the other side of beautiful, by kim lock

i received a free copy of the other side of beautiful, by kim lock, in exchange for an honest review, thanks to harper collins nz.

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star rating

★★★★★

the other side of beautiful review

the other side of beautiful is a story that follows a woman who struggles with anxiety, to the point where she can’t leave her house, and her journey through australia’s outback.

the good

i went into this book with fairly low expectations. i don’t read many books that deal with mental health, and those that i have read, were good but not amazing. what i got from the other side of beautiful was jam packed novel about life and living in the moment. and the cutest sausage dog, named wasabi. throughout the whole novel, there wasn’t a single moment that bored me. i was constantly wanting to read (even while at work, it got quite distracting).

after reading the first chapter, i genuinely thought i wasn’t going to like mercy. to my surprise, i was rooting for her throughout the novel. she kept challenging the thoughts in her head and she was trying to make a difference in her life. she’d constantly put herself in situations that she knew would be difficult for her, and i commend her for that.

andy was a fun character, and every time he spoke, i heard jamie fraser’s voice. i enjoyed the way his relationship with mercy progressed. it didn’t feel forced, or too fast.

we all need a wasabi in our lives.

the bad

one thing that was briefly mentioned (only at the very end) was mercy’s money situation. from the beginning, the first question i had regarding mercy’s lifestyle was “who’s paying for everything?” it’s mentioned at the end, and in don’t believe it’s a spoiler, so i’ll mention it here. (feel free to click to view)

click here to see a spoiler

i’m unsure how someone can afford to live off savings for 2 years, and still have loads of savings to build a new house? i mean, it could be possible, but it just seemed a bit far fetched to me.

aside from that minor thing, i didn’t find anything bad about this book.

i would also like to add:

click here to see a spoiler (re: huntsman spider)

how the hell did that spider make itself a home behind the gas bottle and she never noticed it? if i was in that situation, i would’ve bombed the entire van out with bug spray, and still have been subconsciously looking for more. it doesn’t matter if it was on the inside or out, i would’ve bombed the shit out of that van.

overall, i really enjoyed this book. i would like to read it again, or if there’s a sequel. i’m more than happy to read a novel about mercy and andy travelling around the australian outback and doing nothing else.

buy your copy now!

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