To Get To The Other Side by Kelly Ohlert | ARC Review

"You are a human being, not a machine. Nobody can be happy one hundred percent of the time. It isn’t realistic. It’s not what we’re made for.."

Synopsis : 

Trixie isn’t exactly sure what she was thinking when she stopped her car in the middle of downtown Chicago, scooped up a chicken struggling to cross the road, and drove off… but she does know that she has to find a new home for herself and her new feathered friend. The landlord at her apartment doesn’t allow pets and has caught Trixie in one too many pet-smuggling attempts in the past.

Bear likes his quiet life with his close-knit family, who own a flower business, but he’s in for a rude awakening when his meddlesome sisters post an ad to rent the spare room in his simple home, without asking his permission. Still, when Trixie responds to the ad, he agrees to let her move in, despite immediate worries about keeping things platonic.

Determined to keep her new room, befriend Bear, and give her rescue chicken the care she deserves, Trixie fights to keep her walls up and resist her romantic feelings for Bear. However, it’s not long before the pair’s proximity and chicken parenting ignite flames that have Trixie and Bear testing the boundaries of their platonic ground rules. They have to figure out how to save a family business, pay for mounting vet bills, and navigate their own emotional baggage if they want to find the love that they all deserve.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC of To Get to the Other Side.

Review : 

This was a feel-good read. Our two main characters, Trixie and Bear, have their own traumas but come to terms and find their HEA. It was fairly predictable, but I always enjoy the forced-proximity roomies to lovers trope. 

My biggest issue with the characters - Trixie’s deep fear of letting people see her be unhappy  and personality “quirks” were a bit over the top for me. I felt like her trauma from childhood and her fear of not smiling for even a moment was so intense that if anything it needed to be taken more seriously. Her reactions were so displaced from reality that if she were my friend I would give her unconditional support while highly recommending therapy. 

It almost felt like her issues were so serious but they weren’t addressed that way- it could be solved by falling in love? Girl has years of trauma and needs real help if she can’t see that nobody else in her life feels like they have to smile all the time. But she truly, deeply believes that if she stops smiling everyone will hate her and turn against her. 

Also the reason for her ex roommate's betrayal was never made clear which made it hard to really understand. 

I rated this 3.5/5 because I would have liked to see a little more depth to their trauma. I felt the moments when the main characters addressed their traumas was a bit repetitive. We could have seen them work through it a bit more or had added insights. I loved the set up of their relationship and how they ended up under the same roof. I especially enjoyed the closure from the epilogue.

So while not my favorite, but I did enjoy reading it and thought it was cute and I liked Bear’s character and his family and the way his sisters instantly connected to Trixie. 

If you’re looking for a light and somewhat predictable rom-com, this is an easy read and while I had a couple things I didn’t love, I did enjoy it as a whole. 

Overall though, this was a fun read, and I would enjoy reading more from Kelly Ohlert!