I usually eat up and enjoy any of Kasie West's books like candy. The characters tend to have a lot of depth for a short YA romance book, but I can't say that was true for BY YOUR SIDE. 
 The whole premise of this novel sort of revolves around two very different people getting stuck over the weekend in a library, which isn't super believable in the first place but I'm all about it since that would be AWESOME. 
 So giving it a little bit of the benefit of the doubt, suspend your disbelief and all that, I went into this one expecting a cute romance that would probably be a little bit like THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT since it takes place over a short time period. 
 Sadly though, this book let me down in multiple ways. The explanation and process of the main character getting stuck in the library was far-fetched and the fact they couldn't find ways to get out (convenient) was even more so. 
 The characters seemed pretty one-dimensional and it was actually pretty easy to dislike the main character, especially in the beginning. Also her friends didn't seem all that great and the romance didn't make me feel all the feels. Or even small feels. 
 But the worst part was, wait for it, there wasn't even a bookish focus(!!!). How can one write a novel about being stuck in a library and have a main character who doesn't even like to read. This hurts us all deep inside. Opportunity missed. 
 Overall, this was a pretty fast read but not a memorable one. I definitely would recommend the author's other books though.