Review: Bright Side by Kim Holden

Synopsis

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.

Note from the author: Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is recommended for mature audiences.

Review

For fans of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Bright Side makes you feel all the feels through the grieving process.

I can count on one hand the number of times a book made me cry.  Weird, I know, because everything makes me cry.  It is my body's response to basically everything in life.  Angry?  I cry.  Sad?  I cry.  Happy?  I cry.  Wash, rinse, repeat.

I started this book late in the evening the day I bought it, and I didn't put it down until I was finished.  I woke up hours later with a swollen face, not from lack of sleep but the ugly crying that started about half way through the book until I went to bed.  There is not a single book that has conjured such a physical reaction from me.

I still haven't read the follow-up, Gus, because it scares me.  I don't care that everyone I've spoken to says it is healing.  I heard the same thing about Me After You, and I'm still not recovered from that.  Eventually, I'll read it.  But 4 years later, here I am.