Adelaide

LoveReading Says

The unbearable pain of unrequited love, grief, and reaching a rock-bottom breaking-point — Genevieve Wheeler’s Adelaide debut is an emotional rollercoaster of a read that boasts crisply commanding storytelling.

From the outset, you feel confident you’re in the hands of a fine writer. An openhearted writer who has a wily knack for putting you right into the mind of its troubled protagonist — a 26-year-old woman whose heart has been broken over and over, sending her to the precipice.

The narrative moves back and forth in time, so we first meet American ex-pat Adelaide when she’s hit rock bottom and takes herself to a London hospital. The arresting opening line — “The funny thing about hitting rock bottom is that you never quite know once you’ve reached it” — is swiftly followed by Adelaide remarking, “This has to be it, right?”

And then comes the lead-up to this tipping point — Adelaide’s relationship with Rory, a “Disney prince” of a man she randomly approached some years ago, and then, by coincidence, re-encountered. While alarm bells clang early on, Adelaide can’t stop thinking he’s the one, until everything falls away.

The evocation of Adelaide’s vulnerability and dogged belief that he is her Disney prince is incredibly poignant. For a moment, she thinks “Perhaps he wasn’t a prince after all…Perhaps he was yet another dragon she needed to slay”, but she still can’t extricate herself.

With notes of hope, such as the soul-reviving possibility of new love hinting that terrible experiences don’t have to condemn you to a lifetime of the same, Adelaide is an exemplary example of honest emotion-driven fiction.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
More reviews by Joanne Owen

About Adelaide

A Goodreads Choice Awards NomineeA Book of the Month Club PickA Book of the Year Nominee for BOMCA Best Book of the Year for Marie Claire "A beautifully-written, deeply-felt exploration of what it means to love and be loved."-- Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost "Vulnerable, tender, and impossible to put down."-- Kirkus (starred) "Fans of The Midnight Library will identify with Adelaide's journey."-- Booklist The vulnerable, raw, and heartfelt debut about coming of age, unrequited love, and the power of self-discovery For twenty-six-year-old Adelaide Williams, an American living in dreamy London, meeting Rory Hughes was like a lightning bolt out of the blue: this charming Englishman was The One she wasn't even looking for. Does he respond to texts? Honor his commitments? Make advance plans? Sometimes, rarely, and no, not at all. But when he shines his light on her, the world makes sense, and Adelaide is convinced that, in his heart, he's fallen just as deeply as she has. Then, when Rory is rocked by an unexpected tragedy, Adelaide does everything in her power to hold him together--even if it means losing herself in the process. With unflinching honesty and heart, this relatable debut from a fresh new voice explores grief and mental health while capturing the timeless nature of what it's like to be young and in love--with your friends, with your city, and with a person who cannot, will not, love you back.

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