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bhumikabv's review
5.0
To Get to the Other Side by Kelly Ohlert ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a really amazing RomCom novel. And I love a book which has a male point of view along with the female, so I totally enjoyed it. The characters were all so lively and heartfelt.
Trixie is a very compassionate and animal-loving woman who stops her car in the middle of traffic to save an injured hen limping on the road. Her heart bleeds every time she sees a helpless animal and tries to sneak it into her "No Pets" apartment- a rule enforced because of her trying to sneak five wildly different animals. She works at a dog and cat rescue and adoption centre. Thanks to her childhood trauma by her parents and her ex-best friends, she is unable to open up to people and always keeps the pretence of a very cheerful person. She keeps smiling whenever she has an audience and has a whole lot of friends.
Bear is an introverted guy who has four sisters. Being with a house full of girls and an absent and asshole father, he started to cave into himself for liking things which are stereotyped to be 'girly' like liking wine, loving to work in his mother's flower boutique, cooking, etc. His sisters meddle in his life whenever they feel he needs their help. They gang up on him and annoy the hell out of him. Bear loves his sisters to the moon but they sometimes- most of the time, get under his skin. They put an ad in the newspaper that he's looking for a roommate- without his permission. He gets really frustrated at this but is surprised when he sees Trixie- the woman whom he saw saving a chicken, come to him asking about the room. He is more surprised when he lets her see the room and considers letting her stay.
Bear's family is heartwarming. His step-father is a perfect replacement for his biological father. His mom reads her children extremely well and has done a very good job raising them. His sisters, Zoey, Fawn, Lexie and Rosie are amazing too! I loved Bella, Owen and Chick-Chick! Gosh, awesome work with the characters.
The plot was pretty good and engaging. The emotions were nicely presented and developed among the characters. I felt both elated and sad reading the details about the animals and how they are treated.
I hope the ARC I got wasn't the final copy cause I found a few grammatical mistakes here and there. However, I'd love it if this story is continued with one of Bear's sisters. I'd like to read more about them!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a really amazing RomCom novel. And I love a book which has a male point of view along with the female, so I totally enjoyed it. The characters were all so lively and heartfelt.
Trixie is a very compassionate and animal-loving woman who stops her car in the middle of traffic to save an injured hen limping on the road. Her heart bleeds every time she sees a helpless animal and tries to sneak it into her "No Pets" apartment- a rule enforced because of her trying to sneak five wildly different animals. She works at a dog and cat rescue and adoption centre. Thanks to her childhood trauma by her parents and her ex-best friends, she is unable to open up to people and always keeps the pretence of a very cheerful person. She keeps smiling whenever she has an audience and has a whole lot of friends.
Bear is an introverted guy who has four sisters. Being with a house full of girls and an absent and asshole father, he started to cave into himself for liking things which are stereotyped to be 'girly' like liking wine, loving to work in his mother's flower boutique, cooking, etc. His sisters meddle in his life whenever they feel he needs their help. They gang up on him and annoy the hell out of him. Bear loves his sisters to the moon but they sometimes- most of the time, get under his skin. They put an ad in the newspaper that he's looking for a roommate- without his permission. He gets really frustrated at this but is surprised when he sees Trixie- the woman whom he saw saving a chicken, come to him asking about the room. He is more surprised when he lets her see the room and considers letting her stay.
Bear's family is heartwarming. His step-father is a perfect replacement for his biological father. His mom reads her children extremely well and has done a very good job raising them. His sisters, Zoey, Fawn, Lexie and Rosie are amazing too! I loved Bella, Owen and Chick-Chick! Gosh, awesome work with the characters.
The plot was pretty good and engaging. The emotions were nicely presented and developed among the characters. I felt both elated and sad reading the details about the animals and how they are treated.
I hope the ARC I got wasn't the final copy cause I found a few grammatical mistakes here and there. However, I'd love it if this story is continued with one of Bear's sisters. I'd like to read more about them!
heatheradoresbooks's review against another edition
3.0
3.25⭐
Featuring ~ dual 1st person POV, debut, forced proximity, roommates to lovers, slow burn, no steamage
Trixie & Bear
Bear is real mad at his sister's for posting an ad for a room for rent in his house without his permission, but when Trixie comes around looking to move in he starts clucking a different tune.
Trixie is used to being disappointed by her family, so she doesn't think Bear would be interested in her. Slowly they start enjoying each other's company and help each other to work through their issues.
Okay, so I am an animal lover, but Trixie went way above and beyond for a chicken and it started to be a bit much. Going into debt and needing to work like 16 jobs to pay the vet bills is crazy talk. I liked the thought process behind what Bear built for Chick Chick, it was kinda weird, but a cute grand gesture. I loved how she worked at the animal shelter too. And what kinda nod would it be to chickens without the inevitable joke at the beginning.
Overall, a sometimes cute and funny debut that I liked well enough.
I was fortunate enough to receive a kindle copy and the audiobook to review. I tried both on for size and either worked well.
Narrated by Stefanie Kay and Paul Heitsch for 8 hours and 55 minutes, easy to follow at 2-2.5x. They did a lovely job.
*Thanks to the author, Alcove Press, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for my ARC and audio copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Follow me here ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
Featuring ~ dual 1st person POV, debut, forced proximity, roommates to lovers, slow burn, no steamage
Trixie & Bear
Bear is real mad at his sister's for posting an ad for a room for rent in his house without his permission, but when Trixie comes around looking to move in he starts clucking a different tune.
Trixie is used to being disappointed by her family, so she doesn't think Bear would be interested in her. Slowly they start enjoying each other's company and help each other to work through their issues.
Okay, so I am an animal lover, but Trixie went way above and beyond for a chicken and it started to be a bit much. Going into debt and needing to work like 16 jobs to pay the vet bills is crazy talk. I liked the thought process behind what Bear built for Chick Chick, it was kinda weird, but a cute grand gesture. I loved how she worked at the animal shelter too. And what kinda nod would it be to chickens without the inevitable joke at the beginning.
Overall, a sometimes cute and funny debut that I liked well enough.
I was fortunate enough to receive a kindle copy and the audiobook to review. I tried both on for size and either worked well.
Narrated by Stefanie Kay and Paul Heitsch for 8 hours and 55 minutes, easy to follow at 2-2.5x. They did a lovely job.
*Thanks to the author, Alcove Press, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for my ARC and audio copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Follow me here ➡ Blog ~ Facebook
seasonforreading's review
3.0
I was instantly drawn in by the cover, and the premise of two strangers meeting due to a chicken incident. It is a cute book, however it does have a few flaws for me that caused a three-star rating.
The chicken was excessive, I was a bit sick of the chicken by the end of the book. That being said, when the chicken was unwell, I was very invested in its wellbeing...!
There was a weird slow burn / insta-love thing going on in this book, it was almost like the author wasn't too sure which trope she wanted the book follow.
Overall, it was a sweet rom-com, and I didn't mind reading it! :)
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me to read an eARC of this book.
The chicken was excessive, I was a bit sick of the chicken by the end of the book. That being said, when the chicken was unwell, I was very invested in its wellbeing...!
There was a weird slow burn / insta-love thing going on in this book, it was almost like the author wasn't too sure which trope she wanted the book follow.
Overall, it was a sweet rom-com, and I didn't mind reading it! :)
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me to read an eARC of this book.
victorsvcle's review
2.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an e-arc of this book!
Unfortunately, this book was not a five star read for me. It was not even four.
But first: a synopsis. Basically a chicken runs into the middle of the road and Trixie goes to save it. While saving it she falls in love at first sight with Bear. Then they become roommates and the rest is history!
I will give credit where it’s due, I did like Bear’s character. He doesn’t fit that typical ‘fictional man’ stereotype and I found that refreshing. I just did not enjoy Trixie’s. She was too positive and fell flat for me. But that may be a me thing!
I also found it a little too unrealistic that the premise of this novel was about a woman hellbent on saving a chicken. Call me morbid, but I would never run into traffic to save a chicken. And the way she kept it in her apartment…I don’t know I just didn’t enjoy it that much.
I did also like that Bear’s family was very present in his life. I feel like often book character’s family will rarely be mentioned because author’s don’t want to stray from the romance so this was also refreshing.
And I despise characters who won’t swear. I’m sorry.
Unfortunately, this book was not a five star read for me. It was not even four.
But first: a synopsis. Basically a chicken runs into the middle of the road and Trixie goes to save it. While saving it she falls in love at first sight with Bear. Then they become roommates and the rest is history!
I will give credit where it’s due, I did like Bear’s character. He doesn’t fit that typical ‘fictional man’ stereotype and I found that refreshing. I just did not enjoy Trixie’s. She was too positive and fell flat for me. But that may be a me thing!
I also found it a little too unrealistic that the premise of this novel was about a woman hellbent on saving a chicken. Call me morbid, but I would never run into traffic to save a chicken. And the way she kept it in her apartment…I don’t know I just didn’t enjoy it that much.
I did also like that Bear’s family was very present in his life. I feel like often book character’s family will rarely be mentioned because author’s don’t want to stray from the romance so this was also refreshing.
And I despise characters who won’t swear. I’m sorry.
rorasreading's review
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book!
This book was cute (sort of)! I love love love grumpy sunshine and family dynamics and the book had all of that. I've seen some people refer to Trixie as a manic pixie dream girl but I would disagree. Yes she is unique and a little to quirky but she has her own personality and growth. While I enjoyed the development of the characters and their relationship, I felt as though their characters were too extreme. Trixie is described almost as a child and Bear as well, a bear. Not to the point of Trixie being a MPDG since she had her own arc, but just made me feel uncomfortable. Would still reccomend as a pretty solid read, but be aware of Trixie's personality.(2.75/3 stars)
This book was cute (sort of)! I love love love grumpy sunshine and family dynamics and the book had all of that. I've seen some people refer to Trixie as a manic pixie dream girl but I would disagree. Yes she is unique and a little to quirky but she has her own personality and growth. While I enjoyed the development of the characters and their relationship, I felt as though their characters were too extreme. Trixie is described almost as a child and Bear as well, a bear. Not to the point of Trixie being a MPDG since she had her own arc, but just made me feel uncomfortable. Would still reccomend as a pretty solid read, but be aware of Trixie's personality.(2.75/3 stars)
brandece1's review against another edition
4.0
To Get to the Other Side is just as cute and delightful as the cover suggest. I was invested from the first page and found myself laughing out loud so many times. I adored both Trixie and Bear both individually but also as friends/roommates then eventually together. I will say that this is a tad instalovey which I don't love typically but it worked for me for the most part. I was loving just about everything about this book until we got to the conflict, and while I understood it, there was an incident that didn't sit well with me and it was glossed over IMO. There were some heavy parts of this book, but I feel like for the most part it was the light rom com I was looking for and it all started with a chicken crossing the road!
Spoiler
Trixie throws something (I forgot what it's been a while between finishing this book and writing this review) at Bear during an argument, and then it's not talked about again. So many other things were talked about, but not her literally becoming angry to the point of causing harm, and I just didn't love that. I just kept thinking that if the situation was reversed would it have been glossed over as well?emilyisoverbooked's review
2.0
Thanks to Alcove Press for the copy of this ARC.
While this book started out pretty well and was shaping up to be a quick and cute rom com, I didn’t expect this chicken storyline to take over so heavily. Like honestly this could’ve been an okay story and had enough going on without the chicken? There were tons of sidebars to siblings / jobs / neighbors / trauma / parents / pets / etc.
Trixie was also written as a “super quirky” character, which doesn’t always work for me - especially with her “non-swearing” and punny jokes. This drove me bonkers and made the romance side of things cringey for me. The characters themselves were cute, but there was a focus on soooo many side characters (definitely gearing up for another book in this series), and the main characters remained underdeveloped. Their trauma storylines were really choppy and plugged into the story when the timing needed it, but it wasn’t super coherent. That being said, while this wasn’t for me, it was definitely an easy and quick read and if you’re into chickens and puns, this will be your jam.
While this book started out pretty well and was shaping up to be a quick and cute rom com, I didn’t expect this chicken storyline to take over so heavily. Like honestly this could’ve been an okay story and had enough going on without the chicken? There were tons of sidebars to siblings / jobs / neighbors / trauma / parents / pets / etc.
Trixie was also written as a “super quirky” character, which doesn’t always work for me - especially with her “non-swearing” and punny jokes. This drove me bonkers and made the romance side of things cringey for me. The characters themselves were cute, but there was a focus on soooo many side characters (definitely gearing up for another book in this series), and the main characters remained underdeveloped. Their trauma storylines were really choppy and plugged into the story when the timing needed it, but it wasn’t super coherent. That being said, while this wasn’t for me, it was definitely an easy and quick read and if you’re into chickens and puns, this will be your jam.
ebartsch85's review
3.0
I had high hopes for this book, and the premise was so fun and different. I mean, the meet-cute is a chicken in the middle of Chicago! I was giggling at the idea and loved the start of the book, however, the story and character lacked depth. It was almost painful how CLOSE this was to being a great book. Something would be introduced that I thought would elevate it to that level I was craving, and then it just wouldn't quite get there. In a romance novel, I like to see the characters develop their own characters and also develop together in their relationship. I just didn't get enough of their relationship developing and couldn't quite believe that we got to their HEA. The book was still a fun read and the dialogue was great, it was just rushed. I needed more. I love the Ross family and wish we could have seen more Fawn and Zoey.
FYI, for those looking for a steamy book, this book is a total fade to black and a zero on the chili pepper spicy scale.
FYI, for those looking for a steamy book, this book is a total fade to black and a zero on the chili pepper spicy scale.
johilu's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mamaroe93011's review against another edition
4.0
Quick and easy - great summer romance read. Love the quirky characters and the chicken.