Scan barcode
jennifervenia's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
“Speak your truth.”
By Your Side is a sweet and relaxing story, about friendship and romance. I really enjoyed reading the scenes with focus on friendship, it was very well written and I really like how Margherita Scialla gave friendship so much space and time. The friendship in By Your Side felt very natural and real.
By Your Side is a sweet and relaxing story, about friendship and romance. I really enjoyed reading the scenes with focus on friendship, it was very well written and I really like how Margherita Scialla gave friendship so much space and time. The friendship in By Your Side felt very natural and real.
I like the LGBTQIA+ representation in the story.
The feelings and thoughts of the characters in By Your Side is very well written.
I really like how the characters have a deep talk about how any future relationship will be, what borders and requirements there will be in the relastionship.
I’m really glad that there is a list of warnings before the story begins and it was a fun detail with the playlist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Victim blamingshelvesofivy's review
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I received an ARC from the author and am super grateful to have gotten the chance to read this story!
As a whole, I loved meeting Emma and Noah and seeing their strong, loving friendship. It's clear how much they care for each other and always want to do right by each other.
While I'm not aro and can't speak to the specific aro rep, it's clear that it was done with care; the main characters treat the topics of being aro and what would go into a QPR just as seriously and honestly as we may see relationships in allo stories talked about. And even not being aro, I still saw myself in the pages—especially with Emma's doubts and insecurities surrounding platonic feelings, physical affection, and feeling "clingy."
The main things keeping this from 5 stars were, for me, just in the writing style. A lot of information was just stated outright, rather than shown. It felt a little bit like being spoon-fed these individual characters and scenes. There were also times when I wished there was more sentence length variation, but that's a stylistic thing that doesn't affect the story as a whole.
Overall though, I still adored reading this and am so so happy that we have this sweet and positive qpr story ♡
As a whole, I loved meeting Emma and Noah and seeing their strong, loving friendship. It's clear how much they care for each other and always want to do right by each other.
While I'm not aro and can't speak to the specific aro rep, it's clear that it was done with care; the main characters treat the topics of being aro and what would go into a QPR just as seriously and honestly as we may see relationships in allo stories talked about. And even not being aro, I still saw myself in the pages—especially with Emma's doubts and insecurities surrounding platonic feelings, physical affection, and feeling "clingy."
The main things keeping this from 5 stars were, for me, just in the writing style. A lot of information was just stated outright, rather than shown. It felt a little bit like being spoon-fed these individual characters and scenes. There were also times when I wished there was more sentence length variation, but that's a stylistic thing that doesn't affect the story as a whole.
Overall though, I still adored reading this and am so so happy that we have this sweet and positive qpr story ♡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Drug use
More...