Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

alone-with-you-in-the-ether

Olivie Blake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has left me with so many thoughts I want to scream!

There's a million ways to describe this book- all of them would be correct and none of them would be incomplete.

This is a story about two lonely people who make a world for themselves.

This is a story about two time travelers falling in love. Once. Twice. Over and Over again. 

This is a love story where they want to get it right no matter what's gonna hold them back.

This is a story about two mentally ill people using each other as coping mechanisms.

This is a story of obsession disguised as a romance.

This is a story of two liars who know only one truth. 

This is a story about theoretical mathematics and quantum physics; Time and the Multiverse.

This is a story about understanding people.

This is a crazy people story.

This is a love story.

/

The book is quite a heavy read. When I started it I found it quite intellectually cumbersome and excessively complex. At one point I stopped trying to understand the science but sometimes it makes sense without even trying.

Oftentimes relatable and painful to read, this is a beautiful exploration of how a smart but mentally ill person works. The narcissism, the charades, the incessant curiosity, the constant analysing. One of the best and most truthful depictions of love: asking for every piece of a person, dissecting it, accepting it assimilating it, and still saying "I know now, I'm still here, I still want it".

The writing is truly a work of art. The third person narrative that drones on in garbled sentences that skip randomly over time, the rapid cascade of intrusive thoughts, the frenzied urgency, the undertones of fear, the overconfidence - you can truly feel the author's life bleeding in. I felt manic trying to keep up with it. The thing I found most jarring were the narratives around sex. I'm a prude that will get put off even by a tiny speck of smut. The words and imagery used were so vulgar and abrasive -almost out of place, yet achingly tender and sacred.

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