Book Review: Bright Side

Title Bright Side
Series Bright Side, book 1
Author Kim Holden
Release Date July 4, 2014

Secrets.
Everyone has one.
Some are bigger than others.
And when secrets are revealed,
Some will heal you ...
And some will end you.

Kate Sedgwick’s life has been anything but typical. She’s endured hardship and tragedy, but throughout it all she remains happy and optimistic (there’s a reason her best friend Gus calls her Bright Side). Kate is strong-willed, funny, smart, and musically gifted. She’s also never believed in love. So when Kate leaves San Diego to attend college in the small town of Grant, Minnesota, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with Keller Banks.

They both feel it.
But they each have a reason to fight it.
They each have a secret.

And when secrets are revealed,
Some will heal you …
And some will end you.

Review

I'll be honest, I'm not sure how to review this book. Like, it's totally a 5 star read for me. There's not a single doubt about that. However, how do I talk about it without giving anything away? I went into this book totally blind and I definitely think it upped my enjoyment. I understand that some people need to know what goes on in a book (to prepare for it or whatever), but I'm not one of those people.

This book isn't ground breaking in terms of story. Girl and boy fall in love. Girl is dying. Girl keeps it a secret. Sadness all around. Okay, so that's a gross oversimplification of the story, but you get the point. This isn't anything new. If that's the case, why the 5 stars? Because Bright Side feels different. It doesn't read the same as every other story of its kind. It's so well written and full of emotions (the good and the sad) that it can't possibly compare to all those other books.

Okay, so this is one of my favorite reads of 2016. Absolutely love it, even the parts where I cried. I can't wait to read more from Kim Holden. I'm sure she's going to be one of my new favorite authors.

Rating

5 out of 5 stars