Picking up where Becoming Bonnie ended, Clyde is being released from prison at the beginning of this book.
Did you read Becoming Bonnie? I highly recommend it. I give that book a bit of an edge over this one because it was happier.
In the first book, we are given a fictionalized background for Bonnie before she met Clyde. It’s only at the end of that book that she’s fallen for Clyde. So, in that story, the storyline is about Bonnie and about them falling in love.

This story is the one with the action. When Clyde gets out of jail, he tries to go back to normal life. He finds that impossible. Bonnie spent two years dreaming of her perfect life with Clyde when he gets out but he returns traumatized by what happened to him in jail. And now he also feels that the police constantly hovering over his shoulder are the reason he can’t go back to normal life.

The new plan is to move away and buy a farm.
That’s the new dream Bonnie starts to cling to.
But the steps that lead to that new life involve a lot, an absolute ton, of robberies and other crimes.
Clyde even plans a prison break for an old acquaintance of his.

Bonnie goes along on the ride because she feels like the only way to get the old Clyde back is to get through all of this bad stuff and get to their farm.

The author really finds a way to give humanity to Bonnie and Clyde. Especially Bonnie. Clyde starts taking innocent lives and that can’t really be justified. But Bonnie keeps clinging to the idea that they will wind up together on that farm, that they will be a happy family.

I don’t think I felt worse for anyone in this book than I did for poor Blanche.

I thought this was well written and I will look for books by this author in the future. I’d never read anything of hers before Becoming Bonnie and I think that was a fantastic one to start with.

My opinion is that you should read both books because the one someone else prefers may vary. If you like the happier story, that’s Becoming Bonnie. If you like the exciting story of Bonnie and Clyde off on their crime spree, that’s definitely Side by Side.
I recommend them both.

I got to read an early edition ebook of this story from NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

When Clyde Barrow is released from prison, he tries to go straight. He finds a job at a movie theater only to be hassled by the cops at every turn. When he can't take it anymore, he convinces his girlfriend Bonnie to follow him on the road. With the idea of busting out a friend from jail, he convinces Bonnie that he will rob just one bank, and then they will settle down on a farm. One job turns into another, and another, until people are murdered and there is no turning back.

This was a very interesting account of both Bonnie and Clyde and the Barrow gang. It showed an evolution of thinking from Bonnie, which explains how she got caught up in everything. It also showed how the two got along with one another, and how they came to dominate the other gang members. Overall, well worth reading. ( )

Despite myself, I really rooted for Bonnie and Clyde throughout this book, which I enjoyed even more than Becoming Bonnie. The criminal couple race through this book in stolen cars and robbing banks and switching out gang members as they try to get enough money for their own farm to hide away on and build a stable life. They even come close to achieving this goal before they meet their inevitable fate. This was a really enjoyable read, even if I knew how it all ended. ( )

“Side by Side” by Jenni L. Walsh is an intriguing, captivating, intense, suspenseful adventure packed novel. Jenni L. Walsh has written an amazing descriptive vivid story about the lives of Bonnie and Clyde. The Genres for this story are Fiction, and Adventure, based on Historical Fiction. The timeline of the story starts in 1931 Texas during “The Great Depression”.

The author describes the colorful cast of characters as complex and complicated. During this time of poverty, what lengths will people go to survive? There are betrayals, lies, secrets and deceptions. The people representing the side of the law often don’t uphold and respect the rules. At times one can wonder who is the bad guy or good guy? I know I am often rooting for the ones that are suspect of being “bad”.

At the beginning of the story, Bonnie writes a letter to the government asking for a shorter jail sentence for Clyde. Bonnie tries to hold and keep a job during these difficult times. When Clyde is released he is a broken man. Clyde has made up his mind that he is never going back to jail again. When he is free, and tries to hold a job, the law officials bait him and follow him. It seems like just a matter of time for things to explode and get out of hand.

Bonnie joins Clyde, and resolves to stay by his side while they do what they feel they have to do. Their companions are often dangerous, and not to be trusted. There are twists and turns, highs and lows, and the anticipation of treacherous and threatening adventures. This becomes a quest to live or die. Will Bonnie and Clyde be together? I would highly recommend this novel for readers that enjoy adventure, danger, and the combination of fiction and history. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review. ( )