A review by valpyre
The Brightsiders by Jen Wilde

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

[audiobook]
3.5 

i found a lot of the topics in this book frustrating tbh, but only because the author did a great job of making me feel for emmy, and i hated how awfully she was treated by her family and by Jessie.

i liked the variety of queer rep in the friend group, and it was honestly pretty nice to see how successful they all were in their own fields. 

the romance was nice, but i was more invested in emmy's personal journey itself, though alfie was a big part of that. and even though it was really frustrating, i appreciated that emmy's progress was not linear.

i have to admit though that the climatic bar scene really annoyed me -- i'm not sure why emmy's friends let her sit alone at the bar and drink with jessie, only intervening when things started to go to shit.

also, i rarely ever like when audiobook narrators actually sing the lyrics written out in a book -- unfortunately, to me it sounded like Littrell chose a country twang for what is more of a punk rock band, and that irked me tbh.
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