemy is breathtaking, resembles William Shakespeare’s style, and it fits this unique retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

The Antonova sisters and the Fedorov brothers have tragedy dawning, with of course, forbidden love bringing forth heartache in modern day Manhattan. As a person who grew up in New York, I LOVED having Manhattan as the backdrop. Bewitching and tense, the story and the narrator bring forth intimacy, energy, warmth and beauty. Five out of five stars for an unforgettable audio experience. I would recommend this for any classroom retelling of the original. It brings relevance, and I bet, a new generation of fans towards Shakespearian writings.

Much gratitude to Macmillan Audio via NetGalley for this advanced audiobook. I listened voluntarily and all opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of the audiobook. This story was fun! I enjoyed the back and forth, the suspense, and the characters. The format was a nice touch. Tragedy but not 100%, which is nice.

I received an audio ARC through Netgalley for an honest review
I thought that I was going to like this a lot more than I did due to love it The Atlas Six. With a messy, non-linear plot that had pacing issues, it was hard to follow at sometimes and some of it feels like it is not needed. It also feels like the plot was second thing focused on where the romance was the main focus, but not even that was well written. All the the characters were just okay and none of them were well developed. On top of this the world building/magic system was poorly built. Maybe some issues would be better if read as opposed to listening to it, but overall it was just okay.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

Olivie Blake writes in a way that makes my brain feel absolutely buckwild, and it tends to translate really well to audio. Blake's take on Romeo and Juliet was a fun urban fantasy and tonally similar to her Atlas series, and I enjoyed sinking into the little enclave of New York witches that she's created. Capistrano did an excellent job at bringing the characters to life and I enjoyed the way Blake made the story her own while still keeping the underpinnings of the original Shakespeare.

This book was so fun and a great listen, It was a very unique book with a familar plot of rival families. The characters were dynamic and I loved seeing the development throughout the book.

Not going to lie, with the scenic pacing of this book and the wide cast of characters it took me a moment to figure out if I was enjoying it. But, very suddenly, about halfway through Act 1, I realized I was deeply invested. It’s genuinely impressive the way each tableau adds together to give the reader a sense of the two families and the rising tension between them.

This is not written as a script. Still, with all the Romeo and Juliet parallels and the utilization of acts and scenes as opposed to chapters this book reads really really well as an audio production. The writing is very vivid and visual, and the actress who does the reading does a great job voicing each distinct character for the dialogue. I’ll definitely be buying a paper copy to put on my shelf but am glad I started with the audiobook for my first reading.

The story is a Romeo and Juliet reimagining, told through two warring witch mafia families. Fairly straightforward but the addition of magic and more intricate development of the families allows for some new twists to keep the story moving, managing to feel surprising and engaging while still staying true to the feelings and structure expected from such a classic, really well done! In this, just like Olivie Blake’s other books the prose is beautiful and the writing sucks you in. It’s been wonderful finding a new author to follow and ‘One for my Enemy’ is another winner to add to her list.
Overall I loved the experience and would happily read or listen again!

Olivie Blake has left me speechless again. I've finally found a Romeo and Juliet retelling I love, with witches! I was immediately drawn in by the beautiful prose. I love how Olivie Blake writes. The characters were all so unique. I loved getting to know them. The big focus on not just romance but sibling relationships was really refreshing. I appreciated how complex and flawed so many of the characters were. This was honestly a masterpiece and I barely managed not to cry. That ending blew my mind, epilogue too. I am still too speechless to properly explain how much I enjoyed this.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!