Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

This and other reviews can also be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews and were originally posted there. When I picked up The Other Side of Us for free on amazon, I thought I’d get a light, slick romance. Something hot that would just take a couple of hours to read, then be forgotten… What I got was a profound story about two broken characters, a beautiful narrative about hope, fighting for your life, and love. I fell in love with both Oliver and MacKenzie, they were both trying to patch their lives back together, and their first meeting really didn’t go well. However, they were both willing to look past that first meeting, and when they started to get to know each other they realized that having someone they could share their doubts and dreams with was exactly what they needed.Oliver was a sound engineer, former guitar-bass player in a successful band, and he was able to take some time off work to go near Melbourne to clear out his late aunt’s house and get it ready for sale. He went with his little dog, Strudel, as his only company. He soon found out that his prickly next-door neighbor, Mackenzie had a dog as well, a certain Mr. Smith, who was very smitten with his Strudel. I loved the humor the two dogs brought in to the story, because The Other Side of Us certainly did have a lot of sadness going on, especially in the beginning.As Oliver and Mackenzie got to know each other better, they both started to feel more alive than they had in ages. Oliver first started realizing that he hadn’t really been happy with Edie. Then, he started noticing how attractive Mackenzie was – scars, prickly personality and all. Mackenzie thought Oliver was very good-looking in an understated kind of way, but she thought he was a bit stuck-up as well. Their friendship seemed very real to me, and as they showed more of themselves to the other, they also learned a lot more about themselves! The Other Side of Us made it possible for both of them to see other sides of their own personalities they hadn’t really looked at for a long time. And they both liked this new discovery.When they started to fall in love, and took their new relationship to the next level, things weren’t easy for either of them! Oliver was still angry about how his marriage had ended, and Mackenzie was insecure about her new body, filled with scars and difficulties to move. The thing that really made them both feel so good together, though, was their complete honesty both with each other and towards themselves. I was pleasantly surprised to read a romance novel where the problems the couple face isn’t so much what happens around them as what happens inside their own heads. As The Other Side of Us progressed, both Mackenzie and Oliver grew as characters, and I really liked the way they interacted – and the two dogs were like the extra sprinkle on a beautiful ice-cream!