Book Review of To Get To The Other Side

To Get To The Other Side by Kelly Ohlert is a romance joined by a chicken. The protagonists of the story, Trixie and Bear, come to know each other due to a chicken. Trixie is an animal lover and works at an animal shelter. Her landlord has a no pet policy, but she has recently found a chicken and is looking for a pet-friendly home. Bear is a carpenter who hates his job and needs some extra cash. His sisters post an ad for renting out his house and mentions that it is pet friendly. This ad and the chicken are the reason the two of them collide again. Despite chasing out several prospective roommates, Bear finds himself sharing the flat with Trixie. The tension is obvious but both are ready to ignore it. The book goes on to explore more about their dynamics while bringing out their past traumas and the actions inspired by those traumas.

This book is written in easy to read style with straightforward descriptions of the events without excessive ornamentation. I enjoyed reading this and was able to finish reading this in 2 days. The story gives a lot of instances of slow-burn romances between our protagonists. I enjoyed those slow burn descriptions and wanted to read more about them.

The book also discusses childhood trauma, bullying, toxic parenting, and trust issues. If these are triggering to you, then you should avoid this. The author has done good work by bringing out the severity of the situation through the simple use of sentences. However, the one thing that bothered me was the 'Chick, Chick' situation. It was really weird to read more and more about the chicken in the book. The weirdness went away as I, too, became accustomed to the chicken, but it was weird nonetheless.

Overall I liked this book and will give this book 3 out of 5 stars. The falling in love at the first sight was a cliched opening, but the exploration of past trauma and explaining the family dynamics was really well done. I would recommend this book to anyone willing to read a slow burn romance (although the slow burn happens in parts, and breaks away abruptly), exploration of past trauma, and the process to overcome it.

2/5.

thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!! it was my first ever arc and i was so happy to receive it, but unfortunately, i didn't enjoy it very much. i was drawn to it because of the description of the book, yet it fell short for me.

𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴.
the sentence structure was very repetitive to me and the book as a whole was VERY hard to get in to. it felt a little underdeveloped. something about it felt off to me and there was way too much inner dialogue.

𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅𝗶𝗲.
trixie is our fmc. as a character, she felt very underdeveloped. "the idea filled me with rage, not an emotion i feel often". i know it's important to create unique characters but to me, this made her feel very inhuman and disconnected. i felt no attachment or connection to her. both trixie and bear had about two or three personality traits.

𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗿.
bear is the mmc. in the beginning, i was so here for the fact that he was shy, but he soon became very bland and boring. i didn't care about him in the slightest and i don't have much to say about him.

𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.
the romance also felt wierd. i wasn't a fan of the insta love, particularly because there was ZERO chemistry between trixie and bear. the sex scene was not good either. it shouldn't have been included.

𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻.
ahh, the fucking chicken. the entire premise of the book was that trixie saves a chicken, goes into debt because of the chicken, and has to leave her apartment because of said chicken... i don't mean to be rude but this might as well be a fantasy book. in the very beginning of the book, there were three pages in a row of trixie speaking to her chicken... the chicken she just kidnapped off the side of the road.

𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀.
i am all for constructive criticism, but this needs a LOT of improvement. i wouldn't recommend this to anyone and i think it would better suit middle schoolers if there wasn't a sex scene and if the mmc didn't constantly talk about how hot the fmc's ass is. it could've been much much shorter as well.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4598307074

I'm all for saving animals (I have 2 rescue dogs) and I've also had chicken, but I just feel like this is sort of unrealistic (probably is a chicken for the title). The chicken part of the story was meh, after a while the chicken was irrelevant to the story.
I can appreciate the conversation about how gender stereotypes affect people and how you should shoulder your worries and smile. However, we got Bears' trauma was actually dealt with, whilst Trixies' wasn't really, and I feel like she needed it more. Also, she didn't tell Bear the full story about her trauma...I feel like she should've.
Bear's decision about the flower shop was dragged a little too much (milked)
Overall, the main characters were flat. Trixie was infuriating. The "quirky" swear words were not cute and just annoyed me. The scene where Trixie blames Bear for something that wasn't his fault annoyed me so much. Also, her perpetual smiling was creepy. Bear was better, I liked how he was super wholesome and sweet (Trixie did not deserve him). As for the side characters, I liked most of them, especially the meddlesome sisters and the super cute niece.
The romance was insta-lovey, which is a trope I (and everyone else at this point) don't enjoy. The "sex scene" (if you can even call it that) was a no. I sympathized with Bear when it came to the fade-to-black sex scene: major blue balls.
Basically, it was okay: not absolutely terrible, but not great either. If the mc was less insufferable maybe I could've enjoyed this more.

I enjoyed this book. It was a catchy title and cover that got me wanting to read it. Throughout the book at some points it did drag on a bit. There was alot going on with the characters. This book as a easy read.

A quick instalove story about a girl with a bleeding heart (Trixie)who resists falling in love with the man struggling with stereotypes of toxic masculinity (Bear). The love story is full of conflict and miscommunication.

They both had deep scars from either being bullied or betrayed. Trixie’s trauma from being betrayed by a roommate is brought up often in the narrative but she does not bring it up to Bear. Instead she runs away and hides and even throws objects at him when she is triggered by this past event. Bear is terrified people will bully him again so he hides that he likes to arrange flowers, watch Grey’s Anatomy, and drink wine.

Another topic that is brought up often is that Trixie has fake smiles that she puts on when others are around because that’s how she won her parent’s approval. There’s a lot to unpack there but instead of communicating that, Bear is left to figure out which faces are real or fake on his own.

There were things that I did enjoy about this book: the little things Bear does to let Trixie knows he cares and most of Bear’s family. Without spoiling anything, Bear is very good at picking up small things in conversation and making gifts out of them. He also has a lot of patience when it comes to his meddling sisters. They meant well but they clearly never learned boundaries (such as putting his address on Craigslist) and were constantly pulling stunts or barging into Bear’s house at just the wrong moments. However, I really liked their family meetings and Bear’s mom’s calm guidance.

It also felt like there were hints for a second novel with the neighbor and one of Bear’s meddling sisters.

In conclusion: I had some frustrations with the book but overall I think it was a fun and quick romance read. I appreciated that all of this started by a chicken crossing the road.

An electronic Advanced Reader Copy of the book was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Given that I own chickens and enjoy a good rom-com, I knew I had to try this book. While predictable in many ways, "To Get to the Other Side" was a cute romance with a little bit of added depth to the characters. Kelly Ohlert definitely shows promise with this first book, and while it wasn't completely satisfying, I would certainly try her next book. The main characters were sweet, if a little immature, and the cast of side characters was engaging.

I had to think hard how I wanted to rate this book. On the one hand I found some parts funny, and I really did like the characters. However, one of the main plot conflicts fell into the "get a therapist" realm, and I have issues with authors presenting big mental health/trauma being miraculously cured by love. I liked how the author dealt with toxic masculinity (perhaps even highlighting some of the stereotypes authors present in romance novels). Yet, too much time in their heads made the story drag at times. Overall, I would say this story was decent middle of the road story. * I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.

The cover is cute, I can usually roll with a good percentage of cheesy elements (like their names are “Trixie” and “Bear.”) I just couldn’t get into this one. There is a lot of internal dialog in the set up chapters.
I wanted to like this a lot, but just couldn’t get into it.

A story began with a Chicken. Yes you read it right. A chicken. Trixie was not thinking right when she scooped the chicken up from her windshield and get in her car. She as a animal lover just couldn't left the chicken alone. Bear loves to stay quite but his sisters posted an ad about wanting roommate for Bear. Trixie saw this ad and it was pet friendly, she thought why not try it as pets are not allowed in her apartment. When Bear saw her, he lets her in, made her roommate because he was attracted by her from the day with the chicken. But they want to keep a platonic relationship between them. But can they do it?

When I started reading it, I thought it's just a romcom book but it was more than that. Both of them had childhood trauma, toxic parents and all of these effected them a lot. They need to surpass this to get in a relationship. Both of them need to show their true
self to get out of their trauma. You know no one can be happy always and you don't have to show that you're happy when you're not. You don't have to pressurise yourself to be happy. Be yourself. And don't let childhood bullies get you and force you to leave your passion. People will talk but if you let it effect you, you'll lose yourself.

I was a bit nervous to see what kind of plot a book with a title based on a knock-knock joke might have, but this is a typically cute romance (with a heavier dose of chicken than you might normally expect).

I’d say enjoyed the front half more than the back half—I felt that the story became a bit overly long, and I got frustrated by Trixie’s resistance to opening up (or at least how she started to blame Bear for it).

I actually really liked this book. The cover of the book is the reason why I wanted to read it and honestly I wasn't disappointed. I would love to buy it and have it on my shelf. Only reason why I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 because this isn't really type of books I usually would read.

Full review on my blog: https://maeflowerreads.wordpress.com/2022/02/28/to-get-to-the-other-side-review/

TLDR: I thought it was cute, but there was a lot of issues with character development, character personalities, and structure. It made for a quick and fun read, but it was lackluster.

3.5/5 stars

Love love love! To Get to the Other Side was such a lighthearted refreshing romantic comedy that is tenderly flawed with really good characters and lots of animals including a sweet chicken. Trixie is a big-hearted character with some flaws that are super relatable. Bear (adorable nickname for Barrett) is a great character with charming sisters that love to intervene in his life, causing him and Trixie to become roommates. It's a cute, heartwarming read that as a pleasure to read!

I really enjoyed this corny romance. I’m not really one for reading romance books but this one was really good. Bear and Trixie have similar sad situations when it comes to parent/parents and they handle their trauma in different ways. Bear finally learned how to accept who he is and what he likes and Trixie finally realized that she doesn’t have to me happy and perfect all the time. I will say I got worried about Chick Chick and was going to throw my book across the room if she had died lol. I definitely recommend this book!

By all accounts, I should've loved 'To Get to the Other Side' given that it has all my favorite tropes: the forced living arrangement, the grumpy x sunshine character, it even has a token cute animal character! Ultimately, I thought it was just okay. It's cute, but the characters didn't really do too much for me, and the book kind of drags its feet during the middle.

Still, I'd pick it up if you're in the mood for something sweet and insta-lovey!

A sweet, heartfelt romcom!

If you love:
- dual povs
- forced proximity/roommates
- grumpy/sunshine
- closed door romance
you'll love to meet Trixie, Bear, and Chick-Chick!

Set in Chicago, Bear and Trixie's meet cute happens when she sprints into traffic to save an injured chicken. Through his meddling sisters attempts to aid his love life, Bear and Trixie meet again and eventually become roommates. The attraction is instant, but the romance is more of a slow burn as they both try to dance around their feelings in lieu of ruining their living situation. Trixie struggles with letting anyone see the "real" her for fear of rejection, so she's surrounded by superficial friendships and others who are just trying to get in. Bear carries the burdens of bullying from classmates and his father as a boy, letting it affect how he presents himself to the outside world to avoid further ridicule. They both have a lot of growing up to do and it's sweet the way they learn to lean on one another. I enjoyed their flirtation and their banter immensely. The third act felt like a bit of a hot mess, with miscommunication (my least favorite trope), angst and pining galore. Trixie is like the manic pixie dream girls I read in books when I was younger and I wish less emphasis had been made on how "quirky" she is. Other than that, a very enjoyable romcom!

I'm a huge fan of sunshine x grumpy. This one inverts the tropes and it's like we don't know who exactly is the sunshine and who exactly is the grumpy. But it works wonderfully.

I loved the feel-good aspects of the book (I read it while recovering from a very horrible cold) and I thought the premise was hilarious and promising. I almost also felt for the little chicken who was just so cute?

The backstories of the characters were pretty robust; in the sense that it was kind of incorporated into the story pretty well and you could kind of fill in the blanks. However, I thought it could have been fleshed out a LOT better - I didn't want blanks. The resolution for their back stories were also similarly problematic. Fall in love and everything is okay? Nuh-uh! Don't give me that!

Another issue I had with the book, and this has disgustingly become a staple of the romance genre, is the aspect of a huge, animalistic, muscle-y manly man and the tiny dainty woman. Just stop. Just make both of them tiny or large or medium or something? Why must we do this to ourselves? It's gross and it was particularly highlighted in this book where the MMC was actually called Bear. I understand that it's the authors' preference, but it's actually gotten out of hand.

On the other hand, I'd recommend this book to those who want to chill and breathe and those who don't want/aren't in the mood for a lot of hot spicy stuff in their books!
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This book started off as really good and hilarious and the kind of book I like to read but then by the end I was too annoyed with the characters to care much about this book.

A cute story, but the characters both fell a little flat for me. Trixie has a backstory that is so half-assed/half-fleshed out that I felt like I missed a chapter. And her sayings were so random. Like just say fuck or shit but not horseradish. Also, it was a fade to black romance with barely any romance like I’m not saying it needs to be full-on spicy but give me a bit more than what I got 🥲

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

2.5/5

I don't like DNF'ing books but unfortunately I could not get through this one. I made it 55% of the way before DNF'ing

A rom-com that plays out like a bizarre movie in our heads. The premise of the book is that our main character, Trixie, saves a chicken trying to cross the road, and that just happens to be the meet cute where she meets Bear, the main male character. She can't stay at her apartment any longer and ends up moving in with Bear... and the chicken.

There was good character development and both Bear and Trixie had depth to them, Trixie and Bear both grew as people and dealt with their past traumas in a way that allowed both of them to recognize how they could move forward as people. I enjoyed that Trixie was able to connect with Bear's family so well and that their inner dialogue presented some of their past and why they acted certain ways. However, the romance felt like there was no chemistry. A lot of it felt like fluff and the story arc fell flat and kept returning to the chicken, which I was personally not a fan of. Trixie is described as a "manic pixie" and Bear is "shy" but the dynamic between the two was one with little communication, which dragged out the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.