I have tried to listen to this 4 times now and I still only remember half of this, and what I remember is good but it unfortunately is easily forgettable for me. I am going to try again when I can find it on a platform that plays faster because NetGalley only working up to 2x speed makes it much harder to retain a book this long.

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake boasts both well-developed characters and intriguing plot points. I enjoyed the audiobook and the narrator.

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

AAPI Heritage Month #14

author: Filipino American

This is clearly a case of "it's not you, it's me," because nearly all of you seemed to enjoy this. Don't come for me.

I read the premise for The Atlas Six. It gave the same found family vibes as Six of Crows, so I went for it. I didn't make it very far before giving up.

I also have issues with Olivie's Dramione fanfic. Maybe I've outgrown Dramione. Or maybe she is just wordier than I prefer.

In any case, I was doomed before I began. I have issues with Romeo and Juliet. I have issues with Shakespeare. So a white Englishman is writing about Italians. These Italians are turned Russian-esque for the sake of what? Did we even research Baba Yaga and Koschei the Deathless before using their names?

I'd like to hear from an actual Russian, but the only great Russian-esque series written by a non-Russian appears to be The Bear and the Nightingale. Do not come here if you liked Shadow and Bone's wannabe Russian undertones.

If after all that, you are still interested, and want to know more about this book, please read the other reviews, because I found myself zoning in and out. The characters are alive. The characters are dead. No, the characters are alive. The end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of one for my enemy. this was great! we had multiple pov, magic and fantasy in the modern day. romance between multiple people. this was a mix of the tale of babayaga and Romeo and Juliet. I like that it wasn't just multiple povs of each side we also followed different members of the family and characters outside. This was a fantastic listen.

This is a story about the stars that incline us.

I loved this! I wasn’t sure about the formatting going in, but it was such an enjoyable read. The drama! The Russian culture! The star crossed lovers! Olivie Blake never disappoints.

Thank you so much @netgalley & @macmillan.audio for the book! I enjoyed it so much.

*3 stars*

This was an interesting reimagining of Romeo and Juliet with witches. It had a long cast of intricate characters.

I feel like this had so much potential to be a really amazing story but just fell flat for me. This was my first Olivie Blake book, and I did enjoy the writing style. I liked that we got to look into the motivations of each of our main characters at one point or another. However the pacing was off and the story felt like it lagged towards the middle of the book. It felt like the plot was trying to do too much at once and the result was very chaotic. I also would have liked the story to focus more on the magic system and world building as they felt almost forgotten at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC of this work. All opinions in this review are my own.

Have you ever read a book and think 🤩. Then you see they have other works out, but you hesitate because you’ve read multiple works from another author and been disappointed.
If you’ve read one of Olivia Blake’s books. You won’t be disappointed reading another one.
I will be thinking about this book for awhile.

This is not your normal Romeo and Juliet retelling. Yes, there are rival families and forbidden romances but it is SO.MUCH.MORE.

Firstly, I would like to thank whoever decided to include a character list at the beginning of the novel. I listened to the audiobook so the majority of the novel, I was thoroughly confused on who was who with all the nicknames and relationships.

We have the Fedorov clan, with the head being Koschei the Deathless (a.k.a. Lazar), consisting of the three main brothers in order of eldest: Dimitri (Dima), Roman (Roma), and Lev (Lyova).

There are also the Antonova witches, with Baba Yaga (Marya) as the matriarch, and her seven daughters: Marya (Masha), Ekaterina (Katya), Irina (Irka), Yelena (Lena), Liliya (Lilenka), Galina (Galya), and Alexandria (known primarily as Sasha or Sashenka by her family).

Yep. And that is just a summarized version of a handful of main characters. There’s also Ivan, the bodyguard, Eric Taylor, Sasha’s classmate and an idiot, Stas Maksimov, husband of Marya, and one of the most important characters of all, Brynmor Attaway (The Bridge).

The novel is also formatted with a play-like structure, mirroring Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. We’re given “the stage” as well as which characters are interacting within each scene and an occasional quotation between “Acts.”

Okay, now onto the good stuff. Dima and Marya’s tragic love story in juxtaposition to Lev and Sasha’s? That made this novel. There’s a whole “we don’t want to repeat history” type of theme going on where the elder siblings want to protect their younger siblings from the world but the younger siblings want to make their own path in life. Of course, this is still a Romeo and Juliet retelling so you can guess what happens. We also have witty banter, stolen kisses/glances, “I’ll love you beyond the grave,” and, oddly, my favorite thing (?), flirty text messages.

The entire story takes place in New York City, so you can feel the buzz of energy and mysticism within each page. However, I do wish there was more to the descriptions of the setting since I couldn’t entirely imagine the surroundings outside of Baba Yaga’s shop, the Federov household, the Antonova household, and Bridge’s office. There were other settings (the bar, Sasha’s class, Eric’s home, the concert, etc.) but they were sort of blank slates within my mind since the characters themselves were so colorful, that the background faded into nothingness.

Things I didn’t like? Personally, I hated the Bridge’s character. He was the in between guy that everyone went to, and I mean EVERYONE, just so they could backstab one another or maybe gain some information to blackmail the opposing family. However, the Bridge didn’t have any real power besides his connection to information (or power that he would use to his advantage if he had the chance). His character, a majority of the time, felt like a cop-out for plot building and character interaction. There was a lot of potential behind his character, especially the whole reasoning why he’s called “The Bridge” in a magical reference, but he continued being a bridge that one character would cross in order to discover information on another.

Without giving spoilers, there were main plot points that did leave me frustrated but that is because it’s a Romeo and Juliet retelling. I almost became accustomed to grieving characters and then not really caring if they lived or died (for certain reasons). I’m not entirely sure that I like the ending yet so I’ll have to think about it for awhile but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

5/5⭐️

OBlake is hit or miss with me. While I find that I can be emersed in her prose and become neck-deep listening to paragraph after paragraph of detailed backstory or side story or background, I will come up only to realize that I have no earthly clue if what I listened to is truly pertinent to the story. It can be maddening to feel like you are circling a drain, desperately trying to grab onto any flotsam that may come by in the hopes that it is important only to find you can't remember why you thought it was important in the first place.

I think I spent the first 50% of this book only having a vague feeling that it was a Romeo and Juliet retelling(?!?) so you know, there was that. I must have put it down over a dozen times with the intention of filing it under DNF, but the persistent itch 'TO KNOW' just wouldn't stop so I kept picking it up only to groan again.

I really did feel like I was trying to solve a thousand piece puzzle that someone put in the wrong box, showing the wrong quantity, and picture. I can tell you that I finished it, but was the effort worth it . . .

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion **

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I really wanted to like this more than I did... I think this was one of those where I would have it enjoyed it a lot more reading a physical copy as opposed to an audio book- not that the narrator wasn't good, the story just wasn't pulling me in enough to pay attention to all the little details so I felt like I was missing something often. Maybe I'll try again some other time with a physical copy and see how I like it.

complicated and beautiful.

“Hate and love were so very similar. Both were intestinal, visceral. Both left scars, vestiges of pain. Hate could not be born from a place of indifference. Hate was only born from opposite sides of the same coin.”

"One for My Enemy" by Olivie Blake is an enthralling novel that blends the world of magic with crime empires in modern-day Manhattan. The story follows two rival witch families, the Antonova sisters, and the Fedorov brothers, as they battle to maintain control of their respective criminal enterprises. The Antonova sisters are cunning and ruthless, while the Fedorov brothers serve their father, the crime boss known as Koschei the Deathless. The Antonova family's elusive supplier of premium intoxicants, known as Baba Yaga, is the only connection they have to the shadowy world of the crime empire.

The book is a well-crafted and intricate web of love, magic, and rivalry, as the families struggle to maintain their control and keep their secrets hidden from each other. After a tenuous co-existence for numerous years, a change in one family's interests causes a rift that brings both families to the brink of disaster. Fate intervenes with a chance encounter, and in the aftershocks of a resurrected conflict, everyone must choose a side.

“you don’t become a smaller version of yourself simply because what you once had is gone.”

At the heart of the story, it is a "Romeo & Juliet" retelling, but Blake doesn't make it as simple as it seems. "One for My Enemy" is layered and complex with depth beyond measure. It makes you think and feel deeply. Blake's writing is absolutely breath-taking, romantic and magical. All of the characters are complicated, beautiful and as bright as stars. It won't be for everyone, it is a little muddled around the middle and has a couple twists and turns that are not necessary. Overall, One for My Enemy is an entertaining and thrilling read. The book offers a fresh take on the world of magic, with well-developed characters and a suspenseful plot. It is a must-read for anyone looking for a page-turner.

“Sometimes my eyes open and I know, somewhere in my bones, that I have formed myself to the shape of waking up beside you.”

Thank you to the publishers for the gifted copt
Pub Date: 04 Apr 2023 | Macmillan Audio | Tor Books

I like Olivie Blake's writing, maybe I would have enjoyed the story more in its written format instead of as an audio. The names and nicknames alone were tough to keep up with! But I enjoyed the premise and the magic system she's created and would definitely attempt this again in paper format!

Audiobook/unabridged/fantasy: I loved the first two books of Atlas Six because it was original. This book has its roots in Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet.
Without giving the plot or end away, this book could get confusing. The book has a setting of a play with Acts & Scenes. The beginning has a list of characters that overwhelmed me because the characters had names and nicknames. The first half of the book was really good and the extensive characters were not a problem.
Then one character gets murdered and everything gets thrown out the window. Characters are getting killed, characters are coming back to life, characters are pretending to be dead, characters are ghosts (I think), and my favorite, a character pretends to be a ghost.
I got this book from Netgalley in lieu of a honest opinion.

A very enticing concept, but executed in a way that dragged on & on. In total, this book weighs in at nearly 500 pages, when the story could have been told concisely and satisfyingly in 250-300. I think that I would have enjoyed this book much more if the repetitive prose had been reigned in a bit, and the plot accelerated at a faster pace.

I didn’t get to finish this one because it archived before I could. From what I read, I enjoyed it. So I bought it to finish.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

One for My Enemy is a modern fantasy romance that utilizes a lot of story elements from Romeo and Juliet and applies them to witch families of the New York underground. This story really drew me in from the start, and the writing kept me hooked throughout the story. One of my favorite parts was imagining the ways in which this story could be taught in tandem or immediately after Romeo and Juliet in a high school classroom. Olivia Blake presents a really clever example of retelling by utilizing similar characterizations and a broad plot structure while forging a new narrative and refreshing story. I truly fell in love with her characters and the world she created. I would highly recommend this story! The audiobook specifically is very enthralling as well.

I read the original version of One for my Enemy in 2021, and fell deeply in love with the characters Blake had created. I loved the dynamics between them, and I loved her signature lush, flowery style of writing. Now, though, I found myself so deeply bored I'm wondering if it's a result of time or if I was brainwashed back then. I don't doubt Blake's ability to captive an audience, in fact, it's one of the traits of her body of work that I like the most. However, in this case I was floored by how insignificant I found this story. While I did really enjoy it the first time around, I was never blind to its faults---I just liked it enough that I could look past them. This time I couldn't. The dynamics that had captivated me the first time I found insanely boring and self redudant. The plot is all over the place and the side characters are unberable caricatures of what characters are actually supposed to be. I was also not the biggest fan of the narrator.

Dark, twisty, rival families, romance, drama and magic. Part Romeo & Juliet retelling, part Russian/Slavic folklore. Set in NYC. This book has a lot to unpack, but it is also a lot to love. I devoured this book on audio in 2 days. Seriously this book was all I could think about for days. Somehow Olivie was able to paint a magical complex story that captured me. Sometimes I have a hard time fully investing in a work of fantasy, with One For My Enemy was not the case.

I am very glad that I had had this book in audiobook format. Hearing the pronunciation of names was helpful. Plus ,the narrator was amazing, her voice was able to convey emotion and depth.

Overall, loved this book, even though I am slightly emotionally damaged from it.


Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for my gifted ALC.

Thank you to Olivie Blake (author), Ferdelle Capistrano (narrator), Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for this free advanced reader copy of "One for My Enemy: A Novel" for an honest review.

I have to admit while this book was set up as warring witchy families, dark fantasy romance, and a Shakespearean retelling of "Romeo & Juliet," it didn't even up hitting the right notes for me this time. I didn't find any offensive—the writing was good, the narrator was clear spoken & good at the differing voices—but this one just didn't end up striking a cord for me deeply interest-wise.

Alas, maybe the next Blake book will be more for me, again!

This book was everything I wanted in a dark, fantastical romance and more. I love Olivie Blake's range, depth of writing, and emotionality. I will forever and always be a fan. This is a short review because there is nothing more for me to say than - WOW.