God, what an incredible book. It tore me apart, lulled me back together, then tore me apart again. Beautifully crafted, it told the story of Lillian, Ryan, and Jet in such an engaging way—largely chronologically, but occasionally jumping back in time to fill in details of one’s childhood. I often feel in reading a book where the POV changes partway through that I’m having the rug pulled out from under me just as it’s getting good, and I felt that way here. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Lillian’s POV, but I understand why the change needed to happen. Every choice in the book was so fully realized within the story. What a truly divine book.

Thank you to Sarah Damoff, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley for this arc of The Bright Years out April 22, 2025!

📜Quick Summary: When we first meet Ryan, he’s a young little boy, living with his mom and dad. He has little understanding of the world around him, but doesn’t understand the depth of what he’s witnessing. Bruises line his mother’s face, and he compares them to the drawing of night that he’s creating. Flash forward to his adult life, and he meets Lillian. The story follows their adult life, marriage, and daughter Georgette. Secrets are kept, lies are told, and things just aren’t what they seem.

❣️Initial Feels: After only 15% in in the book, I know I will not be able to put this down. I am in deep with these people I just met and my heart is breaking.

👀Trigger Warnings: alcoholism, depression, physical abuse, miscarriages, loss of parent

📖Read if you want: family centered drama, different point of views, first loves, regrets, secrets, tragedy

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: Jet and Nana get my vote this time around but oh boy, every character will hold a piece of my heart. Nana is such a strong character, that loved so deeply I felt it through the pages. Georgette, or Jet, endured so much as a child….SO much… and watching her grow up in this novel was so moving. Jet became her own person, and developed a strength that everyone will admire.

🗨️Touching Words:

💡Final Sentiments: I cannot believe this is a debut novel! The writing is so well executed, she carries her voice so elegantly throughout the novel and covers such heavy topics. (She has a note prior to the start of the novel regarding the topics in the novel.)This book will weigh heavy on your heart and mind. The resilience of a child that’s been through trauma is astounding…and the author detailed all these trials very well. There are many trigger warnings and sadly, I feel we may all have a way to relate to one of these characters. This novel will make you laugh, make you cry, make you question things that maybe you have experienced, and it will touch you in so many ways.

🌟Overall Rating: 5 stars

This novel was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I am bereft. A puddle of emotions.

I was not prepared for the actual rollercoaster of feelings through these generations, from giggling and kicking my feet to immense anger to uncontrollable sobbing. For me, as someone born the same year as Georgette, with parents born the same year as Ryan and Lillian, the nostalgia of this story was overwhelming. And while of course my life has not taken the same turns, the themes will resonate with anyone.

If you liked Hello Beautiful, then this is definitely for you. It’s a very different story, but the vibes are the same. And I mean that as the highest compliment. 5 stars.

Thank you to Net Galley for a free ebook in exchange for this honest review.

Thanks go to Simon & Schuster for sharing "The Bright Years" with me.

I read "The Bright Years" over the course of one evening. I hadn't planned to, I would put it down for the night, think about the characters, what was going to happen next, pick it back up, read more, next thing I know I'm closing my iPad, and it's 4 AM. This is the sign of a great book, staying up all night to finish it.

What a debut for author Sarah Damoff!

Damoff's characters are true to life. As you read along y0u will feel all the feelings- joy, sadness, disappointment, anger, all shaded with a modicum of grace for the very human struggles we and our loved ones go through, There were times I wanted to shake sense into Lillian, Ryan and Jet yelling "What are you doing? Knock it off! " but as many of us know from our own life experiences, trying to "knock sense" into someone seldom works.

This book! Oy is it good.

I loved this story so much. The beginning started with a nod to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, one of my favorites, and went uphill from there. The battle for sobriety and life change while trying to parent is exhausting and seemingly impossible. Damoff does an incredible job of describing these battles alongside even more impossibly death after death. While this isn’t an easy, fluff piece, this is a book filled with beauty and goodness. It’s a novel that will make you cry and laugh and beg the characters to seek help. Incredible debut, so very grateful for the opportunity to read advanced.

I'm glad that I kicked my 2025 reading year off with The Bright Years.

This family-centered drama checks all of the boxes if you enjoy relationships, love, demons, and secrets.

Sarah Damoff's debut novel follows 4 generations of the Brighton-Wright family, uses three POVs, and spans nearly 50 years. We are treated to young love, lasting love, unrequited love, undying love, and family secrets. We are shown how alcoholism can tear a family apart, at first unknowingly and not skipping a generation. We read about forgiveness and are shown the powerful love of a grandmother and also of friends.

If you are a reader who enjoys reading about family dynamics, their idiosyncrasies, and their relationships, be on the look out for this debut's arrival expected April 22. Kudos to Sarah Damoff for producing such an engrossing debut. Thank you, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster, for this engaging DRC.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC for review. This was both a beautiful and heart-breaking novel as it describes four generations of a family experiencing the effects of alcohol abuse. This can be difficult for some to read with a history of alcohol abuse, addiction, spousal abuse, but this book really highlighted how alcohol addiction can affect families. It is genetic and no matter how much some people try to avoid it, life can push some people away from alcohol and others towards it. This book shows how you can still love someone and how secrets and betrayals can drive them away.

This was absolutely lovely to read. It pulled at every heartstring and it was hard to root for characters, while actively rooting against them. Highly recommend this emotional, beautiful, generational story.

An amazing debut. A beautiful and heartbreaking story told from multiple POVs. Some rough edges but I expect the author will grow with subsequent works.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Shuster for the ARC! This debut was really beautiful and well done. I enjoyed reading each POV and felt like each of the characters were well developed, which is important since it’s so character-driven.

The story itself is so heartbreaking, and I appreciated the emotional depth Damoff developed. I feel like I got to know each character intimately which I loved. I will say I didn’t find the story to be particularly groundbreaking but I did like how Damoff explores grief, love, and family.

I did find parts of it to be cheesy/predictable, and sometimes I found that Lillian/Jet/Ryan’s POVs sounded like the same person. But that didn’t make me dislike the book!

I think this one is going to be super popular in 2025 and for good reason!

Wow. My favorite book of the year…what a way to debut. I loved everything about this book and am so excited for this author and everything she creates in the future.
I love all things addiction/recovery, family complexities/generational trauma, multi-pov/timelines - so basically this book hit all of those in the most beautiful way. Thank you NetGalley!!!

This four-generational novel truly is the best book I have read all year. When I read the summary of it beforehand, I was intrigued by the storyline and knew I wanted to know more. However, I was not prepared for how this book would grip me throughout its entirety.

The book starts out with the main characters, Lillian and Ryan, and their whirlwind romance. They each have come from a troubled home/past, which also becomes part of their future marriage. The family secrets threaten to bring down, not only their marriage and relationship but affects the generations that follow.

This book was an easy read. The characters flowed smoothly into each other and I never had to go back and search for the connection of one character to another. The characters' thoughts were real; to the point that I found myself nodding my head as if I knew how they must have felt.

What also made this read an exceptional one was you felt that you actually KNEW these characters. I felt their pain, their joys, their reactions to the environment they were part of, the decisions they made.

Having said this, this was not a book of "fluff". The feelings and reactions were real. The romances were honest and thought-provoking. I even found myself understanding more how an individual with the same issues would become as they had.

When I finished this book, it was like losing a good friend. Moreover, FRIENDS. I honestly hated to say goodbye.

I highly recommend this book!

I’m a big fan of family-centered dramas, and authors like Ann Napolitano, Nathan Hill, and Claire Lombardo consistently excel in bringing these stories to life. These narratives may appear simple at first glance—following the arc of an average American family through decades of milestones: weddings, children, college, and ultimately, the inevitable death, but they are anything but ordinary.

The Bright Years, the debut novel by Sarah Damoff, is a shining addition to this genre. Spanning from the 1970s to 2019, the story begins with Ryan and his mother escaping her abusive husband. From there, it weaves through four decades, tracing Ryan and Lillian’s journey of love in Texas, layered with family secrets under the rouse of alcoholism.

The novel alternates between three perspectives: Lillian, their daughter Jet, and Ryan. The storytelling is brisk yet deeply emotional, exploring themes like Lillian’s haunting decision to place a child for adoption long before meeting Ryan, and Ryan’s battle with alcoholism and depression, mirroring his father’s struggles. These complexities bring the Bright family to vivid life, making their joys and heartbreaks feel profoundly real.

I found myself crying, laughing, and cheering for this family as their story unfolded. Side characters, like Ryan’s resilient mother, add depth and impact, enhancing the narrative in surprising ways.

Don’t miss this remarkable book—it’s sure to make waves when it releases in April of 2025!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced reader copy.

I kept coming back to this novel because the description--One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga--and the author comp to Claire Lombardo made me want to like this book. Damoff's writing is smooth and literary, but there was something that kept me from connecting with either of the characters enough to care about what was going to happen to them. I guess I'm just not the reader for this one.

What a remarkable debut novel! It moved me to tears, evoking both sadness and joy. The narrative addresses several challenging topics, including alcohol addiction and its impact on families, often reverberating through generations. It also delves into the complexities of adoption, revealing the secrets that surface when families seek to reconnect with their birth parents. "The Bright Years" by Sarah Dimoff is narrated from three distinct perspectives, allowing me to witness the love, heartache, growth, and joy within a struggling family. If you enjoy family dramas, this book should be at the top of your reading list.

I am giving this 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I can really really respect the author's life experiences and work as a social worker that led her to write this book. And I think there will be a large audience that loves the smoothed edges of this one.
But that being said, my experiences with alcoholism are so close and so personal that much of this story felt disconnected and just that -- a story. Which is fine if you are reading for entertainment but if you are reading for a real look at some of the issues included then this might not be it.
I did find all the characters very likable and the thread about forgiveness very heartwarming. Cliche? Maybe a bit. But still worth the read.

Such a beautifully written debut novel!

Ryan and Lillian Bright’s marriage is built on love but burdened by secrets—Lillian’s hidden son and Ryan’s struggle with alcohol. Their daughter, Georgette, grows up watching their union unravel.

After tragedy splinters the family, Georgette distances herself from her past. Years later, Lillian’s son seeks his birth family, forcing Georgette to confront her roots, uncover buried truths, and decide if she can embrace love again.

Told through three intimate perspectives, The Bright Years is a heartfelt story of family, tragedy, and love across generations.

This book was flawless in every way. The writing was beautiful, and the story lingers long after the final page. I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future!

Enjoyed this book- 5 stars. Well written, poignant- yet devastating. I had tears in my eyes the last HALF of the book!
A perfectly told
Story how a family can love yet cause pain simultaneously. Will be ordering for my library and suggesting to many of my patrons

A character driven, family drama that’s depiction of grief, addiction, generational trauma, and life leaves you feeling raw, seen, and empathetic to the human experience.

Told in three point of views, The Bright Years explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy, addiction, and choice but, over time, restored by the power of love and the grace we choose to bestow on those we love.

I really enjoyed this read. It speaks to the author’s writing (and experience given the author’s note) that I could feel so much in less than 300 pages. This book felt so real and so human and so accessible. It made me question my own bias around addiction and what I would do in situations these characters faced. It is approachable, honest, and filled with so many thought provoking moments.

Lillian’s pov was the strongest and immediately grabbed me. I felt for her, was protective of her, and truly felt like I was on this journey alongside her. Ryan and Jet also offer up great perspective, but Lillian stole the show for me. She is a character that will stay with me.

I appreciate the premise and overall execution of the book. I wish the author gave a bit more space (pages) to the more intense moments and deaths. So basically I’m wishing this book had about 50 more pages and I got to stay worth these characters longer! 😅 But regardless, I found the ending to be fitting and honest and this to be a great debut from start to finish.

READ FOR
- Character Driven Reads
- Family Drama
- Grief, Addiction, Healing, Forgiveness
- Multiple POVs & Timelines

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my free electronic advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review

A solid debut that spans generations and told from three different points of view from a family dealing with addiction and its effect on generations.A lot happens in this and some parts were better written than others. Historical events were infused into the story which was fun. I think this will appeal to a wide audience of readers.