Review on 'Next To You' by Hannah Bonam-Young 🚌

Amazon Link: https://amzn.eu/d/8EN2c9L

Author: Hannah Bonam-Young

Format Read: Paperback Pages: 385 Publication Date: 21st November 2022

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorhannahby/st Author Website: https://www.hannahbywrites.com/

Content Warnings:

The sudden death of a parent, a fatal car accident, PTSD, anxiety, agoraphobia, explicit sex scenes, infertility

Review:

Another one of my random Works’ buys! Considering I previously was never going to buy it, I am really happy I did. I read 'Next of Kin' by Hannah earlier this year and I really enjoyed the type of romance that contained a healthy dose of reality that she prides herself in writing. This book was no different!!

Most romance novels are about people who just end up together when they decide they love each other and though sometimes it is that simple this book was about discovering the world of loving someone but wanting to be better for them and yourself.

Lane, working as a graphic designer at home, has anxiety and a staggering fear of crowds. Since she got on her medication she has become much better at controlling it but there are still moments when everything is too overwhelming for her. In comes Matt. They had previously met 6 months ago at their first official meeting on New Year's Eve. With her sitting on the steps by herself, Matt had to work up the courage to talk to a very funny and drunk Lane. 15 months later, they have become best friends. She begins exchanging songs, movies, and TV shows with his recommendations of classic novels for the girl he is clearly in love with. One night, when Lane is extremely vulnerable and feeling down she uses the inheritance her dad gave her to buy a yellow school bus with the crazy intention to renovate and live in. It's good she knows two mechanics!! As they spend more time together their growing attraction becomes too much, but Lane has so much she has to figure out before she can commit to Matt and be what they both need.

I liked that I got to see Warren and Chloe from 'Next of kin' because it was wonderful to see them together. Warren and Chloe are great friends to Matt and Lane as throughout the story, as Warren and Chloe break down the situation and allow them to have simple perspectives to understand they were overcomplicating their feelings for each other.

You learn that guilt is a powerful thing and the driving force she has about a lot of things, is due to not wanting to lose anyone like she did her dad, hence not getting too attached to a man. The entire time she truly believed that her sister and mother blamed her for the loss of her father, but that was never the case because it was never her fault it happened. And though Matt could keep telling her that until he was blue in the face she needed to believe and forgive herself for the loss of her dad.

It was heartbreaking to read about Matt crying when she was "breaking up" with him. He professed his love but he also accepted that she needed to do it by herself, even though he had the overriding feeling of wanting to be there for her through it all. It must be awful to love someone but not to be able to love enough for both of them. Lane continually said throughout, that it wouldn’t be fair in the long run if she was to continue loving him but not herself.

Hannah once again wrote a masterpiece, that was very different from a lot of the contemporary romance novels out there. (Don’t get me wrong I love a predictable romance) Though each story is different, there are still so many ways to predict something that is going to happen in the plot, but I didn’t need or want to predict anything in this book. I was just so interested in their journey and where we were going that it really made me think a lot more about relationships. She needed to be in a place where she would allow herself to wholeheartedly be in love with Matt because she wholeheartedly loved herself.

I think the sweetest thing that Matt did - though pretty much everything he did was sweet - was when he wrote letters for her to read whilst they were apart for 3 months. Declarations of love to show he was still there and waiting for her to come back to him. Though he couldn't physically be with her, like he wanted to, he was still supporting and shouting from the stands.🤭

I did really like this book and I think it is important to read due to the incredible representation as well as the fact you also get the happy ending you like to read. I recommend to read it and see what you think. What harm is there in trying?

Until the next chapter,

#BellesBookBabble