Review copy courtesy of Alcove Press through NetGalley

This was a sweet and fun romcom that didn’t really compel me to read but I think a lot of romance readers will enjoy the back and forth between the couple.

I requested this book with @book_ista to buddy read and it was extremely fun gushing over it together.

To say I loved this book with my whole being, would be an understatement.

Here's what I loved about it:

✨The characters could read each other, understanding each other's body language.

✨Chick-Chick. Who would've thought?

✨Bear's sisters and the rest of his family are an absolute delight.

✨It had me laughing out loud from the very start.

✨It was from both of their POVs.

✨Fluffernutter, pumpernickel, snickerdoodles, stud muffin. Three guesses as to what these words are? You'll be favorite human being.

✨I'm loving the name Bear for a main character. It's utterly endearing.

✨Slow Burn.

✨"Butts in seats" is how ill be calling meetings from now on.

Dislikes:

✨Something one of the characters did seemed like a red flag to me.

I've never tabbed before, but I had the strong urge to tab the sarcastic/cute moments had I had the physical copy.

This was my first book by the wonderful @kellyohlert and it certainly won't be the last.

Thank you @netgalley & @alcovepress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review💕

What a nice light-hearted book To Get To The Other Side is! From the beginning the book has your attention and reads smoothly. You read the book from Trixie and Bear who are both great characters, I like how the chapters switch between the two. With her fine writing style Kelly Ohlert knows how to bring her characters to life. The book is full of cute and funny moments that put a smile on my face. The chemistry between Trixie and Bear is palpable while reading and will make you swoon away at times. Highly recommended if you are looking for a sweet book that also focuses on animal love and family love!

This book was really cute and funny. It's a rom-com with a fresh concept and likable characters in Bear and Trixie. If you're looking for a light-hearted read with the grumpy/sunshine trope, enjoy roommates-to-lovers romances, and are an animal lover, I think you'll enjoy this one.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Sweet story about a platonic relationship between Trixie and Bear. The build in their relationship from beginning to end is absolutely cute, and reading the story from both points of view is sweet. Chicks role in the story is absolutely special, because she brought them together. Apart from all these important aspects, I felt that the story could have been better. The relationship between Bear and Trixie was relatively weak and there's certain parts I did enjoy. I am also not particularly comfortable with the chapters being written from the characters point of view. I am still getting used to this, I somehow feels this changes how a story flows.

I have seen quite a few good reviews for this book but I must say that I was disappointed. Prepare for a short review.

What I enjoyed were the comedic jokes thrown in every so often. They were certainly a relief from what I thought was not a lot happening overall. I could really relate to Trixie's animal loving side and completely stopping traffic to save a city-roaming chicken. However, Chick Chick? Really? Nope, not for me. Trixie also had some cute moments with Bear's niece and I'm a sucker for cute those sorts of interactions in romance novels. Other than that, there is not much more that I enjoyed.

I didn't feel any chemistry between Bear and Trixie. There was little to no communication between the two. I found both Bear and Trixie quite annoying for exactly that reason.

To be perfectly honest, I can think of no more to say due to the fact that the plot didn't consist of much. I think what would have made the novel more enjoyable is if there was a bit more communication between Trixie and Bear, so that a closer connection was formed. This would have made their relationship a lot more desirable (for me, the reader), and I would have felt the devastation of their "falling out" a lot deeper.

To Get to the Other Side is a quirky and fun romance read. Trixie and Bear were both such likable characters for the majority of the book. Overall, this was a cute, quick read. Bonus Points for an adorable cover!

***Potential Spoilers Below***
The third act breakup really got on my nerves. The thing that was so frustrating was the fact that Trixie acknowledged multiple times that she told Bear to leave, after he tried to comfort her. This was so aggravating because even though she acknowledged that she would immediately say she was still mad at him for leaving and that he obviously was like everyone else and left as soon as they saw her real emotions. She was constantly contradicting herself.

𝕋𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖: To Get To The Other Side
𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣: Kelly Ohlert
ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 336 pages
𝔸𝕧𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: Released Dec.6th, 2022
ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Two people pretending to be people they aren’t hiding up the traumas of their pasts with well put up facades and acts slowly start to unravel each other and discover secret after another as they learn to heal and accept themselves in a funny heartwarming romantic comedy. A story with a lot of emotions, push and pull, lots of dynamics and chemistry

𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤
🫧Had a pretty good laugh from the second page!! So fun with the title and the story being a perfect set up for a joke

🫧I already love Trixie so much! A kind heart doing everything she can to help a poor innocent soul in need unable to fend for itself. Sounds like my favorite kind of person! A person I aspire to be one day

🫧I love the warmth and family love in Bear’s home. The dynamic between him and his sisters is so cute and so true.

🫧 INTRA-ANAL is my favorite new word 😂😂😂😂

🫧 LIFE SUMMARY: GIRL HAIR AND CHICKEN FEATHERS

🫧 Those Curses!!!!! ALOMOND BUTTER! HORSERADISH! I’ll prolly be using them in really life!!

𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤:

🫧the character description wasn’t explored well. As far as I know Bear is tall, and Trixie has blue eyes so I had somewhat a hard time visualizing them.

✨🫧✨🫧✨🫧✨🫧✨🫧✨🫧✨

𝕊𝕦𝕞 𝕦𝕡 a cute warm read for someone looking for a late night laugh.
Troupe: Him falling first
ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: read if you like a slow burn romance with a lot of care affection and love.

This one is actually really hard for me to rate. There are a lot of amazing things about this book and then some places where it fell flat. Romantically, character wise etc.

I was so excited for this ARC, I loved the concept of it, and am a chicken owner myself so it was really interesting to me.

But I really just can't get over one big thing and now I'm sorry you all have to deal with me on this.....it's the chicken itself.

I have no idea why the chicken was kept in the house and not the small yard, it really could have been kept anywhere else. It was done solely for the plot and that was a little weird. They could have made an outdoor enclosure for the bird and that would have been fine, For whatever reason this chicken is either a rooster that doesn't crow...or a hen that absolutely for some reason doesn't lay eggs.

There were absolutely no questions about why there was a chicken in the streets of Chicago? Alright. Got it. That was hard as well. NO attempts were made to find the ORIGIN of the chicken. (or owners) If I found a chicken in that location that would have been my number one goal. Honestly all the other issues aside I can hardly address because I'm still hung up on this. I can't get over the origin of the chicken and lack of concern for where it came from and why the animal shelter doesn't have some plan in place for it (because they definitely would).

Again a cute concept but so many questions. I couldn't drop the origins of the chicken. I'm sorry I just have to know.

But also chicken name puns there are so many and there were so many, but we're going with Chick Chick? NO..... Justice for Cluck Norris.


Biggest redemption was Bear's family they were great and overbearing in a sweet way and good comedic relief.


CW (not exhaustive): abusive parents, emotional abuse, parents living through children

As a reader of modern romance, I was intruiged by the conceit of this book. While the premise and characters were wholly original and lovingly crafted, I found the plot to be relatively weak. Often, the characters were put into situations that drove the plot through weak means. I found that the plot of the book was put upon these characters rather than the plot being a result of their actions. While it was a fun and interesting read, it would not be placed on my list of books to reccomend to others.

I really enjoyed this book until about 75-80% into it. The story was really cute and is loved the animal rescue plot line but felt that additional character backstory/development would really help understanding the FMC especially. There were many unresolved trauma responses that didn’t really make since because we didn’t have her entire backstory.
Overall it was a super cute read - but I may have enjoyed Chick-Chick’s story the most.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

i was really looking forward to reading this book but i was disappointed. i loved the concept and we were off to a great start but the writing fell flat soon after a few chapters for me. it felt like a lot of information was just being dumped and the story just kept on dragging so after a while reading it started feeling like a chore to me.

i loved Bear and he did seem like the perfect book boyfriend for me although i did not like how often he mentioned his blue balls when he was around trixie. also he kept describing her as this quirky girl, which i would’ve been fine with a few times but it happened way too often.

i loved trixie in the beginning but as the story went on i started to like her less and less. i don’t like how she kept giving bear mixed signals and i truly do believe she needs professional help after some of the stuff she did because that really isn’t normal?? by the end i was really annoyed at her. she also does this thing where she replaced her cuss words with stuff like “pumpernickel” and yeah i’m not a fan of that.

there wasn’t as much dialogue between the two mcs as so i wasn’t really able to see much chemistry between the two. and with how hot and cold trixie was being, it started to feel like bear was the only one ready to put any efforts in so the relationship started feeling very one sided.

like i said i was really excited to read it from the blurb and i do think the chicken was an interesting thing to add and it did make the story better but i still wish it was executed in a better way and there wasn’t as much repetition

This was an okey read and I am thankful for getting the chance to read it.
I was hoping I would love it based on the description but for me it was okey.
The writing was good and so was the story.

This was a really great book. The characters were all-around amazing, with complex personalities and "misbeliefs". It was great following the two protagonists on their journey to true happiness and put aside the false beliefs they created to protect themselves in the past. The characters are definetly ones that are easy to get attached to and relate to.
The side plots aside from the romance itself were great and added so much to the book, and really showed us where the characters stand with their values and beliefs.
I am truly happy that I have read this book, and I will remember it for a long time.

To get to the other side begins when Trixie rescues a lost chicken from the middle of the road, helped by Bear a handsome stranger who wishes he'd got her number. Unfortunately, the newly named Chick-Chick needs some TLC and the animal rescue centre where Trixie works only takes cats and dogs. Whilst our protagonist does her best to sneak her new feathered friend into her strictly pet-free apartment, she is ultimately unsuccessful and realises that she'll have to move. Luckily for her, Bear's meddling sisters have posted an ad to rent out his spare room (without his knowledge) and Trixie responds. At first Bear is resistant, but can't help but give in. As they start living together, deeper feelings come unearthed and together they learn more about each other and their beloved Chick-Chick.

I really enjoyed this romance novel, in the first half I thought it was going to be a 5 star read for me but it did get a little silly and cheesy towards in the second part which reduces my overall rating.

The great aspects of this book were the love that Bear's family had for him, especially his sister's Zoey and Fawn who also acted as friends to Trixie when she needed them. It's also definitely a book for animal lovers (of which I am most definitely one), Trixie works with animals, has a pet chicken and is vegetarian, so if you aren't a fan of animals this probably isn't for you!

Overall a 3 star read and I would be interested to see what else Kelly Ohlert writes!

#togettotheotherside #netgalley

I loved this cute romance. It was fun to read, great storyline and interesting characters. I loved it!

Romcom with a cute premise and moderate-level spice. I especially liked that they were roommates because they developed a friendship around watching Grey’s Anatomy reruns and pigging out on pancakes and mac n’ cheese. It was still insta-lust though. The chicken is sweet. Trixie gives off some heavy manic pixie dream girl vibes. She’s also not like other girls as Bear so shrewdly deduces that, ‘she wasn’t afraid to eat in front of him’. Do what you want with that information. I recommend it to angsty romcom lovers.

The good : It has a cute premise. Forced proximity and animals are always appreciated. I liked Bear a lot. He’s the dream, right ? Handsome, gruff, good with his hands and a good cook. Also, something unrelated but worth mentioning is that, although sometimes cringey (because of Bear) and sometimes problematic (because of Trixie), this book actually does touch on issues I concern myself with. A big idea in feminism is that girls and boys are socialized very differently from each other and that creates problems when they grow up. Basically, girls might grow up to have trouble accepting and/or expressing their ‘negative’ emotions and boys may unwillingly conform to toxic masculinity rules, or even embrace them.

The bad : Not much happens for a while, except of course, I slowly start to dislike Trixie because she starts playing hot and cold with Bear. Fed up with all this, the chicken finally forces the plot forward.

The ugly : Chapter Thirty-Seven. Everything changes here. I’d been losing my patience with Trixie before but now I’m coming up with words like delusional and mentally unstable. When she starts throwing things, I’m convinced that she needs professional help.

One final thought : Trixie mentions one single instance of her life, (the college incident) more than five times. They bullied her and it sucks. But this kind of repetition is tiresome and unfortunately abundant in the book.

An ARC of this novel was sent to me by NetGalley for reviewing purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was definitely a fun, easy romance that I finished in one sitting. I felt that it lacked substance and didn't really bring much to the genre, There were some parts that fell short, and didn't seem unrealistic at all. Overall, I wouldn't read it again.

I thought this was a sweet romantic read!! I laughed in the beginning when Tricia was chasing the chicken. It sounded like a thing I would do. I even told my husband about it and he said that sounds like you! One of my favorite quotes from the books was “ I’d let my heart gag my brain, tie it up, and stuff it in a closet.” Which aldi reminds me of my animal living heart! Always trying to bring animals home with no where to help them. I don’t want to give to much away but would definitely RW come d this to my friends! I thought it was great and didn’t want to stop reading!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to review this book!!

Cute romance book. Seemed a bit cliche and didn't bring anything new to the genre. Overall, a good romance but needed more substance.