Count me in anytime the book is about animals especially dogs and dog rescue. Beautiful cover to go along with good story. Highly recommend.

"The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals" by Becky Mandelbaum is a novel with an interesting premise but struggles to deliver a compelling and cohesive narrative. The story revolves around a diverse cast of characters residing in a sanctuary, but the plot lacks a clear direction, resulting in a meandering and at times disjointed experience. Mandelbaum's prose is competent, yet the pacing and character development feel uneven, making it challenging for readers to fully engage with the story. While the novel attempts to explore themes of redemption and belonging, the execution leaves much to be desired, and the resolutions are often unsatisfying. Overall, "The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals" falls short of its potential, offering a premise that promises more than the narrative delivers.

2.5 stars

I love animals and am not a Trump supporter so this book is great for that alone! I enjoyed this book but it was a little slow for my taste. I would still recommend it though.

Ariel goes home after 6 years to find out why her mom is selling the farm. I struggled with the book because there was a lot of political hate in it but if you can look past that, it still struggled with me. Ariel was just very self-absorbed and was a lot like her mother in a way but I liked her mom way more than her. Ariel just seemed that nothing was good enough and that no one was good enough either. The writing in the book was great just the characters were unlikeable to me. Thank you Netgalley for the book

One of those warm and fuzzy reads about an ensemble of disparate characters who become found family.

This book got way more political than I would like. I typically use books to escape reality, not remind me of what is going on. So i did not enjoy that part of it. However, the story between the daughter and mother and the animals interesting. I've never read a book in this setting before. I didn't love it, I really wouldn't recommend it. But I did get through it all of the way so that counts for something.

I was not able to get interested in this book and I did not finish it. The characters and the plot were not able to catch or keep my attention.

I enjoyed this story. A troubled mother/daughter relationship set within an animal rescue setting. At times the policial references were a bit much, however, all interactions felt authentic and were relatable.

DNF - Did not finish. I tried to read this one but did not connect with the writing style. Thank you publisher and netgalley for the early copy.

I want to start off by saying thank you to NetGalley for this Advanced Copy that I should have read ages and ages and ages ago...

Now, I guess I have to talk about my dislike of this book. This book did not have any point. No plot. The reason I liked the first 30% of this book is because I felt some sort of direction of where the plot was going to go... no. Everything I thought could've happened, came no where close to happening. The only plot points, if I can even call them that, are when Ariel comes back to the sanctuary, when the dogs get out, the end. For all the loose ends of this barely salvageable plot, I am disappointed. This could've been so much more than it was. But in reality we were left with nothing. The characters weren't enjoyable. The only reason I kept reading is because I wanted to see if there was actually going to be some sort of resolve. By 95%, I knew that it was a lost cause but there is no way I can justify myself DNFing an Arc at 95%... so I kept going until the story just ended.

This book was not satisfying. It could've been so much better than it was and for that, I am thoroughly disappointed.

This book was fine until the weird political talk started. It was just so out of nowhere. The Trump bashing... Really? Why?? It didn't fit or even make sense. And it's anti-american, frankly. I'm so disappointed. Negative stars.

Thanks netgalley for giving me the pdf so that I can share my thoughts and opinions with y'all 🧡

The only character I liked in the book was Hippo/Bam Bam. The rest I could tolerate, but even as an animal lover (and I work with a rescue) I could take or leave. Ariel grew up on an animal sanctuary and let for college causing a rift between her and her mother. Coming back to help her mother after a fire causes some emotional times and some learning of who she is and who her mother really is.

The political side of the book was annoying. I get it that there are Trump supporters and haters and that after his election was a time of chaos but still way too much for my tastes.

Thank you NetGalley, Becky Mandelbaum and Simon & Schuster for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the writer’s style and the three different narrators. I liked it he story and thought it flowed well. The one thing I didn’t like is the very stereotypical way the author wrote about conservative voters and mid western people. They’re not all skinheads, anti-semites, and racists. It took a book that I would have initially rated a 4.5 to a 3.5.

This is a well written book and there's every reason for many people to like it, but a story about estrangement and family issues that also reminds me of a president that I'd rather not think about was not the escapism I was needing at the moment.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I have tried to get into this book several times, even waiting for a physical copy and audio to come out, but I just could not get into it. I can't quite figure out what the problem is, but I didn't finish this book., however, our copy is always checked out, so it seems well-liked.

As someone with a complicated mother-daughter relationship, this book resonated with me. Some of those relationships can be repaired, some cannot. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s a story of family, love, endurance and really giving it all you’ve got to make things work. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This one really took me by surprise. It dealt with a lot of really hard hitting topics in a unique way. I loved our main protagonist - especially in that she loved animals and hated 45. Relatable. This is also a story of a mother and daughter coming back together and tackling trauma, and I really loved this aspect. Overall, fantastic book!

One of my favorite reads of 2020.

A tale of home, values and everything in between. Characters were written out well and the story telling was definitely captivating.

These are the types of books I feel like I need to be reading more of. This is a story of forgiveness, community, and hope. Loved the setting and the writing just envelops you. What a great read!

Given the state of the USA today, this was a bit too political for me. I hate Trump just as much the author but I read to escape talk about him. I understand her point in wanting to write a story about hate crimes and racist Trump supporters because they are a large reason of 2020 being as crappy as it is. Anyway, this just didn't work out for me and I was hoping for more of a focus on the animals and saving a sanctuary.

I do think the characterization was done very well and there were distinct voices between the mother and daughter. I like reading about relationships that are outside of just romance so this was refreshing. The book itself wasn't bad but I just think the timing of every thing threw it off for me.

Thank you to to Netgalley and to the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!