3.06k reviews for:

Next To You

Hannah Bonam-Young

4.12 AVERAGE


I think the narrator ruined this one for me. I was dying for it to end, and I refuse to believe this is a reflection on HB-Y, whom I love!
emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad fast-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
emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
adventurous challenging funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
emotional funny lighthearted medium-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
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

This romance doesn’t stick to the formula. All the pieces are there but out of order in an uncomfortable way, but that’s what grief can do. It can take all the pieces of your life and instead of laying them out sequentially or logically they get thrown into a blender. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good smoothie but it’s nearly impossible to make the same thing twice. They can be unpredictable, like grief. One day it all comes together in smooth delicious medley and the next (even with the same ingredients) it’s more of a melange and the next could just be a mess.

Somehow Hannah captures the inward chaos and confusion of living after a parent dies. When your principal guide is unexpectedly cleaved from your life way too early and all of a sudden you’re on your own wandering around trying to figure out what is expected of you next. And you can’t pause to take a breath and figure out what you want because if you are still all the pain rushes back in.

Matt and Lane have a lovely journey. They both have to face some dragons and the book gets really emotional in the most beautiful way possible. They are both strong characters who love each other fiercely but have to find a way to love and accept themselves to make it together.

The spice is fun to read but I wouldn’t call it abundant. The chemistry and lust is always sort of lurking there but these two have a lot of will power.
emotional funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes