Bright Before Sunrise, Tiffany Schmidt

Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt, reviewed by Bronte

Author: Website Twitter

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Pages: 288

Buy this book: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

What is this book about?

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. (Goodreads)

Who should read this book?

If you, like me, really enjoyed Schmidt's Send Me a Sign debut novel I think you will really enjoy this book too. Its a really cute novel and if I hadn't of read it already, it would definitely be on my Top Ten Books That Will Be In My Beach Bag list!

Marks:

Story Line: 8/10

Well written: 5/5

Enjoyabililty: 4/5

Overall: 17/20

Star Rating: 4 Stars

Question 1. What character would you most like to have tea with?

This maybe weird, but I think that I would most like to have tea with Brighton's father. From what I read he sounded like a really nice, kind, lovely caring person who would be really easy to just talk to. (Although I don't mean "nice"...how about great...inside joke)

Question 2. What character would you most like to throw tea at?

Potentially everyone at some point...Brighton for being such a 'teflon' person, Jonah for being so mean at the beginning, his Mum for changing, Paul for being so horrible to Johan...but anyway. I can only pick one which would have to be Paul as he is consistently horrible whereas the others all change to some degree.

Question 3. What do you think of the cover?

I think this cover is so cute! It was actually what drew me in to read it in the first place - and then when I realised Schmidt had written it, it became top on my list of books to read next.

Question 4. What do you think of the title do you think there is an alternative?

This title made no sense to me before I read the book! Only after I finish the book did I realise: Brighton is her name (Bright is her nickname) and we see her personality change at night, before the sun has risen. I think it is the perfect title because it makes me want to read more to understand!

Question 5. Favourite quote!

'One night with Jonah and I've morphed from Teflon to something that reacts when scratched...a record or a match."

Overall:

We all know how much I enjoyed Send me a Sign so it is difficult for Schmidt to beat it; maybe its because I finished the book yesterday and I'm still basking in the post book enjoyment period, but I think I almost enjoyed this book more! I think again, however, Schmidt rushed the ending slightly more than was necessary, but I do understand that as a 300 paged book that covers a 12 hour period, it does have to end somewhere. I would have perhaps liked to see Brighton and Jonah develop their relationship a bit more though. Overall, great book and I can't wait to read more from Tiffany Schmidt if they keep getting better!

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Send Me a Sign, Tiffany Schmidt

Send Me a Sign by Tiffany Schmidt, reviewed by Bronte

What's this book about?
Mia is always looking for signs. A sign that she should get serious with her soccer-captain boyfriend. A sign that she’ll get the grades to make it into an Ivy-league school. One sign she didn’t expect to look for was: “Will I survive cancer?”

Who should read this book?
This book is a young adult book classed under realistic fiction. It had romance, humour, sadness and isn't very predictable.

How long is this book?
384 pages, an average size book.

Marks
Story Line: 8/10
Well written: 4/5
Enjoyability: 3/5
Overall: 15/20

Star Rating:
4 Stars.

Question 1. What character would you most like to have tea with?
For me, I would most like to have tea with Gyver. Yes I know, strange name so you think strange person but he is the complete opposite. He is loving, funny, sweet, generous, gentle and really I could go on but I will let you read and come up with your own opinion. I think he would be very easy to be around and talk to about nothing and everything, but yet it's still comfortable and not awkward being with him at all.

Question 2. What character would you most like to throw tea at?
This would definitely be Mia's Mum. She is very self-centred and this shows as you get further into the book. The fact that she is more concerned with how she appears to others and what others think about her and her family is a little unnerving when the reason for this is because her only daughter has cancer! If I was Mia I would have got very annoyed with her from the beginning and not just put a false smile on.

Question 3. What do you think of the cover?
I like the simplicity of this cover and like the colour however I am not sure it reflects the actual story. But for me this okay, the cover doesn't always have to relate to the book, it has to be eye catching a different so that you will pick it up and think 'Oh this looks good, I will give it ago'. In the end people do read books purely because they liked the cover. Or because they heard about it on an awesome review site. Hint. Hint.


Question 4. What do you think of the title do you think there is an alternative?
I like this title very much. This, unlike the cover, does have something to do with the book. Mia is superstitious and always looking for signs to tell her what to do and in some cases this makes her blind to see what is, in my opinion, plainly obvious that you wouldn't do that, or would do that. In contrast, though, it does create some of the humorous parts in the novel.

Question 5. Favourite quote!
'Mi amore' - All will become clear if you read this novel.

Overall:
I think that this book was quite good, 15/20. One of the problems I had with it was the fact that the structure was a little boring. It had a very long beginning, clearly trying to set the scene for the reader, but for me I think that this went on for too long. There was then a period of, to be frank, nothing much, or rather just repetition of what had been already taking place which for me made me disengage with the story a little. When the ending seemed in sight so much was taking place in the last 50 pages that it felt like the ending was rushed and could have been spread out a lot more to make the story longer lasting. Overall though, a good debut from Schmidt, and I look forward to reading more from her.

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