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- TITLE: Bright Side
- AUTHOR: Kim Holden
- RELEASE: 2014
RATING OVERVIEW 4.75 STARS
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★★
AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
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.
MY 2 CENTS / THE CRITICAL POINTS:
WOW… I ate this book up, binge reading it in just a couple of days. It is a super-fast read with so much amazing detail.
WRITING (★★★★★): Kim Holden draws you right in with her playful dialogue between life long friends Kate and Gus. Immediately we feel their connection and realize that these two friends have just been separated as Kate left for college and Gus is still home in southern California following his dream of being a Rockstar.
The way Kim tells the story, each chapter from one character’s perspective, really pulled me into the book. It makes you, as a reader, feel more involved and it gives the story an overarching personal feeling that telling it from third person just wouldn’t have accomplished.
STORY (★★★★): This story takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll get pissed… but, if you’re like me, you’ll love every minute of it.
A little warning though, this one is for mature audiences. Topics covered in Bright Side include loss, disease, eating disorders, homosexuality, sex, drinking, and SO MUCH MORE!!!
CHARACTERS (★★★★★): As an author, Kim Holden understands character development. She has to be one of my top 5 authors for character development. She had me emotionally connected, not only to the main character Kate but also with Gus, Keller, and everyone else. Seriously, even Kate’s college roommate, who is kind of a jerk, is written in a way that makes her misunderstood… I found myself wanting to know more about her. Who knows, maybe Kim will write a book for her at some point too.
Kate, also known as Bright Side, is a beautiful person inside and out. She is optimistic in every sense of the word and sadly, life has just not been kind to her. She has been dealt a terrible hand, but she doesn’t let it get her down. With every line… even when she is saying Dude every other word, we get a sense of who she is. That is the magic of good character development.
APPEARANCE (★★★★★): Simple… Intriguing… and totally Bright Side! The cover made me smile even before I opened the pages to meet Bright Side!
FAVORITE QUOTES:
“Today, my life is awesome. I don’t want to think about tomorrow. Or the day after that. So I repeat to myself: Today, my life is awesome.”
“Don’t judge each other. We all have our own shit. Keep your eyes on yours and your nose out of everyone else’s unless you’re invited in. And when you get the invitation, help, don’t judge.”
“Imagine for a moment that you were free of all the expectations in your life. What would you do? How would you live your life with no one watching? What would your future look like?”
“Do Epic.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim lives in what she calls the greatest city in the world: Denver, Colorado. Some of her favorite things: reading, writing, her husband and her son, her bicycle, Facebook, iced coffee, and music. She also loves dreaming. Her advice to anyone reading this, or any of her books… follow your dreams. It’s never too late. Get started today … heck get started RIGHT NOW! Make your dreams reality.
She loves to hear from fellow readers. So, if you want to reach out, find her on Goodreads at author/show/7445352.Kim_Holden
Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.
Also by Kim Holden
GUS (Bright Side Book 2)
This is the story of Gus.
Losing himself.
Finding himself.
And healing along the way.
“ … but the honest-to-God truth is I don’t even know how to function anymore. Bright Side wasn’t only my best friend; she was like my other half … the other half of my brain, the other half of my conscience, the other half of my sense of humor, the other half of my creativity, the other half of my heart. How do you go back to doing what you did before, when half of you is gone forever?”
Note from the author: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is recommended for mature audiences.
FRANCO (Bright Side Book 3)
Franco Genovese is the drummer for world renowned American rock band, Rook. He’s got it all. A killer smile. Tattoos. Talent. Razor sharp wit and humor. And a heart as big, and generous, as they come.
Life is good. Steady. Uncomplicated. Just the way he likes things.
Until one night at an unassuming L.A. bar changes everything.
Enter Gemma Hendricks.
She’s a successful young architect from Northern England with an adorable smile, sarcasm for days, and an unparalleled trusting heart.
The attraction is instant.
So is their friendship.
It’s also temporary because they’ll both be heading home, thousands of miles apart from each other, in a few days.
Or is it?
There’s something Gemma wants more than anything else.
And when Franco propositions her to provide what she’s looking for, everything changes.
Will it transform friendship into love, or will it be their ruin?
THE OTHER SIDE
There are two sides to every story.
The surface reality that’s presented to the world…
And then there’s the other side.
The real one.
The one that matters.
Seventeen-year-old, self-proclaimed asshole, Toby
Page, is alone.
No friends.
No family.
He trades maintenance work in exchange for room
and board.
Every day he fights demons no one else can see.
Every day he wants to give up.
But he can’t.
Not yet.
When Alice Eliot moves in downstairs, she offers
Toby some light in his dark world.
At a crossroads and barely hanging on, it’s hard
to have perspective.
It’s difficult to see your own worth when you’re
the villain in your story.
Luckily for Toby, Alice brings things out in him
that no one else ever has.
As the two sides of Toby’s story are revealed, and
the full reality comes into view, truth is gained, unlikely heroes emerge, and
improbable alliances prove that kindness is fundamentally human.
The question is, Will it all be enough to save him?
ALL OF IT
Seventeen-year-old VERONICA SMITH has it all: a loving family, a funky car named Jezebel, and a plan to go to college after graduation. On the first day of senior year, she meets DIMITRI GLENN–a mysterious transfer student with gray eyes and a mischievous smile who seems determined to win her heart. But there’s something odd about Dimitri, leading Veronica to wonder if there’s more to him than meets the eye. Before long she finds herself in a whirlwind romance that seems too good to be true–until a series of devastating events leaves her questioning everything. It’s not until she chooses to think with her heart instead of her mind that she can rise from the ashes to learn the truth of their connection.
SO MUCH MORE
This is a glimpse into divorce: the lead-up, the aftermath,
and the redemption that follows.
Love is strange. It comes out of nowhere. There’s
no logic to it. It’s not methodical. It’s not scientific. It’s pure emotion and
passion. And emotion and passion can be dangerous because they fuel love…and
hate.
I’m now a reluctant connoisseur of both—an expert
through immersion. I know them intimately.
When I fell in love with Miranda, it was swift and
blind. She was the person I’d elevated to mythical status in my head, in my
dreams.
Here’s the thing about dreams, they’re smoke.
They’re spun as thoughts until they become
something we think we want. Something we think we need.
That was Miranda. She was smoke.
I thought I wanted her. I thought I needed her.
Over time reality crept in and slowly dissected
and disemboweled my dreams like a predator, leaving behind a rotting carcass.
Reality can be a fierce bitch.
So can Miranda.
And I can be a fool…
who believes in dreams.
And people.
Nina Soden 