Name: Half the World Away
ISBN: 9798717687669

Rebecca Banks (Romance author)

Abbie Potter, a publicist at a London football club, takes an opportunity far from home, in Salt Lake City, where she bumps into Kyle Miller, an intriguing and persistent man.

Half the World Away

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Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My rating: ★★★½

Firstly, I loved the main theme of the book, which was about Abby's fresh start in life. I feel like I haven't read many books that are about that, and it can turn out in a great story if you do it right, which I think that Rebecca Banks managed to do so.

It was easy to connect and relate to Abby, and I feel like this is the main reason why I liked this read and thought it was an entertaining one. 

However, I do feel that the drama between her and Kyle stretched out a little too much and it felt flat to me at some point. It didn't ruin the reading for me, and I'm almost giving it four stars, but if it wasn't for that, it could've been a huge favorite for me. Overall, a great debut! Congrats to the author!

Mariana Afonso

*This ARC was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review! Thank you for the opportunity!*

"Half the World Away" is a Contemporary Romance, and the debut novel of the author Rebecca Banks. It was an entertaining read, a good story. A 3 stars book for me - with some very positive points, and others in need of improvement.

The main character, our MC, is great. She gives us so many amazing strong woman vibes: A self-discovery journey! The independency! The bravery! Her feeling good by herself, being lone but not lonely, with that not implying that she didn't care or value her loved ones. Much on the contrary. Meaning simply that she is someone who knows when it is finally time to put herself and her needs first. I really liked Abbie!

The friendships between girls/women are very positive. The one that wasn't so good doesn't even classify as friendship, in my opinion, but it wasn't toxic as well, it was just fueled by insecurities. 

The slow-burn romance! Ahhh, my favourite trope. It is something else to get to see the characters getting to know each other, taking time to understand their feelings - it is so much more realistic, even if there are sprinkles of rom-com funny and/or dramatic moments in the mix.

We are also introduced to beautiful landscapes, amazingly described. The author's writing isn't very descriptive throught the story, yet, when the scenes ask for more detailed descriptions, the writer aces it! The beautiful places the characters go to and talk about almost feel like a whole other character. I just wanted to visit all the places they discovered.

In this book, the author approaches a more serious theme, and I think it was well portrayed in the main character's thoughts, sense of guilt, feeling of unworthiness, in the way it is explained, what led to the outcome, approaching the impact of toxic relationships in one's self-esteem, independence and way of relating to others presently and in future relationships. However, I think it wasn't talked about all that much, or better, it wasn't more deeply dealt with - we know the main character is thinking and talking to others about it, but the dialogues, the feelings and thoughts don't pass to the reader, they always appear like a recap of conversations in the past tense. For one side, this may be a better approach to not trigger the reader, or to keep it a light book. For the other side, it shows lack of depth and makes me wonder if the author wanted to insert the topic in the story (which is very good and makes sense in the storyline) but didn't want to explore it further. 

Some of the more negative points were the lack of depth and backstory of the love interest, the twist was a bit obvious from the beginning, the misuse of mental health terms bothered me, it is uncalled for. 

The writing is a bit all over the place at first. The transitions between scenes didn't seem natural to me, and the first scenes don't give us much of an introduction. It gets better though.

This might be a positive for some, but it disappointed me. When I read contemporary romances, just like this one is advertised, I expect some smutty scenes, not just swoony lines. So I was expecting it. But then the scenes when characters are kissing come, and you know what will follow, yet the narrative goes like "They were kissing and it never felt so good bla bla....... AFTERWARDS they laid in bed..." Excuse me what? Afterwards? After what exactly? Because you didn't show me anything. And I wanted to read/see it! I was here, partly, for the smut and you gave me nothing?... Do you know that frustrating feeling? Yeap, happens in this book. I guess for people who prefer swoony over steamy love stories this would be great. 


Overall, a good book, acing the descriptions and swoony feelings, and needing improvements in the more heavy themes. I read almost all of it in one evening, so if you're looking for a book to get your mind off things and that lets you travel to new places and landscapes, then this is for you!

Half the World Away

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