This book was eye opening on how to reconnect with your partner. Yes it is a fiction novel, but man I am taking pointers from this!!! Its was beautifully raw and I loved every minute of it!

This author truly knows how to grasp a readers attention and hold it tightly throughout the entire book. She writes as if she’s lived through these moments and honestly she might be my top romance author!!

The book focuses on Win and Bo’s best friends Sarah and Caleb. They’ve been married since they were teenagers and it shows in the beginning of the book how they’re going through a rough patch. Win tells Sarah to do this retreat for couples who are struggling and Sarah and Caleb decide to do it (even though this retreat is solely outdoors and they are NOT outdoorsy at all.)

The couple walks on eggshells while discussing hard topics and they discover new ways to communicate and to dive into the harder topics. This book not only is enjoyable reading, I feel like you can take pointers from it because EVERY marriage is hard.

Throughout the book you see past Sarah’s life, and current day. Seeing how Sarah deals with things and how Caleb struggles to see what’s actually wrong and pretends it’s ok is so authentic.

This book was beautifully written and I’ll recommend it to everyone.

I LOVED this!! Sarah and her struggle to find herself after losing her mother is such a real depiction of grief and Young did an incredible job at taking us (the reader) through that journey with her characters.

This book did an amazing job at showing the reality of relationships after loss. Caleb and Sarah found themselves going through the motions without reconnecting in an effective way. I loved reading about their journey of healing and what it takes to make a relationship work. I also really liked how we got to see what they were like when they were young and why they fell in love in the first place. It was beautiful seeing them repair such a beautiful thing.

This story reminded me that if love is meant to prevail, it will but it still requires work.

Caleb and Sarah are now my favorite HBY couple because they beat the odds and came out stronger and better on the other side. I can;'t wait to reread this in the future.

Thank you Dell & NetGalley for the free eARC!

This book is about grief, finding yourself, and reconnecting with your partner. Communication is a big theme in this book, and I think the main characters communicated very well and very maturely.

I found myself relating a lot to Sarah. I have felt some of the same things as Sarah does since she married young and struggles to find something in the world to call her own. By the end of the book, I felt so proud of her and hopeful that someday I can find my purpose too.

This book got very deep at times. It has alternating timelines from 17 years ago when Sarah and Caleb first met, to the present. First of all, I loved seeing their relationship from the very beginning. It made their connection feel so much stronger to me. But, being in the past is very emotional because not only do we see Sarah and Caleb become a couple, but we see Sarah’s mom succumb to her illness. I cried almost every single time that was even mentioned. If parent sickness is a trigger for you, I would be aware of that!

Finally, my favorite part of the whole book! I really enjoyed seeing more of Win and Bo from Out on a Limb! The friendship between the four of them is a true found family. They support and care for each other no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.

If you loved Out on a Limb or any other Hannah Bonam-Young book, you definitely need to read this! Release day is January 28, 2025.

I can’t even put into words how beautiful and heartfelt this book was! I completely fell in love with Sarah and Caleb even more after reading Out on a Limb. 🩷 not only was their journey so raw and beautiful, but I also adored seeing their character growth throughout the book. My heart just completely broke for Sarah and I can’t even count how many times I cried!! I loved how we saw the beautiful parts of marriage, but also the hard parts that people don’t tend to talk about as much.

Thank you so much to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved Out on a Limb, so when I heard about Out of the Woods, I couldn’t wait to read it! I found Sarah to be relatable, and I enjoyed reading from her perspective. I liked getting a story about an already established couple and seeing what they go through after years of marriage. The conflicts they dealt with felt realistic and made for an emotional story. I do feel like it started to drag on a little, and at times I struggled with getting through this book. That being said Hannah Bonam-Young is an author that I’ve enjoyed so far, and I look forward to reading more of her books. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballentine for the arc.

Where do I even start?! This was perfection, utterly heartbreaking, I couldn’t put it down and I’m probably going to have to read it again soon because I was crying so much I probably missed some sentences. My whole heart was broken and put back together learning about Caleb and Sarah’s relationship, their struggles and growth. I don’t even know how to properly put into words what this story means to me, the relationships between Sarah and Win from the start and how they lean on each other, the dedication they have to each other. I will never forget this book.

This was my first book from Hannah Bonum-Young and I cannot believe it's taken me this long to pick one of her books up because they're are just the right blend of tugging on your heartstrings with emotional vulnerability, but also tender and sweet romance. I don't ever really gravitate toward marriage in crisis romances, but this just hit the spot - I found myself relating to Sarah quite a bit and it just warmed my heart to see how in love and vulnerable Caleb was without being a complete doormat (for a lack of a better word). He was still flirty, but also had flaws that we see both him and Sarah work on throughout the experience. Overall, just a solid read and I'd definitely recommend you pick this up when it releases (this month!). Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Enjoyed this story and complemented the others well.

4.25 ⭐️
I am so so thankful to have received an arc of this book! Out on a limb was my favorite romance of last year! This is a sister book to that one where we follow Sarah and Caleb. I thought this book was so unique because it follows a couple that is already together. I will say though, this book hits hard. A lot of it is like reading a therapy session and it handles some hard topics. I think many people will be please with this book as much as I was!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this advanced copy!

I loved the way this book was written. There were funny and clever moments that I wasn’t expecting. The way the past is woven in with the present gives a better understanding of the characters and their relationship, and god were they so cute together as teenagers. Caleb is incredibly sweet and generous and supportive… and so in love with Sarah. Top tier book husband. You can’t help but love these two. All the side characters were fun and interesting too. I really appreciated how grief was covered in this book. It’s a tough topic, but it was very relatable. The spicy scenes were so delicious and the amount of spice made sense with the story. Highly recommend!
4.5⭐️ 3🌶️

If it wasn’t for parental duties, I would have read the book in a single sitting. It was so refreshing to read a romance book that reflects the difficulties of marriage and the beauty that can come from sticking through them. I felt seen by this book in ways I have not experienced through books before, and I want to say thank you to Hannah for that 💕

If you enjoyed Every After Always by Chloe Liese, then this is definitely up your alley!

My only reason for deducting a star is that I wanted to see even more!

This was such a beautiful written book!!
The relationship between these characters definitely is relatable to a lot of other people so it was easy for me to read. The true meaning of this book which I believe is about healing; really spoke to me and moved me. The FMC character was so relatable because there’s so many people who have lost a parent at a young age and as a result had to grow up faster than most people. Sarah finding who she is without her mom and not completely relying on Caleb was a lovely journey. I have to say I loved that I’ve finally read a book with my own name (Sarah) being used so that was fun. The banter between Caleb and Sarah is the true definition of marrying your best friend that you’re utterly comfortable and in love with. This couple made me laugh and cry and all the things! My favorite part of this book was Caleb’s letter to Sarah; I CRIEDDDDD. The letter was full of pure emotion, power, and true love for her and I couldn’t get enough of it. Caleb’s character was who I want in a man in more ways than one. He was so sweet and understanding and willing to do anything for his marriage and to make it right again. I loved that we still got Win and Bo dialogue because I absolutely loved the first book in this series about them! It sounds like this series has come to an end but it ended seamlessly and I can’t wait to read more from Hannah.❤️Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC and provide feedback.

This book was EVERYTHING. Caleb and Sarah? Emotional warfare, I laughed and I cried (a lot). Their story was raw, messy, and so real it hurt (in the best way, obviously). The dual timeline was genius, it made their love and struggles feel so layered and genuine. Caleb’s devotion was swoon-worthy and Sarah’s journey of self-discovery hit wayyyy too close to home. My only gripe was that I needed more time with the conflict bc for me it wrapped up a little bit fast for my taste but honestly, this book broke me and put me back together. I’ll be shoving it into everyone’s hands ASAP

Thank you Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the E-arc!

Hannah has a gift for writing emotional vulnerable and heartwarming novels. I appreciate how real and honest her storytelling is.

Out of the Woods is a real marriage in crisis novel that tackles personal identity and the main characters own relationship. Throughout the book, I could really feel the passion that Hannah had for this novel.

This novel has a dual timeline, I think seeing exactly how Caleb and Sarah's relationship began was important to their dynamic and as to why they were having problems. Although, I wasn't a big fan of some of the chapters, it helped paint a better picture for these characters.

I think Caleb and Sarah are two very honest characters who wanted to save their marriage. I think that the camp setting had a great premise but do I think that was enough for the relationship? Not really.

This book felt too fast, in order for the camp setting to feel "realistic" and 'necessary" for their relationship it needed to be more filling. We only got to see a couple of moments in which camp felt useful to their relationship but that alone wasn't enough.

The ending felt to sudden and rushed for my taste, I would've liked a different conflict and solution to this novel because the ending felt too random and out of the nowhere.

I liked seeing the complexity between Caleb, Sarah, and their relationship. And think this is worth checking out.

-high school sweethearts x marriage in crisis, week long retreat 🏕️🪵🏞️
-thoroughly enjoyed Sarah and Caleb’s journey, this “second chance” genre has a special place for my shelf
-thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this ARC ❤️

4.0⭐️

While you can read this book as a standalone, I highly recommend reading Out on a Limb first to get the whole overview and picture of this couple as they are first introduced there.

Sarah and Caleb are high school sweethearts that are going through a marriage crisis. They are together through the whole book, just doing lots of internal work together to have a healthier relationship and be on the same page.

A quote right at the beginning of the book I loved:
“I think maybe that’s the issue. We’ve been letting shit pile up for years, ignoring it like the bills on our moms’ kitchen table. But now they’re all past due and we’re too tired to deal with it all.”

As Sarah and Caleb embark on a weeklong, outdoor therapy adventure they learn things about each other and how to reconnect when things get a little dicey. I loved how realistic this book was, and I resonated a lot with Sarah and how she’s dealt with things. There is a HEA and I loved how it was wrapped up nicely.

This is one of those books that makes me wish there was an option higher than 5 stars available for ratings. I don’t quite know how to put into words the emotional connection I had with this book.

From the moment I read Out on a Limb and was introduced to Sarah and Caleb, I had a gut feeling their story was coming soon, and knew it would deeply resonate with my heart as someone in a going-on-12-years relationship with my first (and only) boyfriend, whom I started dating when I was 16 years old.

This story absolutely hurt my heart in such a GOOD way. It feels appropriate that this will be the last book I finish in 2024, as it’s shaping my mindset to be so appreciative of my own long time partner heading into a new year. Sarah and Caleb’s relationship is messy and understanding and difficult and simple and comfortable and fresh and so many things all at the same time that just make sense when you’ve been with one person for so long, particularly one person you’ve grown up with. The final portion of the book hit me so hard emotionally that at times I had to take a moment away from reading before returning to the story, but I trusted HBY wholeheartedly to do this story justice and I was not disappointed.

I will be rereading this book several times over and purchasing multiple physical copies for different annotations and notes to process my many feelings about these two.

I have been a fan of HBY for each of her books, but this is on another level 🤍

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this eARC!

📖 Book Review: Out On A Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

‘When our perceptions begin to shift it is usually because we’re ready for something new.’

My thoughts 💭

Please check for trigger warnings. ‼️

Wow, where to even begin. This book knocked my already high expectations out of the park. Sarah and Caleb have been together since high school and with that have experienced all of the ups and downs of life in your teens and twenties. It comes as no surprise that they both needed something to get the ‘spark’ back so they embark on a week long couples therapy hiking camp. Along the way they both end up healing not only their relationship but also their personal insecurities. At the beginning Sarah as a character really made me quite angry because Caleb is such a precious angel I didn’t understand how she could see anything wrong with him. But as the story progressed and you got more backstory on her upcoming and relationship with her mom it made sense. I also adored the multiple cameos of Win and Bo from ‘Out on a Limb’. They are both stand-alones that are interconnected however for the best reading experience I would highly recommend reading ‘Out on a Limb’ first! 6/5 ⭐️

HBY has become one of my auto buy authors and I have zero complaints.

OOTW lives up to the hype with the care that HBY puts into all of the characters she writes. I saw so much of myself in Sarah as she feels stuck and unsure of where to take her life and still dealing with the huge loss of her Mom.

The story hit all the emotions I want to feel while reading. I was sad for Sarah and Caleb as they struggle but fight to work on their marriage. I laughed with them and felt joy for the friendships they made that helped them work on themselves and find what they want. I also loved getting to see Win and Bo again.

I did find the ending crisis in this book to be very random and took me out of the story slightly but other than that it was a joy to read after a 2 month reading slump!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC

I really loved Sarah and Caleb’s story as a whole! Obviously loved seeing Win and Bo too. Personally some of the spice felt out of place to me but it didn’t take away from the story as a whole. Would still highly recommend. I genuinely love HBY writing.