Review: Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt

Bright Before Sunrise 
by Tiffany Schmidt
Released Date: February 18th 2014 by Walker Childrens
Pages: 288
View/Purchase: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, Book Depository 

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.
(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

My Review:

Bright Before Sunrise is a must-read!

Tiffany Schmidt did an amazing job describing the characters really well and having everything happen in one day made it impossible for me to stop reading. From the setting to the background stories of the character, Bright Before Sunrise is a relatable book that would appeal to everyone that has gone through the same experiences as the characters. The losing of someone or something important and having to cope with it while not letting other people get hurt. 

Jonah is miserable when he is forced to move away from his old life in Hamilton to Cross Pointe on his senior year. He has everything he has ever known in Hamilton, so he hates the idea of having to move to another town. Now if that wasn't all, he also has to deal with his step-father and new baby sister in his life. Although he is a caring brother, the relationship between him and his step-father hasn't started on the right terms. Jonah has isolated himself from anything, including his classmates at his new school. But it doesn't take long before Brighton, the popular girl at school, notices him and his new adventure takes off. 

Apart from being liked by everyone at school, Brighton has suffered a lot in her life. She has to put up a happy face and show that she is fine so that she doesn't get pity from everyone around her. For once in her life, she feels liberated that someone is not afraid to tell her how things go without being afraid of breaking her. But everything around her seems to bring back memories of her diseased father. She knows that attending his anniversary is going to break her and so she avoids it by taking on the task of making Jonah, the new kid, realize that Cross Pointe is not as bad as he thinks it is. 

Both characters have a lot to learn and to let go, and when they are stuck together for the day, they start to discover new things about each other that brings them closer. Their growth reflects on the time they spend together and that's one of my favorite things about this book. Schmidt is able to bring relatable characters as well as situations that just about anyone can relate to. The end of the book is the end of the day for both characters and they are in a much better place than they were before. The writing flowed beautifully and it all felt right. I highly recommend this book to everyone to give it a try, you will not regret it. 

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

My Rating: 

Waiting on Wednesday (#47)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: 

Moth and Spark

by Anne Leonard 

Expected publication: February 20th 2014 by Viking Adult

A prince with a quest. A commoner with mysterious powers. And dragons that demand to be freed—at any cost.

Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control. 

Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen. 

Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads) 

***I'm really interested in reading this book, the cover is what drew me in and the synopsis sounds like it's going to be a great fantasy/romance book. What is everyone waiting to read? Let me know and I'll check it out. :) ***

                                                                                                                                 

Freebie Tuesday (Edition #5)

Hi guys! Freebie Tuesday is a new meme that I will be hosting from now on. I know there are probably a lot of memes like this one already, but it doesn't hurt to find out more about authors that some of us haven't heard of before. I will include 2-3 books that are free to download on either kindle or at the apple store in each post (that way it's more accessible to anyone that wants to download them.) I hope everyone finds this post helpful (if anyone is looking for a new book to read).  Enjoy! 

Beyond Control 

by Karice Bolton

Gabby Sullivan learns in college that some things are impossible to control, and whenever life has spun out of control bad things seem to happen. She promises herself that she’ll stay a safe distance from the top three culprits:

Sex
Love
Relationships

But some things are beyond control…

Gabby handles her mom’s death and brother’s sudden abandonment just about as well as anyone could at the age of twelve. Left feeling alone, she finishes high school, developing a bit of a wild streak, and lives like there’s no tomorrow. That is until an illness stops her in her tracks. Learning to control life around her becomes her comfort. With a visible scar that reminds her and the world that she beat the odds, it’s impossible for her to put everything behind her, no matter how hard she tries.

Right out of college she begins working at her family’s company and buries herself in the safety of the corporate world. No extra time, no life, no relationships. It’s safe to say she might be a little demanding and overly ambitious, but she’s got everything under control, just how she likes it.

Jason’s been trying to piece his life together after a personal tragedy, only it’s not working. He’s thrown himself into his work, but he’s only becoming angrier. He’ll never forgive himself and doesn’t expect anyone else to either.

When the back of his vehicle is clipped by an obnoxious limo driver he can’t wait to let the driver have it until he hears Gabby’s voice coming from inside the sedan. There’s something soothing about it, something familiar.

The moment she sees him, she knows her life will never be the same. But she doesn’t know why. He’s everything she said she never wanted. He’s cocky, arrogant, and infuriating. With his dazzling amber eyes, dark hair and chiseled features she can hardly remember where she’s going, let alone where she’s been and maybe that’s a good thing. She begins to let him show her what life could be, if she really lived it.

Neither wants their past to define their future, but sometimes destiny has something else in store. It’s only as their love grows and secrets are revealed that they realize a devastating connection from their past might actually tear them apart. 

          

In Your Dreams 

by Amy Martin

Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out of tiny Titusville, Illinois, where the junior high and high school are in the same building and everyone's known everyone else since birth. But when Kieran Lanier moves to town and passes out on her desk on his first day at school, Zip's life gets complicated in a way she never dreamed. 

Kieran has narcolepsy, and although he sometimes struggles to stay awake, he has no trouble capturing Zip's heart and trusting her with his most guarded secret--he sees bits and pieces of the future in his dreams. 

But just when Zip thinks that maybe she can handle having a boyfriend who sees things before they happen, her budding relationship with Kieran gets a jolt when Kieran's parents reveal that his sleeping disorder is not what it seems and may be putting them in harm's way. And when Zip begins to have unsettling dreams, she must decide if she can live with knowing the future in advance when she's afraid of what might happen. 

        

Goddess Legacy 

by M.W. Muse 

Legacy Kore is an average seventeen year old with your basic insane crush on the hottest guy in school... rather Adin Shepard was the hottest guy in school before he graduated a couple of weeks ago. Now it’s summer vacation and she’s not sure when she’ll get to see him again. Until he shows up at her surprise seventeenth birthday party. Cue saliva glands--it’s time to drool.

But her giddiness is cut short when her guardian delivers an emotional blow, telling Legacy her mother hadn’t died when she was baby, but that she’d left for Legacy’s protection all those years ago. After the initial shock, she expects some story about how her mother was in the Witness Protection Program or something else just as crazy, but when she’s told that her mother is a Greek Goddess and that Legacy is changing into one too, she thinks her guardian needs a trip to a mental hospital. Legacy a goddess? Um, yeah. Right. And her BFF is the Easter Bunny.

While trying to make sense out of something that was impossible to believe, Adin asks Legacy out on a date. She is thrilled that her fantasy might become a reality, but when she meets the new guy in town, River, she discovers everything isn’t always as it seems, and the legacy she wants just might not be the legacy she is destined to have. 

         

***That's it for this post, be sure to come back every Tuesday for more freebies and feel free to check out my last four posts, Edition 1 , Edition 2 , Edition 3, and Edition 4, for more books that you might have missed. Thanks for stopping by! :)***