Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler is a powerful and emotional debut novel that explores the complexities of love and mental health. Set in dreamy London, the story follows twenty-six-year-old Adelaide Williams, an American who falls in love with Rory Hughes, a charming Englishman who she believes is "The One".

The novel is told from Adelaide's perspective, and the author does an excellent job of capturing her voice and emotions. Adelaide is a relatable and well-developed character, and it's easy to empathize with her struggles as she tries to navigate her relationship with Rory. Wheeler's writing is honest and raw, and she doesn't shy away from exploring difficult topics such as grief and mental health.

As the story progresses, Adelaide's relationship with Rory becomes increasingly complicated. While she is deeply in love with him, Rory is often distant and unreliable, leaving Adelaide feeling insecure and questioning their future together. Despite this, Adelaide continues to hold onto the hope that Rory loves her just as deeply, even as she begins to lose herself in the process.

The novel's themes of love and mental health are explored with nuance and sensitivity, and Wheeler's writing is both poetic and powerful. She captures the timeless nature of what it's like to be young and in love, while also delving into the darker side of relationships and the toll they can take on our mental health.

Overall, Adelaide is a poignant and deeply affecting novel that will resonate with readers who have experienced the pain of unrequited love or struggled with mental health issues. It's a brave and important debut from a fresh new voice in contemporary literature, and I look forward to reading more from Genevieve Wheeler in the future.

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.

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, but I still have strong feelings about it. The main characters were infuriating at times, and I spent most of the book screaming at Adelaide to value herself and know her worth! Rory was irredeemable in my opinion. Even as broken up as he was over Nathalie, he had also treated her terribly when they were together.

I felt that there were some plot holes in the timelines of how she lived in Jersey, grew up in Boston, lived in Georgia but also England, etc. It also seems a little strange that she would have grown up with family members who had mental health issues and diagnoses yet she was in her late 20s still undiagnosed.

There were things I loved about the book such as the supportive friendships she had. Although they didn’t really come through in the midst of the dysfunctional relationship, they certainly showed up for her in the end. I cheered when her friend called Rory and held true on her threat of breaking Adelaide’s heart! I also liked the support Adelaide received in her time of crisis and the foreshadowing of Bubs running into her throughout.
I fully ship a healthy Adelaide and affectionate Bubs!!

Thank you, NetGalley and Genevieve Wheeler for access to the Audiobook version of this book.

This book was a lot of emotions and it was definitely a really heavy story. That being said, I absolutely adore Adelaide and in a lot of ways I identify with her. As a woman in my 27th year I felt her pain in trying to figure out her life’s trajectory and sometimes giving too much to others and not enough to herself. This story was so beautifully filled with emotion and I truly think that everyone will see at least a part of themselves in Adelaide. I haven’t had this emotional of a reaction to a story in a while. I often get emotionally when I am caught up in a story, but this one has had me reflecting so much afterwards and I think it will always stick with me. I also think that the narration by Caitlin Kelly added to how much I enjoyed the story. She did a great job of transporting me into the story with her narration. Long story short I’m buying a physical copy of this immediately so I can reread again at some point.

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 is one of those books that will stick
with me for a long time…

Thank you to @Netgalley (audio) @BookSparks and @geewheeler for the
reviewer’s copy! Swipe for trigger warnings.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis: Adelaide is a young woman that just moved
from Brooklyn to London for her career. She is
surrounded by many friends both home and in London,
that would do anything for her. One night she meets
Rory Hughes and everything about him/them seems
like fate. He is everything she has always dreamed of,
until he isn’t. He doesn’t return her texts, he ghosts
her, and he takes more than he gives. Adelaide is a
story about love, and when love asks too much of us,
how do we find the strength to put ourselves first?

From Goodreads: “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.”

I felt like the excerpt above was a great description of
the emotions and experiences described in this story.
Books like this always have an instant spot in my heart
– I was hooked right from the prologue and the
relatability kept me so indulged in the story. My heart
was aching for Adelaide and even for my younger self
at times.

From the book: "She was always going to jump into this
lake, no matter how dark or dangerous it turned out to
be; she was too intrigued by its shimmering surface to
even consider turning away. There was no world in
which she wouldn't dive headfirst in love with Rory
Hughes. This was the only way."

If you are able to give this one a read, I highly
recommend it. This story is a great one and has lots of
love, friendship, and personal growth. The characters
are great, the plot is interesting, and the story will keep
you wanting more.

Wheeler's writing is beautiful and lyrical, and she does an excellent job of capturing the raw emotions of young love. Adelaide is a complex and relatable character, and her journey is both heartbreaking and hopeful. The novel also explores themes of grief, mental health, and the importance of friendship.

Adelaide is a beautifully written and moving novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. It is a must-read for anyone who has ever experienced heartbreak, love, or loss.

Here are some of the things that I liked about the book:

The writing is beautiful and lyrical.
The characters are complex and relatable.
The story is both heartbreaking and hopeful.
The novel explores important themes such as grief, mental health, and the importance of friendship.

“Am I lucky or unlucky to have fallen in love with this person? She would never really know the answer.” Wow, what a story! Adelaide is a young American woman living and working in London. She's got a great group of friends, and is having fun casually dating and isn't looking for anything serious. Until, through a dating app, she meets Rory, who after their very first date, she is convinced is her soul mate. Unfortunately Rory can not give Adelaide what she needs and he ends up breaking her heart over and over again. Through the present day story of Rory and Adelaides relationship, as well as flashbacks of them in past relationships, we get glimpses of why they are the way they are. Though it can be hard and frustrating to witness what Adelaide goes through in her relationships, it is extremely relatable. The lows and the highs, that keep drawing her back in. If you are sensitive to triggers, I'd suggest looking them up before reading or listening to this story, but if you can handle them, this book is definitely worth your time. The audio narration was outstanding and Caitlin Kelly was Adelaide Williams.

This book, I won't lie, lowkey broke my heart. I felt for Adelaide, everything she went through as a teen, and young adult. She never had a good, healthy relationship with any men in her life. And at times I wanted to scream and yell. Beautiful, relatable, and heartbreaking.

4.5 stars, rounded up
Really relatable, frustrating, sad, yet ultimately hopeful book. So glad I read it.

To start, let me say that there are some pretty big trigger warnings in this book. If you have triggers, look here (view spoiler)

Adelaide Williams is a twenty-six year old American woman, living in London for graduate school and beyond. She has a solid group of friends, but what she really wants is a relationship. She meets Rory and it seems like a really good match. Yet as Adelaide pours her heart and soul into their relationship, it's met with halfhearted response.

It's obvious to the reader that Rory isn't a good guy (yet he's not overtly a bad guy). It's fairly apparent to Adelaide's friends as well. But Adelaide herself just keeps thinking that if she tries harder, shows him just how much she cares for and is devoted to Rory, that he will eventually reciprocate and fall in love. We all know people like Adelaide, in a mismatched relationship with someone who can't or won't show up and be there for their partner. It's sometimes SO glaring to others when it isn't so obvious to the person in the relationship.

This book is so raw, so real, and ends on a hopeful note. There were a few things I didn't love, so that's why 4.5 rather than a full 5. One, is that I felt like Adelaide's friends were too perfect. Too supportive, too willing to pick up the pieces again and again. Yet I know I'm not a 20-something, and it's been a minute since I was, so I don't quite remember the intensity and all-encompassing nature of those friendships. However my daughter is that age and assures me that this is normal and natural, friends in their 20s willingly participate endless relationship dissections, even if they go nowhere.

The second thing I didn't love were the chapter's from Rory's perspective. They added nothing to the narrative at all, they didn't go deep into his motivations like Adelaide's chapters did. They skated over everything emotional with him, so I just thought they were out of place and unnecessary. Fortunately, there aren't many of them.

I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator, Caitlin Kelly, is stellar. Her narration is Adelaide. I felt the depth of her despair, the aches of her insecurity, the joy of her love. While listening I just ached for Adelaide and everything that she did to try to make the relationship work. I felt her every feeling as she watched her friends pair off and have seemingly effortless love matches as she floundered.

If you like deeply emotional women's fiction, this book is a fantastic example. It's not an easy read, but it's definitely worthwhile.

“Pain is pain is pain. It was important to recognize your privilege, yes. To show your gratitude, to count your blessings. But it was also important to acknowledge and accept your pain, to understand that no matter how large or small your problems, your losses, your wounds - they are yours. And you’re allowed to feel them. The hardest loss will always be your own” -Adelaide.

“We have to be here to hold each others broken pieces”- Adelaide

This book captures mental health in a way I’ve never read before. Its an absolute must read, or listen. The audiobook narration is phenomenal.

Listening to the audiobook, really elevated the story and made a connect with a character so much more than you typically would. I had a great time and the writing which beautifully written

Adelaide Williams grew up in Georgia and in Boston in the States but moved to London for graduate school. She fell in love. She fell in love with Rory Hughes, an Englishman who also fell in love, but not with Adelaide. Rory was in love with someone else before he met Adelaide. And he never got over Natalie, his first love.

Adelaide met Natalie too (not knowing of her history with Rory) and wanted to be just like her. Most of all, Adelaide wanted Rory to love her. Patience for Adelaide on the part of the reader is difficult to hang onto. One wants Adelaide to just wake up and stop allowing Rory to take advantage of her. Over and over again.

Eventually, Adelaide does face facts but it's so difficult for her she ends up in hospital. And, eventually, Adelaide's life works out (in the epilogue).

The book will be enjoyed by hopeless romantics. For others it moves a bit slowly to its conclusion, but for a first book, Genevieve Wheeler shows promise. I listened to an ARC of the audiobook, narrated by Caitlin Kelly, an experienced singer/actor/narrator who did a great job with the characters.

This audiobook was not what I was expecting. I completely binged this. Adelaide is so relatable. It is a book about mental illness, relationships, trauma, and hope. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel- so good!

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 struggled with this book because of all the language and sex. I have a teen daughter so maybe I’m just sensitive but it wasn’t my style. I do love the cover and I’m sure it will reach some audiences, I was just not the one. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

If your looking for a book to evoke emotions of intense love, hate, joy, sadness and compassion, Adelaide belongs on your TBR. It was physically painful to watch a character with such a huge heart get treated really poorly and keep coming back for more. The dual timelines gave glimpses to all the moments that contributed to the course her life took. I wanted to shout "run away" several times- while also accepting the reality that we have to learn certain lessons in our own time. Resilience takes many forms and I hope readers can find that hope and light within the pages/minutes of this book/audiobook. I know I did.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the gifted advanced copy in exchange for a review.

I absolutely DEVOURED this book as an eArc and was so thankful to have the opportunity to review the advanced listening copy. I loved the narration and felt like it brought Adelaide to live. The intro music was beautiful.

Listening to this book brought made my heart hurt even more for our main character. I love this story so much.

What follows is a distinctly minority opinion.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The main plus was the depiction of the friendships between the main character, the titular Adelaide, and her friends Eloise, Madison and Celeste. There was also a realistic and sensitive treatment of mental illness and suicidal ideation - in fact, the book starts off with a bang, dealing with this topic right off the bat.

But the biggest portion of this story dealt with a rather toxic relationship between Adelaide and Rory. And I just couldn’t stand Rory or understand why Adelaide kept going back to him. I nearly DNF’d the book, but decided to keep going to see what exactly made Adelaide snap and break it off with Rory - or if something else was the reason.

Content warnings: In addition to the previously mentioned suicide ideation, toxic relationship and mental health issues - there is emotional abuse, sexual abuse, miscarriage, death of a young person, death of parents (past), grief

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient, as it allowed me to plow through it quickly. The audiobook narrator, Caitlin Kelly, did a good job with the various accents. (Adelaide is American and the story takes place in London, England.)

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

“Because if we knew, if we honestly knew the price of love was grief, we’d never do it. We’d never succumb in the first place. And once we do — once we fall in love, against our better judgment, with something or someone —we never want to let go.”

“You have to love fiercely, and unselfishly, and with intention, her mother said. It’s the only way.”

“Stop it, she said aloud. Don’t let that m0therf&cker steal the Spice Girls from you. He’d taken enough already.”

“There are parts of our hearts we give away. Not lend, but sacrifice entirely. And there are some people to whom we give these pieces, knowing we’ll never really get them back.”

I 𝓪𝓭𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓭 this book. Adelaide did soooo many of the things that we all do when we are young, especially if you’re a people pleaser. We often forget to recognize that our happiness matters and instead we solely focus on making sure our partner and those around us are happy 100% of the time. That. Is. Not. Attainable. It’ll just leave us burnt out, lost and miserable.

As I turned each page, digging deeper into Adelaide’s love, heartache, depression and growth, there was a rawness about this story that really resonated with me. This book made me smile and broke my heart. The way Rory treated her made me want to scream…even the subtlest things he did. Other times I wanted to hi-five her like “that’s right!”