I was interested in this book because I grew up in Kansas and I love books with animals. Well - the Kansas in the book was nothing like the suburbs of Kansas City where I grew up and the sanctuary wasn't at all what I expected. The worst part was the political negativism thrown in throughout the book that served no purpose to the story I could see - don't we get enough of that in the news every day? I was beginning to wish I hadn't started reading this book - but I never abandon a book so I kept reading.

I had no respect for Ariel. How she could have no contact with her Mother for 6 YEARS was just incomprehensible to me! And she treated Gideon so shabbily - only to repeat that pattern with Dex. (Why Dex remained devoted to her I have no idea). As for Mona - she thinks she's doing good - and in some ways she is - but she thinks only of herself. Not her husband who she obviously loved but drove away, and not her daughter who she seemed to want only as a worker at the sanctuary.

I liked the stories about the animals and the overall book was ok. Just not at all what I expected.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley. This is a heartwarming family story set in a animal sanctuary in Kansas. Ariel has to return home to her Mother's animal sanctuary amid its financial ruin and racist attacks. As Ariel proceeds to say and help her Mother to restore the sanctuary family bonds are once again established.

This is a nice story and the added bonus of a animal sanctuary setting is endearing. I like the charcters and how the author writes of family ties and blessings of a family. A very sweet story.

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!

This book comes with a familiar premise: "You can never go home again". A young woman decides to return home after a long, unexplained absence to help her mother with her struggling animal sanctuary.
With fully engaging characters, this novel sucks you in, builds up some major tension on several different fronts, and then, unfortunately, leaves you hanging in the end. Maybe we're only supposed to be concerned about the big picture here, but it really just feels like it's unfinished.

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.

Mona runs the Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals, but it is on the market because she can no longer pay the bills. Her daughter, Ariel, left home six years earlier and hasn’t returned. When Ariel learns that her mother is the victim of hate crimes and is losing the sanctuary, she returns home to confront her demons and perhaps help her mother figure out what to do next.

Both main characters can seem stereotypic and perhaps they are. In the end, however, they become more than just stereotypes, they become the kind of people most of us want to be.

This book is about love, animals, family, old hurts and anger, redemption. Yes, it has all that, and readers may find even more if they can get beyond the introductory chapters.

If you like flawed characters, one of whom is also eccentric, who can still forgive and love, a storyline that doesn’t quite end, and lots of animals abandoned and saved, you will love this book. It deserves to be near, or at, the top of your to-be-read list.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an eARC.

3.5 stars. Very good story but the character development seemed inconsistent. It also finished with lots of loose ends which was a disappointment after the story had unraveled so nicely. Thank you to Netgalley for an unedited copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

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.