Right Next to Me by Rachel Ward {Blog Tour Review}

 

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Right Next to Me by Rachel Ward

Paperback

Published August 8th 2017 by Bonneville

After high school Sydney's friends scattered to different colleges across the country. Over Thanksgiving break they are reunited, and much to Sydney's surprise, she discovers that her best friend has kept quiet flame for her for years. Sydney is faced with making an impossible decision: stay with the perfect boyfriend or go for the best friend who's always loved her?

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My Review: 4.5 Stars

I think almost everyone has had at least one experience where everyone else can see the obvious, but you are blinded to the truth, for whatever reason. Through a series of flashbacks, mingled with the present time, the story of Sydney's life unfolds. She's had to grow up and mature before her time due to some unfortunate circumstances, and the reader is fed bits and pieces at a time, but that doesn't stop her from becoming very close to her group of friends and securing herself the perfect boyfriend. Back to my first sentence--it's very plain to see that her best friend has feelings for her, but she has absolutely no clue.

This is a great coming-of-age story that really shows the nitty gritty good and bad times of transitioning from a high school student to an adult and college student. The flashbacks also show a pivotal growth time in Sydney's life and how she starts to become who she's truly meant to be. 

I couldn't stop reading because I really wanted to see how the characters would handle the situations they each found themselves in and I loved the tight friendships these five characters had with one another. I enjoyed the flashbacks and thought they really added to the story, as they each had a shovelful of information to fill in some of the backstory. There are some hard situations to tackle and there's no skimping on the emotion. Oh, and there are some really cringy moments that left me wanting to hide my face in embarrassment.

I found myself really getting into the flow of the story at times and then suddenly felt that some details were skimmed over or skipped all together, leaving me wanting more. Chunks of time were missing, but I guess that's because I couldn't have every minute detail of Sydney's life or the book would be 1000 pages. So I guess that's a good thing.

Overall, this is a fun and wholesomely entertaining story and one that I'm glad I read.

Content: mild romance

*I received a copy from the publisher, which did not affect my opinion in any way. All thoughts are my own.*

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