The Other Side by Kim Holden Review Tour #bookreview 5/5

We're celebrating the release of The Other Side by Kim Holden! One-Click your copy today!

Title: The Other Side

Author: Kim Holden

Release Date: June 5, 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Coming of Age

Goodreads #TBR ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45310112-the-other-side?ac=1&from_search=true

Synopsis:

Denver, Colorado

1987

There are two sides to every story.

The surface reality that’s presented to the world.

And then there’s the other side.

The real one.

The one that matters.

Seventeen-year-old, self-proclaimed asshole, Toby Page, is alone.

No friends.

No family.

He trades maintenance work in exchange for room and board.

Every day he fights demons no one else can see.

Every day he wants to give up.

But he can’t.

Not yet.

When Alice Eliot moves in downstairs, she offers Toby some light in his dark world.

At a crossroads and barely hanging on, it’s hard to have perspective.

It’s difficult to see your own worth when you’re the villain in your story.

Luckily for Toby, Alice brings things out in him that no one else ever has.

As the two sides of Toby’s story are revealed, and the full reality comes into view, truth is gained.

Improbable alliances prove that kindness is fundamentally human.

Unlikely heroes emerge.

The question is, Will it all be enough to save him?

About the Author:

Some of my favorite things: reading, writing, the two coolest guys on the planet (my husband and son), my bicycle (my husband built it for me), Facebook (I'm fairly certain it's an addiction at this point), iced coffee (hazelnut), and music (LOVE Sunset Sons, the 1975, Dredg, the xx, Balance and Composure, Teenage Bottlerocket, and 30 Seconds to Mars). I also love dreaming, which brings me to my next point. I have one bit of advice for anyone reading this ... follow your dreams. It's never too late. Get started today ... heck get started RIGHT NOW! I wanted to write a book 20 years ago. Instead I waited. And waited. I should've been writing. But I didn't. I don't do regrets, because the past is just that, the past. But let me tell you there's nothing in the world like achieving something you've dreamt about for years and years. So, get started. Make your dreams reality. 

I love to hear from other readers. Send me a message or find me on Facebook (https://facebook.com/kimholdenauthor) and tell me what's up in your reading world.

Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Wordsmith Publicity

Genre: Young Adult, Coming of Age

 Standalone

My The Other Side Review . . .

 This book was so sad, yet beautiful at the same time.  Kim Holden has such a gift in her writing and the ability to make everyone viscerally feel while going along side these characters.

This book is literally sadness and depression but written with so much beauty.  It's also about the other side with hope and purpose.

The way this book was set up was brilliant.  In part 1 we get inside Toby's head. In part 2 we see the imprint that we leave behind and don't even realize it.  And with Toby he left quite the imprint.  In part 3 we now get to mash those together.  We also get to know more on how Toby ended up at the place he lives and all the truths that were left untold.

I wasn't sure how this book was going to unfold being set in the 1980's but it made the story much more grittier to me.  I also loved revisiting the 80's and the simple of beauty of a record store.

Here are some of my favorite quote in this amazing book

"The most important time to listen is when words are missing, that's when hearts cry out the loudest."

"Every kiss eventually ends.  The memory of them doesn't.  I'll still feel that one when I'm ninety,"

Sadness is melancholy.  Depression is a black hole of despair.

" . . . All that being said, Toby, you're a terrible liar.  Your sadness is deep.  It's old and aged and I can't begin to hear where it began.  But it isn't permanent."  She squeezes my hand tight again and whispers,  "I'll help you slay it."

When people learn from their mistakes it matures them; when they don't they stagnate. 

"Some people aren't worth fighting for, Toby.  You're not one of them.  There are people we meet in this life who anchor us.  They reassure us with their presence.  They bring us comfort simply by being.  They love by osmosis, radiating it out and diffusing it in effortlessly.  Quietly, they walk among us, treading lightly but providing stability and influence because it's second nature.  The thing that's so special about these people is that they don't even know they're doing it."

"That's you, Toby.  That is you. You're worth fighting for."  Her voice cracks before she adds,  "You have no fucking idea how much I wish you realized it and started fighting for yourself."

When The Other Side is introduced to reality, lives change.

"And depression isn't about weakness, it's about battling and wanting to deaden the pain, not the person."

"You're not a mess, Toby, you're human.  One of my favorite things about you is that you feel completely and you care endlessly. . . ."

" . . . You don't scare me, Toby Page.  People aren't perfect.  It's not about loving them when it's easy and convenient; it's about loving them even more when it's hard."

" . . . I think sometimes we take people for granted . . . or we just assume that they know how we feel about them because if it's so obvious to us, shouldn't it be obvious to them too? . . . "

"What makes you happy, Toby?"
"The girl who sees the stars despite the clouds taught me to do the same.  And it changed everything."

I loved the beauty of Alice & Toby.  Each character was amazing on their own but together pure beauty and hope.

This book may gut you but its worth it to get to the other side.  Kim Holden is definitely one of favorite authors and this was another beautiful story that will stay in my heart forever.  Thank you Kim!

5 Amazingly sad and beautiful Thumbs up!

Lauren