Adelaide Williams, by all accounts, is quite a lovely person. She's twenty-six and living out her American dream in London surrounded by equally-lovely, salt-of-the-earth friends, a blossoming career, and a lively social life. What more could Adelaide want, really?

The resounding answer, so it turns out, is Rory Hughes.

At first glance, Rory is Adelaide's English, Disney Prince. In a meeting that couldn't have been orchestrated by anything other than fate itself, Adelaide and Rory enter each other's orbits in London's booming nightlife, and Adelaide becomes convicted that Rory--this perfectly-imperfect, dashing man--is The One. However, as their whirlwind romance continues, Adelaide starts to wonder: is this how true love is supposed to feel?

And here we have it, readers, my first contender for a top book of 2023. "Adelaide" is a marvelous, beautifully-honest, poignant novel about a young woman finding her place in the world, and love's place in her world. Whether you're someone who's seeking out "The One" or someone who's already found them, I promise you will love "Adelaide" (the story and character) in capital letters.

By the end of the story, I wanted 100 more pages with Adelaide and her offbeat, empathetic reflections. To the girls who feel everything that reverberates through the world and can't turn off that switch, this book is for you. For lovers of "Cleopatra and Frankenstein" and "Eleanor Elephant is Completely Fine," "Adelaide" is a novel that will sweep you off of your feet and into the world of a girl who has so much to offer, and so much love to give. An astounding read.

This book was heavy and hard and a total gut punch. But my goodness, it deserves all the stars. I was in tears at the end - rooting for Adelaide, and for all women who struggle with seeing that they deserve to be loved for who they are.

Engrossing, heart-felt, all-around gem of a debut! One of my pet peeves is one-sided antagonists with no redeeming qualities, so I loved (and hated) Rory's character-- he was challenging and frustrating but I fully understood why Adelaide kept returning to him. This felt like such an honest, familiar portrayal of mid-twenties when life is moving forward so quickly and when juggling friends, partners, work, and health is all-consuming. I read this entirely on my phone, in just a few days, which shows how gripping this book was.

Holy hell this book broke my heart a million times over. The prose is stunning and really captures the mid-20s lost feeling I know all too well.

Adelaide is imperfect but so incredibly lovable, I was rooting for her during the prologue and until the very end.

This has been marketed as a romance, and it’s really not?? This is reflective contemporary fiction to me. That’s my one negative takeaway.

Anyway, stunning debut!! Truly beautiful book.

5 stars - There isn't a thing I didn't love about this book. I saw so much of myself in Adelaide, a perfectly imperfect character who is doing her best to manage life in her 20's as an American in London. Adelaide reads a lot like a memoir, going through the ups and downs of Adelaide's life. Reading about her struggles with perfection, with being the best friend, the best employee, the best "girlfriend," and overall, just the best perfect, was incredibly relatable, and I repeatedly said to myself "Adelaide? Are you sure you're not me?" I can't imagine any woman not finding something to relate to in this novel.

One of my favorite reads this year (and it's currently December 30th, so that means a lot!!). Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC <3 I'll definitely be pre-ordering a hard copy as well ;)

*Not including all content warnings because some are spoilers but overall, just about any womanly struggle someone could have, Adelaide's got it!!*

I absolutely loved this book - it captured the perils of dating in your 20s so so accurately. It was almost uncomfortable to read because it was too real. This definitely did not seem like a debut novel and I cannot wait to see what comes next from Genevieve!

Adelaide is about a deeply relatable young woman who exhausts herself trying to earn the love of a man who is incapable of loving her back, all the while dealing with the stressors of early adulthood and mental health issues that are refreshing to hear named in fiction.

Wheeler’s writing is exquisite, drawing the reader right into the moment. The story is richly told and evokes a gorgeous backdrop for this sometimes exuberant, sometimes difficult story.

I think so many people will relate to some, if not many, parts of Adelaide’s journey. I’m grateful to have read an early copy of this and cannot recommend it highly enough! Also, if you think you might get through it without crying, just hang on til the epilogue and we’ll see

- [ ] Adelaide is an American living in London who is deeply loyal and gives everything she has to her loved ones including her aloof noncommittal boyfriend. When his ex unexpectedly dies, Adelaide dives in even deeper, sending home constant food and thoughtful gifts and spending all of her time caring for him while he worships the memory of his ex and neglects Adelaide completely. Rory is deeply unlikeable and Adelaide stays with him far too long, becoming increasingly desperate to be loved. The way this story mirrored my relationship with my college boyfriend left me breathless. I identify with Adelaide way too much and I love her journey and growth. This was a beautiful story of friendship and self love in the midst of grief and emotional turmoil. It was so beautifully written.

Absolutely fantastic debut novel. I really liked how mental health was written. Adelaide was Adelaide and didn't have red flags and stereotypical symptoms of bipolar. And after her diagnosis that didn't become her label, it didn't become who she was, it was just mentioned and we moved on. In a lot of books tons of red flags would have been signaled and then it would encompass their identity, but that isn't reality. Everything in this book was like that, it was just written with care. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books by this author.

4.5/5

This book is not for everyone, please check TWs are there are a lot of them.

That being said, for those who grew up trying to be the manic pixie girl that they thought they should be, this might be it. This story of Adelaide and her struggles to be the perfect hip dream girl to make the man of her dreams love her instead of just use her, and the emotional cost it took was beautifully and thoughtfully written.

Copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

I will be thinking about this book for months! I loved the theme of friendship that ran throughout the book. The voice of the narrator kept Adelaide from feeling too whiny and really helped me empathize with her. Absolutely loved it, five stars!

This was a fabulous read! Thank you Net Galley for the ARC. I blew through this emotional
Roller coaster in less than 24 hours! All the feels!!

I’ve been in a brutal reading slump and this book has revived me! I loved it so much I’ll pre-order it to have a copy. I would highly recommend to readers of Ghosts, Sorrow and Bliss, and Sally Rooney (I hate to use her as a comparison because so many books do, but I feel her influence in the characters). A heavier read than I initially expected but such a special book and character.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an e-arc of this book.

I just reviewed Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler. #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published April 18, 2023.

I wanted to like this book but it just didn’t resonate with me. It’s definitely not a light-hearted rom-com or chick lit. Trigger warnings for rape, suicidal tendencies, miscarriages and mental illness.

I was equally annoyed with Adelaide and Rory. Adelaide is a giver by nature: she likes to please people. She convinces herself if she just tries hard enough, Rory will love her. (Major deduction for weak female character)

Rory is quite simply an ass. He takes and takes and never reciprocates. He won’t even sleep in the same bed with Adelaide. WTF. He disappears for days at a time, doesn’t respond to texts and is a jerk.

The only redeeming part was the friendships Adelaide has with her girlfriends, but that alone wasn’t enough to save the book.

Same review posted on GoodReads. .

I opened this book, thanks to an advance copy from NetGalley, in a doctor's office to pass the time. The writing is solid, the characters complex and three-dimensional. The protagonist, Adelaide Williams, appealed to me simply because her name was Adelaide.

She seemed to represent every woman who has ever sacrificed herself for the benefit of a man. She also experienced what I would consider sexual trauma and self-esteem issues. But "Adelaide" is actually both lighthearted and difficult to read. I don't want to say to much and reveal spoilers, but the novel is really about mental illness and the support, compassion and self-compassion needed to survive it.

While I did not always enjoy this book, this book has a powerful message and provides some viewpoints and messages that some people need to hear.

And it's also a great chronicle of a certain generation, and a fantastic collection of literary references.

my thoughts: if you’ve ever experienced that twin-flame type of love that breaks you, seemingly irreparably, only to put you back together in a beautiful way, then this is it. throughout the novel, adelaide gives so much of herself to lift those around her up, so it only makes sense that the book would have a similar lingering effect. this book gave me so much: the insight on grief & mental health & unrequited love are unmatched. adelaide is a love letter to the painfully messy yet beautiful act of living & loving.

Thought this book really allowed for a discussion on selfish love and narcissism. Unfortunately the protagonist did not gain the insight to set a healthy boundary for love until the end of the book. But let’s say tha she did achieve that therapeutic goal

I didn’t know what to expect with this book. The blurb I read when I received the arc didn’t match how the book started and it really made me wonder how I would get through it. The few chapters were tough, graphic, jolting. And then you get into the heart of the story, where your heart aches for Adelaide and wish for her to find that moment of real happiness and contentment. This is where the book shines. Where it pulls you in thinking with each chapter there is hope for Adelaide and then like a roller coaster, there is the fall after that hopeful rise. I saw myself in her at moments, the mirror a little too close for my liking. The lyrical writing softening the lessons. I found myself wishing the book lasted a little longer so we could revel in Adelaide 2.0.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I feel like this book is going to be a hit. It feels very topical--toxic relationships, imposter syndrome, male-female relationships? I felt like there was a fairly light hand so it didn't seem too extreme or depressing. I think it will generate a lot of book club discussion,

Oh wow, this debut novel! This book is a lot to break down. First, I will say, the end brought me to tears. It's a gorgeous book and one that I know many readers will love. It is, however, about a toxic and emotionally abusive relationship that is pretty hard to live through the main character, Adelaide. For those of us who have been in those bad relationships, this will be at once an interesting way to look back and see the red flags (and want to scream Adelaide! Stop what you're doing!) but it can also open some old wounds. Regardless, I'm very glad I read it and can tell this new author's voice is fresh, exciting, and very different.

I devoured the story of Adelaide over a weekend. An American expat in London, she is a mess. Dealing with mental health issues, an awful ex-boyfriend, and a sense that she is unloveable, she meets "the one" on a dating app and we follow the next 12 months of Adelaide desperately trying to make this guy, Rory Hughes, love her back. At first he ghosts her, and I was tempted to put it down and say "Dolly Alderton did it better" but I kept going and it morphed into something unexpected. Watching Adelaide try to win his affects, both from her point of view and occasionally from his, is both thrilling and cringe-worthy. Some may want to categorize this as romance novel, and it is NOT that. It's a tough book, filled with trigger warnings, but it is also sweet and cozy and I know lots of people will be talking about it next year.