This is the second book in a series of standalones and I loved this one just as much as I loved Out on a Limb! I absolutely love the way Hannah Bonam-Young writes her characters and love stories. I do have a trigger when it comes to dead moms in books as plots because of losing my own mother unexpectedly and quickly in 2020 but I thought that the dead mom representation was done so well in this book. I can't wait to read more by this author!! Definitely an auto-buy author for me!!

Out of the Woods follows Sarah and Caleb Linwood, however, some of the characters from Bonam-Young's 2023 novel 'Out on a Limb' follow into this 2025 standalone. Sarah and Caleb are the perfect young couple, but a disagreement at an event Sarah organizes causes them to doubt what they thought was a near flawless relationship. Sarah's best friend and pseudo sister gives them an opportunity to go on a nature retreat to sort it out, but what they come home with is much more than they anticipated.

The writing here is simple, yet thought provoking. I really liked Bonam-Young's banter between the characters, the emotion you feel with them, and the character and relationship building is felt throughout. I expected a light, cozy romance and I got that, but I also got a little bit of spice, a little bit of sadness, and a whole lot of hope. The story did lull for me a little bit in the middle, but picked back up very quickly and I enjoyed it through to the end. The chapters can be a bit long, but there are a few shorter chapters as well, so overall the cadence of the read was a good pace.

I think previous reader of Bonam-Young will enjoy this as a next step in Win's life but new readers of her work (like myself) can still jump right in without feeling like we've missed anything.

Solid read for me, overall 4.5 stars. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing House for an Advanced Reader Copy of this novel.

I am completely convinced that Hannah Bonam-Young can just do no wrong.

I was outrageously excited to read Out of the Woods and read more about Sarah and Caleb. Like Sarah and Caleb, I also met my spouse in high school and we have been together for over a decade, so the story really hits home for me and I cannot express how on the mark HBY is with every single thing in this book. The feelings. The fights. The relationships. Everything.

I honestly am struggling to put into words what this book meant to me - it affected me that much. The characters are so complex and I just can't get over how much I relate to their struggles within themselves and with one another.

The relationship between the main couple is so unbelievably realistic (which makes sense since HBY also met her husband very young, so she would have first hand knowledge about so many aspects of this type of relationship) that I really felt immersed into the story and could see how while they truly love one another - its the little things that build up and up over time and end up being big things before you even realize its happening. How HBY manages it is true art.

If you haven't preordered, ordered, put on hold, requested at your library, etc then you really need to go and do that right now. I honestly think this may be the best book Hannah has written and I truly cannot wait to read more and more of what she comes out with. I wish I could rate this more than 5 stars.

I’m having a hard time putting how incredible and perfect this book was… When I picked this book up, I knew it would be incredible because come on, it’s HBY 🤭 but I will say, coming in knowing it was a marriage in crisis book, which is one of the tropes I don’t love as much, had me a little nervous about how much I would enjoy this one! But wow, it was incredible.

There’s so much that I enjoyed about this book… The story, the characters and their growth, the setting… This book felt really unique and I enjoyed every second reading it and I didn’t want it to end. I love that the main trope in this book, marriage in crisis, was so well done and how much grief, which is such a huge part of this book, was handled with so much love and care. This book pulled at my heartstrings and had me wanting to cry many times, and I love when a book is able to do that!

There’s just something about HBY’s writing that’s so beautiful and raw and real, and it definitely comes through in this book. The dialogue between our characters was perfect and so so so real, and made this work of fiction feel so real.

Speaking of characters, I ADORED both our MMC Caleb and FMC Sarah. I loved their relationship, how they’ve been together through thick and thin and still love each other, and how they grew together. They really complemented one another, and i feel like they’ll be one of my all time favorite book couple. Their love just felt so real and beautiful. I also really loved the journey that each character went through during the story, and I love seeing their growth individually as well as together. It was so beautiful to see, and it really made the story what it was.

I have a feeling this book will stick with me for a very long time, and I can’t wait until everyone has a chance to read it! Everything in this story worked so well together, and it was just such a pleasure to read!

5⭐️

High School Sweethearts
Midlife Crisis
Acts of service
Flashbacks
Healing with humor
Self discovery


This book knows how to hit you in the feels. A well written, introspective look into what can happen in a marriage.

The things unsaid? The dismissed fights? It happens, you know?

Sarah’s feeling of insecurity in her life was valid and made a lot of sense. There were times where I was very frustrated with her but I understood how her trauma stilted her. I couldn’t image being in her shoes, even though we all most likely will lose our mothers and it’ll be tough. I definitely related to her in the sense of how I feel like it would be debilitating. Unbelievable tragic. Granted, she was younger when her mother died, it makes sense that she would question everything. She needed to process and move on with her life. She had been holding on to that pain and hurt for so long that it affected her so much. It made her make decisions based on safety and comfort because that’s what helped keep the pain at bay. Once again, makes sense to me. I was frustrated with her sometimes because it felt like she often seemed to place blamed on her mother and even Caleb for how things turned out. But, she did acknowledge that, so, in the end I was less frustrated with her because she did acknowledge her part in the issues they were having. Sarah was a great character though, she made me feel all things in my own life and made me think. So much depth in her character.
Caleb, such a sweet and caring husband but yeah.. clueless. Not even in a bad way. When he tells Sarah that he thought they were the lucky ones? It broke me..I get it. When you aren’t communicating truthfully then things get lost and you can’t address something if it was never said. He wasn’t a mind reader. I liked his character. I understood his point of view without the book being dual pov. The author was very clear in making sure that Caleb’s side was acknowledged. I felt his pain, feeling so lost and shocked at hearing these things for the first time when he thought everything was ok. His character having those moments of recognition and even moments of doubt? Beautiful. But something that was even more beautiful was that the two never doubted their love for each other.

The flashbacks were well done and at a good pacing. It gave a look into Sarah and Caleb as this young couple with everything in front of them. The journey they had both in the past and present was represented well.

The side characters were very funny and definitely lended a hand in giving both main characters some perspective that I feel we all need sometimes.

Such a beautiful book about the ups and downs of life, and specifically marriage and relationships. A story where each person loves the other so much that they are willing to fight for not only themselves but for the life that they want to build and rebuild together. A truthful and loving story.

LOVED this book! The characters were so relatable and real it was incredibly easy to fall in love with them and root for them. The ending of the book had me holding my breath, and left me feeling a renewed sense of hope and love.

Full disclosure: I am not a fan of marriage-in-crisis OR timeline-jumping, and this book has both. *insert major self-own here*

Caleb and Sarah both got the therapy they needed, and the storytelling was objectively superb—a quality we’ve come to expect from Hannah Bonam-Young!

What irked me is that the entire crux of the story seemed to stem from Sarah’s sudden early mid-life crisis. She’s too insecure and stubbornly too proud. Did they both have issues to work on? Yes. Could their issues have been solved by having open, honest, and frequent communication? Absolutely. Also, I didn’t really feel like the flashbacks added much to the story. The takeaways could have been addressed in exposition (which I know is lazy) or in conversations between the characters.

In the end, Hannah delivered an emotional story with careful attention to the grief and trauma that Sarah and Caleb carried with them. It truly is a beautiful story.

*This ARC was provided by Random House Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Hannah did it again. She turned my heart into mush and then repaired it again with her beautiful and talented words. Caleb and Sarah's story was everything and more one could have expected from the snippets we saw in Out on a Limb. I expected a young and wild love, but she hit me harder than I expected. The way she handles Sarah's conflicts with her being made me feel so heard and seen. Being with your partner for a long time can take a toll on you and she voiced so many personal concerns. As usual, she makes us think in a deeper way that usually make our emotions bubble up against our will haha. This is not your regular romance story, but for me it was so comforting to read something this unique and to remind me why I love my partner so much.

HBY has the ability to write books where everyone can relate to it in one way or another.. and as someone who married their high school sweetheart, and found their person at the age of 15 I was excited to connect with this book.

I appreciated that it wasn't necessarily a marriage in trouble, because I never really feared they wouldn't make it.. instead it was a relatable ebb in a marriage when you feel so distant from your spouse, but also cannot imagine you're life without them.

It also felt so accurate that even during the hard times, there are moments when you're reminded that you're with the person you know, maybe even more than you know yourself, and vice versa.. and there's such beauty about that.

More than a marriage, there's a story of finding yourself, dealing with grief, prioritizing what's important in your life, and remembering to laugh and be silly because there's something so healing in that.

The way HBY had me nearly spraying my coffee across the room as I could so vividly envision the hilarious scene unfolding after their first hike was pure gold.

One of my favorite parts of this book was the playful banter between Sarah and Caleb.. there was a familiarity that comes from years spent together that I was able to recognize and love in my own love story.

📖 𝙊𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙒𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙝 𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙢-𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯.”

This whole book was unbelievably relatable in a seriously triggering way! Sarah is literally every one that has ever felt stagnant in their day to day routine or relationship. The story is told in a then & now fashion that lets you see how Sarah & Caleb started, where they are now, and where they will go in the future.

There was a ton of great dialogue surrounding therapy and discussing the issues Sarah was dealing with.

Sarah and Caleb have the kind of chemistry everyone dreams about having with a love one. They’ve been together for over a decade and this book really stresses the need to continue evolving in your relationship everyday.

“𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.”

Hannah edged us for AGES before finally hitting us with the spice! (It was so worth the wait though!)

“𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦,” ❤️‍🔥

I cried multiple times while reading this story so I definitely recommend having some emergency tissues nearby! The ending was everything I could have ever wanted for Caleb and Sarah!

If you miss Win & Bo, go read this book! I loved seeing how their relationship has developed since the end of Out on a Limb. The friendship between Win & Sarah will always be so special!

I get to go to Hannah’s signing for this book next week and I am beyond excited!

𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
💍 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦
💞 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴
🏕️ 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺
🥹 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘴
✨ 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧
🫶🏼 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺
❤️‍🔥 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯
🌲 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦

I finished this book in two sittings and less than twelve hours after I started it, if that gives you any idea how much I enjoyed this book.
I recently come to a new conclusion on how I can classify a book as five stars – if this book were to have a sequel, or another book in the series, I’d have to feel happy about reading it. Not even halfway through this book, I was hoping for a sequel, or another standalone in which Sarah and Caleb were background characters like Bo and Win.
Childhood sweethearts with an already established relationship is an uber specific trope that I didn’t know I could search for in books. Going into a story where the couple is already together, and the love interest is already showing affection for the main character is heart-warming and refreshing. Even when there was tension between the characters, it never went on for long, and they always managed to come back to each other. I could see each of their points of view and understand what they were feeling and, as someone who doesn’t really read romance books, it was refreshing.
I am lucky to have a mother like Sarah’s, and I’m lucky that she is still in my life. If I’m being honest, my life actually couldn’t be more different from Sarah’s. But she’s relatable, and even if our personalities weren’t so similar, the way Bonham-Young writes Sarah’s inner monologue is so raw and full of emotion that it allows the reader to put herself in Sarah’s shoes, constantly reminded of her struggles in a way that adds more layers to the story rather than feeling like the author’s trying to fabricate a mutual understanding in which the reader is emotionally invested in Sarah’s life by forcing the same exact thought over and over again down your throat.
“Out of the Woods” is classified as a romance novel, and, yes, there are a few sex scenes in addition to the fact that Sarah and Caleb are already together. But this book could have very easily fallen into the trope of the woman that forgets she had hopes and dreams before she got married, but it’s okay because the man in her life is nice to her, so she guesses she’ll just keep being a housewife, get over her internal struggles, and pop out enough children for her own professional football team. Sarah is a character that stands on her own, makes her own decisions, and grows as a person because of it. Rather than push away her feelings to keep Caleb happy or lean on him and expect him to be the sole reason that she deals with her grief, she decides to take matters into her own hands and trusts that he will be there for her when she’s ready. I don’t think I’m wording this right, but I loved the book, I was so excited when I found out I got approved for an ARC, and I knew from the bio that it was going to be a book that hurt my heart in a good way.
Thank you to Dell and Penguin Random House for allowing me to have an ARC and thank you Hannah for writing a story of growth and grief and love. If you ever have another book in this series, please let me have the honor of reading it so that I can interact with the characters that I have grown to love so much.

✨ “If you give me the space to grow, I’ll plant myself next to you. Always.” ✨

Oh how I loved these two so much. Sarah and Caleb are high school sweethearts. They’ve been through so much in the last 17 years together but Sarah is struggling. She needs a change and that’s how these two end up on a hiking retreat for couples. It was so funny seeing these two go on an adventure because they are so not outside people but they truly wanted to work on their relationship.

✨“I would climb mountains for the chance to watch you come undone, baby.”✨

I really connected to Sarah and her struggle with finding herself and figuring out what she wanted to do with her life. I’ve felt stuck in life myself just like her. We see the tension in their marriage but this trip… it’s definitely something they needed.

✨There is a shirtless, hairy lumberjack carrying me through the woods who distinctly resembles my husband.✨

Gosh I just loved all the cute moments in this book. My heart swooned so much and the spicy scenes had me bluuuushing. I truly enjoyed this book. Caleb was so sweet and just wanted to make Sarah happy and loved. 🥹 Thank you NetGalley for providing this arc. 😊

✨I feel beautiful. I feel wanted. I feel loved. I feel so seen by him.✨

Tropes:
•High School Sweethearts
•Camping/Hiking trip
•Self-Discovery
•Forced Proximity
•Past/Present timeline

This was such a unique book for me . This is the first book I’ve read about a couple who are settled in marriage and want to rekindle . I loved watching the couple grow together and fall back in love . I laughed .. I cried . It was just beautiful !
Hannah’s writing is amazing and i would absolutely recommend this to a friend !

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Ballantine, Dell & Hannah Bonam Young for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Listen- I'm an HBY stan. She can do no wrong by me. I will follow her into the dark. And when I heard "marriage in trouble" I came running ! As someone that is 18 years into my relationship with my husband- we don't see enough of this trope. How was it that I already had the bar set high, because I love her writing so, and I was STILL blown away?

HBY nailed some DEEP concepts here: grief, identity without a career, moving forward, dependence on your partner, trauma, and the unknown. I say this fully- and without dramatics- I think this book altered my brain chemistry AND came to me right when I needed it.

Special callout to the commitment to the childfree life for our MCs. As a mom, I am the fastest to tell my childless by choice friends- GOOD FOR YOU! DO YOU, BOO! I feel like sometimes we expect people to change their minds about this and I love that they don't in this book.

Sarah & Caleb 🥹 This book. Wow.
♾️ all the stars (and tears 😭)

Not sure anyone else could have me reading & loving a marriage in trouble novel, but here we are.
I’ve loved every book of Hannah’s I’ve read, and this is definitely no exception.

Sarah is dealing with a lot - the grief of losing her mother (11 years ago), and how this pushed her to marry young.
While Caleb is definitely her person, she doesn’t know who she is without him - they’ve been together more than half their lives!

She’s lost, and feels like everything is tied up in Caleb.
They go to a couples’ retreat to work on their relationship, and themselves.

I love these two so much, and the side characters at the retreat were a great addition to their journey!
I also loved seeing Win & Bo again, and little Gus 🥹

While this can definitely be read as a standalone, I think the impact is just so much greater when you already know & love Sarah & Caleb 🥰 so I do recommend reading Out on a Limb first, but you don’t HAVE to (but you have to because it’s amazing!).

read if you love:
💍 marriage in trouble
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 high school sweethearts
🏕 couples retreat in the woods
⌛️ dual timeline
❤️‍🩹 grief + healing + self discovery
🤓 a nerdy mmc in glasses
💖 single 1st person pov

THANK YOU so much to Hannah & her team, Dell Romance & NetGalley for an advanced copy!
All opinions are my own.

This is such a unique story and one you won't find everywhere. Our main characters started as high school sweethearts and now, as adults, are struggling with their marriage. Sarah finds herself wondering who she is as an individual outside her relationship with Caleb. It was wonderful to see Sarah work on herself individually and her relationship with Caleb. This story has lots of feelings that come from both flashbacks (of younger Sarah and Caleb and Sarah's relationship with her mother) and present day (of Caleb and Sarah at their couples therapy retreat).

3.5 Stars
This had no business being so relatable to me lol (some of this was hard to read because it was a bit too relatable to me at the time I read it). Marriage is hard and I admired how Sarah and Caleb worked through their issues together and came out stronger in the end. I should have read Out on a Limb prior to this to get more background on the characters and I probably would've enjoyed this a little bit more if I did. I had the opportunity to meet Hannah Bonam-Young at an author event and she has such a warm personality and I was pleasantly surprised to find that carries into her writing as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Dell for the ARC!

Rating: 4.0

Spice: 2.5

After reading Out of the Woods I absolutely knew I had to pick up this author’s other books! Typically, I don’t always enjoy the failed marriage/rekindling marriage trope in my romances, however Hannah Bonam-Young knows how to write a refreshing and lighthearted adventure filled with many sweet moments and emotional growth between the characters.



If you are a fan of Out on a Limb this book is a must read for Sarah and Calebs story! How each character matures through this book and showcases how small issues can buildup in relationships is a very real aspect I loved reading about!

Thank you for the arc 🤍

You can check out my posts/reviews at @Aethers.Library on Instagram!

Out Of The Woods (e-arc)
Rating: 4/5

Special thanks to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for a genuine review.

Thoughts:
Wow—Hannah Bonam Young really took me on an emotional roller coaster! This is the first book where the topic of death and grieving doesn’t make me angry/frustrated. I truly loved the dual timeline and heavily enjoyed seeing Caleb and Sarah fall in love! Also, seeing how Sarah dealt with the loss of her mother—that broke me. I got teary-eyed sooo many times while reading this book. I usually never cry while reading books but this one!! It was testing me. Some moments that I loved was Sarah realizing what she wants to do, her understanding that she’s not falling behind (I really needed to hear this because I feel like this all the time), and Caleb’s letter. My heart was filled with so much happiness seeing Sarah and Caleb grow together and seeing the new found family they have!! And Sarah’s friendship with Win—I WANT THAT! I adore what they have and love how they’re always there for each other. Also, when Caleb was unconscious I was going to quit if he died. No but seriously, Caleb was such a perfect book boyfriend!

Now, you’re wondering why I gave it a 4/5 right? Well, it’s cause I’m not the biggest fan of reading about the topics of death/grieving and felt like beginning was a little slow because I wanted to know what happened right away lol Also, this is the second book I’ve ever read about a marriage in crisis and even after this one, I’m not sure if it’s a trope that I truly like but of course I’m always willing to give it a try.

Overall, I have become a Hannah Bonam Young fan and can’t wait for the book to published! Once again, thank you so much to NetGalley for the e-arc!

I did not finish this one. I love the concept of a marriage needing help and going out into nature but I found the characters unlikeable, the marital troubles feeling contrived and the constant sex in the midst of a supposedly strained marriage annoying.