I was nervous about this book after reading the prologue. In finding out that the main character had attempted suicide, I wasn’t sure how the story would go or whether I would be able to enjoy it.

The first half or so was hard. It was so well-written and relatable, even as a 41 year old mom of 2 who hasn’t dated in 20 years. The secondhand embarrassment and the frustration with the choices Adelaide was making with Rory were excruciating at the time. Things turned around after they broke up (not a spoiler, this is made clear in the prologue.)

I loved Adelaide’s sweet friend group and how they supported each other. I’m glad she found herself on more stable ground by the end and I loved witnessing her get there.

She definitely felt young in an accurate way, which might make it harder for me to recommend this to my late 30s/40s peers. It was a very 20s book, but so well-written and well-paced. If a reader was OK with dealing with some emotional immaturity and that 20s lifestyle, I would recommend this as a great read. CW for suicide (obviously), accidental death, parental death, and sexual abuse.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm seeing this in other reviews as well but it's hard not to acknowledge the kinship this novel has with Rooney's "Normal People" and Lily King's "Writers and Lovers". Unlike those novels, this story moves quick and the plot seems more filled? intense? urgent? I can't quite put my name my emotional reaction to this book except that it was visceral--tears, a cringe, stifled laughter, and sometimes feeling that I wanted so much to scream at the narrator. Which makes it, pardon my language, f**king fantastic. Pre-order it. Buy it. Definitely don't expect a romantic comedy.

This book is narratively heavy. Specific warnings for sexual and emotional abuse, grief, and suicide. Emotionally, I can't overstate how glad I am this book crossed my path while I feel romantically and mentally stable.
Because of this, I was able to reflect and empathize with Adelaide through a safer lens of gaining more compassion for my younger self.

It still made me uncomfortable. Almost too real and too uncomfortable, at times. Yet, its breathtaking to see honest and vulnerable prose that actually captures the constant esteem shifts, rationalizing, and apologizing that women fall prey too, especially with the chaos of modern dating and situationships. This book captures this so wholly and wonderfully, my heart ached for both Adelaide and a younger me.

Wheeler uses a very similar blunt style of prose that also excludes traditional conventions of writing dialogue (unlike Rooney, she uses frequent parentheses and italics and excludes quotation marks altogether). To be honest, I'm all about that trend. Down with grammar conventions, as you can probably tell from the run-ons in this review,

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I recently read a book that said “mental health is a luxury” and it really hit home. It is a luxury to think about your mental health, to even talk about it sometimes. So when I found a book that was primarily about mental health? I snapped it up immediately and boy, I was not prepared for the ride I was about to take. But let me make one thing clear...everyone needs to go pick up Genevieve Wheeler’s brilliant debut novel Adelaide right now.

American Adelaide Williams has fallen madly in love with Englishman Rory Hughes. Is he the most emotionally available partner you could ask for? No. But when he does give Adelaide the time of day, the world rights itself and everything feels a little bit brighter. But when Rory gets news of a terrible tragedy, Adelaide does everything she can to hold him together - even if it means she loses a part of herself in the process.

Reading this book felt like watching the story of my own mental health journey unfold. Though I can’t say that I went through exactly the same things that Adelaide did, I saw myself in her in a way that I have never seen in any other character. She felt incredibly raw and real and relatable.

It’s impossible to wrap my head around the fact that this is Genevieve’s first book. The writing is beautiful and she is unashamed to tackle themes of grief and mental health without a filter. Though I definitely have a lot of work to do on my own mental health, this book felt like it helped heal just a little part of myself.

The story jumps around in time a bit which made it hard to follow in the beginning, but once I figured out what she was doing, it felt like such a perfect way to tell the story. The way in which Genevieve writes her characters made it feel less like a work of fiction and more like I was reading a memoir. Every single one of these characters felt like a real person who I could have a real conversation with.

This story left me feeling raw and exposed, but also seen and understood. An incredibly strong debut novel that has me anxiously awaiting the next. Genevieve Wheeler is one to watch and I am so glad I get to witness her brilliance from the very beginning.

This book made me all kinds of sad. Adelaide just wanted love. When she meets Rory through a dating app she jumps in 110%. He could be her HEA. RIght?! But her expectations of their relationship seem to be one-sided. She makes all the first moves. When Rory is mired in profound grief for an ex-girlfriend, Adelaide is there taking care of him, being there to pick up the pieces. In between the unraveling of their one-sided relationship, we learn more and more about Adelaide and her past. The many places she's lived, the mental health issues in her family, the SA she suffered as a teen. All these events and situations eventually came to a head and Adelaide could no longer handle the pressure of everything. I admire Adelaide for recognizing that she needed help and sought it out. The surprising end with Bubs... the secondary character who ended up as her HEA and a massive support system for her.

Caitlin Kelly brought the story to life with her narration. She personified Adelaide and gave her a voice to get through the many trials life threw her way.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

This was a very interesting read, in the sense that I thought about putting it down during the first parts. While it was very readable, I felt like it might have been too dark of a subject matter for me at the moment. However, I just couldn't put it down. Ha.

This was beautifully written, there were bit and pieces of insight that I hadn't read before, or even thought about before, and I liked that, a lot. In the end, this book is a love story, but it's a love story about loving yourself. Taking care of yourself, putting yourself first.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book so much! I really didn’t know what it was about when I started reading it, but I quickly was obsessed! The characters are well developed, and I couldn’t help but love them all!

This book ripped my heart out in the best way. Adelaide as a character was so relatable, especially if you have ever dated in your 20s, and I loved spending time with her. I wish early 20 me could have read this book. Though so much of this book was bright with hope, it is also heavy in a way that helps you try to make sense of the human experience. Check trigger warnings - they are bountiful! Particularly suicide attempt, death, accident, miscarriage but many more.

If you like Ghosts/Dolly Alderton and Normal People, you'll enjoy this.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Adelaide | Genevieve Wheeler
A surprisingly hopeful heroine-who-deserves-better

Adelaide Williams has a lot going for her: smart, cute, a great career ahead. She may be a little chaotic, a bit messy, with a little extra emotional baggage, but she deserves the world. Enter Rory Hughes, the Disney Prince brought to life. There are nights at the theater, moonlit strolls, stolen kisses… when he is good, he is very, very good. Other times, he’s too preoccupied to text back, can’t sleep well when she is around, and life with him is like walking on eggshells. Adelaide knows full well that this is not the love story that she imagined but she can’t help but think that this is the mess that she deserves.

As a current student of Communications, this novel was surprisingly relevant to me. I dove in looking for a love story and ended up with hypothetical examples of many of my course concepts [I was especially floored by the reference to the 36 Questions to Fall in Love as we just covered this in class last week!]. I felt like a total insider and was almost giddy with the gold nuggets scattered throughout. On the flip side, this is much more melancholy fiction than the rest of my recent reading. Coming off the back of sweet and spicy rom-coms, Adelaide hit different. There was a point when all was lost for her and honestly, I thought this was lost for me too. This was so much heavier than the third-act breakups that I am accustomed to. Regardless, Adelaide finds hope that I didn’t see coming – and my heart was glad to see it. I could relate to the notion that one can continue to give and give of themselves with no channel to refuel, but to watch her become increasingly depleted was truly heartbreaking.

In many ways, Adelaide shows us that the price of love is grief, which is fine if you can also find its hope, warmth, and peace – which thankfully, she does, eventually. She leaves us knowing that she is, “… alive and loved and breathing. She’s here. And everything is going to be okay.”

4/5 stars
Massive thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC for review!

4.5⭐
PG for no explicit sexual content but check content warnings for suicidal thoughts, relationship manipulation and mental health challenges

Never trust a man with your heart if he can't be bothered to ensure you safely get home at 2 am in the morning and sends you to a bus stop by yourself. I learned this the hard way in college and Adelaide had to learn this too, among many other challenges she encountered throughout this book.

Genevieve created this beautifully complex character that I think many people will relate to in how easy it is to put yourself in a box and bend over backwards to make a relationship work. This book is so truly human in its exploration of what it truly means to be in a relationship and find a partner in the most vulnerable sense. While at times a little bit slow, I wanted to see Adelaide find her peace in therapy and with her mental health and left this book feeling so satisfied.

If you're looking for a book that will squash your heart a little bit and make you reflect on your own ups and downs of dating, this book will deliver on that in spades.

—a d e l a i d e—⁣
Adelaide is living the dream - a mid twenties American finding herself in London - when she finds charming Brit Rory. The story follows their rocky relationship which is further complicated by tragedy in Rory’s life and delves deeply into the complexities of modern love, grief, healing, and finding yourself. ⁣
—⁣
Adelaide was my first 5 star read of 2023. I loved the premise (as someone who spent a chunk of her early and mid twenties in the UK, it resonated!) but what sold me was the writing. I was so hooked on the plot and found myself thinking about Adelaide, Rory, their friends, their story at all times. The book is resolutely honest. It is dark but also beautiful, difficult at moments but so rewarding. ⁣
—⁣
Basically, read this. It’s sad and there are some triggers (let me know if you want to know what those are) but I just loved this book through and through. ⁣
—⁣
5 easy stars for each of the times I sobbed while reading this. ⁣
—⁣
Thank you @stmartinspress @netgalley, and @librofm for my copies. This book is out now and worth checking out!

This is hands down one of the best books I've read.

I read through this story quickly, but I still experienced every single emotion along with the main character, Adelaide. The author did a tremendous job of developing each and every character to where I felt like Adelaide was my friend who I just wanted to hug and tell her it will all be ok. I think many women (or men) will see parts of themselves in her experiences which makes this book so unique and heartfelt.
This book is told from an all knowing third person narrator which I found to be a refreshing and new reading experience. I've seen many discussions about how this book does not use quotation marks, but I did not find this to be distracting or difficult as it was still obvious when things were being spoken.
Thank you, thank you St Martin's Press and NetGalley for this free copy in exchange for my honest review. I am off to purchase my own hardcopy because this author deserves every penny of the cost of this book! 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this before pub day on April 18th!

TW: suicide, sexual assault, gaslighting, miscarriage, self-harm, mental health

4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for Goodreads! This book is marketed as a love story, and while it is not a love story in the traditional sense, it is the story of a woman learning to love herself for who she is and realizing she does not have to fit herself into other people’s boxes just to make them happy. It is a powerful, well written story of love, heartbreak, struggle, and grief. It was so poignant to read about Adelaide’s journey and her relationships with others and herself. There were parts I loved, and there were parts I hated, in the sense I hated that the character had to go through what she did. It was hard to read at times, but other times I felt joy and happiness for Adelaide. And the epilogue definitely made me cry 😭 I would recommend this book, but PLEASE be aware of trigger warnings, as there are some dark topics discussed.

💔Heartbreaking, non-reciprocal love😢

This novel grew on me and, unexpectedly, gave me an ending that really pleased. To get there, poor, throws-her-heart-in-everything-she-does Adelaide experiences romance with Rory, a guy who rarely makes an effort once he's hooked her. Most of the story is a succession of bad or indifferent behavior on Rory's part, interspersed with just enough good times to keep Adelaide hoping. It's real life; it's devastating; it's a good story.

Adelaide's gal pals commiserate, comfort and only occasionally offer criticism of Adelaide's toxic relationship. They understand that she is grasping for proof that she can keep a man and that she is worthy and lovable. Their strong bond bolsters Adelaide when she needs it most.

I did find the bouncing from one time period to another in the early parts of the book confusing at first. And at least one instance of timing inconsistency. But, taken as a whole, this was a memorable depiction of life and love for a twenty-something woman building a life in London.

I would say that if you are looking for a heartwarming, upbeat romantic read this is not the right choice. But if you like a story that plays on emotions in all ways, not just romantically, Adelaide brings the highs, the lows and everything in between.

Thanks to St. Martin's and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

TW: Miscarriage, sexual abuse (in the past), mental health issues and thoughts of suicide.

This book was so amazing and relatable. I am no longer a 20-something, but I felt some powerful feelings while reading this. I went into this thinking it was a romance (not my thing), but wanted to see what the hype was. The characters are well-developed, and I found myself transported to their world, their lives, and their experiences. Most women have had a Rory Hughes in their life, and this book gives you and raw and honest look at what it feels like when your entire existence is so caught up in that one person. This book made me want to give Adelaide a hug, help her find her worth, and make her understand how much she deserves.
Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book a little hard to get into, but then I couldn’t put it down. I think a lot of people will relate to Adelaide, I know I did. I was rooting for her and loved her circle of friends. This book really was great and loved that it was a début and gave me all the feels. Well done.

I might be sliiiightly biased - because I know the author from an online book club & writing group, but this book was beautifully written and amazing. For a debut, I was truly blown away. The writing was immaculate, the characters and setting so well described, and the story was gut wrenching. I felt for Adelaide in my heart throughout every hardship and struggle that she went through and really, just, felt all the sad girl vibes while reading it. I was completely encapsulated by this book and just how unique the story and the writing felt. It was truly, such a good read. 10/10 amazing job by Genevieve. She did great and I'm so so excited for all that's to come for her.

Adelaide Williams is an American living in London when she falls is love with Rory Hughes. She’s gone through life with an “obsessive need to please” and spends her time trying to make herself smaller, lesser. When Rory experiences an unexpected tragedy, Adelaide sacrifices her own needs to be his pillar. Losing herself in the process, she realizes that she’s been pouring from an empty glass. CW: suicidal ideation.

I really enjoyed this book. So much of Adelaide’s experience will be super relatable to many people: overachieving, people pleasing, failing to say no, poor boundary setting, settling for less that she deserves. All of which gradually escalate to a major decline in her mental health. I found her diagnosis and treatment to be very accurate and realistic, which was refreshing. This book would have made the perfect case study back in my grad school days. I really appreciated how Adelaide acknowledges her privilege and her pain simultaneously, recognizing the advantages she has while also feeling validated in her suffering.

Let me preface this by saying this book is heavy. It is about mental illness, abuse and an instance of sexual assault. I know lots of people will find it triggering. I will say that some of the things Adelaide experienced, I too have experienced. It was written with care and done very realistically. This is definitely not a romance, it is more a coming of age story and accepting oneself.

Some of Adelaide’s actions are cringe worthy and I hate to say it but most females have been in the position and reacted in similar ways. We have all dated someone we “liked more” then they “liked us” and it sucks lol I felt “He’s Just Not That Into You” vibes and I wanted to scream at her- “Girl come on!” It just really rang true to the live one leads in their early 20’s.

I did appreciate the honesty in this and even though it isn’t really my style of story, I can see that Wheeler will be one to watch! Thank you to @Netgalley for my advance copy!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this wonderful debut novel by Genevieve Wheeler and wonderfully narrated by Caitlin Kelly - 5 stars!

Adelaide is an American living and working in London. When she meets Rory at a bar, she tells him he looks like a Disney Prince. When she runs into him again by chance, she quickly falls in love. But does Rory feel the same way?

I really loved this book - it's an honest look at grief, mental illness, sacrificing and losing yourself for another, the power of friends. Adelaide's character felt very real to me. She's young, in a new place, thinks that if she just tries a bit harder, Rory will love her the way she wants to be loved. I also really liked how the author gave glimpses into the future in her writing style. While there are definitely triggers here, this is an important book but also very readable and enjoyable. I can't wait to read more from this author!

I think this last sentence from the official synopsis sums up the book really well: “With unflinching honesty and heart, this relatable debut from a fresh new voice explores grief and mental health while capturing the timeless nature of what it’s like to be young and in love—with your friends, with your city, and with a person who cannot, will not, love you back.”

In my opinion this book is first and foremost about living with mental illness and struggling with mental health, and second about love, in all it’s forms - platonic and romantic. Adelaide has a wonderful support system that sees her through love, loss, heartbreak, and more. I fell in love with Adelaide and I think you will too.