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The Other Side Review

The Other SideTitle: The Other Side
Author: Sarah Hocut
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Trigger Warning:

Rating: 3 stars

Release Date: March 25, 2019

Synopsis


“I think we should break up.”

Those six little words mean the summer after high school is not starting off the way Sadie Wills had planned. When her boyfriend of three years dumps her the day after graduation, she’s suddenly unsure of what the future will hold.

Serving up ice cream at Gigi’s Dairy Bar in downtown Abbyville proves to be a nice distraction. That is, until she finds out the old house across the street, which used to be the town’s flower shop, is being torn down to put up an ice cream franchise. Convinced the new store will put Gigi’s out of business, Sadie comes up with a plan. Her newfound summer resolution? Save that house and save Gigi’s.

Complications arise when she meets Eric and serious sparks start flying. The problem? Eric’s dad owns the company responsible for demolishing the old flower shop, and Eric is working for him over the summer. Even though she tells herself not to fall for him – he’s going to help run Gigi’s out of business after all, and besides, it’s too soon after her break-up to even think about giving her heart to someone else – Eric has other plans.

Torn by the arguments between her head and her heart, Sadie becomes very good at running over the summer. Running from her past. Running from her feelings. Running from love.

As the summer wears on, Eric slowly slips more and more into her life, and Sadie eventually realizes that she can’t run forever. But can she risk giving her heart to someone else?


Review


This book follows Sadie's summer after high school graduation, focusing on the past while moving forwards towards her future. I love the premises of this and the portrayal of a small town. Like, it felt realistic and everyone was invested in everyone else and knew it. There is so much personality within the town itself and I liked the descriptions of all the little shops and activities that were able to make this town be unique and at the same time just like every other small town.

I love this genre but this book was just too much, even for me. There just didn't feel like there was a whole lot there beyond this. At one point, I just turned off my device because I was so irritated with how just not it was. No realizations, not a whole lot of growth, and not even the lead couple was that cute or anything. I was not invested in the characters. Sadie annoyed me and was just full of contradictions. You don't get a full academic scholarship to a school and then talk about your first grade sister like her IQ is 50 points above everyone else in the family. Now, Sophia was adorable but still. The interactions felt really plain and dull and I just wanted more there. I wanted more lively and interesting main characters that I would find myself caring about instead of just not really caring.

I realize that sounds a little harsh, but the book is still a fun and easy read within the YA romance genre. I just definitely would not recommend expecting to get a whole lot out of this book like I typically expect from other books within the genre.


What is your favorite YA romance? Be sure to let me know in the comments. I love book recommendations.

Thanks for reading!
Alyssa
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