Scan barcode
A review by bookishmillennial
Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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? No
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
Gosh, I love HBY!!! This was absolutely delightful, endearing, and heart-warming. I have really enjoyed HBY's past 3 books & this one absolutely lived up to my love of those!!!
This is first-person, present tense POV of Win. This is not a spoiler, because the author's note in the very beginning gives you warning, plus the premise kind of gives it away, but I really don't mind the surprise pregnancy trope! I love Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings (highly recommend if you're a neurodivergent honey!), and I think we need to normalize more stories like this, because they feel authentic. Why do we hate when others don't particularly plan to get pregnant, but then decide "yeah, let's do this!" and a sweet lil baby is born? I don't really see the ick as long as both parents are willing/enthusiastic with the best intentions, and HBY wrote it so tenderly here!
Win is witty, goofy, loyal, and messy. She is working at a cafe, plus lifeguards during the summer, bringing her annual income to a whopping $26k (this is relevant later). The last thing she expects is to get pregnant after a Halloween/pirate one-night-stand with a guy who literally got dressed and bounced the moment they came. Win was also a surprise baby for her mom, and has been third-wheeling her best friends Sarah & Caleb, who are a couple (who also hosted the Halloween party where Win & Bo hook up) forever!
Bo is pensive, kind, and gracious! He is truly a book boyfriend to remember. I loved how he handled every single conversation about a hard topic, whether it was family, past relationship trauma (Bo’s past with an ex Cora & Win’s past with toxic ex Jack), disabilities, medical history, and more. I loved Bo's proposal of living costs and how to split it between himself and Win, based on their incomes, rather than simply going Dutch on everything. That was the point in the book where I was completely sold on him hahaha.
I loved both of these characters' journeys & their slow burn together was so satisfying. NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP OR MASSIVE CONFLICT EITHER!!!!! I think a theme in romance is that we all want to feel *chosen* rather than a product of circumstance or convenience, and that is something that comes up again in Bo & Win's journeys with this unplanned pregnancy. There were also some incredibly & beautifully human conversations about ableism, how being part of a marginalized group expands one’s empathy, & some inherent biases & thoughts parents have about having children. I really appreciated the conversations & inner dialogue Win had with Bo about this. HBY did a beautiful job illustrating this!
I listened to the audiobook via Libro FM & I highly recommend it. Victoria Connolly did a fantastic job :D
representation: body diversity (Win is explicitly described as loving to eat, and her midsection showing that, which I realllyyyyy appreciated - more variety in body types in romance please!), FMC has a smaller limb for one of her hands, MMC has a prosthetic leg/is an amputee, character is a cancer survivor, different family makeup (some people don't grow up with both parents! some people navigate loss/grief very early in life!), found family!
steam rating: 2.5/5
see content warnings below <3
side note: There's a throwaway line in here that says "Brittany from Walmart knows what she did!" as they discuss customer service reps, and I am on a mission to find a redeemable Brittany in fiction. We are the goddamn worst wahhhhhhhhh
Gosh, I love HBY!!! This was absolutely delightful, endearing, and heart-warming. I have really enjoyed HBY's past 3 books & this one absolutely lived up to my love of those!!!
This is first-person, present tense POV of Win. This is not a spoiler, because the author's note in the very beginning gives you warning, plus the premise kind of gives it away, but I really don't mind the surprise pregnancy trope! I love Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings (highly recommend if you're a neurodivergent honey!), and I think we need to normalize more stories like this, because they feel authentic. Why do we hate when others don't particularly plan to get pregnant, but then decide "yeah, let's do this!" and a sweet lil baby is born? I don't really see the ick as long as both parents are willing/enthusiastic with the best intentions, and HBY wrote it so tenderly here!
Win is witty, goofy, loyal, and messy. She is working at a cafe, plus lifeguards during the summer, bringing her annual income to a whopping $26k (this is relevant later). The last thing she expects is to get pregnant after a Halloween/pirate one-night-stand with a guy who literally got dressed and bounced the moment they came. Win was also a surprise baby for her mom, and has been third-wheeling her best friends Sarah & Caleb, who are a couple (who also hosted the Halloween party where Win & Bo hook up) forever!
Bo is pensive, kind, and gracious! He is truly a book boyfriend to remember. I loved how he handled every single conversation about a hard topic, whether it was family, past relationship trauma (Bo’s past with an ex Cora & Win’s past with toxic ex Jack), disabilities, medical history, and more. I loved Bo's proposal of living costs and how to split it between himself and Win, based on their incomes, rather than simply going Dutch on everything. That was the point in the book where I was completely sold on him hahaha.
I loved both of these characters' journeys & their slow burn together was so satisfying. NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP OR MASSIVE CONFLICT EITHER!!!!! I think a theme in romance is that we all want to feel *chosen* rather than a product of circumstance or convenience, and that is something that comes up again in Bo & Win's journeys with this unplanned pregnancy. There were also some incredibly & beautifully human conversations about ableism, how being part of a marginalized group expands one’s empathy, & some inherent biases & thoughts parents have about having children. I really appreciated the conversations & inner dialogue Win had with Bo about this. HBY did a beautiful job illustrating this!
I listened to the audiobook via Libro FM & I highly recommend it. Victoria Connolly did a fantastic job :D
representation: body diversity (Win is explicitly described as loving to eat, and her midsection showing that, which I realllyyyyy appreciated - more variety in body types in romance please!), FMC has a smaller limb for one of her hands, MMC has a prosthetic leg/is an amputee, character is a cancer survivor, different family makeup (some people don't grow up with both parents! some people navigate loss/grief very early in life!), found family!
steam rating: 2.5/5
see content warnings below <3
side note: There's a throwaway line in here that says "Brittany from Walmart knows what she did!" as they discuss customer service reps, and I am on a mission to find a redeemable Brittany in fiction. We are the goddamn worst wahhhhhhhhh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Ableism, and Grief
Minor: Suicide and Abortion