By Your Side
By Kaise West
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Rating: 9/10

Over a long weekend Autumn, anxiety prone good girl, and Dax, reclusive loner, accidentally get locked in a library together. Autumn isn't thrilled about being locked in a spooky building with Dax for three days, knowing that her friends would soon realize that she was missing and would come back to rescue her. Except, no one comes. When it becomes clear that they are stuck together, a reluctant bound forms between the two, but can it survive outside of the library?

Everything about this book is just my favorite. Being locked in a library for a weekend? Yes please! And of course I love Kasie West's work, so it's safe to say that I was extremely excited to read this book. It definitely lived up to my expectations! It was cute, romantic, and addictive, just like all of her books. One aspect of this book that I wasn't expecting but really appreciated, is the focus on anxiety and mental illness. I felt like a normal level of anxiety that a lot of people live with everyday was perfectly represented in this book. I liked it so much better than Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella, where the anxiety disorder was handled with too much humor and the anxiety wasn't very realistic. I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I really loved this book! I read it really fast and never wanted to put it down. Kasie West is my favorite contemporary writer.