This writing style was very interesting I have mixed feeling and I might've had a different experience if I was reading and not listening to it via audiobook. I did like the complex romance . Regan and Aldo share a unique interesting romance and it was complicated but still enjoyable. I do not have a lot to say since I am still processing.

Thank you NerGalley.

I can see a lot of people liking this book. It just was not for me.
I did not particularly enjoy being inside the minds of the two main characters. (Regan and Aldo)
This by all means is a smart people romance. And I am not that smart. And don’t want to be..
The first half was better than the second half. The ending was a real let down for me.
Being inside the heads of these two very smart people was like.. everything is everything, but also everything is nothing at all and how can you question that but not have any questions?
If that makes sense.
I’m sure this book will be very popular.

For the audiobook part of the review.
I listened to this audiobook arc. The narrators were great. But it did get confusing on knowing if there was actually dialogue taking place or just thoughts. There was a lot of inner dialogue. It was hard to decipher if something was actually happening in real life or just a scenario being played out in the MC’s mind.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for an audiobook arc.

All thoughts are my own.

Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake is an incredibly thought-provoking love story. Regan and Aldo are two people that were destined to meet each other. No two people were ever so perfectly made to understand, question, and simply exist within the same timeline. The audiobook was done beautifully and the different voice actors and narrators did a stunning job bringing Regan, Aldo, and all other characters to life. Every time Mark’s voice actor spoke, I could feel myself grow angry. He was portrayed and spoke exactly as I would have imagined or if had I personally met him myself. The same goes for Regan’s mother. She was a terrible, cruel mother and the voice for her made me sad for Regan. I hated that Regan was so affected by her mother’s words that she heard them in her own head sometimes. Regan and Aldo both lived lives that were anything but easy. No one understood them the way that they learned to understand each other. Within six conversations, they knew that would not be enough. They knew there would never be a time that one could exist without the other past that. Their attachment style, while not necessarily the most healthy, was understandable. Love to the extreme because neither Regan nor Aldo were simple. Olivie did a beautiful job with this story and even the acknowledgments were touching. My mind has been reeling since the first time she mentioned bees, perfect circles, the multiverse, differential equations, the Babylonians and everything in between. I don’t think I’ve felt this much from a book, well, ever really. This must be how Regan feels. Everything all at once.

Alone with You in the Ether were narrated well. It is written beautifully also. At first it is so hard for me to grasp the book but when you go to the middle until the end and understand it.

I wasn't able to finish this. The writing style just didn't work for me -- was this supposed to be a screenplay?

Thank you for providing me a free advanced copy of this audiobook for an honest review! This was just not for me, truly, but I think a lot of people will love it! But I was mostly confused and struggled to keep attention with a more complex writing and plot and listening to the audio actors…

First of all, this audiobook was very well done and I listened to it in one day. Having flipped through the actual book and seeing the way it’s written (switching between first and third person and rambling), this is the only way I could enjoyably consume this book.

However, this is the third book I’ve given a try from Olivie Blake and I think it’s time to admit defeat - she is not for me, I am not her target audience.

Regan and Aldo meet by chance and, as is so often the case, it changes the trajectory of both their lives. With Aldo’s obsession with mathematics and time, I was definitely expecting this book to go more of a magical realism or even Blake Crouch-esque alternative universes and time travel route. So a lot of disappointments are because of my expectations.

I don’t find Olivie Blake’s characters to be likeable, and seldom are they relatable to me. Again, that is my experience and your mileage may vary. But the combination of writing and characterizations come across as very try hard and pretentious, to a distracting degree.

DNF

The writing style really didnt work for me as audio. I may pick this one back up once I have the physical in hand,

Thank you to netgalley and rhe publisher for providing me with a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Alone With You in the Ether by Olivia Blake

This was a complex romance novel with very flawed characters. Regan and Aldo cross paths at the art institute this was a by chance meeting. This is where the story starts Regan is an art thief and Aldo is a math genius. Aldo does math calculations in his head he uses them to explain everything. Regan seems to not be happy with her life she is seeing a therapist and she has major issues with her parents.

The characters are so flawed that they do not know how to have relationships that are successful. In both sides the parents seem to be over critical not as much from Aldo dad but he still puts inputs into his relationships. These two are grown but because they are flawed other people are involved to keep them going. They both seem to be a danger to themselves but in different ways. I thought the two are similar in a lot of ways they both do not do that well with people. Neither of them have real friendships. They both move in and out of relationships and only use the person for some form of stimulation.

They both start off as just friend Regan gets stimulation from Aldo's knowledge she likes his story telling knowledge like the bees. Aldo likes that Regan inquires about these topics and listens to him. They through the ether find stimulation in each other.

Mrs. Blake writes a complex story with complex but flawed characters I found myself with my head spinning around keeping up with the two characters. It was dizzying for me at times but that sometimes makes for a good story. What I got from this story is life is complex, people are complex and families are complex which is a true fact. Aldo calculating everything but in the end does the numbers show him the way? Regan is a thief it feels like that in all aspects of her life but without drugs can she move towards some sort of normalcy and break her normal patterns?

The audio book was narrated by Dion Alexander; Eliza Foss; Emma Paige West; John Pirhalla; Olivie Blake; Robb Moreira; Steve Wagner; Sura Siu; and Tim Campbell. I was able to distinguish each character from the voices which allowed each character to come to life. This was a four star read for me. I recommend this book to people who love complex romance that can be messy sometimes or flawed.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan audio for a free audio copy of Alone With You in the Ether for an honest review. All opinions express in this review are my own.

This book took my breath away. It is one of the most chaotic, unique, manic, beautiful, romantic and heartbreaking books I have ever read. 100% not your average romance novel. Alone With You in the Ether will be in my heart for awhile and has solidified itself as one of the best books I’ve ever read. 10/10 recommend.


Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. The audio performance narrated Narrated by Dion Alexander, Eliza Foss, Emma Paige West, John Pirhalla, Olivie Blake, Robb Moreira, Steve Wagner, Sura Siu and Tim Campbell was beyond amazing!

Alone with You in the Ether was everything I thought it would be and so much more. I already knew I enjoyed the author's writing style but the prose in this book still blew me away. The pacing was a little chaotic at times but even that was part of its beauty. It fit the personalities of the characters perfectly. The characters in this story felt so real. They were beautiful and awkward and manic and flawed. The minor interactions that Regan and Aldo shared blew my mind. I learned more about them in a single paragraph of hand holding than I learn about most characters throughout an entire book! This is easily one of my favorite books I've read this year. I don't think I'll be able to get bees and differential equations and quantum formulas out of my head for a very long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Glorious. Divine. Excellent. I love this book with all my heart. Not a day has gone by where I don’t think of Aldo and Reagan. The mental health rep felt so close to home I feel so seen. I love them, I love it, I love Olivie.