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kai256's profile picture

kai256 's review for:

Next to You by Hannah Bonam-Young
3.5
emotional 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: Yes

Like all of Hannah's books, this one has amazingly well-developed characters, accessible writing, and a focus on mental health and actually being in a good place for a relationship. I enjoyed it and read it in two days.

That said, it was my least favorite of her books. I don't care for a friends-with-benefits situation when it's clear the people want more and are pretending they don't.

It was also obvious from the beginning that the FMC wasn't in a healthy place for a relationship. A friend even explicitly told her that she needed grief therapy. But she didn't start working on herself until the 80% mark, which made it really hard to root for her during the middle half of the book. That last 20%, though. That was amazing.