The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn | Book Review

I almost didn’t become a Kate Clayborn fan. In 2020, I read one of her books and had been “meh” about it. But book club read Love at First in 2022 and I gained a whole new appreciation for Kate Clayborn. She’s now one of those auto-buy authors for me.

Why I read it: Because Kate Clayborn! When this went up on NetGalley, I decided to request it, and was thrilled when I was approved. (Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy; this is my honest review.)

Review #insixwords: Clayborn’s writing is warm and tender.

More:

• My note for next steps after reading the digital galley: “Flail. Then preorder.”

• This is such a layered story, set up so that it’s not just a love story between Jess and Adam, but also features the complicated relationship Jess has with her half-sister, and the mystery of what happened with their mom. (And, honestly, even more than that.)

• This is a road trip book, but it’s not a light, adventurous road trip—it is a road trip in search of answers, the kind of answers that you know, deep down, can only ever cause more pain. But also answers that need to be unearthed so that the questions do not fester inside!

• This book is warm and tender, with characters who care deeply about each other and for the causes that have impacted their life. I wish Adam’s podcast about his friend, and his struggles with bipolar disorder as a professional football player, was real!

• There are secrets and promises and pain and comfort. Small touches from Adam that anchor Jess amidst a fast-changing landscape as all the secrets she’s tried to keep unravel.

• The book plays with the question: when someone we love disappears, how do we disappear as well? What do we lose of ourselves in the wake of that disappearance?

• Family relationships and dynamics. Not just between Jess and her sister, but Jess and her father, or Adam and his family. Adam’s boss and her husband and daughter. The (non-existent) relationship between Jess’s mother and her daughters.

• The kind of book that you want to savor, to read slowly, to sink into on a dreary Saturday morning. The kind you don’t want to end.

• Already cannot wait for whatever Clayborn writes next.

Recommendation: This is for anyone who likes contemporary romances that are warm and tender, with all the messy complications of life. (Also, road trips and gentle giants.)

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*Not an affiliate link; I make no money from your purchases. If you do feel moved to buy a book, however, I’d love if you supported my local romance bookstore, Tropes & Trifles.