{YA Review} Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt
When Jonah
is forced to move from Hamilton to Cross Pointe for the second half of
his senior year, "miserable" doesn't even begin to cover it. He feels
like the doggy-bag from his mother's first marriage and everything else
about her new life—with a new husband, new home and a new baby—is an
upgrade. The people at Cross Pointe High School are pretentious and
privileged—and worst of all is Brighton Waterford, the embodiment of all
things superficial and popular. Jonah’s girlfriend, Carly, is his last
tie to what feels real... until she breaks up with him.
For Brighton,
every day is a gauntlet of demands and expectations. Since her father
died, she’s relied on one coping method: smile big and pretend to be
fine. It may have kept her family together, but she has no clue how to
handle how she's really feeling. Today is the anniversary of his death
and cracks are beginning to show. The last thing she needs is the new
kid telling her how much he dislikes her for no reason she can
understand. She's determined to change his mind, and when they're stuck
together for the night, she finally gets her chance.
Jonah hates her at 3 p.m., but how will he feel at 3 a.m.?
One night can change how you see the world. One night can change how you see yourself. (Blurb via Goodreads)
{Details} ebook, 288 pages, Published
February 18th 2014
by Walker Childrens. Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
{Rating} 4/5 - I really liked it!
{Review}
"You dropped something." (page 1, line 1)
Jonah. I've got to be honest, he's pretty mean. Mean to everyone, but especially Brighton. He's incredibly angry, justifiably angry because a lot of really crap things have happened to him all at once but he's taking that pain out on everyone else. I sympathized with Jonah with all his anger and hurt, found him hard to like (at least for awhile - he does redeem himself) but easy to love because he needs it. And he needs the night with Brighton, to face life and all its changes. A night with Brighton to learn how life could be if he stopped fighting.
Jonah thinks Brighton has an idyllic life. A perfect life. He doesn't see that she's in pain too but she's dealing with it differently. Being perfect, being who she thinks she should be to make everyone happy, is her way to deal with it. She's a good person, a kind, generous, sweet girl, but is she happy?
Jonah and Brighton recognize something in each other, shared pain and loss. Something that allows them to open up and then we get to see who they really are - and I liked who they are.
I enjoyed Schmidt's writing style, the dual POVS, the countdown that lent a sense of urgency and served as a reminder of what happened to Brighton. This is the first book I've read by Tiffany Schmidt but it will definitely not be the last.
I think Bright Before Sunrise would be fabulous as a movie, I could just imagine the scenes with Never and the sprinklers. And the cover? It's so gorgeous! It drew me in but I really stayed for the story.
