Review: Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt

Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt
288 Pages
Release Date: February 18th, 2014
Publisher: Walker Childrens
Genre: Contemporary
Level: YA
Rating: 4.5 STARS

Goodreads Summary:

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 3p.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.

         

I'm not really sure why but I always really love those books that take place within only a 24 hour period. I just really love how everything ties together and there are all these crazy yet plausible things that come up that force the two main characters together. Bright Before Sunrise is definitely one of those books. Its light and cute and fluffy and a really fast read. It's also really cool to see how drastically the main characters change just from a single night they spend together. Their views on each other change so much and its really really good. I'm sure there's some moral you could pull out of that but honestly I just love the story. The characters really aren't who they appear to be and that makes the story so much more interesting. Plus its duel POV so you get to see how their views of each other change throughout the book.

Ok, so honestly you really do have to give them both a chapter or two before you pass judgement and really fall in love with them. Like with Brighton, yes she seems really sweet but she also feels sort of obnoxious and one dimensional and just really goody goody. But trust me, she has so much depth and is so great. Sometimes she may be oblivious but other times she knows exactly whats going on and makes Jonah re-evaluate his whole view on her and its really amazing. I'm not sure how to really describe it but basically at first Jonah hates Brighton's guts but then as time goes by and she starts to show his her cooler, more real side he get's that she's super cool and doesn't take shit from anyone.

At first Jonah just seems really stuck in the past and kinda like a bull headed, judgmental ass. But he's sooooo sweet. And funny. And amazing. And he does these things that are really dick moves but then makes up for it by being really concerned for Brighton. I honestly felt a little bad for him at first because Carly broke up with him and when he's with her he's such a sweet person. He does (eventually) be sweet to Brighton too and they just have these really great moments where they realize that the person they thought the other was, and maybe the person they thought they were, wasn't actually the case. Which probably doesn't make sense, but yeah... I just really like how they morph as people around each other. Like she gets more bold and he is less of a jerk. They bring out the best in each other.

So if you like quick, cute reads Bright Before Sunrise should definitely go on your to-read list. Because its cute, and funny, and I made Taherah read it and she agrees. So you should just go read it. Right now. I'll leave you to it. Ok. Byeeeee.