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A review by sabrielreads
Make the Season Bright by Ashley Herring Blake
3.0
3.5*
This had Ashley Herring Blake’s trademark writing style for romance which I fell in love with in the Bright Falls trilogy, but not as much of a solid and logical plot.
You could argue love usually isn’t logical, but a lot of the clashes in this book seemed very blown out of proportion to me, and a lot of blame laid with a character who couldn’t really help the way she was due to the fact her mother is an awful person …
Prior to the book starting, Brighton left Charlotte at the altar. She tried to contact her immediately after but Charlotte didn’t respond (and rightfully so imo). Now 5 years later, they are thrown together at Christmas at their friend’s house.
Brighton is immediately quite shitty towards Charlotte, which I thought was absolutely bananas considering she’s the one who left her at the altar. Charlotte is acting like she doesn’t know Brighton; which in the circumstance I probably would also have done, considering they are in a large social situation that cannot be left (staying at someone else’s house for Christmas) and really bringing any of this up would be rather embarrassing and just overall ruin the holiday.
Throughout the book and also in the climax, blame is laid at Charlotte’s feet for “not seeing” Brighton and how miserable she was in NYC with her just before the wedding. Charlotte admits she could see Brighton wasn’t happy but didn’t know how to help, so just tried to be encouraging and tell her to give it time.
Brighton on the other hand, seems to think she brought this up to Charlotte multiple times and was talked out of it.
In my humble opinion, if YOU are unhappy, it is YOUR issue to talk about this and bring it up to your partner. If your partner isn’t understanding where you’re coming from and seemingly saying “just give it a chance and I’m sure you’ll thrive” (aka not being horrible or dismissing you) then IT IS YOUR PREROGATIVE to dig deeper and explain further that no, you’re really unhappy and need help figuring it out.
The book made out that Brighton was always chasing Charlotte, and Charlotte always taking and not giving to Brighton. But then in other parts it said Charlotte was really romantic and did everything for Brighton she could. So it really flip flops between deciding whether Charlotte is a “bad guy” or not.
Don’t get me fucking started on Sloane. Sloane is Charlotte’s closest friend in NYC and has known her for two years. Charlotte is a very private person and doesn’t really disclose details about her life and past - and to be honest, why should she have to? Her mum is a narcissist she barely speaks to and her fiancée left her at the altar. I don’t really see how it’s anyone’s business that these things happened in her life. If she wants a fresh start with people in NYC then why do they have to know these things about her?
Sloane spends the entire book being shitty towards Charlotte about her not being “real” or sharing anything about her life with Sloane. But charlottes entire life is nyc and music and the quartet they’re in; there’s nothing else to tell. And when it comes out that Brighton and Charlotte know each other, Sloane proceeds to give her the silent treatment for weeks because Charlotte wasn’t up front about this information? This highly embarrassing and personal information? From your friend who you know to be stoic and not share a lot?
And then Sloane and Charlotte only make up by Charlotte then telling her all of her past. It just felt like Sloane was entitled to this information just by being friends with Charlotte, and I’m sorry but that’s just not how it works. She’s a deeply traumatised individual, who you are forcing to “open up” and tell her horrible past ?! You’re not a therapist, leave her alone !!!!
Overall I do believe the two main characters are meant to be together. At certain points I teared up and really felt the love between them. But the messaging about Charlotte’s character was confusing and blame laid with her in order to try and “okay” Brighton leaving her at the altar. Spoiler: it wasn’t okay.
This had Ashley Herring Blake’s trademark writing style for romance which I fell in love with in the Bright Falls trilogy, but not as much of a solid and logical plot.
You could argue love usually isn’t logical, but a lot of the clashes in this book seemed very blown out of proportion to me, and a lot of blame laid with a character who couldn’t really help the way she was due to the fact her mother is an awful person …
Prior to the book starting, Brighton left Charlotte at the altar. She tried to contact her immediately after but Charlotte didn’t respond (and rightfully so imo). Now 5 years later, they are thrown together at Christmas at their friend’s house.
Brighton is immediately quite shitty towards Charlotte, which I thought was absolutely bananas considering she’s the one who left her at the altar. Charlotte is acting like she doesn’t know Brighton; which in the circumstance I probably would also have done, considering they are in a large social situation that cannot be left (staying at someone else’s house for Christmas) and really bringing any of this up would be rather embarrassing and just overall ruin the holiday.
Throughout the book and also in the climax, blame is laid at Charlotte’s feet for “not seeing” Brighton and how miserable she was in NYC with her just before the wedding. Charlotte admits she could see Brighton wasn’t happy but didn’t know how to help, so just tried to be encouraging and tell her to give it time.
Brighton on the other hand, seems to think she brought this up to Charlotte multiple times and was talked out of it.
In my humble opinion, if YOU are unhappy, it is YOUR issue to talk about this and bring it up to your partner. If your partner isn’t understanding where you’re coming from and seemingly saying “just give it a chance and I’m sure you’ll thrive” (aka not being horrible or dismissing you) then IT IS YOUR PREROGATIVE to dig deeper and explain further that no, you’re really unhappy and need help figuring it out.
The book made out that Brighton was always chasing Charlotte, and Charlotte always taking and not giving to Brighton. But then in other parts it said Charlotte was really romantic and did everything for Brighton she could. So it really flip flops between deciding whether Charlotte is a “bad guy” or not.
Don’t get me fucking started on Sloane. Sloane is Charlotte’s closest friend in NYC and has known her for two years. Charlotte is a very private person and doesn’t really disclose details about her life and past - and to be honest, why should she have to? Her mum is a narcissist she barely speaks to and her fiancée left her at the altar. I don’t really see how it’s anyone’s business that these things happened in her life. If she wants a fresh start with people in NYC then why do they have to know these things about her?
Sloane spends the entire book being shitty towards Charlotte about her not being “real” or sharing anything about her life with Sloane. But charlottes entire life is nyc and music and the quartet they’re in; there’s nothing else to tell. And when it comes out that Brighton and Charlotte know each other, Sloane proceeds to give her the silent treatment for weeks because Charlotte wasn’t up front about this information? This highly embarrassing and personal information? From your friend who you know to be stoic and not share a lot?
And then Sloane and Charlotte only make up by Charlotte then telling her all of her past. It just felt like Sloane was entitled to this information just by being friends with Charlotte, and I’m sorry but that’s just not how it works. She’s a deeply traumatised individual, who you are forcing to “open up” and tell her horrible past ?! You’re not a therapist, leave her alone !!!!
Overall I do believe the two main characters are meant to be together. At certain points I teared up and really felt the love between them. But the messaging about Charlotte’s character was confusing and blame laid with her in order to try and “okay” Brighton leaving her at the altar. Spoiler: it wasn’t okay.