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Bright Side by Kim Holden
Series: Bright Side #1
Publication date: July 4th, 2014
Pages: 468
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Synopsis:
Synopsis:
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). She's quick witted, endlessly passionate about music, the first to offer a smile, and the kind of loyal that most friends only dream about. The one thing that escapes her optimism is love. She's never bought into it, never believed in it. So, when Kate leaves San Diego to attend college in the small town of Grant, Minnesota, the last thing she expects is to fall hard for 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,
they may heal you,
or they may end you.
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Review:
Quirky and persistently positive Kate is just starting out in college. With nobody she knows around her and her best friend thousands of miles away from her she has to start over from scratch. But when you are the type to push others to live their lives to the fullest, it is hard to not garner a few friends along the way. Whether it be the openly gay boy who just needs someone who will support him as he lets himself experience his sexuality, the closed off and angry flower shop worker, or the shy and bumbling coffee shop barista, it is hard for anyone to resist Kate's radiant personality. There is a reason that her best friend calls her Bright Side. But Kate is hiding a secret that will turn her world and the people she love's lives upside down. Add to that the fact that she is desperately trying to resist the handsome barista, Keller's, attractiveness and you have a disaster waiting to happen. Will Kate's secret get between her and her budding romance with Keller and what of his mysterious past? Are they doomed to fail or can Kate's world of sunshine and rainbows (and of course unicorns) help them to overcome all their obstacles?
When I first started this book I had an incredibly hard time delving into it. The overwhelming positivity from the main character read very fortune cookie-like. She was always pushing people to live their best lives and to be spontaneous. It was the first sign that something bad was going to happen. It tipped me off well before it came out in the book and caused this sense of dread to overcome me to the point where I almost put the book aside and didn't finish it. But once I actually dug into it I stayed up until 8am reading the whole thing in one sitting. The beginning may not have locked me in but once it hit that major secret being realized, it was hard not to see what happened next.
This is a warning for all the cry-baby readers out there, you will sob. You will ugly cry. You will set the book aside and sit for a moment only to lapse into MORE tears because the tragedy feels so real. I have never read a book that went through so much pain through so much of the book. I think the major conflict was revealed at like 60% of the book? That was 40% of them coming to terms with it and it slowly getting worse and worse. There is no happy ending for this book. Get that out of your head real fast. This book will utterly destroy you and make you just sit back and sob repeating "oh my god!"
But I did love Kate's connections to everyone. She had a special bond with each of them and it made it impossible for anyone to hate her. Even the people who tried she just had a way of refusing to fight with them to the point where all their blustering piped down. Keller and Kate may have been the aimed for couple in the book but my heart was yearning to see Kate and Gus end up together. I could tell Gus was smitten with her from the beginning and was curious how that would work with Keller coming into the mix. Gus was such a vivacious character. But unfortunately, even though Gus is featured in the second book I can't read it. I was so hungry to see Kate and Gus together that seeing him move on with someone else would not work for me. I do appreciate that the author didn't try to move on other characters as well because that would have ticked me off.
This is a warning for all the cry-baby readers out there, you will sob. You will ugly cry. You will set the book aside and sit for a moment only to lapse into MORE tears because the tragedy feels so real. I have never read a book that went through so much pain through so much of the book. I think the major conflict was revealed at like 60% of the book? That was 40% of them coming to terms with it and it slowly getting worse and worse. There is no happy ending for this book. Get that out of your head real fast. This book will utterly destroy you and make you just sit back and sob repeating "oh my god!"
But I did love Kate's connections to everyone. She had a special bond with each of them and it made it impossible for anyone to hate her. Even the people who tried she just had a way of refusing to fight with them to the point where all their blustering piped down. Keller and Kate may have been the aimed for couple in the book but my heart was yearning to see Kate and Gus end up together. I could tell Gus was smitten with her from the beginning and was curious how that would work with Keller coming into the mix. Gus was such a vivacious character. But unfortunately, even though Gus is featured in the second book I can't read it. I was so hungry to see Kate and Gus together that seeing him move on with someone else would not work for me. I do appreciate that the author didn't try to move on other characters as well because that would have ticked me off.
The book started out slow but once it got its hooks it didn't let go until you were a weeping mess with the last page turn.
