Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.
*Just a warning before I start the review, this book is not for you if you are a Trump supporter and easily offended by criticism of him/his election.*
“Welcome to the Bright Side, where there’s love enough for everyone.”
The book takes part in two perspectives, Mona, The mom and owner of The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals, a farm in Kansas for rescued animals; and the daughter, Ariel, who flees home years in advance for college and a new life. This is a book about animals, love, hate/racists, forgiveness, the imperfections of humans and forgiveness.
“She hadn’t realized how much it mattered, this act of touching. It was one thing to talk about forgiveness, but it was another to forgive with the body, to forgive with bones and skin and blood. It was something the animals understood instinctively, that the deepest emotions could not be translated into language, for they existed in the body and not the mind.”

Very beautiful, well written book with characters (Gideon is my favorite) that you will instantly develop feelings for! “The sun was nearly setting, the sky a child’s erratic drawing of pink, lavender, and orange crayon strokes.”

What a really fun story. I’m kind a sucker for anything about animal rescue, but this is so much more. Mother daughter relationships are not always easy. Mona (mother) and Ariels (daughter) long estrangement comes to an abrupt end when Ariel learns that her moms beloved animal sanctuary has been assaulted with a hate crime, is up for sale as well amongst other things that she wasn’t aware of due to their estrangement. She packs up and leaves her fiancé to return home to help out. And so begins their learning to talk to each other, deal with the fallout of their distance both emotional and physical, reconnect with those Ariel left behind and figure out how to move forward. New and old relationships, love some of the things explored in a new and unknown incredibly divided political climate. All surrounded by animals that truly make us all better people. I really enjoyed this absolutely wonderfully written, well crafted fun story with lots of cuddly animals.

Thank you for letting me read this book which made me turn pages for the first three quarters. I found the last fourth to be less compelling. I enjoyed the read overall.

My feelings are mixed about this book. I loved the characters but struggled with an animal sanctuary owner could allow such filth to accumulate. I can’t imagine living in a home filled with the smell of cat pee. The storyline kept me going, though. When Ariel, who is estranged from her mother, Mona, who runs the sanctuary in western Kansas, discovers that the barn of her mom’s farm is burned in a hate crime, she leaves Lawrence Kansas and her boyfriend to try and help her mom. Relations are strained (as well as covered with animal hair). Her mother is resentful of Ariel leaving for college several years ago. Then when Ariel’s boyfriend shows up unannounced, things really go haywire. I enjoyed the insights about Kansas and the well-developed characters, but at the end I hope for the closure of the Bright Side Academy.

Centering around a challenging mother-daughter dynamic right after the 2016 election, The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals follows mother Mona at a struggling animal sanctuary in Kansas. Mona is fiercely opinionated and independent. She hasn't seen her daughter, Ariel, since she left without saying goodbye to go to college.

Ariel should be happy, as she is newly engaged to her boyfriend of several years, Dex. Something is missing from her life. When she reads about a crime committed at her mother's animal sanctuary, Ariel drops everything to come back.

The backdrop of a sanctuary falling apart and violence combined with the slower pace is ideal for people into family dramas that evolve over time. I appreciated that life is complicated, but felt the course of the book was slow paced and at times contrived.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A story of growth, forgiveness, and regret are the focus in The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals by Becky Mandelbaum. This is not my typical favorite type of book, but something about it spoke to me and I had to read.

I was absolutely not disappointed. This story had a lot of emotions and characters that you really grow to love while reading. Ariel, the main character, was not my favorite character. I really enjoyed the supporting characters in this story more than the main couple. However, I feel like Mandelbaum did a great job of meshing together a complex group of individuals. I also really like how nobody is perfect. Every character has faults.

I only have two issues with this book. One, it has a very political aspect to the story. There is no mention of this in the synopsis, so I think this could be a potential problem for some because it leans very much one way politically speaking. While I didn’t personally mind, I think that is something that should be pointed out in the synopsis for readers. Other than that, I was a little disappointed in the lack of wrap up at the end of the story. It was very open ended. Maybe this is for a sequel later on, or maybe it was just left that way because sometimes life is that way, but I really wanted some answers to issues in the story that were left hanging.

Although those two minor things bothered me, I would still give this a good rating. The story was good. If you love lots of action and high intensity moments, this book is not what you are looking for. The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals is a good, steady paced story about family, mistakes, forgiveness, and moving forward. It’s definitely about growth and how it is never too late to try again.

This is a women’s fiction that could be enjoyed by just about anyone. It’s an added perk if you love animals, because there are a lot of them in this story. Make sure to check it out and other books by Becky Mandelbaum.

This was a good book. And whether or not you are a Trump supporter, the reactions of the characters when he wins the election are entertaining. And if you are an animal lover, the story will tug at your heart.

But the main focus are the relationships between the humans. And they run the gamut. You'll laugh, cry, cringe, moan in exasperation. The characters are well developed and their personalities are very different which keeps things interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

The Brightside Sanctuary For Animals by Becky Mandelbaum is a brave honest heart tugging debut novel that will stay with me for a long time.

Near the end of 2016 Ariel knows it's time to go home and face her estranged mother Mona after six years apart. Her mom's animal sanctuary in Western Kansas has been the victim of anti semantic attacks including painted swastikas on the walls and the burning down of her barn.

Ariel and Mona are the epitome of many mother daughter love hate relationships. As an only child myself I know how in my younger years I could not wait to get away from my mom. Now I would give anything to hug her. When Ariel arrives to help her mom deal with this horrendous hate crime she is shocked to learn the sanctuary is in disarray physically and financially and her mom is trying reluctantly to sell the property.

Over a tumultuous weekend the author handles this relationship, as well as an unexpected romance, with humor, angst, regret, sorrow and an abundance of love.
This is not a political book but there is a light shone on how bigotry in this current time seems to have this administration's permission to rear its ugliness without fear of retribution.

I hope you all give this novel a chance. If your a parent, a daughter, a romantic or an animal lover you will find a place for your heart in this book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I love animals and with 2 pets dying within A month of each other, I decided to take this off my TBR list and I'm so glad I did because it's A story , mostly about coming home. It was happy, sad, funny at times, and made me question some things about my own family. A book about old relationships and new, and where we got in life and choices. I laughed, I cried, but mostly, it was A book that made me wonder if things were different for me and my own family, and changes you can make, and it's never too late. Also there was some hate crimes in this book of that's A sensitive subject for anyone. Bravo to author Becky Mandelbaum.

Also, I love animals, so this book hit A little close to home with me with the content. 4 stars!

A special thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC for this charming book!

Poignant story about forgiveness, family, and coming home. The setting of the story is very interesting, an animal sanctuary in Kansas. The animals were also a fun part of the story.

I wanted to like this book, I really tried, but with a cast of mostly unlikable characters and a politically driven agenda it was a difficult read for me. I felt that the political agenda (regardless of whatever end of the political spectrum you fall on) didn’t add anything to the story and in some places it was literally just shoved in. Some of the animal stories were endearing, but the conditions they lived in were quite appalling, how is that a sanctuary? Mandelbaum writes about racism and broken relationships, but overall the book was depressing and left us with no real answers at the end. Not a story I can recommend.

This book explores the bonds between mother and daughter, love and forgiveness.

Ariel ran away from home and her mother to make a life of her own. Years later she learns that the sanctuary where they lived has had a fire and she decides it’s finally time to return home. The story is told mostly from 3 different points of view: Ariels, her mother Mona and her boyfriend Dex. I love books with multiple points of view and seeing how different characters are situations differently.

I enjoyed this book and these complicated characters. I also loved the setting of the book and could easily see the animals and the sanctuary in my mind.

A heartfelt read about the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter. Add in some old flames, new relationships that are already on the rocks, and an animal sanctuary in need of some help, and you have a winning combination for your next book club read.

Becky Mandelbaum is the real deal. In 2016 she published a short story collection, Bad Kansas, which I read and loved. And so when I found this debut novel on Net Galley, I leapt at the chance to read and review it. Big thanks to Net Galley, and to Simon and Schuster. This book will be available to the public August 4, 2020.

Ariel and her mother, Mona have been estranged for six years. But when she finds a news item about her mother’s sanctuary having been torched, Ariel knows it’s time to go home, to see what has been lost and what can be saved.

The story is told from the third person omniscient, and we hear from three characters mostly. We start with Mona, whose stress levels have become nearly unbearable. She’s getting too old to do so much work, and she never has enough money. She has just one employee, working on site primarily for room and board. Perhaps this stress is part of what possesses her when she leaps in her truck in the dead of night to steal the neighbor’s Make America Great Again sign. She wrestles the great big thing into the bed of her pickup, and by now we can see that she is a tightly wound person whose impulse control is just a tiny fraction of what it should be.

Meanwhile, Ariel is concerned, not only about the fire, the sanctuary, and her mother, but also about her relationship. Her boyfriend, Dex—the third of the characters we hear from most-- proposes just as she has begun to fantasize about ending the relationship. As the story progresses, we can see that Ariel is the sort of person that runs from her problems, sometimes literally. She accepts the ring and then says she has to go home for the weekend, and no, he shouldn’t come with her. After all, she’ll be right back. Probably.

Mandelbaum does a brilliant job of building believable, nuanced characters and complicated relationships. Five percent of the way into my galley, my notes say, “This one is going to be a thinker.” And it is, in the best sense of the word. It isn’t a pretentious piece of writing by a long shot, and it isn’t full of florid descriptions or challenging vocabulary. Instead, we have characters that are dealing with thorny personal issues that have no obvious solutions. And my favorite aspect of it is the way the mother-daughter relationship, which is the heart of the novel, is framed. Mona has made a lot of mistakes in parenting Ariel, but she loves her daughter and is a good person. Ariel is still learning how to solve problems herself. There’s a trend in fiction writing right now to draw villainous mothers as the sources of protagonists’ problems. It’s close to becoming a cliché. Mandelbaum has steered clear of this canard and created something much deeper and more interesting. In fact, there are at least half a dozen stereotypes that she has dodged expertly. The fact that she has done this in her debut novel suggests that a great career is ahead.

I love the way she ends this story.

Don’t deprive yourself of this glorious novel. Highly recommended.

Ariel ran away from home when she was 18, away from her mother and the animal sanctuary where they live. She ran to the city, to try to find a life on her own. 6 years later, Ariel's friend shows her an article concerning a fire at the Bright Side Sanctuary. With the urging of her friend, Ariel finally works up the courage to go home, not knowing what she will find when she gets there. With little explanation to her perplexed fiance, Dex, Ariel packs and makes the drive home. But what will she find once she gets there? Can the hurt from the past be mended, or is Ariel facing an insurmountable task?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The hurts and fears faced by the characters in the story are presented well, often showing the complexity involved in trying to face your past and how decisions affect those around you. I don't tend to like the literary device of using multiple points of view in a story, but the author makes it work. It shows how different people can view the same thing in vastly different ways and how ignoring a seemingly small misunderstanding or hurt can grow into something that can be nearly impossible to overcome. The story also shows the power of love and forgiveness, especially of forgiving yourself.

Book Review:


I will start off by saying wowwww “The Bright Side Sanctuary of Animals” by Becky Mandelbaum is the kind of book you pick up and can’t put down. I was enthralled with every page of this book. If you are an animal lover you will fall in love with this book from the start. Be sure to have a box of tissues ready.

We watch as Mona Siskin steals a sign from her neighbors house which is politically related to the election of Trump and shortly after this The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals barn goes up in flames in St. Clare, Kansas. Mona is in the process of putting the sanctuary up for sale on top of all this.

This is a small town where anti-semitism and judgmental attitudes run rampant. Mona is Jewish and swatiskas are painted on the outside of one of the buildings and causes the death of a horse and her foal. Her neighbors brother Sydney is caught red handed in this destructive act.

Ariel finds out through her friend of the fire and returns to this small town after 6 years away to see if she can help her mother Mona with the sanctuary and possibly mend personal fences that might be irreparably damaged with her mother and includes those broken with her first love Gideon who works for her mom at the sanctuary.

Ariel ran away from home when she was 18 to go to college but life doesn’t always work out the way you think it might. She loves Gideon and her mom but once she is away in Lawrence, Kansas at KU and meets Dex time runs away from her and she begins to change. She just wants to have fun and learn new things about living and not from going to classes. This destroys her free ride to KU and as time goes on keeps her from talking to her mom and Gideon.

Now we have Dex whom she meets when she is away from school and lonely. Dex is hopelessly in love with Ariel but something in her does not allow her from completely allowing Dex all the way into her heart. Dex asks Ariel to marry him and she says yes but just doesn’t seem to show her love the way Dex does. Dex becomes fearful of losing Ariel because of this and she is his number one person. Does this fear of letting people in have something to do with her father leaving her mother when Ariel was a child? Or was it Ariels’s belief that her mother only had love for all the animals she had to take care of and no longer showed love to her husband and daughter?

Now we can’t forget the animals at the Sanctuary because they are the reason Mona works tirelessly to save, heal and try to eventually to find them their forever homes. This beautiful menagerie includes horses, donkeys, sheep, chickens, cats, dogs and more. They all share a place in Mona, Gideon and Ariel’s hearts.

Ms Mandelbsum has created a book with such depth and emotion through her exquisite writing abilities that she is able to get the reader to feel the raw emotions of each of her characters. I give this book 5/5 stars. There is so much more to this book but it’s now your turn to dive in and take this beautiful adventure at The Bird Side Sanctuary for Animals.

The story opened with an interesting premise. Someone who is an animal lover and liberal in a town that is mostly conservative. Throughout the book, i was interested in the relationship between humans and animals. And this book delivers on that.

It took me about two pages to bond with Mona. She loves animals and hates Trump. She is my kinda gal. Mona runs the Brightside Animal Sanctuary in a small town in western Kansas. She’s recently been hit by a hate crime - the burning of her barn and graffiti on the walls of other buildings. She’s been estranged from her daughter, Ariel, for six years. But when Ariel learns of the hate crimes and that Mona has put the sanctuary up for sale, she returns home.
The book made me realize my east coast prejudices. You mean there are actually liberals in Kansas?
None of the characters are perfect. Both Mona and Ariel make dumb mistakes that hurt the other. They have no idea how to communicate with each other and neither can really forgive. The book made me feel incredibly sad for these two hurting and hurtful souls.
At times, the book drags. But Mandlebaum has an ability to paint a scene so I could easily see it with my mind’s eye. She reminds us of all that animals have to teach us, if we would only pay attention.
My thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.

Ok, how can I not love a book about a pet rescue? How is that possible?

The main reason is that the two main characters were not likable. At least for me. The secondary characters were great, though. I would probably like to have read stories about them.

The secondary reason, how are animals not the main part of the story? These were such a small part of the book. And when mentioned, they were being mis-treated by the main characters or were living in filthy conditions, because the main character couldn’t keep up with the necessary cleaning and care, or they were dying. This was really frustrating to me and overshadowed the entire rest of the story.

Definitely not my favorite and if there was a second book (I don’t think there is), I would not read it.

Thank you #NetGalley for offering this book for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. When I first started it, it was strewn with political elements. I know Trump supporters would probably have been turned off from the very start.
I think it is an enjoyable story. My favorite element was that of the animals. My biggest struggle was that I just really didn't care about any of the characters. The story ended with a few unanswered questions. What happens to the animals? Does Ariel stay there?