Adelaide is a beautifully written story that captures the important message of friendship, love, and the impact that past trauma has on our lives - no matter the time that has passed. I felt deeply for Adelaide as she tried to navigate London as a young 20-something professional. There were many points while reading the book where I wished I could shake her and tell her that her “Disney Prince” was a walking red flag, I guess that is an example of how we don’t always see what others do, especially when we are trying so hard to perceive our situation through rose colored glasses.

Overall, it was an engaging read and well-written. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's deep, tragic, thoughtful, provoking. The writing was a bit unusual: no indication of dialogue is a little strange to me, but it made you definitely feel as if you were in Adelaide's head. I liked the jumping timelines and the focus on how past actions really dictate our future, specifically when dealing with romance.
I kind of hate everything about Rory though. He was very hard to feel emphathetic towards.
Overall a really good read.

I was thrilled to get this ARC from Netgalley as Adelaide was one of the books I almost picked for my Book of the Month book. I loved this book so much. I devoured it in a little over a day. I don't even really know how to best describe this book. Its's real, it's raw, and it's very much heart breaking.

There's a whole lot of triggering things in this book so proceed with caution (rape, emotional abuse, miscarriage, death of a loved one, suicide).

I can see how this book would be great for some bit it was way too sad for me! I need some lighter happier things to happen amongst the emotion.

Wow. It took me a while to get into this book, but my difficulty was due to the Adelaide's seeming unconscious hypocrisy. A self-avowed feminist, she nonetheless pours her entire heart and soul into her relationship with Rory--who she believes to be her soulmate--although he is mainly too self-absorbed to be bothered. He has experienced a lot of trauma, and is about to encounter more, but he doesn't deserve Adelaide.

Fortunately, she has some good friends who do appreciate her and who help her when she hits rock bottom.

This novel will rip your heart out, but put it back in. I want Adelaide to be my friend.

Warning: mental illness is a significant character in this book, as is trauma and suicide ideation. But it ekes out a happy ending, most amazingly. #Adelaide #NetGalley

I was provided a free advanced copy of this from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Adelaide is the person who dives into life and love full force. She's living her dream as an American in London, with great friends and an advancing career! But even when she thinks she's found her Disney Prince, she has to learn the hard lesson that you can't make someone love you.
This is a difficult book to review. On one hand it is a beautiful depiction of mental illness, the highs and lows of one sided relationships, and grief. But also, it's a very raw journey, and can be tough to get through at times.
Overall I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the realness of it. But I can understand how others may not. It could definitely do with some trigger warnings.
Since I'm late in posting, this one has already been published, so if it sounds like something you would enjoy, check it out!
#NetGalley #Adelaide

4 stars!

What a wonderful, soul-wrenching book. I enjoyed "Adelaide" by Genevieve Wheeler quite a bit. Be aware going in, though, that it is *deeply* depressing as it deals with some of the heaviest topics imaginable. Think "Normal People" by Sally Rooney levels of depression. Don't go in thinking this is a romance. It's *about* a relationship, but it's *not* all that romantic. It's complicated, a punch in the gut, heartbreaking, and intricate, and it will make you reflect on how you may have been treated in your past relationships. Were you the doormat who couldn't stop going back to someone who didn't deserve you? Have you ever been someone who loved another person so deeply, only to receive nothing or nothing but the bare minimum in return? I know I have been! "Adelaide" is the book for you if you can relate to these feelings. It feels like a lived-in story, wholly birthed from reality. That didn't stop me from wanting to slap Adelaide and tell her she deserved better! SO MUCH BETTER! Caitlin Kelly does a decent job narrating this book, but her character voices don't change all that much. I'll be thinking about this book for months to come.

Thank you to NetGalley, Genevieve Wheeler, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

I've never felt so seen by a book. As a 24-year-old ex-pat with mental health issues trying to find love and navigate adulthood in a foreign country.... wow.

Adelaide Williams is a 20-something American living in England, trying to find love and navigate her adult life while experiencing extreme highs and lows and feeling everything so so so deeply. I've never felt so seen by a character, never had my feelings so well articulated. I felt this book deep in my bones.

This book is not a romance, though it does have a happy ending. This is a book about a woman falling apart and picking up the pieces.

CW: Suicide, bipolar disorder, depression, miscarriage

I absolutely LOOOOOVED this book, completely devoured it. Adelaide is such a well developed character and the evolution of her as a person was so fascinating to see. This book may just be one of my favorite books of 2023 thus far.

What a stunning debut novel! I see big things from Genevieve Wheeler in the future. This was an awesome book.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an impressive debut! The book is a character study that takes a look at the interior life of the title character, Adelaide. The novel follows her as she navigates young adulthood, non-reciprocal "love" affairs, family dynamics, mental health, and building a career as a young writer.

With beautiful prose and vulnerable storytelling, Adelaide takes a compassionate look at love, the lack of it, and the consequences of attempting to prove your worthiness to receive it. There were moments when the author seemed to pluck thoughts from my mind and put it on the page, a sign of great writing!

However, the book was slow and repetitive at times, which could be grating on some readers. (One could argue this was intentionally employed to showcase Adelaide's unhealthy patterns.) Additionally, the movement of the story/characters was confusing at times.

Overall, a great novel for lovers of literary character portraits.

Toxic love is hard to read about sometimes… I think we all want to forget times we participated in a relationship like this. Adelaide was frustrating but I think a lot of women will see a version of themselves in her.

This was a difficult yet heartfelt book to read. Approximately 1 in 5 people live with mental illness which makes Genevieve Wheeler's book extremely relevant. It is not a book about romance but of relationships, both good and damaging. It is about inner strength and support networks. It is mostly a realistic story and an honest portrayal of life with pain. Thanks #NetGalley

Honestly, the trajectory of Adelaide and Rory’s relationship was tough to read, which I guess makes this book very realistic. It was definitely a darker book than I expected. However, a promising debut from Genevieve Wheeler.

An achingly lovely book- Adelaide was such a lovable character and also SO painful to read through. If you've had some troublesome relationships that haven't left your mind- you're going to relate to Adelaide. This one took me awhile to read, not because I didn't love it but because it was just so heavy and relatable. Thanks to the publisher and net galley for the e copy. This is one of the first books that I then went and got the physical copy too <3

This is such an amazing debut novel and I was blown away by Genieve Wheeler’s writing! Wheeler made it so easy for everyone to find a little bit of yourself in Adelaide. Throughout the whole book I was cheering for Adelaide and hoping she would see that Rory didn’t care about her the same way she cared about him. I wished I could tell her myself that she could do so much better than him. I thought the way the story was written was unique and not like a lot of other books I read which I really liked! I can’t wait to read future books by Wheeler!

This was a strong 4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I became engrossed with this story as soon as I picked it up.

It perfectly captures the fact that loving someone can almost destroy you.

I highly recommend this book and suggest researching all trigger warnings. Wonderful debut!

I absolutely ADORE this book. It is my favorite of the year so far, and the only one I’ve considered buying a print copy of for my shelf.

I’ve seen a lot of people say that if you love “Normal People”, you’ll love Adelaide. I see the connection, even though I disliked Normal People. But where Normal People only exists to depress me, Adelaide (both the book and the character) bring lightness, fun, and a whole personality to a story of intense emotion and heartbreak. Also, Adelaide’s friends?!?! Perfection.

The preface totally grabbed me, and the twist of Nathalie’s death yanked my chair from underneath me. I was engaged the entire time. I felt every emotion as if the events were happening to me, or to a close friend.

My only real (minor) gripe with the book is that I feel that alcohol played such a heavy role in the story. Being drunk often was treated as a cute, quirky personality trait rather than something that maybe needed kept in check, with how often it was mentioned. But that’s merely my perception.

Genevieve writes really beautifully and I cannot wait to read more of her work in the future!

I enjoyed receiving this book as an ARC. At times I had so much compassion for Adelaide and other times I wanted to shake some sense into her. But, we've all acted like Adelaide or had a friend like her. No one could make us see our horrible relationship (situationship) or we couldn't convince our friends to leave their bad relationship, either. It's a lesson people have to learn on their own.
After a certain point though, the pacing was a tad slow.
Also, the cover and NetGallery description for this book were a bit too light and breezy. I believe they both should reflect the more darker tone of the book so as to not upset readers going into this book thinking this is a light read.
Overall, I would recommend this book.

However, I have a few nit-picky critiques (warning: spoilers ahead).
- A bit after Nathalie's death, the pace was too slow. Painfully slow. Up until their breakup and her breakdown.
How Adelaide compared being with Rory to her heart being slowly grated is how I felt with my patience. I couldn't help but skim after chapter 20. The pacing really needed to pick up there.
- After he told her to leave his apartment and walk to the bus in the rain, AT midnight, I was like girl? Seriously? You need some self-respect. But I do have great empathy for feeling so crazed in love and not leaving when he obviously doesn't care about you.
- I knew she was going to end up with Brennan the moment she saw him coming out of the shower (the other meetings were good clues), but I am amazing at picking up plot twists that no one else sees coming.
- I really wish we could have seen more of her relationship with Brennan. It would've balanced out the book nicely.
- And if the omniscient narrator could add forewarnings about Adelaide and Rory's doomed relationship (and Nat's death and her friends' futures) then I don't understand why that same narrator wouldn't add some foreshadowing comments about Brennan, as well. Didn't quite add up there.
- Great emphasis about mental health at the end. However it left the book off-balance once again. Would've liked that thread weaved a bit more throughout the novel.

I was not expecting to love this book, but I listened to it and it was so well-written and narrated so perfectly that I listened to it a second time. Adelaide is a character that I adored, but I was frustrated by her lack of inner strength and sense of self-worth so many times in this book. She surprised me with her resilience and courage in the end. Rory is the key to bringing about this change and while I detested him and the hold he had on Adelaide, I enjoyed seeing her move her beyond that experience to become the person she wanted to be. It's a thought-provoking story that may be triggering to some, so check the trigger warnings, and I enjoyed discussing it with a fellow book lover.