Monday 19 December 2016

Review: By Your Side by Kasie West

By Your SideBy Your Side

Author: Kasie West
Series: -
Publisher: Harper Teen
Release date: 31 January 2017
Pages: 352
Amazon

Synopsis (Goodreads)

In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

Review: 3 out of 5 stars

I instantly fell for the premise of this book, a girl and a guy locked in a library for a weekend, to me it wouldn’t exactly be a hardship so I was eager to see how this would play out and as we realise it isn’t at all as easy and drama free as what we’d like and we see the repercussions of this.

Our MC is Autumn Collins who has plans with her almost boyfriend Jeff and her friends to go to a bonfire and cabin for the weekend but her plans quickly change when she finds herself locked in the library with no way out and no signs of her friends returning for her. She soon discovers that she has company in the school bad boy, Dax Miller.

Dax has a bit of a reputation, he is a loner and is apparently a troublemaker and to be honest he was a bit of an ass in the initial stages despite Autumn’s best efforts to get him to open up. We learn a lot about Dax as the book progresses and soon begin to understand why he is the the way he is and I came to really like him as a character, he was sweet.

The romance is slow to burn but to be honest I couldn’t feel a connection in the early stages at all, it all sort of came on very suddenly. This may be because of Autumn’s loyalty to Jeff after an incident that happened but I couldn’t really feel their growing bond until the very end which is what let it down for me.

I always love Kasie West’s writing style, it is gripping and engaging and you can’t help but always want for more; I felt that By Your Side had a more serious tone than what her other books have. She dealt with the subject of anxiety realistically, I liked that Autumn’s issues weren’t brushed aside.

A small gripe that I had was the lack of resolution with Dax’s mother, it was a little open ended; I would have liked more closure. The incident with Jeff was also a little light-hearted, there were no repercussions for his actions.


All in all, I enjoyed By Your Side; interesting characters, a small amount of drama and a slow to burn romance.

5 comments:

  1. Wonderful review, Sharon! Like you, I've always enjoyed West's writing style. It really is completely engaging and so readable/un-put-downable. I'm sorry to hear that the connection between the MC's wasn't there at the beginning and then felt rushed... sounds like that could have played out better. I'm really looking forward to picking this one up next month and seeing what I think.

    Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

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  2. I've loved all the books from Kasie West that I've read so far but I've been hearing mixed things about this one, which makes me sad. :( I have an eARC so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it more!

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  3. I do think this is one that is going on my wishlist. I still have yet to read a book by this author but I will someday! I like the sound of the library and slow burn romance so I think the niggles may not bug me too much. Brilly review!

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  4. Nick didn't like this one, she gave it a two, which makes me sad since we've loved all her books :(

    Nereyda│ Nick & Nereyda’s Infinite Booklist

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  5. So excited about this read, can't wait to read it soon :) your review makes me a little nervous, but I hope this is good as her other books.
    Benish @ Beenazai

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