Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler

Today’s review is about ADELAIDE by Genevieve Wheeler. It’s a story about a young woman who ends up falling for her dream guy. But at what point does she put herself first over making a relationship work?

Author: Genevieve Wheeler
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publish Date: April 18, 2023
Print Length: 304

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Adelaide Synopsis

In love . . .

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.

Is it enough?

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.

When love asks too much of us, how do we find the strength to put ourselves first?

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.

Adelaide Review

ADELAIDE by Genevieve Wheeler follows the titular mid-20s protagonist finish her Master’s degree in London and subsequently find a job in the city she loves so much. But amidst these achievements Adelaide meets a man named Rory who she knows is The One. She falls head over heels and pours so much of herself into the relationship. Yet something is missing and Adelaide must be strong enough to choose herself.

ADELAIDE by Genevieve Wheeler is a phenomenal book. It abruptly begins with Adelaide in the hospital on the physical mend after attempting suicide. This is not a spoiler since the reader comes to understand this within the first few pages. This opening chapter sets up Adelaide’s story before sending the reader back in time to understand what lead her to take this action. It’s a story not of one Big Thing that made Adelaide feel like this choice was the only option. Rather, the reader learns that it was a series of smaller but not insignificant things that wore Adelaide down.

There’s something about Wheeler’s writing style that I absolutely loved and connected with despite not having a similar personality to Adelaide. I wouldn’t call the style lyrical, but it has echoes of that and a poetic cadence to it at times. The way Wheeler wrote about Adelaide made her story feel relatable and unpretentious despite some important realizations throughout the book. I really felt for Adelaide and her desire to make this relationship work because of how deeply she felt for Rory. As for Rory, well, I won’t spoil the story, but I was not a fan.

As one can tell from the very first chapter, mental health is a huge component of this story. Without giving away specifics, a sub-theme touched upon is that of taking medication to “solve your problems.” One character shares their disdain for how they feel one culture relies on pills too much for everything. If you blink you might miss it, but I thought this was an important part of the book. It’s there to show that some people have disdain and judge others for taking medication without understanding that it really can help some people.

Another huge theme of this book is the ability to let the past go. It’s very hard to live a life in the present when one still lives mentally and emotionally in the past. It prevents one from fully connecting and making new and fulfilling relationships. This theme of the book broke my heart almost as much as a content-warning event that Adelaide goes through later in the story.

Suffice it to say, my review doesn’t do this book justice–I really loved ADELAIDE by Genevieve Wheeler. I think anyone who’s looking for a story about connection and choosing oneself will value this book. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, but sometimes you just find a book whose writing style and story squarely hit your soul.

Rating: 5
Content warnings: attempted suicide, miscarriage, infertility, death
Reading format: Library Kindle e-book

For additional thoughts about ADELAIDE, check out a review by The Happy Reader.

6 thoughts on “Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler

  1. This sounds so emotional, and even though it’s outside my usual genre, I would probably love it too. I’m glad you loved it!

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