Review Detail

BEND IN THE ROAD by Sara Biren is a YA contemporary romance told from two perspectives. One is from Gabe, a rockstar with famous parents, who has just had a very public breakup and failed album. The second is from Juniper, a girl who lives on Gabe’s family farm in Minnesota and manages it with her mom. When Gabe comes to hide out on the farm to reevaluate his life, he finally has the opportunity to get to know Juniper. The two couldn’t be more different, but as a surprise to both, they begin to enjoy each other’s company. As they get closer though, the big question that silently haunts them is whether Gabe will sell the farm for the money he desperately needs, displacing Juniper and her mom and breaking her heart forever.

To start with, the design of this book is excellent. The cover is gorgeous and makes me want to step right onto the page and be there in the field with the setting sun— and in a certain way, reading this book allowed me to do that. The text is printed in a burgundy color, as opposed to black, which is not only special but adds to the rustic, small-town feel. All of that, in addition to the writing, creates such a romantic, simple, and close-knit vibe to the entire story, and I absolutely adore the setting of this novel, both where it is in the world and also on their specific farm.

The relationship dynamics between the different families are also interesting, and I loved learning about Juniper’s and Gabe’s parents, as well as Gabe’s relatives. Ted is one of my favorite characters, because he feels so real and reliable. That being said, I wish that the reasons Gabe and Juniper didn’t initially like one another was more fleshed out and sharpened earlier on, because it kept me from connecting to the characters. Later in the book, I started to understand more why they may have held grudges, but in the beginning, they just seemed mean, which made it hard to relate to them. If their reasons for not liking one another were stronger from the beginning, the coming together later on would’ve been a sweeter victory.

Overall, though, BEND IN THE ROAD is a perfect getaway for anyone who wants to escape city life, even if it’s only in their imagination.