“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, Olivie Blake

I really enjoyed this book. Olivie Blake has become a must-buy author on my list. I fell in love with the intricacy and messiness of The Atlas Six, and One for my Enemy delivered the same feeling. 

One for my Enemy is a “Romeo and Juliet” retelling in the modern world as two rival families build behind-the-scenes empires with a little bit of magic and a whole lot of crime.

It reminded me of These Violent Delights but with that magic touch of The Atlas Six. 

I think Blake thrives on storytelling. Her plots are always so intricate and indulging. They pull you in, get your brain gears turning and keep you flipping pages. I thought Blake did a great job balancing her plots — letting the romance between Lev and Sasha and Dima and Masha blossom and catch fire, while giving the politics of crime the same weight.

The characters weren’t as disastrously lovable as in TAS, but I did find them intriguing. Lev and Sasha were adorable, Masha was monstrously cunning, Dima was too good for his own good. But Roma’s character was the most interesting to me. A second-born son who’d never live up to his brother no matter how hard he tried. And he tried so hard it was nearly his own demise. He couldn’t accept it. Success was a symbol of worth and he just wanted to be valuable; but his value was never his to set.

The theme of power was also well done. The two families built empires to collect power that could be handed down to the next generation, but in doing so, Masha and Dima had no power over their own lives. They suffered for power. And they wished better lives for their younger siblings. Power isn’t some elusive thing for them, it’s a weight they bear.

Meanwhile power means next to nothing to Sasha and Lev. They are distant from it. Something they have in retrospect but think little of. Perhaps because the power is both being thrust upon them without their consent while being yanked away by their old sibling who want different for them.

Yet for Roma, power is everything. Power is respect. And he yearns for it. Desperately.

The story revolves around power. Who has it, who wants it, who suffers for it. 

I will say, I didn’t think it was as spectacular as The Atlas Six. It was good; not great.

The nicknames got confusing, and I had to flip back to the character list a lot at the beginning to keep my characters straight.

I also wanted more world-build, specifically when it came to the magical elements. I wanted more about how magic worked in this world, and more about the empires the two families built. I wanted the nitty gritty details. But I guess that’s not the story Blake wanted to tell. She focused more on the characters’ relationships — which make sense, since it’s a Romeo and Juliet retelling.

Here are all my thoughts on One for my Enemy by Olivie Blake:

• Baba made Masha into the woman she wished herself to be.
  • How sad to live such a cold life. Though she still loves Stas … as much as she’ll let herself. Someone she won’t be weakened by … like by having kids. He won’t/can’t persuade her. She can’t give her heart to someone like she did Dima.
• Baba sees her daughters as trinkets. Play things for her own exploits. It’s all about what they can do for her business.
• Oh no. Sasha is who Marya was before she broke it off with Dima. Before she hardened. It’s deja vu. But I guess that’s what makes it a tragedy. 
• Roman is psychotic … but I guess always living in Dima’s shadow would make him desperate to prove himself. The middle child syndrome working in overdrive. He needs to prove himself.
• I adore Lev and Sasha so much but this is gonna end so bad.
• Loyalty seems skewed to Roma. He’s loyal to his own successes. He goes behind his father’s back and defies his brother. He’s loyal to the family business, not the family. He wants success, power and the respect he thinks will come from it.
• Does Roman know he’s too far gone and that’s why he’s begging for his own death? Is he trying to even the debts? Does he know begging would make them hesitate?
• We love necromancy. The more the merrier.
• The deal between Koschei and Baba Yaga just proves they don’t see their children as human. They love them, but it feels transactional. There’s a distance to it.
• Roman doesn’t understand consequences. He acts without thinking. He acts as if he’s invincible. It nearly killed him. But it also nearly killed Dima and it did kill Lev. Not only does he not understand consequences, he doesn’t get that it affects more than just himself. He will be the downfall of their empire.
• I love the theme of power throughout. What it means to have it, how you wield it, how you obtain it. Power feels intangible in this narrative. It feels unreal. It’s an illusion. You can have the privilege of power in the standard sense, but no power over your own self. Or you can be made to believe you have power, but have nothing.

• I wish the other sisters were more of the story, but I understand it would spread the narrative too thin. I feel like their powers are so cool, and there’s not enough magic for my liking in this book.
• Marya having a soft spot for Lev warms my heart. He is so much like Dima in his goodness, but also it helps humanize both of them. They’ve been made into caricatures for so long, and by being together they can see each other for who they really are outside of their roles.
• I wish we got more about the magical elements. The necromancy just kinda happens off page and that’s huge. They brought three people back from the dead and we simply do not know how. I wanted more explanation in general for the magic.
• Tear the empire down. It’s the only way to stop the feud. To end the generational trauma. It makes sense for both Masha and Dima to be the ones to topple it all after everything they gave up to build their own respective empires. This belongs to them.
• Sasha haunting Roma is so funny. True psychological warfare. 
• Lev and Sasha are reunited!!!! My heart! I love their chemistry.
• I feel like because they’re the heirs, Masha and Dima couldn’t break the cycle alive. As long as they live, the cycle continues. They put too much of themselves into it. There’s no way for them to be together in life. They can’t watch their empires fall. They have to fall with it. 

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