Review: By Your Side by Kasie West

By Your Side
By Kasie West
My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Read: February 2017
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Paperback, 352 Pages

                                                         

 Summary From Goodreads: 

In this irresistible story, Kasie West explores the timeless question of what to do when you fall for the person you least expect. Witty and romantic, this paperback original from a fan favorite is perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Morgan Matson.

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?


                                                                            My Review: 

"Locked in the library for an entire weekend" *BLINKS* The. Entire. Weekend. *Heavy Breathing* That would be one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Okay, maybe not the whole weekend, but like a day or two... in fact, I get to work a lock-in at the library where I work, but that is a story for a different time

Anyway. I love Kasie West books. Like, super love them. The boys are swoony, and the MC's are super relatable, and so now I'm going to try to review this and have it make sense. Here goes nothing:


Things that made me go ehhhhh

Where are the phones? Or in my haste and excitement at having this new shiny Kasie West book, did I read over it.  Why didn't Autumn pick one up and dial a friend or family member? I'm speaking from personal experience here... but the library that I work at, even after hours has a phone that works... Sure, when patrons call in they will get an automated message explaining that the library is closed, and when it will be open again, blah, blah, blah. But you can still dial out and make calls.

And the food situation. Again, I'm just going by the way my library does things. We have some kind of food there all the time. Stuff that has a pretty good shelf life that ALL staff can munch on during the day. Crackers, Chips, bags of un-popped popcorn that you can throw in the microwave. Lots of candy {I'm usually the one who brings the candy in} granola bars, bottles of water. So as you can see, if someone were trapped in my library for a 3 day weekend, they'd be able to eat and not worry so much about rationing it off. I do realize that every library is different, and this one is fictional, so yeah... But I just had a hard time finding that to be realistic.

Okay, time to stop being nit picky now

Things that made me go oooooooooooh *Heart Eyes*

The Cover. I think I've loved every single book cover of Kasie's. There's just something so, I don't know, je ne sais quoi about them. So adorable, and they really do match the feel that the books give you when you read them.

This book was exactly what I was expecting from Kasie West: an adorably fluffy light read, that isn't super long. This one though, had a little more edge/drama than West's previous books, but it made it all the more awesome in my opinion.

The chemistry between Dax and Autumn. It was so entertaining. There was so much tension between the two of them, and so much "I don't wanna like you, but I kind of do"

Dax's character in general. He's looked at as a bad boy. A rebel. Someone who should be avoided at all costs. But in reality, he's not. He's actually very kind, and caring. And people should just stop gossiping and lying about him all the time. Not that I'm saying he's perfect, because he is definitely not. But he's also not the horrible person that every one makes him out to be, and he actually grows quite a lot throughout the story.

I also really liked the premise of the whole thing. I mean, getting spend the night in the library is pretty exciting.