This book started out good but then they started doing this little stuff that made me lose my respect or interest little by little for both of these main characters. So yeah, I ended up not enjoying it! And I can assure you, 'it's me, not you' situation.

I am an avid romance reader, but a girl can only handle so much quirky, manic pixie dream girl before it becomes an absurd mad lib. The main downfall of this book (ignoring the overbearingly childlike features of our female protagonist, and the absolute lack of characterization of our male protagonist) are the thin motivations on which the plot is built. None of the stakes are believable or relatable.

When Trixie rescues a chicken from the middle of the road and decides to keep it, she needs a pet-friendly living situation ASAP. She answers an ad for a roommate and finds Bear- a man who has no idea his sisters placed the ad for him to begin with. She moves in, sparks fly, and while both have feelings for the other, they’re nervous about crossing the roommate-to-couple barrier. Add in her fear of showing her true emotions and his fear of revealing his true personality and you can see exactly where this rom-com is going.

Overall, this was a cute romance. 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 on her. Also the reason for her roommate’s betrayal never was really made clear which made it hard to really understand.

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

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read and review.

This book is so wholesome and cute. It is a fade to black when it gets to heated scenes so this book is perfect for people who like a good rom-com without the heavy spice. But I loved the main character and loved how much she cared for this chicken!

The beginning of this book was really good. Saving a chicken from rush hour traffic, who does that? Trixie Ward that’s who!! I enjoyed the story. I was able to connect am with the characters. They frustrated me to no end. I liked how Trixie and Bear had issues they needed to overcome. She has a hard time actually connecting with people on a personal level and for good reason, and he just doesn’t think he’s enough and so he just tries to pretend that he is something he’s not. I loved Bear’s sisters. They were a little over the top with their meddling but they were lovable. I did not like how the story was soo focused on Chick Chick. The chicken brought them together I didn’t think she needed to be the reason why they almost broke up. I will say that chicken wheelchair was a very unexpected grand gesture.

To Get to the Other Side started out cute, with a chicken being rescued from rush ohour traffic. Unfortunately, it went downhill from there. I could not connect with the main characters, they did not seem real to me. Although, Bear's family was a hit! I enjoyed them. Many parts of the story under-developed.
I did enjoy reading about the animals at the shelter! They sound so cute. I would have enjoyed reading their 'dating profiles'. The cover of this book is adorable! It is what drew me to the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I needed light and fluffy and this was light and fluffy!

This started with a lot of promise for a great romcom, then it got wacky and weird and never fully recovered for me. I liked it, it was cute, I love a good grumpy/sunshiney trope, but I don't know, something was missing. I just never fully connected to the characters and thought it was all a bit over-troped if thats a thing?

Was it a quick, easy, cute read? Yes! This would make for the perfect summertime pool/beach read when you don't want to think too hard and just be entertained.

Chick Chick...so weird, but so cute!

I’m a mood reader and lemme tell you this book was speaking to me! The cover! ADORBS.

This was light and cute and fluffy to read. Some lol moments and some cute moments. It wasn’t the best writing but it was a decent read over all and a fast read.

Tropes:
Close proximity
Grumpy/sunshine

Was it the best rom com I’ll read all year? No. But it’s def not going to be the worst.

And aweeeee the pet chicken is as cute. Chick chick! 🐓

The book started off well but soon went downhill (like within 10 chapters). The author's execution of the storyline was simply not up to the mark. The characters are bland, their is no personality, no chemistry between them. The plot is boring and you'll eventually get tired and annoyed reading about the chicken who FYI is named 'Chick Chick'. Trixie is very unlikable and unrelatable. She's not like any other girls, she's quirky👀She also has an abusive streak to her character, which the author casually puts in there and ignores. The guy is called 'Bear' who even though the author tries very hard to make him look 'hot and sensitive' just comes across as weak. The 'insta-love' trope doesn't sit well with me at all. The author tries to include other tropes as well, which again the execution is done poorly.

I tried very hard to get into this but couldn't. It was annoyingly boring.

eARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

Really not a favorite for me. It felt very repetitive and I felt the characters lacked development which was a bummer because I enjoyed them to start.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

To Get to the Other Side by Kelly Ohlert begins with our main character, Trixie, stopping her car in the middle of busy Chicago rush hour traffic, to save a chicken from being run over. With the help of Bear, a handsome bystander who is willing to help control traffic, Trixie is able to secure the chicken and drive away and the two go separate ways, or so you think.

In the beginning I was becoming fond of Trixie, but as the book continued, I was growing more obnoxious of her and her actions and that alone almost made me sadly bring the book to 3 stars instead. Thankfully, Bear and all of the other characters that are introduced, alongside Chick-Chick the rescued chicken, kept the humor and sweetness going and left me to keep this story at 4 stars.

This book was a sweet rom-com, definitely cheesy at times, but an enjoyable read.

Fun, short, sweet. By no means extravagant or original, but pleasant to read. This is one of those books that you grab to procrastinate folding your laundry, but you probably won’t remember it.

I loved the character, Trixie with her love of animals and a complicated past, but I loved Bear and his family even more. His sisters were everything I would want and he had amazing parents. The relationship with Trixie ran a bit hot and cold for a bit, made me want a quicker resolution to all of Trixie’s inner turmoil, but I’m glad I made it to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me. There was very little character development other than the constant repetition of the same issues over and over and over. The chicken scenario was a unique meet-cute, but the bird took up way too much of the plot. What really got me and kept this from being a 3 star rating was the "quirky" curse substitutions that Trixie used throughout the book. It was supposed to be a cute character trait, but instead it was one of the most annoying things I've read. I've seen other books do this and it just isn't cute, quirky or funny. "Oh, jousting jellybeans" and "well, bubble and squeak"....wtf? Bear's (seriously, these names...) family stole the show and were probably the best part of the story.

I think the book has potential, but it needs some work to give it depth.

If you’re looking for a humorous book, you can assume from the title that this will have a lot of laughs.
And it does.
This book follows Trixie as she adopts a chicken (Chick-Chick) and struggles with her new roommate to keep things… platonic.
Bear is a thoughtful and generous person, Trixie wears a smile all day everyday and cares for all those around her. Their dynamic is so sweet and the banter is perfect.
(I think I should start watching Grey’s Anatomy now… I need to see who Jackson is.)
It’s a struggle to rate this book because I enjoyed it and found myself laughing throughout it, but also wanted more from it. However I can say that I rate it 3.5/5 stars, so I’d definitely recommend it!

This is such a cute book and to top it there is an added pet that is a chicken. I loved the nosy sisters and their recurrences in Bear's life and I could understand the concept of facade that Trixie has to carry around and what made Bear softer towards Bear. The book is a good story of two willing adults living their regular lives till they enter each other's lives. Now I don't know about insta-love, but what striked me most was the characters and the build up of the story. This is a light read with few lessons to learn along the way. I hope you pick this up and give Trixie and Bear a chance.

First things first - I have to ask if this is the first draft? I can see the pub date isn't until Dec of this year (writing this in Feb) so I'm wondering if this is still going through several heavy rounds of editing before it is released?

If not, please consider doing this. You have time, and I think this book has so much room to evolve and grow into something stronger.

The characters are very cut and paste and extremely one dimensional. At first I was drawn in by the grumpy/sunshine trope. But it truly didn't exist. The only sign of Bear being "grumpy" was Trixie telling us during their dialogue that she was surprised he spoke so much in that conversation. That was it.

There is no story at all. The conflict is entirely them in their own heads - and a very overblown response to past "trauma". There's even a little subplot of Trixie being made fun of for crying in college, which is why she doesn't let anyone in? It just doesn't make sense at all.

An attempt is made to show Trixie as Quirky and it falls very flat. Wearing bright colours and substituting swear words with random words is not quirky. It's lazy character development.

I wanted to DNF this many times, but I kept going in case there was a big reveal that made everything made sense. Alas, it was not to be.

To the publisher/author - please take this on board. Use the time before officially publishing and let this book become more than it is. Build the world, flesh out the characters and find the hook for the story - find real conflict and resolve it at the end. Good luck.

This is a cute and quick read, it is a bit little bit funny (not a much as is intended) and it gives you a nice warm happy feeling in the end.

At the beginning, our main character Trixie stops her car in the middle of a Chicago street to rescue a chicken. The chicken is injured, so she takes it to the vet for thousands of dollars worth of treatment. This is where the book lost me because she obviously is a city girl who doesn't know about the $1.99 baby chicks at the Rural King store. Who pays thousands of dollars to keep one chicken alive when they're just scraping by in downtown Chicago trying to pay their rent while working AT AN ANIMAL SHELTER? Yeah. I didn't get it either.

When she tries to take the chicken home, her landlord isn't happy and gives her one week to get rid of the chicken or move. And of course, she ends up as the roommate of Bear, a grumpy guy, in contrast to her sunshiny, always happy personality.

And the story just keeps going downhill. Fast. Trixie names the chicken Chick-Chick which is obnoxious after she says it over and over and over again. And then Trixie doesn't swear, but uses words like sassafrass instead. It makes her seem about 10 years old and just plain weird, although the intent is to make her seem sweet and quirky.

Some may enjoy the insta-love that Trixie and Bear share in this book, but I found it to be a little on the ridiculous side with a storyline that was long and with not much happening. Also, where did that chicken come from in the first place? The world will never know.

⭐️
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I wanted to love this book - really, truly, I wanted to simply adore it. Unfortunately, I ended up forcing myself to finish it so that I could give it an honest review. The premise, albeit strange, is pretty cute. Trixie (a huge animal lover) lives in Chicago and randomly stumbles upon an injured chicken trying to cross the road. She stops her car, and all of traffic, to try to catch the chicken when another driver starts yelling at her. A big, burly man (named Bear… seriously?), comes to her rescue. There you have it folks, insta-love.
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There’s more to the plot but most of it seems messy and unnecessary - for instance instead of giving up the chicken (named Chick-Chick… again, seriously?), Trixie decides to MOVE OUT OF HER APARTMENT and INTO A HOUSE WITH THIS MAN that she has met twice!!!! They also each only have a few personality traits. Trixie is a goodie two shoes who doesn’t curse and wears ridiculous color combinations like purple, turquoise, and yellow together and Bear is a man’s man who is unattractively insecure about his “feminine” side. Their “traumas” also felt so forced and really just not really relatable?
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Don’t even get me started on the “sex” scene.
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All in all, this book fell majorly flat for me. With so many progressive & interesting romance books on shelves today, the same old trope of alpha male helping cutesy female without anything else added to the story doesn’t really cut it!
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Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!