By Your Side

TRIGGER WARNING FOR ANXIETY, PANIC ATTACKS, CAR ACCIDENT/INJURY, AND DRUG ABUSE
I really enjoyed this book and I didn't have many problems with it but I'm not in love with it. I felt like the anxiety rep. was absolutely amazing in this. The way that it describes anxiety really matches with my anxiety. And how a lot of people don't understand that it can just happen for no reason. The writing was amazing as usual. So far from what I've read from Kasie West, she just writes cute, fluffy, with a hint of a dark side, contemporaries perfectly. The plot definitely went in a way different direction then I was expecting and I'm not mad about it. I like where it ended up. It didn't also end in a perfect bow, where the couple at the end isn't guaranteed, not all the problems are fixed, which I enjoy. There is a slight love triangle in here but it wasn't that bad and it is a bit understandable how it happened. I also like how she brought in some darker topics like drug abuse, parents leaving a child, a car accident, and the foster care system. The only problems that I had with this are that I didn't feel connected to many of the characters including 3 out of 4 of the main characters. A lot of them like one of the love interests and the best friend of the main character, I found quite annoying. They were just a bit immature and into drama unlike the main character and the other love interest. The main character I didn't connect to as much as I would like but definitely her anxiety and love of photography, made me feel more connected to her. But there was just a large group of friends and quite a lot of characters to keep up with. Another thing is that the parents were present but 1. The dads were a bit absent even though they lived at home with there families and 2. The moms were just really annoying. They were just too much for me. The last thing I want to mention that could be a dealbreaker for some people is that only 1/3 of the book is spent in the library. I wish there was more time spent in the library but I understand why it couldn't be like that and I liked how the plot ended up for the most part. Overall this was a very enjoyable read and one of the love interests is VERY swoony if you like the misunderstood, bad boys. I rate this 3.5 out of 5 stars rounded up to a 4.