2.25 stars for this forgettable grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, strangers-to-roommates-to-friends-to-lovers book that had way more potential than what we were given in this miscommunication-filled, tries-too-hard-to-be-qUiRkY romp.

"To Get to the Other Side" by Kelly Ohlert obviously involves a chicken, right? Did you get that from the title? If you didn't get it straight away, you may have gotten it from the thousand or so odd references to all things chicken. Trust me, I got tired of that damn chicken reeeeeeeal quick. It made me want to eat Chick-Chick (seriously...that's its name) for dinner. #sorrynotsorry

Trixie is....sort of the worst? She's big on trust, but the second time she meets Bear, she literally omits the fact that she owns a whole ass chicken to get in good with him so she can use him to rent a room in his house. She also seems to keep up appearances only so she doesn't do anything to jeopardize her room in his house. Uhhh, ok? Big turn-off early on for me. Trixie is a bleeding-heart animal lover, that much is made clear, but she is willing to go into debt for....a chicken???? I get loving your pets, but there's a limit to the madness. Trixie's life is full of unresolved childhood traumas, and despite knowing this, it seems she has little to no compassion for Bear and his traumas unless they benefit her in some way. Her entire personality stated grating on me around the third chapter. She tries so, so hard to be plucky that it made me want to DNF this book. In lieu of curse words, she says stuff like "oh almond butter!" or "oh fish fingers!" or "oh snickerdoodle!" instead. She constantly stands on one leg like a flamingo. She always wears mismatched socks. She plasters on a big, fake smile in her bright, sunshine-y clothes and swears no one can tell that she's miserable because, apparently, everyone wants to see someone smile, no one wants to see someone be miserable. SEE!? SHE'S ~*UNIQUE and QUIRKY!~* Apart from this one personality trait, she's as dull as a bag of rocks and is in desperate need of some therapy. She and Bear have virtually no chemistry with one another. All of their interactions are driven by lust, not love. They have one spectacularly awkward, brief sex scene with one another to explore their feelings, and even that falls flat. I just didn't buy them together.

In the end, I was not super engaged with "To Get to the Other Side." The characters are not particularly well-written despite hundreds and hundreds of pages that might tell you otherwise. Skip this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kelly Ohlert, and Alcove Press for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove for the eARC in exchange for a fair review!

Trixie doesn't have a plan when she stops rush hour traffic in Chicago to save a chicken, but when it results in her looking for a new place to live she needs to get one and fast. Enter Bear, who likes to keep to himself thank you very much unless it includes his raucous family. They promise each other to keep everything platonic and stay just roommates...however, it turns out co-parenting a chicken is an aphrodisiac.

I initially requested this book because the premise sounded so adorable and I'm a huge fan of the roommates-to-lovers trope, but that sort of fell apart in the second act. This book is a dual POV and it seemed to suck all of the tension out of Trixie and Bear's relationship (and there should have been plenty). Both characters felt two dimensional to me and not lived in nearly enough, which made their wishy washy attitude about their relationship (at one point Bear seems to go from "maybe I need to move on" to "this is the love of my life" a little too quickly) that much more grating.

To Get To The Other Side by Elle Cook
3.5 stars

The story starts out when Trixie pulls over to rescue an injured chicken that she sees on the side of the road, and Bear stops to help her. They go their separate ways and assume they’ll never see each other again. But when Trixie tries to sneak the chicken into her apartment, her landlord gives her one week to find somewhere else to live. Bear is a quiet man who loves his solitude, but his three meddling sisters think he’s lonely, so they put an ad in the paper that he’s looking for a roommate for his spare bedroom. When Trixie answers the ad, she is surprised and delighted to find that the handsome stranger she met on the side of the road could be her new roommate.

This was a cute, clean, low-angst story. It’s a second chance, close proximity romance between two quirky characters who both struggle with some mental health issues. Their mental health struggles were well executed, and they have some great banter while trying to fight their attraction to one another for the sake of their living situation.

While I liked this one, I didn’t love it. There is a ton of miscommunication going on here, and while I understand why Trixie has such a hard time communicating her feelings, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Trixie has a lot of issues stemming from how she was brought up. Her parents taught her that if she was ever anything but happy or if she didn’t smile enough, then people wouldn’t like her. She also let a betrayal by her college roommate keep her from getting close to anyone, and instead of having meaningful relationships, she has tons of shallow ones.

The chicken thing was cute at first, but it started to get old when Trixie became obsessed with “Chick, Chick” and taking care of him was draining her financially.

Bear grew up in a house full of toxic masculinity where you’re supposed to “be a man!” He was humiliated by his father for helping his mother in her flower shop and for being good at creating arrangements. Because of this, he hides his distaste for beer and his preference for watching t.v. dramas instead of sports from his friends and family members. I thought this was a great representation of how men in society are supposed to act to be considered masculine and how it’s hurting young boys. And again, while I understand why he acts the way he does, his odd behavior and closed-off personality got old after a little while.

Overall, this was a good read for fans of clean romance and forbidden roommate romance. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the advanced copy. To Get To The Other Side is available now.

This was the most adorable roommates-to-lovers and grumpy/sunshine read! I loved Trixie immediately, but Bear, not so much; though I think it was more likely due to the fact that I just did not care for the male narrator. Normally I’m swooning for the MMC but this time I would periodically get annoyed with him. I did, however, enjoy how he started to come out of his shell after meeting Trixie and navigated his social anxiety. His sisters (and the chicken, of course) were also great supporting characters! Definitely pick this up if you swooned over Nick & Jess from New Girl or you enjoy heartfelt, hilarious romances. 4.5/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Alcove Press and Dreamscape Media for the ALC.

A clean romcom with super likable characters! Love the setting in that wasn't NYC or London like so many others. A great slow burn.

3.5🌟.

This was such a sweet read. I loved the familial bond in this one. They were huge, meddling, hilarious and so supportive of each other.
Bear a grumpy, surly construction worker is at crossroads when he meets heroine Trixie who is exactly opposite of him. Bubbly, friendly and overall a sunshine girl. I liked that they became friends first then lovers. They both positively influenced each other’s lives.

I was entertained by Trixie’s pet hen Chick-Chick. she was the conduit between them.

It took me me a little while to immerse in to the story and did get fed up with Trixie’s actions in the last part. Mostly because Bear was such a sweetheart.
Overall a good and entertaining read with low angst and close door love scenes.

Recommended.

This story was extremely cute and enjoyable with a really fun main character and a supportive and fun site family. If you like grumpy x sunshine trope and the roommate/I’m gonna be your boyfriend kind of stories this is going to be perfect. We follow Trixie the main character as she navigates through life and does all the silly things and meets with Bear and then the rest is history. The chemistry has started off a bit slowly and I could not get into the story until the half of the book was red but by the end EyeKeem to like this really fun couple and how their relationship has developed.

Conclusion: always stop in the middle of the road to pick up a chicken, wink wink :)

🐚 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 🐚

4.5 ⭐

𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: grumpy x sunshine, roommates, strangers to lovers, friends to lovers

This book was definitely interesting and unexpected.

The story begins with a chicken running on a very busy road. Trixie immediately stops noticing it and tries to catch it. Bear is the only one of the people who stops and bothers to see if everything is ok.

After a week they meet again, but now as roommates. With the arrival of Trixie in Bear's house, his life changes. He is much more talkative, he is no longer so grumpy in her person, and he finds a role in his life after Trixie opened his eyes. I liked how Bear's family was close to him and showed him their love and concern for him.

The chicken was an addition to the story, an unexpected addition!

Thank you Kelly Ohlert, Alcove Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This books was fine. It took me a while to get into it, it just started off so silly. The main characters were both likeable, although they both (especially Trixie) really needed therapy that wasn’t discussed at all. The shared trauma over difficult parent/parents was interesting an although it was a little extreme, it wasn’t unrealistic. I didn’t feel much chemistry between the main characters and even though it may technically slow-burn, it didn’t feel as anticipatory as a good romance should. The best thing about the story was the relationship between Bear’s mom and stepdad. Also, I hate the name Trixie! Considering how her parents are described, it doesn’t make sense that they’d name her that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

To Get To The Other Side by @kellyohlert is the story of Trixie and Bear - two people who meet on the side of the road while Trixie is trying to rescue a loose chicken and then as a matter of pure randomness, end up as roommates. This was just such a fun, sweet romcom. I loved the dynamic between Trixie and Bear (and really, Bear was just the best roommate/boyfriend), I loved Bear’s sisters so much and I even loved Chick Chick, the chicken. This was definitely a story of getting a second chance at life to find yourself and do what makes you happy and in the process, find happiness and love.

What a unique plot: A girl chasing a chicken.

This novel focuses on Trixie who works at an animal shelter. Has several friends however keeps everyone at a distance and hires her feelings. I enjoyed how it was structured and what it was trying to convey however I felt it started off strong and then it got lazy. I couldn’t really connect with this story sadly.

It is an easy read however there wasn’t much communication between the main characters especially with confronting the past. There is an adorable family throughout though.

Thanks to the publishers for sending me this novel in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Title: To Get to the Other Side
Author: Kelly Ohlert
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 out of 5

Trixie isn’t exactly sure what she was thinking when she stopped her car in the middle of downtown Chicago, scooped up a chicken struggling to cross the road, and drove off… but she does know that she has to find a new home for herself and her new feathered friend. The landlord at her apartment doesn’t allow pets and has caught Trixie in one too many pet-smuggling attempts in the past.

Bear likes his quiet life with his close-knit family, who own a flower business, but he’s in for a rude awakening when his meddlesome sisters post an ad to rent the spare room in his simple home, without asking his permission. Still, when Trixie responds to the ad, he agrees to let her move in, despite immediate worries about keeping things platonic.

Determined to keep her new room, befriend Bear, and give her rescue chicken the care she deserves, Trixie fights to keep her walls up and resist her romantic feelings for Bear. However, it’s not long before the pair’s proximity and chicken parenting ignite flames that have Trixie and Bear testing the boundaries of their platonic ground rules. They have to figure out how to save a family business, pay for mounting vet bills, and navigate their own emotional baggage if they want to find the love that they all deserve.

The premise of this sounded really cute, I mean, a rescue chicken? Definitely some humor in there. But, these characters felt like caricatures: with some overexaggerated features (Trixie’s unexplained “quirkiness”, Bear’s fear of his bad-guy father) but only surface level personalities. They felt like paper cutouts that the author had thrown darts at a dart board to pick out their character traits, without bothering to do the work to make them real. This made the entire story fall flat, and made me almost stop reading.

Kelly Ohlert lives in Michigan. To Get to the Other Side is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review.)

The cover of this book drew me in.

The story started OK, but to me there just wasn't enough substance to really keep that quality up.

I liked the chicken storyline at first, but seriously, Trixie going into that much debt for some chicken nuggets just felt OTT and (to me) just a little bit stupid (no offence to the chickens out there).

Bear's storyline held my attention more than Trixie and the chook, that he still had to deal with d@cks who think they way they do.

So, yeah, I liked it but didn't love it.

I thought the book was cute and quirky. Bear was such a teddy bear. He was so sweet and kind. Trixie had such a kind heart. I mean, she rescues a chicken from crossing the road! Bear's sisters are the typical interfering sisters that we all know and love. I wish there was just a little more to the story. Both Bear and Trixie have past traumas that complicate their relationship and I wish we had a little more background with those situations. I also felt that some of the instances where it is being discussed that Bear doesn't like the "typical" male things, like beer and baseball, were a little forced or off to me.

Overall, I liked the book and thought it was a cute romance.

I loved reading this!!! the chickennn is sooo cute and the DUAL POV is something i lovee in books. I also loved that it was exactly a love at first sight thing. the romance buildup was honestly done really well for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this copy.

Loved it. This book is similar to cilantro in that you either enjoy it or hate it. It is for animal lovers, closed-door romance readers, and for those who appreciate family angst. We are all a product of our upbringing, good or bad, and mostly not all of one or the other. An interesting look at how that affects us in our adult lives. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

LOOOOOOVE IT! I got swept away in this book and I was a wee bit heartbroken when I finished it. Sometimes a book becomes a friend and I hated seeing this one end.

Who would have thought someone would write a rom-com surrounding a rescue chicken? Yes, I said chicken. Like a live one, and not the KFC variety which would be so much more realistic. Take a pretty common meet cute situation and throw in a chicken and you get "To Get to the Other Side". It's a little goofy and predictable, but somehow it works. If you love rescue animals and second chances or chickens, this is the perfect random book for you!

Thank you #NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

To Get to the Other Side is Trixie and Bear's romance. They meet in the middle of the city when Trixie slams on her brakes and jumps out to rescue an injured chicken that is trying to cross the busy city street. Bear helps her and she takes off with the chicken without him finding out who she is. Trixie takes the chicken home and gets the ultimatum that she has to move out of her apartment or get rid of the chicken. She answers an ad for a room for rent and meets Bear again. His sisters, trying to get him to step out of his comfort zone, had placed the ad in hopes of helping him out socially and financially. Needless to say, the chemistry between Trixie and Bear is there from the first moment but getting into a relationship is messy enough without it being with your roommate. Feelings get involved and that can never work out, right?

I knew this book would be unique, and I wasn't wrong about that. The whole chicken as a house pet gave this former farm girl the icks but, aside from that, I really liked this book. There were a lot of layers to both of the main characters that got peeled away as the book progressed. I loved that there were dual points of view because I wanted to know what was going on in both of those heads. The chicken wasn't the only one that had trouble getting to the other side. Both Bear and Trixie make it with the help of the other and it was pretty sweet.

My sincere thanks to Alcove Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my unbiased opinion of it. I look forward to recommending it.

This book is so cute, I really enjoy this story! Highly recommended!!!
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book