I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine!

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes, etc: High School Sweethearts, Marriage in Crisis
POV: Single, 1st Person
3rd Act Breakup?: No
Cliffhanger?: No
Song Association: New Year’s Day by Taylor Swift

Brief Summary: Sarah and Caleb met and fell in love as teenagers. Now, over 15 years later, Sarah feels directionless and unsure of their future. In an effort to reconnect, resolve their issues, and remember why they fell in love in the first place, Sarah and Caleb attend a couples retreat that’s designed to help.

The Praise: I was so anxious about this book because I loved Sarah and Caleb in Out on a Limb and I didn’t want things to be bad between them, BUT I trusted the process and Hannah delivered a beautiful story about love, reconnecting, and finding your purpose.
I liked the message that you’re never too old to pursue something you love. I also really loved the emphasis on the fact that couples need to grow and change together.
The flashbacks to their teen years were really sweet and heart-wrenching.

The Critique: From what I’ve seen of Sarah, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me that she would so easily give up on writing because of negative feedback on a story she barely even put any effort into. It just felt out of character for someone who is so tenacious. I do recognize that it was a turbulent time in her life which affected her reaction, I just think it would’ve made more sense if it was a story she worked hard on and was really proud of.

Final Thoughts: This was so, so great. It was sweet, funny, sexy, and angsty. Sliding into my 2024 favorites just under the wire!

Wow! Hannah Bonam- Young does it again. This book is so beautiful. Reading about Sarah’s journey through the loss of her mother and in a way herself felt so real and raw. Feeling lost and unmotivated and going through the motions of life and then one day waking up and feeling absolutely useless was so real and true for people. Having Caleb by her side to help and guide her through the fog was heartwarming.
Personally I have never felt to attune and have related to a FMC more than Sarah. The way Hannah wrote feeling lost, heartbreak, grief and taking it out her feelings on her person was perfection. Realizing that even though your person is right in front of you, you will never appreciate them until you learn to love yourself.

I should have known this book would hurt me.
Out on a Limb was one of my favorite books I read last year so I was thrilled to get an arc of Caleb and Sarah’s story. Out of the Woods delivers Hannah’s signature wit and humor alongside some brutally honest themes and conflict that cut right to the heart. Sarah’s journey to understand herself after never having the space to fully grow and realize herself in the way of her mother’s death was both beautiful and deeply agonizing. But seeing her and Caleb come out the other side was worth it.
I loved the cameos and moments we got with Win and Bo!

When you've known each other for how long, how do you tell the person you love you don't know yourself anymore? I was so excited to get to read Sarah and Caleb's story (and of course see Win and Bo again). Sarah and Caleb have been together since they were 19. They've been through so many highs and lows together, but Sarah is ready to stop being rescued and protected. She's ready to do things on her own and have something that can be just hers...

Hannah Bonam-Young has this amazing way of writing about her characters that just makes you feel like you know these people too. I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to read this. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ARC.

All the stars go to this absolute gem of a book!! I adored every moment of it- it was everything I wanted. And then so much more.
I was laughing on the first page and then crying by the third- from there on out, I knew it was going to be an amazing read.
Hannah Bonam-Young has a way of taking a trope I generally do not like, and making me love it. First, with the accidental pregnancy in Out On a Limb (we get Bo and Win moments in this and I lived for them!). And now, with an already married couple in Out of the Woods. I don't know what magic she has in her brain to make that happen, but who am I to question it.
Young Caleb won my heart instantly, and Caleb now is just an absolute dream. Sarah took a bit more to warm up to, but I think that's because it was easy to relate to her struggles and it was hard to see it written out at first. I'm so impressed by the growth we get to see from them both. The story contains a perfect mix of emotional moments and humorous ones, sprinkled with great banter and spice.

This is easily a new favourite and one I will be recommending to friends for months and years to come! Be sure to add it to your TBR!

This book was absolutely everything I could’ve hoped for! Following Bo and Win’s story, I was so happy to jump back into this universe with Sarah and Caleb, even though things didn’t start off on the best foot for our couple. The progression of the story for Sarah and Caleb felt super genuine and realistic and I was rooting LOUDLY for them. With the signature HBY flair, this book was the heartwarming hit I knew it would be! 🥰

Have I never been married and am I currently single? Yes. Did I absolutely bawl my eyes out at 2 am reading Out of the Woods? Yes, I did.

I’m not sure how Hannah does it, but she has an incredible ability to make you connect with her characters, making you feel every emotion they experience. It’s what makes saying goodbye to them so much harder when the book comes to an end.

I especially loved the dual timeline, which allowed us to see Sarah and Caleb as teenagers. It helped me understand and connect with both of them as adults.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s a heart-wrenching, realistic, and beautifully written story. If you haven’t read Out on a Limb yet, I highly recommend starting with that before diving into OOTW for an even deeper connection to the story.

I inhaled this. I literally read it in 4 hours. Meaning...Hannah Bonam Young is honestly a much better writer than I had assumed of her in the past. I am happy to eat crow and admit she has managed to create complex emotional circumstances, clever banter, and genuinely lovable characters into a realistic and entertaining romance novel. I was wrong, her OG fans were right, she is great and this is great.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for my advanced reader copy. I was thrilled!

OUT OF THE WOODS is exactly the level of cute, rompy, and gut-punching real-life hard-shit I've come to expect and love from Hannah Bonam-Young. My friend and I both read this book, and can say that Hannah still reigns supreme in our list of top authors. Cheers!

This book was everything! I adore Sarah and Caleb. I just think this story was so beautiful. Some would call it a marriage in crisis story, but I think it was truly about how married couples come together in a way to learn to re-love each other as each individual changes. The past chapters of their relationship when they were young were so sweet. This had everything I want in a romance and then the added grief storyline was done so well. Everyone needs to read this book asap!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!

Hannah never lets me down! I was so so excited when this ARC hit my kindle it felt like a dream ARC. I love Hannah’s books and was eagerly awaiting this one. I really enjoyed this book it was definitely a different take on a love story. I think she did a really good job looking at a couple who was very much in love but still needed to change and grow together. This feels like a book about what comes after all the traditional romance books. You definitely need to read out on a limb before this one but that’s no hardship!

I love Hannah I hope she writes books forever and ever!

Is there such a thing as meeting your person too early?

Caleb and Sarah are high school sweethearts who everyone believes are perfect together. They’ve gone through so much together that life seems to become too comfortable. Which in turn leads to festering emotions and conversations left unsaid.

Sarah our FMC has reached a point in her life where she begins to question everything about herself and her marriage. At 31 she feels as though she has let life pass her by and that she has begun to lean too heavily on her husband Caleb. This leads to tension in their marriage and fear that what was once something so strong might be crumbling.

Caleb our MMC is caught by surprise when Sarah suggests doing a couples therapy hike. He doesn’t understand where Sarah’s sudden change has come from. Though he takes everything in stride in hopes of saving his marriage and remaining with the woman he loves. To him this is something worth fighting for.

Caleb and Sarah’s story is honest, raw and real. Watching them work through their past hurts and learn to communicate in a way that they have not done before was heartbreaking and beautiful. Allowing themselves to be open and vulnerable with each other and embrace the uncomfortable was amazing. To see healthy communication and honest reactions to situations was amazing. This story broke my heart and put it back together. I laughed. I cried and felt every emotion in between. This is a must read book that portrays marriage in such a real way.

I adored this book so much. I am such a big fan of Hannah Bonam-Young's writing and Out on a Limb was one of my favorite reads for the year. This one did not disappoint!

This book follows Sarah and Caleb, who are very prominent characters in the first book, as they work through their relationship issues. We learn a lot about their relationship and how they are as separate people. As someone who was married young and married my high school sweetheart like Sarah and Caleb, I found this book to be very relatable which is why I think I enjoyed it so much. It goes deep into how in a situation like that, you can get stuck in a routine and your relationship can sometimes feel like it's on autopilot.

I found this book to be very vulnerable, yet sweet and real at the same time. This book touches a lot on the grief of losing a parent, self reflection, and even some slight religious trauma. We got to dive more into Win and Sarah's background growing up together with their mothers, which I loved as Out on a Limb did not go too far into that.

Overall this was a great read. I had high expectations for this and Hannah didn't disappoint.

everything about this book i loved and definitely needed! after reading out on a limb last year i knew i loved her writing and wanted to read more of her work! when i got the arc of this book i was so shocked and started reading it immediately! the cameos of win and bo?? i missed them so much!

So lucky to have received this digital ARC as I love Hannah Bonam-Young's books! This one fell a little flat for me, though, and I'm guessing it's because of all the conflict in the book, which made me a little uneasy.

This book follows Out on a Limb's side couple, Sarah and Caleb, as they are on the brink of their marriage collapsing. The two go to a couple's retreat in the woods to work out their issues, and they end up learning more about each other while strengthening their relationship. The present day chapters are interspersed with flashbacks to when the couple started dating in high school. A lot of the book revolves around Sarah working through the grief of losing her mother at such an early age (and how she fell into marriage with Caleb, who had taken on a protective role in their relationship.) I won't spoil anything, but please know this book is heavy, with a lot of fighting between the main characters.

To be honest, the two of them could be a little mean to each other in the book, and it made me uncomfortable. Their relationship also seemed based on a lot of lust and familiarity rather than shared interests. The setting didn't add much to the story, either, so that was sad for someone like me who was looking forward to good hiking and nature montages. I think I just hated seeing Sarah and Caleb, who were my favorite part of Out on a Limb, like this. I know no marriage is completely happy though, so I guess this book is realistic in that regard.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House, for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young 4/5. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for this ARC! Out of the Woods is connected to Out on a Limb which I also loved! Caleb and Sarah have been together since high school and got married young. Sarah signs her and Caleb up for a marriage retreat in the woods to try to rekindle their marriage. This book is about finding yourself later in life. Sometimes it is hard to find yourself or your purpose when you grow up with your significant other. Sometimes finding yourself doesn’t mean leaving your significant other and starting over, sometimes it means putting in the work and not being afraid to take risks. Hannah Bonam-Young is one of my new favorite authors. She writes grief, pain and joy so well.

Favorite quotes: “…when reality crept in to an uncomfortable degree—I’d escape with books.” // “When our perceptions begin to shift it is usually because we’re ready for something new.” // “If you give me the space to grow, I’ll plant myself next to you. Always.” // “Hope, in my experience, is a dangerous feeling, but I’ll choose to feel it anyways.”

Out of the Woods is scheduled for release on January 28, 2025. I recommend everyone get a copy and read it!

And she did it again! Out of the Woods is now a favorite of 2024, just like Out on a Limb was a favorite of 2023. When I first read Out on a Limb, I wanted Sarah and Caleb’s story so badly, and it definitely didn’t disappoint! I ended up loving the marriage in crisis trope more than I expected. The way the characters worked through their struggles felt real and heartfelt. I also appreciated the glimpses of the other characters they were just enough to keep me invested without overshadowing Sarah and Caleb’s story, loved to see Win and Bo in there, it was the perfect balance.

Hannah Bonam-Young is a brilliant writer. I love how she writes her characters and makes them so relatable. She has an incredible talent for creating characters who feel authentic and real. I can’t wait to read more of her work!

After 17 years of being together, Sarah and Caleb have gotten too comfortable with not wanting to hurt the others feelings, hiding a lot of their own in the process.

This is my second HBY book and it both out of the woods and out on a limb will always have a special place in my heart.

Caleb and Sarah are both flawed. Caleb thinking he can solve everything like it’s a math problem and Sarah being stuck in questioning who she is after being a stay at home wife for so long.

Something I’ll always love about this group of characters the found family aspect between Win, Bo, Sarah, and Caleb. My best friend and I have moms who are also best friends so reading the about June and Marcy trucking along life with their girls was something so special to me. HBY writes about romantic love, but beyond that she writes about familial love, platonic love, and love that runs so deep and is so engrained in you that life is simply unimaginable without it.

thank you NetGalley for an ARC ☺️☺️

Thank you Hannah Bonam-Young, Dell Romance, and NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for an honest review. If I had to describe Out of the Woods in three words I’d say: sweet, angsty, introspective. Whereas “Out on a Limb” has more lighthearted moments and cute banter this was more serious and would probably resonate with a more mature crowd. Caleb and Sarah are the “It” couple - the picture of love and success. They’ve been together since they were teenagers and have overcome many obstacles together. But after Caleb unintentionally embarrasses Sarah at an event, she begins to take a hard look at her life and wonders who she is outside of Caleb (who has made it his mission to be her knight is shinning armor). She signs them up for a couples retreat in the woods to reconnect with each other and maybe even find the courage to rescue herself for once. Overall, I really enjoyed this. As someone who got married young I could relate to Sarah feeling like she got married before she really “found herself”. I enjoyed her and Caleb’s positive communication and was even inspired to do some marriage-maintenance myself. The book did fall a little flat for me as it lacked Hannah’s quirky sense of humor that made me fall in love with Bo and Wen in the first book. Sarah was so dynamic in Out on a Limb I was a little shocked by how serious she was throughout the story. The author tackles some tough issues (loss of a parent, grief, etc) and I was looking for Sarah’s usual antics to add some levity. I think this is perfect for those looking for a more “realistic” love story and not a rom-com. Overall, this was a beautiful story of love, loss, identity, and redemption. I would recommend to anyone who loves women’s fiction and a more angsty love story.

♾️⭐️My very first ARC and it was so perfect😭.It was more than perfect!After reading Out On A Limb I knew very well I needed more of Sarah and Caleb.Hannah once again did not disappoint.

Sarah’s mom’s story hit so hard I cried.Coming from someone who lost a loved one who passed from something so similar reading about it touched me deeply🩷.

Caleb and Sarah are high school sweethearts/soulmates and they proved it from page to page😮‍💨.Caleb my boy needed to get it together towards the end I was stressing out for a while😤😭.

So so glad we got more Bo and Win moments!Even if there were a handful of them they were perfect!

I would highly recommend this book to anymore!!!Im so excited to be able to say I got to read this book before it releases in 2025😭🙏