Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - This Close to Okay

Also, the romance aspect should have been removed from the book. Tallie meets Emmett while he is attempting suicide and doesn't reveal that she is a therapist. Still, she uses therapy techniques in their conversations while also lusting after him.

Lastly, there were so many art pieces referenced that I felt like I needed an art history course to keep up. I did a lot of googling while reading this. That may be just a me thing, though.

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booksylamb's review

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dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

What's stellar is the immediate sense of living in the moment of each protagonist's story. Both leave a visceral mark on the reader's investment of how they came together and what that leaves behind. This is a book one might take delight in devouring over a slow weekend, unpacking the complexities of the human mind and spirit. Leesa Cross-Smith has the ability to place you into the world she's created, as if you are a neighboring character witnessing the development of the story as it unfolds.

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jennastopreading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

I received this book in a giveaway shortly after it published and my biggest regret surrounding it was waiting so long to read it.

This book is mostly set in Louisville, KY, the city I spent the first 23 years of my life in, and this helped me connect to the story right out the gates, but the characters and their soul did the rest. Tallie has to be one of the most uniquely intriguing fictional women that I've ever read. She's emotionally intelligent, kind hearted, independent, and successful. In another life, maybe I could be more like her when I grew up. On a rainy night in October, she stops when she sees a man about to jump off a bridge into the Ohio River, and in turn, her world changes forever.

Instead of calling 9-1-1 or giving up, she brings the man she affectionately starts off referring to as "Bridge" into her home, and he makes his way into her heart. As a reader, this was a lyrical story of respect, connection, and mutual adoration unfolding between two strangers. As Tallie and Bridge get to know one another, and the layers of the onion of each of their stories are peeled back, I grew more and more attached to both of them.

A fantastic story by Leesa Cross-Smith that left me with goosebumps and a lump in my throat. I will absolutely be reading more of her work in the future!

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