A review by sarah_thebooknerd
The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

 

Kate has this way of writing romances that give you this 360 degree view of someone. I never walk away feeling like I am missing a part of who they are. Jess was thrown into becoming the custodian guardian for her 8 year old sister 10 years ago when her mother ran away with a guy. Her sister, Teagan is 18 and has a podcaster on her doorstep wanting them to go on a road trip to the 5 locations their mom wrote a post card from in an effort to track her down and find out what happened to the con man she ran off with. 

With the Podcaster is Adam, this very large ex-football player who is healing from the loss of his best friend. He wants to write about the football industry and the harm they cause to players who have mental health/ cause mental health and how it led to the death of his friend. 

Adam is immediately drawn to Jess when he meets her. Jess is rattled by this and does not understand the way in which they are pulled to one another and how he sees every little thing about her. 

I loved seeing the ways in which the two of them just built this beautiful love and this is a romance where you see all the small things- the support Adam gives with his  hand across the back, the way that Jess knows when he needs reassurance.

I think that some might feel that this romance is not very grand in its nature but to me it is one that is so tender, lush and I loved to see it. 

I also really appreciated the way in which Kate talked about how some parents (parental guardians) can lose themselves and give so much of themselves to the child they are raising that they disappear. They lose themselves in this process. As a parent, I have struggled with this and to say that I related to this part is an understatement. I started just crying because it is a balance to put so much energy, love, care into the child but also maintain yourself without become a void of just being that parent. 

I will admit that I did struggle with the Big man aspect (build muscular huge ex football player) of this book but the more I sat with it, I feel that Kate is trying to say more than just his size is big but his heart, soul and personality is big and it matches his physical size. 

I highly recommend this book and I hope you love it as much as I do.