A review by abbier_14
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

aww this was heartfelt and sweet. I am so so glad this didn't have a third act breakup, I saw other reviews calling for more drama but I think this had enough romance that it didnt need all that rubbish.

I really liked Bo as a love interest he was nerdy and kind of lame but in the best way, and blondes are underappreciated in the romance book community for somereason. However, Fred wasnt my cup of tea she was kinda hollow which makes the little minor annoying things stand out more. Despite this I definitely appreciate her passion for the camp that supports disabled children and im glad she found success (although she only started this dream bc of the MMC. I would prefer her to have been more successful in her own right as she was a little directionless and apathetic but then I can see how the MMC helped her to grow which makes for a good book ig.)

I also like that the main characters had a support network around them which was more interesting to read about that just two characters for the entire book. Caleb is hilarious he stole the show in every scene he was in.

As other reviews said I do think the pacing is a little bit slow and then the delivery is one page so the buildup didn't have a very strong payoff. The epilogues also didn't really scratch the itch for me either as the family scene 10 years later was boring if im being honest, the marriage one was sweet (tears in my eyes) but didn't satisfy the family cuteness overload. However I disagree with reviews saying that they didn't like how the characters clearly liked each other but didnt get together. Like hello theyve got to stick together now for at least 9 months and hopefully 18 years or beyond, I dont think rushing into a relationship would have been a good idea for two people who didnt even know each others surnames.

Little things did annoy me in the book like the main characters randomly lying to a pregnant women in the ultrasound waiting room for their own enjoyment because she 'looked smug'. She didn't even do anything to them apart from ask if it was their first and saying they must be nervous, then the main characters just inferred all their own judgemental insecurities onto the woman and proceeded to prank her by coming up with elaborate lies. Then in the 20 week ultrasound Fred tries to make a joke like she was at the cinema saying something like 'two tickets please' and then acting like the receptionist is the weird one for looking at them blankly. This humour was just not hiting, please leave people alone and stop using them for entertainment at their expense. 
Finally I also hated Fred getting superrr annoyed at Bo for getting a bath installed for her like what. Maybe its the pregnancy hormones but I just hate it when MFCs shout at their man like it just comes across as super agressive, and i hate to use the phrase but iF RoLEs wERe ReVErSed it would be concerning. Then they proceeded to have extremely loud sex, purposely trying to make the workers hear??? excuse me does that not count as some sort of sexual harassment? The poor innocent people did not sign up for that.

So yeah apart from that it was a cute story with a few unaligned pieces but not bad at all.