This is a captivating tale that captures what it means to grow up while dealing with love and loss.

Genevieve Wheelers writes an enrapturing story that will captivate readers from the first moments in the story. It is not only well written but the pace keeps you engaged without ever feeling bored in the slower moments.
Without giving too much away Adelaide is an exceptionally relatable character especially so within the climate of today's society where mental health is more talked about but at times can still feel solitary in your struggle.

This story allows you to immerse yourself in what the character experiences and draws you into the themes of love, loss, and overcoming the things you once thought you could not. Highly recommend

Thank you St. Martin's Press ​and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book.
A great debut! Wheeler skillfully developed not only Adelaide but also the other characters, making them feel real and relatable. The writing style was delightful, adding to my overall enjoyment. However, it's important to note that this book delves into dark and sometimes depressing themes, which may be triggering for many readers, particularly those who have encountered someone like Rory in their lives. This book deserves a resounding 5 stars!

Wow, this book was incredible. I was so engrossed in Adelaide’s story. The writing was superb. Don’t let the cover fool you-there are some heavy topics and themes, but it was so well done. I read this in practically one sitting. Might be my favorite book of the year so far!

Adelaide Williams is a 20-something American, living in London, when she meets her Prince Charming through a dating app. Adelaide swears Rory Hughes has been placed in her life by fate and falls completely and unabashedly in love. The only catch, he cannot, and will not, love her back. And when Rory receives unexpected news, the ever-supportive Adelaide begins to crumble as she tries to hold him together.

As she gives and gives, and receives nothing in return, Adelaide finds herself in a dark place. While mental illness is often represented poorly in literature, making it appear as if people cannot function in their daily lives, Wheeler portrays a high-functioning, educated woman who also happens to be struggling with depression in a more realistic and relatable way. As someone who has dealt with mild depression and anxiety, I appreciated this representation and connected with Adelaide in a deeper way.

This debut is beautiful and heartbreaking and messy and was nothing I expected. It was raw and honest and emotional, and one that will stick with me for a while.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Genevieve Wheeler for an advance copy of this debut. It is one not to be missed.

This was painful, but in a good way. Adelaide’s experiences hit a tad too close to home. I read this in one sitting and shed a few tears. I definitely recommend trusting the trigger warnings, though.

Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book hurts.

First and foremost? Whoever decided to categorize this as "romance" on Goodreads should probably be fired. There is never a moment when the reader is ever really rooting for the couple featured in this story. And that’s kind of the point. We know from the very beginning that things are not going to end well. We see what this tumultuous relationship has done to Adelaide’s mental state from the very beginning. So, to categorize this in that way is incredibly misleading (and potentially harmful) to readers.

Knowing that this book is also (loosely?) influenced by the author’s personal experiences (and was, perhaps, part of a coping mechanism) makes my heart hurt even more. I’ve read some reviews where readers were upset with the way Adelaide handled herself and her relationships; again, I feel like that’s kind of the point. If anything, it made me even more sympathetic to what she was doing through.

In short, this book is about a damaged, yet hopeful woman named Adelaide, who throws herself entirely into a relationship with her (in appearance only) “Disney prince,” Rory. For his own reasons (and I credit the author for humanizing what could easily have been a wholly unlikeable character otherwise), Rory is absolutely not Prince Charming. He seems to keep Adelaide at an arm’s length for the majority of their relationship, offering her just enough to hold onto without ever really investing himself.

She is forever made to feel like she’s being too much... and that is something that makes me incredibly upset for her. The intimacy and acceptance she craves from Rory is never possible. There’s never a moment where he opens himself up to the idea of fully committing. And, honestly, thank God for that! Because she deserves to be with someone who doesn’t make her feel bad for being herself. At one point, one of Adelaide’s friends has to explicitly tell her:

"Remember, Adelaide. You're allowed to take up space, too."

I hope that’s a takeaway for people reading this book. Everyone is allowed to take up space; to be themselves; to be loved and accepted for who they are.

That said, there are many, many trigger warnings that could be applied here. Proceed carefully.

I absolutely loved this book. The blurb drew me in and the story itself did not disappoint. There were so many relatable themes in this one book with an amazing and complex main character. ADELAIDE addressed grief, romance, mental health and so much more. It was a story about what is it to be flawed and growing.

This is a truly captivating book which comments on intergenerational mental health, the complexity of grief and moving on, and lovesickness in its most destructive form. Adelaide is one of the most compelling characters I’ve ever read about with her hopelessly romantic outlook and deep well of emotion. Wheeler’s prose is as dreamy as it is tense paralleling Adelaide’s wavering mental stability, and the weaving of past, present and future creates a rich story. A story as brilliant and heartbreaking as its protagonist, Adelaide is a FANTASTIC novel. (Side note: she would adore ‘Better Man’ by Taylor Swift).

I struggled with this one. I couldn't care about the character or hope that things would change for them. I wanted so much to love it, but I found myself putting it down and having to force myself to pick it back up. I finished it, but this one just wasn't for me.

I can see this appealing to a lot of other readers, and I have recommended it to a few friends.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book, but I must say that it is not a typical romcom love story. The author touches upon many topics such as grief, friendship, and mental health.The characters however are great and I need to read more books by this author!

Overall, I enjoyed this story. My only complaint is it was difficult to see a point to some of it . It could have been edited more.
The writing was nice, the characters interesting. I'd give this author another chance if I saw another book

I absolutely loved this book and it will absolutely stay put in my Top for 2023. Adelaide is the book younger me needed. I really enjoyed Genevieve’s writing, it seemed so effortless and smooth. I devoured this book and have MANY thought provoking highlights that are still stuck in my head a few weeks after finishing. Did I cry when I finished this one? You bet your ass, I did. I felt every single bit of Adelaide’s heartbreak throughout. She so badly just wants to be loved the way she’s loving so it’s just so sad for that to not be reciprocated. And it also puts me right in my feels because; damn, younger me has surely been there before. This was a BOTM and to everyone who chose this for their box, OPEN IT NOW! This is your PSA to not wait on this book.

This was a very modern and engaging story by Genevieve Wheeler. At least, it was engaging and relatable to a woman in her late 20's trying to balance all the messiness of life while dealing with intense mental health issues, but probably for a lot of other people as well.

Adelaide has a lot going on, and as a people pleaser she isn't the best at balancing her commitments or taking care of herself. This may sound like a story you've heard before, but it's not. Adelaide's story is unique and yet probably the same story as so many people across the world right now. The book was told from a third party omniscient point of view, which allows the reader to gain specific insight to more than one character's feeling or experience during a situation. It helped cement the characterization of the characters. This story also doesn't have an obvious "good and bad guy" which I liked. The characters in this story are all flawed, some in more obvious ways than others, but still not all good or bad. There are times were I was upset with Adelaide and was wondering why I was reading her story and then other names where I wanted to body slam Rory for his treatment of Adelaide. Is Adelaide the bad guy, Is it her parents, her high school ex, her roommates, the elusive Rory Hughes, the people who invented dating apps. I mean the list goes on of options for who could be blamed in this story. But really, no one person is at fault. This book was a huge reminder that life is messy.

The one thing that bothered me quite a bit throughout the book was that there was a lot a lot of foreshadowing. It was way overused and took me out of the story a bit. The foreshadowing wasn't super subtle so it was obvious where the story was going to go. We were given the destination but not necessarily the path to get there. Which I suppose is the interesting part, but it was used very frequently. I did enjoy the literary references. They were fun and added to the character building.

This book did make me really sad though. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just felt deeply for the characters, especially Adelaide. A lot of what she said and described feeling resonated with me. My heart hurt a little reading this. But not all of it was sad. There were some really nice moments with Adelaide and her friends. Those relationships were solid and it was really refreshing to read. I think it was important to have that to have that juxtaposition with her romantic life.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking look at mental health. Raw, honest, emotional and often heartbreaking, Wheeler brought Adelaide to life in a way that will stick with me for a while. While there is a relationship, this book is NOT A ROMANCE! Be sure to check trigger warnings before reading.

The characters were not likable. Adelaide was rather flat. After reading her story, I’m still not sure of her personality. I agree of the reviews that compared this to Normal People by Sally Rooney.

dnf at 25%

I saw such rave reviews for this book and wanted to be as sucked into it as everyone else but I just wasn't. I did enjoy the writing style and the way emotion is conveyed is done so well. The characters felt real but I struggled to connect with them.

That being said I do think this is a case of a book just not being for me.

Adelaide was a difficult read for me.
While I personally have been fortunate enough to never have dated a Rory, I’ve seen many friends be less fortunate.

Rory was a selfish jerk and just a very toxic relationship and it was incredibly difficult to read through.

I actually ended up DNFing this book because it was difficult.

However, I did enjoy how raw this book is. It’s real. It’s emotional. It’s very needed.
It was just too hard to continue to read through personally.

Read the trigger warnings. Read cautiously but enjoy it. It’s a very well written and beautiful story even thought I couldn’t finish it.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press. Adelaide is a dark romance that involves a women with mental health, specifically depression. I enjoyed the book a lot and liked that it was different than other stories. I highly recommend this book.

Trigger warning: Suicide

I absolutely adored this book. I could not put it down and wanted to know what happened to these incredibly well drawn out characters. I found this book to be very similar to the book Ghosts by Dolly Alderton. I adored that book but this one hit even harder. This is NOT a light hearted romance novels and there are huge triggers for mental illness and abuse both physical and mental. There is trauma and loss here, but also so much love and hope. Not an easy read as we watch Adelaide make mistake after mistake with Rory, who has his own demons and traumas. For Adelaide, her past has made her give and give and give with her whole heart. Rory’s traumas have made him into a human parasite who looks like Prince Charming. Watching their relationship from start to finish made me realize how much I do not miss the dating scene from my 20’s. It did however, make me so nostalgic for the incredible friendships made during this time in my life when people saw you as you really are/were before you get sucked into the vortex of marriage, motherhood, and career. I adored Adelaide’s friends who were family. They never judged her and always had her back. I hate to use the cliche of propulsive read - but it really was. Highly recommend this book - so much to talk and think about.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion of the book.

I really should have been able to get through this quicker, but I would find myself, at times, not super excited to read about Adelaide being over the moon for the worst boyfriend in the world. This went on for a loooong time.
Things picked up in the last quarter of the book when something else finally happened.
Thanks to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for this #arc of #adelaide in exchange for an honest review.