Book Review: One For My Enemy

Olivie Blake ~ One for My Enemy

Synopsis

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.

Review

I had high hopes for this one, but sadly they weren’t quite realised. This is not a modern day retelling of Romeo & Juliet as advertised, but rather a story inspired by it. Aside from the star-crossed lovers, there are very few similarities, but having quotes from the original throughout was a nice touch.

I love Olivie Blake’s writing, even if it is quite wordy and informative. However, even I struggled with this one, as it felt unnecessary long and took a while to get going. Once I got into it I did enjoy it, but it isn’t a story that will stay with me, which is a shame. By setting it in New York I was expecting the city to play a huge role in the plot; as it was, it may as well have been anywhere in the world and this seemed like a missed opportunity.

I really enjoyed the characterisation, something Olivie writes so well. The people in her books always seem very normal and down to earth, but just so happen to have some kind of supernatural element that affects them. As with any family feud, I did find myself taking sides – in this case with the sisters; they seemed more agreeable and were only responding to the Federov’s original slight. Therefore their campaign seemed totally justified.

At times I did get a little confused as to who was dead and who was alive (if you read it you’ll see what I mean), not to mention why they were or were not, and the ending left me feeling more relief that I finished it rather than a sense of satisfaction.

Perhaps I just need to read it again so that I can make sense of it all in my head.