Book Review: The Other Side of Beautiful by Kim Lock
Although this book is extremely popular, I started reading it without the slightest idea of its plotline. And I’m okay with that, it was a lovely surprise.
The general gist is that Mercy (yeah, I’m not completely sold on that name) has a no good terrible very bad day and, on impulse, buys a run down van and takes off on a road trip from Adelaide to Darwin. For those non-Aussies, this is straight up through the centre of Australia, a lot of heat, a lot of flies, a lot of dust, and a lot of kilometres (about 3000). One would usually prepare for such a trip, so Mercy stumbles from one mishap to another. Along the way though, she also finds a lot of beautiful.
This is another book which portrays mental health issues in a respectful manner. Lock’s timing for gradually revealing the events of why Mercy has had a breakdown was impeccable. Although Mercy’s triggers were shocking, they were also very realistic.
I’ve never been particularly tempted to tackle the Adelaide to Darwin trip (mainly due to the aforementioned heat, flies and dust) but, I will admit, Lock almost made me want to fuel up and head off tomorrow myself. It’s pretty obvious Lock has travelled along the road herself, maybe even in a little Daihatsu Hijet.
As the title suggests, this is a beautiful book. 5 out of 5
readwritewish 