Review by chaptersofchase - When We Were Bright and Beautiful

chaptersofchase 's review for:

When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff

3.5

dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Thank you, Harper Books, for the gifted copy of When We Were Bright & Beautiful {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Format: 🎧
Pub Date: 8.2.2022
Star Rating: ☆☆☆.5

"Secrets never die; they're self-sustaining organisms."

In complete honesty, I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. Did I read it in one day? Yes. Why? Because I had to know what I was reading and where the story would go. Did I enjoy it? Yes..No. I really don't know. I do know that I think it falls somewhere between a 3.5-4 star and, in my opinion, here is why 👇🏼

I loathed these characters - they were entitled, overbearing, spoiled, and overwhelmingly obnoxious. They did nothing to change my opinion of the 1% of American society, nor did I feel sympathy for them.

I struggled on several occasions with knowing where I was in the story — was this a past memory? Or was it something currently happening? This caused me to reread paragraphs or, in some cases, an entire chapter as I was hoping for more clarification on what I had read.

Now, for the part causing wishy-washy feelings on When We Were Bright and Beautiful. At the halfway mark, I had settled on knowing precisely the direction of the story and felt comfortable in my prediction. But then the screen was lifted, and the author revealed what was happening behind the scenes, and I felt such a mixture of emotions - shock, confusion, disgust.. just to name a few. I realized that the author had hinted at this reveal early on, but I hadn't picked up on it, making me jump from a 3-star to a 4-star. But, I'm still torn on my final thoughts (why I settled for 3.5).

😒 Highly unlikeable characters
⁉️ Confusion between past & present
🤑 Lifestyles of the rich & powerful
🤯 Shocking twist
😵‍💫 Difficult to process

I usually try to lay out triggers for a book, but I think if I list them all, it will give away the book's twist. However, I will say (and it doesn't give anything away) that this story does deal heavily with rape. If you want to know the other triggers, please feel free to DM me so we can discuss them.

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Content Warnings