Wow! What can I say about this book...as always Sawyer Bennett brings all the feels. I love the different characters and how they each bring a fault to the story. This is a story about different characters and how they are all connected. Loved it!

Omg such a great book by sawyer bennett! Highly reccomend

Beautiful story!!! Sawyer absolutely blew me away with this book!! The writing was superb and the story was breathtaking!! What a journey!!! Everyone needs to experience this book! Mind blown!!!

This is a great story that tells of the travels of a group of misfit people with different troubles in their lives. This is a poignant look into the life of a troubled.vet that was injured in his tour of duty. He felt anger becuse his injuries made him lose his fiance and his family. The story is toldfrom his point of view but the other characters are just a important. This is a great bookto read but way different than all other Sawyer Bennett books.

OMG!! This book is so good! I've read several other books from Sawyer Bennett and I always enjoy them, but this one was so different from what she usually writes. This story is about four people who have been through a lot and continue to go through a lot. They meet in a support group. Matthew is an angry amputee that is pissed off at the world. Jillian, who is losing her eye sight and has a heart condition, but she's very optimistic. Connor, a seventeen year old who is dying. And Barb, who is a goth chick that doesn't want to be alive. They all go on a road trip together because Connor has a bucket list and the group is going to help him complete it. They journey this group grows on is very emotional and moving. I loved this book. I will definitely be recommending it to everyone.

**Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

"The Hard Truth About Sunshine" is written by Sawyer Bennett, and it is a stand-alone book. This book is different from Sawyer's other work, and it stands out for all the right reasons.

I'm not going to be detailed in my review because you honestly just need to read it. This story is powerful, raw, beautiful, and bittersweet. It's told through Christopher Barlow's POV.

Christopher is a bitter, angry disabled veteran. His parents and girlfriend made excuses not to visit him while he was recovering from an IED explosion. He's mad at everything and everyone. He meets Jillian, Connor, and Barb in a support group. Each of them deal with their own problems and struggles. He doesn't like being in this group, but he finds himself on a cross-country roadtrip several weeks later with them.

So even though Christopher has a set plan on where they will go for the group's roadtrip, he finds himself giving in and doing detours. While doing so, Christopher starts to re-evaluate things. Maybe everything is not as negative and angry as it seems to be for him. Just maybe.. he can find a little bit of sunshine in his life.

Simply put, "The Hard Truth About Sunshine" is a must read for everyone! Sawyer Bennett outdid herself. I've read a lot of books over the years, and I can honestly say this is one of my favorite books that I've ever read. The ending made me cry. This is just a heartfelt, poignant book.

Told from Christopher Barlow's point of view. He's a former marine who was injured during his second tour to Afghanistan. He lost his right leg and two fingers from his right hand. After his surgeries, he held so much anger and assaulted someone, but he had a choice between prison or therapy. During therapy is when he meets the most unlikely group of people. Connor, a teenager who is dying from a terminal form of cancer. Jillian, a young bright girl who's losing her eyesight and has a weak heart. Barb, a young, goth described girl who has tried killing herself.

Connor has a bucket list, and the four individuals set off on a trip across the country. Along the way, they bond and transform from four individuals, to a closer knit group of friends filled with compassion.

This journey truly draws in the reader to relate and bond with each character. By the end, you feel like you were in the car with them, listening to their stories and hardships, and you want the best for all of them. By the end, you're so attached that you can't help feeling quite emotional.

This story is quite different from other Sawyer Bennett stories, but it's still amazing! The acknowledgements at the end truly helped me appreciate the reason why she wrote this story. Congrats on a fantastic story!

WOW! Tears streaming down my face "WOW!" I didn't really know what to expect from this book beyond it being a departure for Sawyer Bennett. Take the leap if you're not sure. This read is quick, engaging, and hits all the notes. I wish that I could give more stars!

Well Sawyer Bennett you done did it now! That story touched my heart in a way that no story has ever done before. It was emotional, it was sad, it was hard to read at times (because my heart was breaking for Christopher, Jillian, Barb, and Connor), it was amazing. I love that this story was told...sometimes we need the ugly truth about things. It was a very brave move to write such and emotionally heartbreaking and draining story.
I think everyone should read this book! It shows people at very low points in their life and it shows you how they cope with the hand that life dealt them. It's about life, love, hardships and struggles, it's about loss, but ultimately it's about the hard truth about sunshine.

Absolutely loved this book. Took me on a roller coaster ride! Perfectly executed and I ugly cried for a solid hour afterwards!

QueenZany 5 Star Review
The Hard Truth About Sunshine 
Sawyer Bennett
The Hard Truth About Sunshine is such a heart gaping full of emotions book!
So not your typical Sawyer Bennett book, which in itself show her power in writing! By taking you on a hypnotic read. One that will sear your mind, burying you with it touch and reveling in its flame. Just the swirls of the mix of characters and plots will have you simmering with need for more. More of everything! That perfect amount of fire, that blows embers into fire and to dust!
Searing you by the heat and lighting you up from within!! Powerful!

This is not your usual Sawyer Bennett story. It is more about love, loss, pain and overcoming fear. It is heartbreaking and will leave you in tears.
Christopher is trying to just survive after almost losing his life in the war. And now he is having to go to therapy to escape jail time. In therapy he meets Jillian, a beautiful blonde who is going blind. Barb is a goth looking girl, trying to escape the abuse she has been dealing with for years. And Connor is the teen that has terminal cancer and doesn’t have long to live.
So the group leader sends the four out on a trip to help Connor to mark off some things on his bucket list. They will learn to trust one another, depend on each other and to become a family.
This story will rip your heart out, so have plenty of Kleenex handy but please read this story, it is well worth it.
I think a lot of people, especially our military personnel suffer from PTSD or some form of depression. As do a lot of others, and sometimes when you can’t ask for help from a professional, you find help in a stranger (that becomes a friend) and the sunshine shines through them.
This story was born after Sawyer met a Marine at an airport, who was a victim of war, when she approached to thank him for his service, he was angry.  I am the daughter of a Marine and I too try to thank each veteran and service member I see for their service. They deserve all the help we can give them and then some because they should never be left to feel alone or angry for serving our country. All I can say is “Semper Fi”
**Copy provide by the author and this is my honest review**

Wow... just wow. Sawyer wrote something so different... so drastically different than we have seen prior... something so poignant for what those who have served, those who have suffered, those who have faced unsurmountable odds and have come out stronger...

This was such a tale of hope... hope that life would get better... hope that even in the dark, there is light... hope that even those that think they are broken beyond repair, can rebuild.

As someone who lost a loved one to cancer, this touched me deeply.
As someone who lost a loved one who had served his country, only to commit suicide, this spoke to me.
As someone who has had those I care about abused, this broke my heart all over.
As someone who has family dealing with an incurable disease, this made finding a cure all the more important.

Sawyer wove this story with such grace, empathy, and hope. She gave us the read we didn't know we needed. So thank you Sawyer, for reaching such an emotional level with me, at a time I really needed it.

Get your tissues ready before reading this book.  The Hard Truth about Sunshine is Sawyer Bennett’s latest release.  I will say it is very different from other books that she has written. The story is very well written.  This is an in-depth story of four people, each with issues of their own.  They are taking a cross country trip during which they each learn to respect and love each other.
This is a story that will have you delving into yourself and how you live your own life and how you look at the people and things in your life.  
Thank you, Ms. Bennett for another well written thought provoking book.
I was gifted with a copy of this book for an honest review.
Thank you for reading my review.

4.5 Sunshine stars

This was a book that pulled on a number of emotions for me, given the perceived storyline.

Told entirely from medically retired Marine, Christopher Barlow’s POV. Following an assault conviction, he takes the option to attend group therapy, rather than go to jail. 

Christopher is aggrieved resulting from his substantial injuries he endured when his tank rolled over a live IED device. Having watched the immediate obliteration of his friend, undergoing 13 months of hospital and rehabilitation for the loss of his leg, along with severe damage to his arm and hand, and feeling totally deserted by his family and girlfriend at the time, resulted in a shadow of a man disenchanted with every aspect of his life.

Reluctant attendance at the group therapy introduced Christopher to 3 other characters that each had life changing issues to comprehend. The assigned therapist, Mags, suggested ideas for the group to bond, and a road trip is kicked off.

What starts off as pure reluctance and indifference for Christopher, becomes a trip designed to fulfil the young Connor’s bucket list. Each character slowly opens up to each other, sharing their experiences, concerns, and inner most thoughts, whilst tracking across America.

The sensitive subjects encountered are handled with understanding, sympathy and a barrel load of humour.

Sawyer has jumped right out of her perceived box, and succeeded in producing a captivating story. I’m not sure I would have chosen to pick up this book, given the storyline, but I would have missed out completely, and am thrilled to experience another side to this very talented author.

Complimentary copy received from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: ARC received in exchange for an honest review

Sawyer Bennett's latest novel, The Hard Truth About Sunshine, is quite a departure from her normal fare. More contemporary fiction than romance, this is a story of life, loss, and love. Told from the male perspective of protagonist and wounded ex-marine, Christopher Barlow, The Hard Truth About Sunshine provides a profoundly different perspective on armed service, PTSD, grief, abandonment, and sacrifice. 

In many ways, this story reads like a John Green novel for a slightly older demographic. It has all of the right ingredients: a quirkily mismatched cast of characters; a road trip; a terminally ill character; a character battling depression and mental illness; and that one plucky character that radiates such irrefutable sunshine and optimism both you the reader and the object of said character's affection can't help but be inspired and changed. 

Although Christopher reduces his grief group companions to cliches, Bennett never does. Because she doesn't resort to platitudes or didactic drivel, Bennett transcends the burden that comes with writing about heavy, difficult, and ugly subjects. Through the character of Jillian, Bennett gives the reader a healthy dose of perspective and imparts some hard-learned lessons without being saccharin sweet or self-righteous. 

There's a lot of fundamentally bittersweet insight packed into these pages -- some wisdom that is foreign in concept and some truths that are familiar but maybe forgotten. But truly, this is a story that is going to stick with you for an indeterminable amount of time. It's going to niggle at the back of your brain because the depth and intensity won't be easily forgotten. Bennett writes deftly, with such sincerity and sympathy, and imbues this cast of characters with such wisdom, humanity, grace, and heart that the reader can't help but be affected by their journeys.

Heartbreakingly profound.

Wow - just wow!!  I haven't been this moved about a book in a long time.  As Sawyer Bennett has said - this is a complete departure from her normal style of writing.  And the dedication and reasoning behind the book - make sure to read the acknowledgments - added even more depth to the story.

This won't be an easy story to read for some - definitely dealing with difficult subject matter - sexual abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, death/dying, and the consequences of war.  But it is so worth taking the time.

You will definitely grow to care about these characters in the same way they grow to care about each other.  This one really makes you think and may change your perspective on some of these difficult subjects.

"Each one of us hates our life.  It's a burden to us.  It's unfair.  It's nothing but misery and torment, and we're pissed we're the ones who have to suffer it.  Maybe not to the same degree, and not for the same reasons, but it's the absolute tie that binds every one of us". 

Give this book a try - you won't regret it and maybe you'll be able to better understand the hard truth about sunshine!

The Hard Truth About Sunshine feels like the most real romance story that I have read in a really long time and this book simply absorbed me from start to finish. 

This book was moving, it was heartbreaking and so very emotional but on the flip side it was also a very hopeful story. The Hard Truth About Sunshine brings us four individuals who meet during group therapy and all of whom are struggling to grapple with physical and emotional traumas. Each character was multi faceted and Sawyer Bennett does a wonderful job of portraying all their layers. 

This story really moved me and I would 100% recommend this book!

I was provided with a copy of this book from the Publisher via NetGalley; there was no inducement or obligation.

I have read all of Sawyer Bennett’s books and as she states, "The Hard Truth About Sunshine” is a complete departure from her others.

I am always amazed at her writing and vision. From a personal encounter with a veteran in an airport she gives us a wonderful story.

It's rare that a book leaves me thinking about it once I've finished, but I had a book hangover for several days.

The Hard Truth About Sunshine introduces us to 4 individuals taking a road trip after meeting each other in a support therapy group.

Christopher is our protagonist who has been injured in Afghanistan and has been mandated to the support group or go to jail for 45 days due to anger management issues. If he goes on the road trip for a week he can get out of the final 6 weeks of the 12-week therapy group.

The other members of the group include Jillian who has a disease that causes progressive blindness. Connor, who is dying of cancer. And Goth chic - Barb who is angry at the world and suicidal after experiencing abuse as a child.

Each hates their lives for different reasons, but they form a beautiful relationship that includes love, heartbreak and insight into each of their issues.

I savored every word, so beautifully written. If you are a little hesitant to read this, as it isn’t Sawyer’s normal genre, please don’t. Download it today, as it is an amazing book and should not be missed.

An advanced copy was provided by NetGalley.

As many others have stated in their reviews, this is NOT your typical Sawyer Bennett book. But it is the most heart wrenching, heartwarming, poignant book she has written so far.  Interestingly, though the subject matter is hard to deal with, I did not cry until I read her acknowledgements and her story about why she had to write this book.  Other reviews will let potential readers know the subject matter, but I really just want to talk about how much this book moved me.  The category of this book definitely had a NA theme, and I am so far removed from that age, that I don't often feel engaged in the storyline of those books.  Because this is a Sawyer Bennett book and I am such a huge fan of her writing and her books, I wanted to read it and I am so glad I did.  She conveyed just the right amount of sentiment for each character so that I could imagine each one clearly in my mind. I knew what they looked like, how they felt and what they were going through.  To me this is the what makes a great author, at least in my opinion, as she writes characters who become so real to me.  Once again Sawyer Bennett has given us a book that once you read, you will think about for a long time.  Thank you Ms.Bennett and keep writing please!