Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Olive

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Olive by Emma Gannon

21 reviews

the_colourful_reader's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Loved the idea, and characters! So easy to read and relatable

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maddiela's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think this book healed my soul. It was so relatable, heart-warming and I wish I could be friends with everyone in Olive’s friend group. May not be for everyone as it does have some triggering content related to motherhood but to anyone who is currently in that weird part of life where half of your friends have houses and are expecting babies and the other half of your friend’s are still partying in university - you should read this book. Even if you aren’t on the fence about motherhood and next steps in your mid-20’s, this book offers so many perspectives about what creates meaning in life and that there is no right or wrong when it comes down to how you want to live it.

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catsy2022's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Rating: B

Olive is a contemporary fiction about the expectation of motherhood on women as they get older. Olivia (Olive) is friends with three other women, Cecily, Bee and Isla, each through different stages of their lives ending when they're 33ish. Cecily is a new mother at 28, Bee has three kids and Isla is trying for a child with her husband, Mike, via IVF. Outlier Olive doesn't want children and feels isolated from her friends as they reach different milestones.

This book was pretty light in plot given the circumstances. It's more of a slice of life, the characters each go through fights and trials as they try to understand each other. It was a nice read but didn't show me any other perspectives I didn't already have. The background breakup of Jacob and Olive was used to contrast how busy people get and how self-focused we all get as we get older, in that months have passed before anyone has any capacity to ask Olive about her life.

Kind of relatable and a little sad.

Worth a read if you're in this genre focus but nothing groundbreaking. I also found the characters real and enjoyable but like all contemporary fiction now you notice they all have high paying highly flexible jobs that allow them to achieve all their goals. Real people aren't all like that.

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emce821's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was a delight to read. The characters are lovable and relatable. I felt very seen with how similar my internal monologue is to Olive's. My only gripe was how much the years blended together, I at times wondered where I was in the timeline! However, this may be due to the pace at which I read, rather than the writing style.

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katharina90's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

Enjoyed reading a novel about a female character who's child-free by choice. Also liked that we see a wide spectrum of experiences. Those who:
-don't want kids
-want kids but are struggling with infertility
-have kids and are struggling postpartum or have regrets
-have kids and are thriving
-are estranged from their adult children
-etc.

Didn't love the characters. Each of the four friends was self-involved and either judgmental or inconsiderate of others in the friend group.

A missed opportunity to write about women who meet their friends where they are, with curiosity and an open mind, and a willingness to be supportive even when they don't immediately understand the other person's choices or struggles.

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dixiecarroll's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

the writing is atrocious and the characters are not fleshed out - they all read very one note and the only topic these women think of is children (pro and anti). Parts of it really resonated with me, but not in the way the author intended lol

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readingisfun14's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I feel so conflicted about this book. In one way it made me think about my friendships etc, but mostly I’m just annoyed with the characters. If they would have just gone to therapy they could have avoided all their issues. But I guess it reflects real life situations. I was interested enough to listen to the whole thing but if I was reading it I probably would have stopped.

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