Review in 10-ish words: Started strong but fell apart towards the end for me.

Zippy Synopsis:
Trixie saves a chicken. Falls in love with chicken. Calls it Chick chick.

No way can she have a pet chicken (Down with landlords, boo) and so she is on the hunt for a room mate.

Cue attractive bearded man, named Bear (I kid you not) who 'breaks gender stereotypes' by drinking wine and liking flowers. Bear is coincidentally not looking for a roommate but he has nosy sisters, so.

Fade to black, forced proximity at its finest.

My thoughts:
I'm not gonna lie this book had a strong start. I was so excited by the first chapters- And I don't even like chickens! I am a little afraid of them too be honest. It helped that I pictured the rooster, Hei Hei from Moana. Chick Chick might actually be my favourite character.

Then things started shifting. I think because storyline was somewhat simple, I needed the characters to have depth, and it just wasn't there.

SPOILER
Like for example I did not understand the part where Trixie got upset and ran to her room (because heaven forbid people see her upset) and Bear then came to comfort her, and her reaction was to throw her shoe at him (not to mention this is abusive) and tell him to leave- WHICH HE DID. He even mentioned he wanted to respect her boundaries. Which, fine, if you want her to be that character, so be it. But then she felt abandoned because 'the one time she showed feelings, he left. So of course he won't love her.' Like mate, you threw a shoe and screamed at him? I would leave too.
END SPOILER

The last quarter of the book in general irritated me. I was so sick of being told how each character felt. It felt as if every second page the author was reminding me why Trixie couldn't open up, and why Bear couldn't just drink wine (lol) and it made the story drag.

Additionally, it's 2022. I feel like we can move on from being surprised men, even a hyper-masculine one, could enjoy wine and flowers and watching Grey's Anatomy. I appreciated the author's attempt to 'challenge' traditional gender roles but it felt very cliché.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for providing a complementary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

What a fun romcom! It's not too deep, and not too long. Just a fun quick read, with well-crafted characters and pleasant plotline. I'd recommend for a beach read any time!

To Get To The Other Side
Kelly Ohlert

Rating 🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣(yep I rated it 6/5)

Review

Oh if I could count the times I rushed to post a story of how funny this book was! I loved no adored this book, this book has a grumpy-shunshine trope that you'll fall in love from the very beginning! A book that will have you laughing out loud and make you want to sob, the book heartache is REAL!

Or main characters are Bear Mr. Grumpy Grumperson and Trixie Miss. Sunshine and Rainbows. They meet when she's shooing a chicken off the road or at least trying to help it to get to the other side, but unfortunately the chicken doesn't move and it's wounded so her bleeding heart takes it to a vet and she gets caught with the chicken in her hand by the landlord and gets an eviction notice. Things aren't looking up and she needs a home STAT! On the other hand Bear's meddlesome sisters have put up an add for a housemate, fates collide and so does their worlds but will they crash and burn or will they fall for each other? Read to find out!!

The book is one of the best tearjerkers and LOLed books I've read this year, it's characters are brilliantly written with many faceted layers upon layers to unravel, the comical factors are endless, the emotional elements are sprinkled for good measure and the plot is ever growing to such an amazing climax and ending! A book I definitely recommend to RomCom lovers!

This book may be someone else’s cup of tea, but it wasn’t for me. This isn’t the worst book I have read and had some decent aspects to it but it wasn’t as cute as I had wanted it to be.

The book is told from two point-of-views, Trixie and Bear. They are complete opposites and have one run-in before she notices an ad for a roommate and it happens to be his home. Not of his doing though, pesky sisters. Although I liked the setup for the book, I felt like the characters stayed the same throughout and kind of fell flat. I also felt that out of all of the people he could have as a roommate it’s her and he has only seen her chase a chicken, literally. The romance feels very insta-lovey from this point and that is not my vibe.

I did think that the plot line which included a chicken was real unique. I had never seen it done before. As someone who has chickens in the backyard it was fun to see. This plot line does drag on a bit and can get old and boring because it feels like it should have been resolved sooner than it had.

Overall, this was interesting and had a unique setup but it lost it’s charm and ended up only being an okay read for me.

This book was weird. I honestly don't really know what to say about this book, other than the fact that it was weird. The characters are weird and kind of boring. The abusive streak she has was completely ignored.

I reaaally wanted to like this one, but it just wasn't it. I really can't stand insta-love and the heroine, Trixie, was not likeable to me. Bear had the foundation of an excellent book boyfriend, but felt weak. I liked the chicken...but that was about it.

Trixie is a warm, fun and optimistic person who always tries her best to be happy and please others. One day she finds an injured chicken on the road and decides to take responsibility of it, she even names it (but its name is so adorable and i dont want to spoil it). Trixie is faced with an issue because her residence does not allow pets which forces her to move in with a handsome and warm man named Bear. when both of them decide to just be roommates it seems simple enough, or is it with such close proximity....?

when reading the synopsis of this book i was immediately intrigued to find out how an entire story could revolve around a chicken but was pleasantly surprised with how it was written. this was entertaining and showed good character development, i love how Bear's character was written as apposed to "typical males". Even though this was a light and fun read, i found myself struggling to finish the second half of it.

An adorable romance that tugs at your heartstrings. I loved the dynamic between the two main characters and how relatable some of their insecurities were. I wish we would've gotten a bit more of Trixie's backstory, but it was a fantastic read, regardless. Highly recommended!

I really wanted to like this one. Parts were cute but others just dragged for me unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

To Get to the Other Side was a very run through romance book. It had moments and it had lots of potential. This one didn’t WOW me like I thought it would. I wanted to really like the main character, but was honestly just wanting her to get over her problems that she had with her college roommate and move on. Bear, was also an interesting character. He was a huge softie and I wanted him to be a bit more rugged. Of course, he had his moments, but it still wasn’t enough for me to rank this book more than 2 stars. BELLA HOWEVER, stole the whole show! She was a cute addition into the book that added huge comedic relief for a little kid.

The plot was sub- par and the character development was luke warm. I truly just wanted the chicken to be okay and that’s why I read it. I suggest reading this book if you want to just read a book straight forward! It has a found family and friends to lover trope. Happy reading!

3.5 stars.

This book started so strong — great characters, great dialogue, amazing meet-cute scenario. Trixie and Bear meet when she is trying to save a chicken in the road. They later become roommates when she needs to find a new place to live thanks to said chicken.

Their initial interactions were filled with just the right amount of flirty fun.

But the plot just kind of fizzled out about half way through as neither of the characters really developed beyond surface emotions. Bear was struggling with a father who enforced some bullshit toxic masculinity standards on him, impacting his life choices, and Trixie had issues being vulnerable after being burned by a friend in the past.

I liked them both & but ultimately wanted more from their romantic relationship.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

New book boyfriend saving a damsel in distress from traffic as she tries to save a chicken’s life in the middle of highway? yes please.
This book made me laugh, cry, and was such a lovely read.


not a fan of the chicken being called chick chick though if I'm being honest haha it did loose its novelty.

While the title might be a punchline, this super cute romcom was no joke.

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

I really enjoyed To Get to the Other Side and there were plenty of funny moments as well as touching scenes where I wished I could reach out and give the characters a hug.

Trixie and Bear are so loveable and relatable that I was invested in their individual journeys just as much as I was their relationship. I loved meeting Bear's family and would absolutely read any future books about them.

I would recommend this read for anyone who is looking for a dual-POV, fun romance with a little bit of spice and a happily ever after.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Alcove Press and Kelly Ohlert for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the author for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
To Get to the Other Side is one of the most enjoyable and cutest books I have ever read. Right from Chapter 1, it felt like I was strolling through a beautiful garden with a cup of my favorite tea. So refreshing and felt good kinda book I have ever read!
The book starts with the appearance of a white chicken. Yeah, you heard me right! A chicken! Trixie, who is already tackling with a number of difficult situations in her life and facing each and every discomfort with a bright smile on her face, could not leave an injured chicken on the side of road. So, she brings her to the vet first, and after getting medication for her that costs her a fortune, she brings her home. But the problem is, pets are not allowed in her apartment. On the other hand, Bear is the only brother of four sisters and her sisters are sick of him being single for a long time. So, in order to get him involved with a girl, they put an ad for a spare room. Trixie needs another apartment, and when she appears on Bear’s doorsteps following the advertisement, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. The attraction is immediate. What happens when they start living together? Would they be able to maintain a platonic relationship in spite of having extreme attraction toward each other?
I really liked this book very much. The plot was very well developed; the characters were so lovable, and the writing style was so smooth and easy to comprehend. Trixie and Bear’s chemistry was so worth reading. I also loved the family drama of Bear’s family. Although I would have loved to know more about Trixie’s conflict with her family, the story, overall, was so entertaining and fun. If you love feel good, heartwarming, happily ever after romance, this book is for you.

3,5 stars

I have pretty mixed reviews for this novel. I was supposed to realllyyy love it. It has everything that I enjoyed in a book at first sight (roommates trope, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, Dual POV, shy MMC), really everything was there.
And at first, I absolutely loved the beginning of the novel. I was really into it, into the characters, into the plot,… At first, I found the characters quite endearing. I could totally identify with the heroine who loves animals a lot (perhaps too much considering the amount of money she can spend on a chicken, I don’t think that anyone could spend that amount for a chicken, it’s not realistic). I loved the MMC, in the beginning he was quite shy and I loved this side of him but it didn’t last long, unfortunately. I kind of stalled a bit after halfway through the book. I found that slow-burn was not that slow. I would have love if the FMC had stayed oblivious of Bear’s feeling a little longer. We know directly that the two like each other, that is not a problem, but they realize it quite quickly too. I also thought that, at one point, Bear's family took too much space in the story...
In any case, I really loved the main characters (especially at the beginning) and I found Bear's sisters awesome and funny. I really laughed a lot in the beginning but less throughout the book.

I was a bit sad that it was not so spicy but as it is YA, it’s normal. This is still a book that I enjoyed reading and would recommend to anyone who likes the tropes mentioned above.

Thanks to NetGalley and AlcovePress for the ARC

Should be called "All the ways your parents can screw you up: from neglect to expectations."
From Bear's overwhelmingly female family who is way too invested in his life and unable to accept boundaries to his overly misogynistic father, to Trixie's overbearingly stage-show parents and their insistence on a happy child- they didn't have a functional family member between them.
Admittedly some of Bear's sisters were amusing and they were doing their best but dear lord, Bear needed to stand up and tell his sisters to BUTT OUT!
That said I adored the chicken (although Chick chick was a lousy name for it). I'm also slightly dubious that anyone would go into that amount of debt over a chicken they just met, but I am not a huge animal lover so what do I know.
I do think, however, that Trixie who was the very essence of Manic Pixie dream girl needed way more therapy as her coping mechanisms and default "smile and run" was excessively unhealthy. Bear was almost too nice putting up with her issues to the point where he became a push-over.
This was a cute Rom-com but not without its share of issues.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for this complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

The book follows Trixie who one day stumbles on a chicken on the road (stops traffic to save chicken ) and decides to keep the chicken which means she has to move out. She stumbles on a roommate ad and thus moves in with Bear and hilarity and romance ensures.

For a romance book I was expecting more romance ,more angst and more hilarity and I do acknowledge that Trixie's trauma was mentioned but it felt reoccurring. I do recommend it for romance readers in need of some hilarity.

What an odd romance. I just wish that I could have liked it more than I did. I just thought after the first few chapters I read that the characters of Trixie and Bear fell flat. And also, I would have strangled Trixie with the whole let's have animals all over the place thing she was into. The insta-love thing as a plot never really works for me either I realize as a romance reader. I like the slow burn and then the execution. Unless you are setting the stage for something fantastic there, I have not in one case bought a insta-love, and this one I felt like ran straight up to that edge and I just kind of huffed and puffed about it. 

"To Get to the Other Side" follows Trixie who has to find a new apartment after her landlord refuses her to allow a chicken she rescued into the building. She has just a few days to find a new place. When she shows up to an meet the owner of a house to rent (well room) she finds herself meeting the man she saw the other day when she rescued the chicken. The man (Bear) is annoyed about the whole thing since his sisters did this to help him find a date (yeah that's not how it works!) and then decides to of course rent Trixie a room because hey, she's hot. I don't know guys. I maybe watched too much of "Fear Thy Roommate" the past two weeks when I was sick with COVID, but this is a terrible idea. 

With regards to Bear, he's bland as a character and I really didn't like his sisters forcing their way into making him have a relationship. I just have a thing about people jumping over my boundaries, so that's probably why I didn't find any of them cute. I also got really tired of reading about Bear having "blue balls". I felt at times that I was back reading older romance books from a different time. I legit kept muttering I am sick of hearing about this. He can barely even pay attention to Trixie because he's so fixated on her "butt" [the world butt was not used.]

Trixie is a mess. She is just another version of the manic pixie girl trope and I was kind of annoyed about half way through. The sex scene was not great IMHO either.

That's honestly all this book was though. Two people living together, trying to not have sex. It was not that engrossing. I think that there just wasn't enough there for me to care about Bear or Trixie as I was reading. I was tempted to DNF this one, but started it several months back and finally just finished it up. Not the worst romance I have read, so this one gets two stars and not one.

I liked the premise of the book but I didn't relate well to the characters or as how the story ended playing out. I did thing the writing was good and would try the author again.

The first ten chapters started out strong for me but after that I felt less connected to the characters. I think it was a really neat idea, co-parenting a chicken is definitely a fresh idea, but it didn't love the characters enough to love the book. I look forward to what the author writes next!