This novel is a spin on Romeo and Juliet. Between each section are quotations from the tragedy, so Blake makes this evident immediately. Given how many works of fiction are based around this, I was not expecting much. The story is intriguing and, as always, the author's character work is well done. Unfortunately the narrative falls on its face near the end, and the journey there has a few missteps as well.

The Fedorovs and the Antonovas are rivals. Both families make shady dealings in present day New York. The only thing about this story that informs the reader it takes place in the present day is the presence of cell phones. Otherwise, this story could have been set in any time period as the businesses the families deal in are antiquated by today’s standards. They have a mutual agreement to not interfere with one another and coexist, but someone has broken the deal. The Antonova’s (a family including a mother and 7 total daughters) send the eldest daughter (Marya) to the Fedorovs for information. Their drugs were being resold by a third party and they believe the Fedorovs had something to do with it. After an altercation, one of the Fedorovs (a family consisting of a father and three sons) is left on life support. Peace has been broken and the families are now fighting with one another. Did I mention there is magic in this setting? Well it’s not that important. Certain plot points hinge on it, but overall it’s relatively inconsequential in the day-to-day dealings. It’s a wasted opportunity in my opinion as some moments that could have been really cool with spells being cast back and forth, are instead mundane and uninteresting.

The youngest of both families happen to meet outside of a bar. They quickly fall for one another, not knowing they are of opposing families, but the Fedorov (Lev) finds out shortly after their meeting. This leads to his brother (Roman) asking him to use her for information, so they can get revenge for the eldest (Dimitri) who was critically injured. This plan doesn’t even really begin, because of Lev’s feelings for the Antonova (Sasha). Lev never asks her anything incriminating about her family. They text one another and meet up for make-out sessions but that’s about it. Their conversations were alight with colorful rhetoric and generally funny to read, but quite unrealistic. Blake never seems to be able to write dialogue that sounds human. It always sounds like an interpretation of an educated individual rather than an actual person. Besides these interactions, these two go through some struggles with their respective families, but never stray from the hope that they can be together. The Romeo and Juliet comparisons don’t stop there, but the story does take a turn in a direction I wasn’t expecting regarding these two specifically.

Dimitri and Marya used to be together as teenagers, but broke apart due to a disagreement between their parents. Both are immensely loyal to their families, so they buried their love for each other and did as their parents needed. Once the cracks start to show however, they come together again for comfort. Their story also has some hurdles that are parallel to Lev and Sasha, so overall it feels like we have two Romeos and two Juliets, rather than 4 distinct individuals. I enjoyed these two’s story more than Lev and Sasha as their history carried more weight than the younger couple’s fledgling relationship. Since both stories are “tragic love stories” though, they don’t differentiate from one another enough to warrant both existing simultaneously.

There are many other characters, but the most important one is Bryn. Bryn is a third party that both families go to for information and he happens to be a Fae (which doesn’t do much for the narrative and seems like a waste as he is the only one present in the story and only adds more questions to my list of “why”). He has information on both parties and makes deals with each. This is where his true power lies as he doesn’t have much in the way of magic. Bryn provides a comical air to the story (though Lev does this well enough), but he has his own insecurities as well. Some chapters are from his viewpoint, so we do get to see what he goes through, but his impact on the story overall feels inconsequential, though many of his dealings point both families directly at one another. I don’t know, but I think more could have been done with him.

The story of this book was initially interesting, but left me feeling unsatisfied. Blake crafts such complex characters, but drops them into a world (and plot) that feels less substantial. The narrative progresses in a linear way, as compared to her previous books, which helps with the flow. One character’s decision near their end does not make sense in the context of what they went through, unless they were affected more deeply by a previous event, and that really bothers me. Because of that decision, the end of the book felt like a haphazard wrap-up that tried really hard to mimic the material that it’s based around instead of being its own thing. I’m not sure how I feel about Blake’s writing still, but I only have one more book of hers to read, so here’s hoping it has all the elements I’m looking for. One for my Enemy is for fans of Romeo and Juliet, but doesn’t really innovate on the tragedy in an interesting enough way to leave much of an impression.