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: Coming Soon!
Genre: Young Adult, Coming of Age
OUR REVIEW:
We fell in love with Kim Holden after reading Bright Side--a novel that, for me, will always be associated with a time when I experienced some significant loss and needed that book to remind me of some things. We reunited with Holden's characters in Gus and now we're here with her latest, a novel that will, like her others, remind you of the important things in life.
The Other Side is an emotional, character driven novel that focuses on Toby and his incredibly hard life. The more you read and get to know him, the more you want to hug him, shelter him, and help him. You also want to throttle almost every adult who has spent any significant time with him because HOW DARE THEY?! Ugh.
This novel isn't an easy read, y'all. It's filled with some really hard scenes--scenes that'll make you dislike the human race at times, scenes that will make you feel with a depth and intensity that will bring tears to your eyes. That being noted, this novel is also filled with hope; hope that is seen only sparingly at first and then gaining more page time as the novel progresses. It's this sense of hope that not only Toby needed, but we did too.
While this novel does have romance, it's Toby's journey through the last half of his senior year of high school (and the things that led up to that year) that is the focus of this novel. I'd say it's more general fiction, at least for the majority of it, with a very strong subplot that features the love story of Toby and Alice. Not sure if that matters to anyone but I thought it was something to note.
At some point, I'd like to add more about this novel to our review...or maybe just discuss it more on social media? I think there are some very important aspects of this novel that need to be shared and discussed, but I also think I'd spoil too much if I talked about it here. Just know that I'm so glad that Kim Holden decided to share these characters with the world and I hope lots of people read it and discuss it and for those who are unfamiliar with the plight of Toby, I hope they'll consider it a point of reference, something to think about, and to maybe use Alice's as a possible example (in the likely event that one is needed).
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:
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