By Your Side Review

By Your Side by Kasie West is a young adult contemporary novel. It is about a high schooler named Autumn. At the beginning of what is supposed to be a great weekend and the beginning of a new relationship for Autumn, unexpected events lead to her being stranded and locked in the local library  for a three day weekend with the mysterious (and rumored dangerous) guy from school. So begins a journey of self-discovery and growth.

I haven’t read many books in this genre, and typically don’t think that they would interest me, but this one was a delight to read. I gave it a 4.5 out of 5 stars. It does deal with the serious subject of anxiety disorders but does (in my opinion) a very nice job of it, looking at it from multiple angles. The subject of the foster system is also there, but I feel it hits on many of the already overly pointed out flaws of the system (for once I’d like to see a book that focuses on the good that is there).

As a book worm I thought the set up was really great (being locked in a library and all). I found it fun and laughed a lot, which was a wonderful mood lightener amongst the heavier topics. This was such a quick read and I almost couldn’t put it down it was so interesting. I especially enjoyed watching Autumn take the time to really figure herself out: who she is and what she wants.

The only other character we really got to know well was Dax (the boy in the library with her). It is understandable, but the little I saw of the others made me want to know more about them. The ending felt like it came too soon for me and I would have really liked to see beyond that point (at least a short way); but that is probably because I became invested in the characters and didn’t want to let them go yet.

This was a wonderful read and I think I will be looking into this author and what other books she has written.