Alone with You in the Ether explores what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken.

Blake brings Chicago alive here, taking us through the streets, the classrooms of the University of Chicago where Aldo teaches and into the absolutely amazing Art Institute where Regan works as docent. There was something about 'Alone With You in the Ether' that drew me in, tangled me in its abyss, trapped in the world of these two complex characters. At many points, Regan is truly manic (not in the funny personality sense but as in DSM criteria mania sense), makes questionable personal decisions, commits a criminal act (this is never really addressed) and shapes her world entirely around Aldo and how him being a genius and wanting her somehow elevated her personal value. To love a person was to forfeit the need to place limits on them, and therefore to love was to exist in a constant, paralyzing threat. This is a love story, but not a love story, because it's complex, it shatters, it sometimes has jagged edges, which gives everything life.

The craziest part about this story--through Olivia Blake's words, we ride all the rollercoaster of emotions Regan encounters. They'll need to face their fears and the fractures within themselves - and still love as if they've not broken. Their connection is superficial and deeply obsessive (they both don’t have a single friend and barely reach out to their family because they are all consumed by each other), and it concerns me that their ending connection feels like a triumph when they are not in a good place to be in a relationship. Blake does well by having the story reject any quick fix or certainty, showing mental health is a lifelong journey and encouraging therapy and repeated self-assessment to remain both productive and healthy. She chases highs, she is assailed by intrusive thoughts (some violent), she is her own worst enemy and both she and Aldo fear she is using their relationship as a fix instead of truly working on herself.

and even though i have some issues with the narrative structure and style, i did find some parts of it to be inspiring.Alexene tripped and fell into writing after abandoning her long-premeditated track for Optimum Life Achievement while attending law school. As someone who can't imagine going off medication atp, the author's story was so relatable and so inspiring. there is nothing inside my head but aldo and regan and bees and quantum formulas and differential equations and the crevices of their fragile minds and i am at lost for words to describe how utterly devastatingly beautiful this book was. There would be times, particularly at first, when Regan would attempt to identify the moment things had set themselves on a path to inevitable collision. From the internationally bestselling author of The Atlas Six, Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake is a glimpse into the nature of love, what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you’re not broken.