OUR REVIEW:
If I were a sobber, I'd have sobbed by the end of this book. I'd heard that this book, The Bright Years, would do that to you, but since I'm not typically one to cry, I didn't think I'd cry. There were tears, y'all. Good tears. Sad tears. Tears because of the truth this novel revealed. Gah. So good. For a novel that spends so much time examining grief and the complexity of love and relationships and being human, you'd think that I wouldn't feel so warm and fuzzy about it, but I do. I needed this. I needed to be reminded of how fleeting and precious our time on this earth is, even when it feels so arduous and dull and monotonous and excessively difficult or challenging, it ends way sooner than maybe we want it to. It reminded me that yes we make mistakes but we also create opportunities. We aren't binary, we contain multitudes and as complicated as that may be to acknowledge, if we can, it may ease some of the complicated things we carry with us. How many times can I write complicated? All of that to say, that when I put this novel down, I felt sad for these characters and the time they lost to hard to process feelings and it made me want to just try to live life a little better with, and for, those who are walking on this ground around me.
The Bright Years surprised me. I read it in one day. I absolutely could not put it down. With its spare diction and raw emotion, quick pacing, complex characters, and unflinching stare into the pain that comes with living and dying, I could not stop reading it until it was over.
I love that this is Sarah Damoff's debut because it means that I'll have years of upcoming releases to look forward to. I also hate that it's her debut because I don't have a backlist to read. Also...it's so good, how is it her debut?! Kudos to her!
If you're a mood reader like I am and need an emotional read, read this. You won't regret it.
BUY IT: https://amzn.to/4c19bvN
SYNOPSIS:
One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga perfect for readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo.
Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall.
When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.
Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.
Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall.
When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.
Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.
Post a Comment
Comments are bloggy food.
Feed our blog...