Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Jonah and Brighton are about to have the most awkwardly awful night of their lives. For Jonah, every aspect of his new life reminds him of what he has had to give up. All he wants is to be left alone. Brighton is popular, pretty, and always there to help anyone . . . but has no idea of what she wants for herself. Her seemingly perfect life is marred only by Jonah, the one person who won't give her the time of day, but also makes her feel, well, something. So when they are repeatedly thrown together over the course of one night, anything can—and does—happen. Told in alternating chapters, this poignant, beautiful novel's energy and tension, amidst the humor and romance, builds to a new beginning of self-acceptance and hope.

You ever just take the plunge and start reading a book that you do not entirely know a whole lot about because you haven’t really read a whole lot of reviews of said book? I rarely do this. When browsing through my eARC shelf, I just felt so drawn to the giant moon cover of Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt, I knew that I need to get started with it. It was calling me. That’s so odd, but hey, it’s what happened and why I read the book. Further, it was nice to read some contemporary to round out all the fantasy I’ve been kind of indulging in this week.

Tiffany Schmidt’s sophomore novel is one of those twenty four hour types of books where the lives of the characters are changed within a day. Alternating between Brighton, a popular girl at the top of Cross Pointe’s social hierarchy and Jonah, new guy from Hamilton who isn’t quite digging on the wholesome vibes of Cross Pointe, Bright Before Sunrise intertwines Brighton and Jonah on a strange coincidental path that neither one really sees coming. You see, Brighton is Key Club president or something like that and she is hoping to match her deceased father’s record of getting every single student to volunteer within the year. The only student who hasn’t volunteered? Jonah. Now, as for Jonah, he’s having a hard time fitting in mainly because he doesn’t want to. He misses his home in Hamilton and thinks it’s kind of whack that his mom moved him in the middle of his senior year. Can’t say as I blame Jonah. Over the span of the next twenty four hours, Brighton and Jonah are going to get to know each other very well.

Brighton is kind of an overachiever, but I think a lot of you will relate to her. She’s someone who has a pretty solid and good life. She’s got this awesome older sister named Evy whose kind of really amazing. Yet, Brighton’s dealing with the grief of losing her dad five years ago but not having any real closure. Anyways, she’s counting down the hours until his memorial which she’s feeling all sorts of pressure over. Actually that’s the best way to describe Brighton’s character, a girl under pressure. She’s got these expectations hovering over her, namely that she be nice and well-liked and achieve the volunteer thing. Jonah, though, he calls her out on the whole nice thing and says it’s boring and that she’s got no real personality. It’s so cool because like, there’s this kind of shift where Brighton’s like you know what, I can hold my own. I really loved that dynamic.

Jonah, on the other hand, is a bit rebellious. I mean, he’s kind of an unknown at Cross Pointe High because he does not want to get involved. We see that his life has drastically changed now that his parents are divorced, he has a stepfather and a little sister named Sophia who is a baby. He’s great with Sophia though. Anyways, most of Jonah’s chapters involve him being negative and also thinking about his girlfriend Carly, from Hamilton. What I like about Jonah is that he also changes. For him, it’s not so much a personality shift, but more that he comes into some interesting ah-ha moments. I have to state that for me, I wasn’t head over heels for Jonah, but I liked his chapters. They weren’t terrible, that is for sure.

You should give Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt a shot if you’re a sucker for books with alternating point of view, also for books that are told in first person. Schmidt’s book has characters that are imperfect and that truly are dynamic and grow. I don’t know about you guys, but I love me some character growth. There is not really a love triangle or instalove with this, although there is romance. However, the romance comes up kind of late in the book. I actually really liked the way it all played out. I liked that we get the attraction phase where it’s like, am I really feeling this? And they question it! QUESTION IT! Beyond that, if you like sister dynamics, I think you’ll dig on Evy and Brighton. And oh man, if you are like a nice girl who is sick of being nice, this might just be the book for you, with it’s small and quiet rebellions, like changing a nail polish color.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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