"You know who’s my favorite? Kasie West.

You should probably already know this about me, but I’m just reminding you.

Kasie West consistently delivers sweet, fun, swoon-worthy stories. She manages to tell a story that touches on serious, relatable topics without making it the sole thing that the story is about.

In By Your Side, Autumn finds herself locked in the library�� no way to get out and unable to contact anyone. Then she realizes she’s not alone�� Dax Miller is in the library too, only it looks like he isn’t exactly trapped. She knows very little about Dax, only that he’s spent time in juvie, and he’s a loner. Not exactly someone she feels entirely safe with, but she just has to stick it out until her friends and her almost-boyfriend realize she’s not where she’s supposed to be �� only they don’t.

Autumn and Dax have to make the most of their situation, and eventually they start to open up and share with each other, and they find that maybe their preconceived notions about each other aren’t entirely accurate.

Now let’s be honest, who among us book nerds wouldn’t love to be trapped in a library for a long weekend? Now throw in a cute boy and I don’t think a single person could say no. But if I’m honest, that’s only part of the story here and maybe only the first third of this book happens in the actual library and it truly might not be what you are hoping for in that regard. However, that’s where West introduces us to Autumn and Dax and shares some of their secrets and why they are who they are�� the characters being cut off from everyone else in the story allows us to really get to know them on a very personal level and we learn things about them both that are very important.

I’m just going to come out with it right away�� I loved Autumn�� she’s funny, and smart and super awkward, and she just happens to deal with anxiety. I loved that West created a character who is dealing with anxiety, but she portrays it in a way that totally normalizes it, as it should be! It’s so important in YA today that people read about characters that they can relate to and that young people can see others who are dealing with things they might be and see that it doesn’t have to be life-ending, it’s just something that is a part of her life but she’s so much more than her diagnosis. Seeing her come to terms and finally share with her friends what is really happening in her life is just wonderful.

I have to admit too, that I really liked Dax. I suppose you could call Dax a “bad boy��, but I don’t know that that is entirely accurate. He’s certainly the most troubled of all West’s characters. He’s more someone who is trying to make the most of his circumstances and just trying to survive in the situation he finds himself in. As his past is revealed, I understood his loner status, and I got why he kept himself apart from everyone. I do love that he finally opened up to Autumn, and I really loved the evolution of their relationship�� is this the swooniest relationship West has written so far? No, I have to admit I’m more partial to some of the others, but I still totally shipped these two so much! Their relationship was slow and sweet and I really enjoyed getting to see them learn to trust each other.

I think one of the things that West really excels at with every book (aside from swoony boys) is building and portraying friendships in a really positive way. She truly does it in every book she writes! Autumn here has some amazing friends (despite them leaving her stranded) and while it seems like there are a lot of friends to keep track of, the one to really focus on her connection with her best friend Lisa. It’s always so refreshing to see wonderful friendships portrayed in YA.

Overall, another quick favorite from Kasie West! If you’re looking for a quick, sweet read, you definitely need to grab this one, and if you’ve held off on reading ANY Kasie West, I urge you to start at the beginning of her booklist because you really can’t go wrong with a single book!

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.


Before Reading Reactions:



"

"I absolutely loved this book. I have never read any of Kasie West's books before and this one is wonderful! From page 1 to the end - I binge read this today in 6-7 hours. Very addictive book. I have been needing a good YA Contemporary read and this was just what I needed. I also found Autumn to be very relatable for me - she reminded me of my high school self and I could relate to her anxiety issues at times. I thought those issues were handled well in this story. "

"3 stars ⭐️ Clean Fiction - Fantasy/Fairytale Retelling

This was pretty good, I just didn’t like it as much as the first book in the series. Marian and Robin felt very similar to Ella and Altair, just with different traumas. But the way they spoke and acted reminded me a lot of the prior couple. I’ll admit to not liking Robin a ton because he was very…poetic? sappy? romantic? all of the above? Towards his emotions to Marian. I found myself rolling my eyes a few times because of it.

Because of that, this one was cheesier and had quicker romance/attraction than the first book, which wasn’t my favorite. I thought he kissed her a few too many times (mostly on her forehead) and touched her despite the massive secret he was holding back and barely knowing each other. Their attraction is super quick after meeting and some events in the book felt a little like the plot was forcing it? Like the characters didn’t quite match up to what I feel like they should have been based on their past events/traumas?

If I could nit-pick one thing, it’s that there were so many ellipses (��) used through the book, it got to be a little crazy and very noticeable—especially when a paragraph of dialogue would have six or more of them.

One thing I did like that while it deals a lot with Marian being an assassin, mentions of torture and parental abuse, and some other hard topics like deaths and grief, it didn’t feel heavy at all to me. The author didn’t show a lot of the details of those parts and it was more like passing mentions that the characters have experienced in the past and are trying to work through. Which made it feel cleaner even though it mentioned things that would usually be rough to read. I consider this to be a positive personally, and a talent.




Main Content-
Elves�� magic comes from their blood and bones, (a few mentions of a human who planned to collect an elf’s blood); Elves can use their magic to heal, make glamors to hide their identities, and also use it to control their slaves or make magical bonds/pacts with others; Elves are able to compel slaves or elves (or humans) with less magic powers to do something or answer their questions (or else be in major pain; we see both sides of this with Robin and Marian); If one half of a married elven couple dies, the other half will die within a day; In the elven world, curses are the name of power that is used to cause harm.

Robin has power over wind and water which he can use to create storms (or push it away from his ship) and also pull light from somewhere else to use; Another elf has the control of plants and uses it to create vines to grab others (see on-page); A magical creature can either blow a toxic breath that can blind someone or a healing breath; An elf who is known for cruel torture is called a demon.

All about and many, many mentions of elves, their magic, & enchantments.

A side character is called Brother Tuck and is religious, mentioning about the Creator (much to the dismay of the others around him as they don’t believe in a higher power and make some grumbling comments towards him and his faith; He also kisses his sun pendant necklace in a thankful moment; Marian says to him that his Creator probably wouldn’t approve of her, but he tells her to not be sure about that; He later praises the Creator).



Killing someone (self-defense; *Spoiler* (view spoiler)[When attacked by him, Marian kills her father; a couple of sentences *End of Spoiler* (hide spoiler)]), Being held at knife-point and holding others at knife-point, Being slapped, Fighting (including fighting humans, elves, and a sea monster), Stabbing others and throwing knives in fights, A ship wreck during a bad storm, A fire, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to a few sentences).

No language stronger than ‘stupid�� and an unfinished ‘what the…��; The fictional adjective “flaming�� and “cursed�� are said to add emphasis (up to more than ten times); Eye rolling & Sarcasm.

At the beginning, Marian feels relief at the thought of dying because then she won’t have to kill anyone else on her father’s orders.

Marian has been raised by her abusive father to be his assassin and she has killed a dozen people before, always having reasons to justify those assignments; He plans for her to poison and kill the elf king, but she doesn’t want to do it (but goes after he threatens her friend).

Marian’s father is abusive and we hear about many of the beatings and scars he’s given her throughout the book (including her being stabbed in the shoulder and it leaving a bad scar & another beating that left her unable to walk for a week, up to 2-3 sentences).

Most elves are unable to lie, but can still deceive (so it’s important to watch what they say; Robin was cursed to be able to tell lies and be able to tell if others are lying to him); Prejudice towards humans to elves and elves to humans is shown on-page and mentioned often.

Mentions of possible wars; Mentions of deaths, murders, & grief (up to a few sentences); Mentions of a cruel elf who is known for torturing and harming others to get the answers he wants (often the worse criminals, up to a sentence or two on details); Mentions of nightmares of horrible events & deaths; Mentions of a planned kidnapping, hostage situation, & possible torture; Mentions of injuries, pain, scars, & blood/bleeding (up to a few sentences); Mentions of poisons, poisonings, & near deaths; Mentions of monster-like creatures, how dangerous they are, & fighting/harming them; Mentions of threats & blackmail; Mentions of running away from home & a mother leaving her husband and daughter; Mentions of a wife saying she never loved her husband and wanting to leave him (she wanted to see if her old flame was still single as well, but because her and her husband were elves, they died due to marriage being a serious bond); Mentions of lies, lying, & deceit; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of drownings (& possible drownings); A few mentions of a torture method (of tying someone to a wooden board and throwing them into the sea to have a slow and agonizing death; not a real punishment, but what Robin thinks happens to Marian); A few mentions of drinking & alcohol; A few mentions of Marian’s tattoo.



6 hand/knuckles/fingers kisses,
6 head/forehead kisses,
2 cheek kisses,
A moment with a few kisses on her cheeks and forehead,
1 fingers-to-lips touch,
1 almost kiss (up to a couple sentences),
2 kisses with no details,
3 kisses lasting a sentence,
2 kisses lasting a couple sentences,
1 kiss lasting 2-3 sentences,
Wanting to kiss/be kissed (up to a couple sentences); Seeing a wife kiss her husband’s head.

Lots of Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Warmth, Flutters, Noticing, & Staring (including muscles and curves, up to a few sentences); Blushes; A lot of attraction & thinking about the other.

When Marian’s clothes are wet, Robin notices her feminine body because of her clothing clinging to her curves; Robin later notices Marian’s “alluring figure�� and then keeps his eyes on her face; While it would be easier for Robin to heal Marian by touching her heart, he isn’t that forward to place his hand on her chest (and touches her back instead); When waking her up from a nightmare, Robin thinks that being in Marian’s bedroom is a dangerous place to be when she touches him; Marian thinks that while she is attracted to Robin, it’s not magic or lust that is causing her feelings;

A female elf flirts with Robin (twice).

Mentions of kisses & kissing; A couple mentions of human’s lust (implied for power and wealth, but not fully clear)."

Amanda (BookLoverAmanda) is currently reading The Double Play: a grumpy/sunshine baseball romcom (More Than a Game Book 4)