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A review by shelvesofivy
By Your Side by Margherita Scialla
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I received an ARC from the author and am super grateful to have gotten the chance to read this story!
As a whole, I loved meeting Emma and Noah and seeing their strong, loving friendship. It's clear how much they care for each other and always want to do right by each other.
While I'm not aro and can't speak to the specific aro rep, it's clear that it was done with care; the main characters treat the topics of being aro and what would go into a QPR just as seriously and honestly as we may see relationships in allo stories talked about. And even not being aro, I still saw myself in the pages—especially with Emma's doubts and insecurities surrounding platonic feelings, physical affection, and feeling "clingy."
The main things keeping this from 5 stars were, for me, just in the writing style. A lot of information was just stated outright, rather than shown. It felt a little bit like being spoon-fed these individual characters and scenes. There were also times when I wished there was more sentence length variation, but that's a stylistic thing that doesn't affect the story as a whole.
Overall though, I still adored reading this and am so so happy that we have this sweet and positive qpr story ♡
As a whole, I loved meeting Emma and Noah and seeing their strong, loving friendship. It's clear how much they care for each other and always want to do right by each other.
While I'm not aro and can't speak to the specific aro rep, it's clear that it was done with care; the main characters treat the topics of being aro and what would go into a QPR just as seriously and honestly as we may see relationships in allo stories talked about. And even not being aro, I still saw myself in the pages—especially with Emma's doubts and insecurities surrounding platonic feelings, physical affection, and feeling "clingy."
The main things keeping this from 5 stars were, for me, just in the writing style. A lot of information was just stated outright, rather than shown. It felt a little bit like being spoon-fed these individual characters and scenes. There were also times when I wished there was more sentence length variation, but that's a stylistic thing that doesn't affect the story as a whole.
Overall though, I still adored reading this and am so so happy that we have this sweet and positive qpr story ♡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Drug use