City of Deja

To say I was hesitant to pick up One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake is quite the understatement. I read and loved The Atlas Paradox (the sequel to The Atlas Six) earlier this year, but was deeply disappointed by Alone With You in the Ether, my first standalone read from Blake. However, I decided to set aside my reservations and give One for My Enemy a fair shake. And I’m still reeling from how fantastic this book was.

About the Book

In modern-day Manhattan where we lay our scene, two rival witch families fight to maintain control of their respective criminal ventures.

On one side of the conflict are the Antonova sisters — each one beautiful, cunning, and ruthless — and their mother, the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants, known only as Baba Yaga. On the other side, the influential Fedorov brothers serve their father, the crime boss known as Koschei the Deathless, whose community extortion ventures dominate the shadows of magical Manhattan.

After twelve years of tenuous co-existence, a change in one family’s interests causes a rift in the existing stalemate. When bad blood brings both families to the precipice of disaster, fate intervenes with a chance encounter, and in the aftershocks of a resurrected conflict, everyone must choose a side. As each of the siblings struggles to stake their claim, fraying loyalties threaten to rot each side from the inside out.

If, that is, the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy them first (via Goodreads).

Review

A Romeo and Juliet retelling in its most unique and poignant form, One for My Enemy was a phenomenal read from start to finish. I seriously got chills while reading this book! It hit the beats of the familiar Shakespearean tragedy, but still continued to surprise me the more I read on.

I enjoyed how Blake toyed with the idea of warring families as witches covens, but with a Mafia-esque twist. The Fedorovs and Antonovas are both extremely powerful clans, but with power comes greed, and one of the families is determined to have it all. And Blake did not hold back. She showcases the complexities of a familial dynamic that is more invested in omnipotence and legacy than it is in the well-being of its members–and how there are dire consequences that emerge from this oversight. Blake really pulled back the curtains and exposed the darker elements of family loyalty, and I ate it right up. One for My Enemy was exactly what a retelling should be–it’s recognizable and familiar, but it also expands on the bigger ideas introduced in the original work.

The character work in this book is also done extremely well. There’s quite the extensive cast of characters, and just like in The Atlas Six, Blake demonstrated her ability to write very distinctive points of view. I was never confused on whose POV I was reading since each character was fleshed out and had their own set of motivations. If anything, I was initially playing a guessing game as to which character aligned to which Shakespeare original, only to realize that Blake seemed to be playing by her own rules. The novel is split into five acts and structured by scene number, but it isn’t trying to assert itself as a direct parallel to the play. Honestly, the more I read on, the more invested I became in seeing how she planned to conclude such an intensive and intricate plot. Though we all know how Shakespeare’s tragedy plays out in the end, Blake’s reimagined world kept me on my toes and holding my breath until the final page.

Overall, this book hit all the marks for me. It’s such uniquely innovative retelling that you just have to experience its magic for yourself.

My Ratings

Grade Scale

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