Extraordinary. Touching. “The Bright Years” by Sarah Damoff is a multigenerational tale about a family wrestling with addictions and exposed secrets.

Ryan and Lillian Bright have a knock your socks off kind of love which they hope to translate into creating their own tiny family. Along the way they try choosing the best of bad options and finding the goodness in one another.

The book touches on how salvation isn’t erasure but a redistribution of pressure and that loss doesn’t negate it just like death doesn’t negate life. I love how the characters have lifelong friends to share their sorrows with and find artistic passions in photography to spot the bright places around them.

Told from each family member, the book reminds me of “Real Americans.” I love that it’s written by a social worker who has experience working with patients battling addictions.

Thanks @simonbooks and @sarahdamoff for the NetGalley ARC! Happy publication day!!!!

Did I expect to cry three times reading this? Damoff somehow managed to get me to really care for this family and my emotional attachment really snuck up on me. The characters and their flaws felt realistic and well explored. Alcoholism and addiction are at the core of the story and I appreciated how delicately different aspects of this were weaved in from loneliness to loss to shame. Damoff’s debut is a very strong one and I think it’ll impress people who like to get emotional and enjoy family dramas.

This is the kind of book that impresses you without even trying.

Ryan’s childhood is marked by abuse and addiction. His mother leaves his father while Ryan is still young, but the trauma lingers, shaping his adulthood. Lillian carries her own scars, but when she meets Ryan, something shifts. She lets herself feel a cautious kind of hope. A future starts to take shape: Ryan opens the art gallery he’s always dreamed of, and together they welcome their daughter, Georgette. It looks like happiness. And for a while, it is. Until the past inevitably catches up.

First off—the writing is fantastic. Every word feels intentional, yet the prose still flows with this quiet, lyrical ease. It's filled with beautiful phrases and quotes. Truly hard to believe this is a debut.

The characters feel so real and are impossible not to care about. The story unfolds through three POVs—Lillian’s, Georgette’s, and finally Ryan’s. I felt a little sad leaving each voice behind, but the narrative pulls you into the next one almost immediately. That said, Lillian was my favorite. There’s a quiet, steady strength in her that isn’t obvious at first —the way she loves Ryan so completely, and yet still chooses to step back, to protect herself and their daughter—it’s powerful.

The book tackles big themes—love, addiction, friendship, abortion, and more—and it does so with a kind of grace and emotional clarity that’s rare. Nothing feels forced or overly explained. It shows without telling, and it's emotional without getting too sentimental.

Personally, I’ve always enjoyed morally gray characters. But this book goes further—it invites you to understand the humanity behind addiction. It reminds you that strength and trauma can exist side by side, and that while love may not fix everything, forgiveness just might.

I'm not easily moved, but this caught me off guard by how deeply it made me feel. Easily one of the best debuts I’ve read - I can't recommend it enough.

Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster, NetGalley, and the author for the gifted ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. From the first two chapters, I could already tell I was reading a book that I would love. And that early impression was spot on.

One thing I really liked about this book is the way it was told from three different perspectives, and also told chronologically, but it didn't jump from perspective to perspective throughout. The entire first half of the book was told from Lillian's perspective (the wife/mother), then the next 35% is told from Georgette's perspective (the daughter), then the last 15% is told from Ryan's perspective (the husband/father). The fact that the author was able to do this while also telling the story chronologically was pretty unique. I don't usually see multi-perspective books told this way, but I thought it was a refreshing change.

This book has a scene (very early on, so I don't consider this a spoiler) in which Ryan, who is an alcoholic, throws a glass bottle that shatters against the wall (while he is drunk). The is the first time I can recall ever reading a scene in a book that so perfectly mirrored a scene from my childhood (my father was an alcoholic and smashed plenty of bottles over the years). It was wild to read something that so accurately depicted my experience, and it instantly made me feel connected to Lillian and Georgette, who were naturally the ones that suffered from his alcoholism. Even though these characters aren't real, it made me feel less alone in the things I experienced.

Because of this scene so early in the book, I expected to read a lot more about Ryan's addiction that mirrored what I saw in my father, but his addiction was not really addressed in detail very much from that point forward. While it was a plotline that carried on throughout the story, it was never delved deeply into, as I wish it had been. His alcoholism had such an impact on his wife, daughter, and mother - not to mention himself, that I wish we had been given more insight into his struggles, his attempts at recovery, etc. That said, this book covers approximately 40 years of this family's lives, so I understand why more time couldn't be given to that.

I really loved Lillian as a character. I loved who she was, the decisions she made, her relationships with her daughter, mother-in-law, and best friend. I loved that as a reader, we got to see "Jet" (Georgette) grow from a baby to a woman with a family of her own. I love that even though Ryan often felt like a peripheral character, we got to see his whole story as well. And while Elise (Ryan's mother) was not a main character, she was so important to the story and she may have been my favorite character of all.

This book brought me to tears multiple times (and it takes a lot to make me cry when reading). Despite its short length, there are a lot of topics that are tackled within its pages. This is the story of a family through their ups and downs and it felt so real to me, which is something that is so important to me in the books I read.

My one wish for this book is that it had been longer. I would have liked to have had even more depth into their stories and to read about more of their experiences as a family. That's certainly not a complaint. It's amazing to me that the book packed such an emotional punch with its short length, and the fact that I want even more of it actually speaks to how good it really was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up.

This was sad. I feel like I don't frequently read books involving alcoholism or substance abuse but decidedly we all know the signs and the path that that tends to take. I called that love story at the beginning so it was very satisfying.

A stunning debut novel that left me a blubbering mess at its conclusion. Four generations of family stories shared over decades of hardship, grief and cherishing love.

This story is a gut-punch, stealing your breath but the power to show-up, try again and holding on, even when its hard will uplift the reader.

I wholeheartedly loved this book - declaring it will be one of top reads of the year!

Named People Best New Books
Book of the Month '25 April add-on
April Favorite, staff picks Apple Books

Thank you, Simon Books

This book spans from 1958 to 2019 following Lillian, her husband Ryan and their baby girl, Jet. Lillian and Ryan are each hiding a big secret and when these secrets come to life, things unravel.

Wow. This was a stunning debut from this author and this book alone has made her an auto-read for me. The pacing of this story was perfect and I loved the different POVs throughout the span of the years. The writing was beautiful and the story was heart-wrenching. I had a personal tie to some of the subject matter, making this book feel extra emotional for me. Ryan's addiction was so realistic and Jet's reserved forgiveness of her dad felt so complicated, yet real. I can not stress enough how much I loved following the Brights, despite how dark their story's unraveling was.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I didn't know happiness could feel so sad. The Bright Years written by Sarah Damoff broke my heart and shredded it to pieces. I don't think I will ever be able to recover from this heart shattering novel. I had so many emotions while reading this beautiful yet gut wrenching story, it's a bit hard to describe, but I ugly sobbed, I laughed, I smiled, I was angry. The Bright Years was the BEST debut novel I have ever read. If you haven't read this book yet, please go do so immediately because you definitely won't want to miss out on having your heart broken, by the half way point I honestly lost count of how many times I was ugly sobbing. Despite how heart breaking this book was, there was so much love, compassion, and light shining through the pages. The Bright Years is a two hundred and eighty-eight page love story that is filled with triumphs and tragedies. The snot bubbles were bubbling. I have seen so many reviewers saying this book destroyed them, I can say it destroyed me too, but I don't think you can understand this type of pain until you read this book. The Bright Years will definitely hold a special place in my heart forever. Six decades of love, pain, joy, tragedies, and triumphs, what more could you want? Please do yourself a favor, if you haven't already go pick up this book immediately because I think it will become a favorite for so many people in 2025, I also wouldn't be surprised if this book makes it to the Goodreads challenge at the end of the year because it was just that damn good. I think my messy bun and tear stained face have seen better days, but while I was reading this book I was an ugly sobbing mess. I could go on and on about how much I absolutely loved this book, but I want other people to experience the pain that I felt while reading this heart stopping story.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND SIMON & SCHUSTER FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

TRIGGER WARNING'S
Alcoholism
Miscarriage
Death of a Parent
Emotional Abuse
Physical Abuse

"You don't have to be a baby to want your mom".

"Let's leave behind what we need to leave behind".

"Motherhood makes women ache for their moms".

"Hate is anemic when love hangs around like turpentine in the upholstery".

"Monsters are myths and men are complicated".

"I can love someone in a stranglehold with a disease, but I will NOT love a liar".

"Beginnings aren't blank canvases".

Grandma Elise:"A woman should always consider both fashion and comfort".

"Even the best parent can't replace the first parent".

The Bright Years begins in 1958 and continues through 2019 which is sixty-one years and four generations of one Texas family that have so many obstacles to overcome. The Bright family consists of Lillian, Ryan, and their daughter Georgette. Before Lillian Bright was a married woman and mama, she was a bare faced back teller who usually kept to herself. Lillian lost her mom to cancer and she lost her father to a T-boned accident caused by a drunk driver. Between 1973-1974, Lillian decides to get intimate with Zack Melendez who is a country singer that's always on the road. In 1974, Lillian gives birth to Zack's baby and gives the baby up for adoption, meanwhile Zack had no clue about Lillian's pregnancy nor about her placing their child up for adoption. During her days as a bank teller, Lillian meets Ryan because he's amazed by her beauty. In February 1982, Lillian and Ryan get married and become the Brights. During their newly wed years, Lillian gets pregnant again, but soon has a miscarriage. In 1986, Lillian gives birth to a baby girl, Georgette. Ryan Bright has dreamed of owning an art gallery as a very young child. Six months into their relationship, Ryan was the first one to say "I love you" to Lillian. In 1987, Ryan starts drinking alcohol, but insists he's not an alcoholic because he never wants to turn out like his abusive father. There were so many secrets between Ryan and Lillian.

Ryan becomes abusive one night after throwing a beer bottle at Lillian, he decides to move out and live a double life. Ryan chose alcohol over his own family, he's living a part time fatherhood, he shows up drunk to events and celebrations, but as the alcohol consumes his life, Ryan misses out on so much of his own daughter's childhood. Ryan and Lillian never filed for divorce despite living separate lives from each other. In 2000, Ryan becomes nine months sober. In 2001, Ryan continues to be twenty months sober and still lives in a separate apartment because he doesn't want to disappoint his wife and daughter. In 2001, Ryan re-proposes to Lillian on their daughters fifteenth birthday and the Fourth of July because he wants to make his family happy again, meanwhile they were never divorced. When Ryan picks up drinking again, he starts becoming emotionally abusive towards Georgette. In 2019, Ryan is five years, seven months, and two hundred and ninety one weeks sober. It was so hard to watch the Bright family crumble, but it was even harder not to celebrate their milestones despite everything they have been through. Throughout the years, the Brights story unspools, and their story is one of secrecy, denial, truths, revelations, many regrets, so much redemption, inheritances along the way, and the Bright family legacy. Despite their mistakes, the Bright family will forever hold a special place in my heart, I wish all of them the best of luck in this world. Excuses can't be made for abusers, but the growth Ryan did was truly inspiring in so many ways.

Georgette Bright is named after Lillian's mama and her middle name Elise is named after Ryan's mama and of course her nickname is Jet. It was so hard watching Georgette tackle her childhood with her part time father, but Georgette and Lillian were the best mother-daughter duo. During her childhood, Georgette gets a border collie mix, and of course she names him Stethoscope because she wants to be the best doctor in the world, this part was just the absolute cutest. in 2000, Georgette gets into photography just like her father. During her childhood years, Georgette earns the nickname "Curious Georgette" because she was always curious about everything and her favorite show was Curious George. Between the years of 2001 and 2002, Georgette moves in with her nana Elise because of some very terrible news. in 2009, Georgette gets a random email from someone named Davis Condie, well fast forward in 2009, Georgette and Davis decide to meet, these two are a mirror image of each other, Davis and Georgette are half siblings. In 2010, Georgette gets accepted into nursing school, YOU GO GIRL!!!!!! I absolutely loved watching Georgette grow up and become the young woman that she is, she never let anything deter her despite the rough childhood she had to endure, she was just a shining light. I know this is just a book, but I feel like the Bright family can be so inspiring to so many people. It's truly the hardest thing ever not to root for someone despite the mistakes they made along the way while trying to be better for themselves and those around them. Anything is possible if you put your best self, trust, and mind into it from the beginning.

This book was incredible. It is sure to be one of the top fiction books of 2025!

The Bright Years is a family saga told over 7 decades, from the perspective of three different generations. Ryan is the son of an alcoholic, and determined not to repeat the same patterns with his new wife, Lillian, and baby daughter, Jet. Lillian is facing her own demons at the same time, trying to come to terms with giving up a son for adoption many years ago. Eventually secrecy, addiction, and loss creep their way into the Bright family and shape how Jet grows up, and how she faces demons of her own as a young adult.

This book is full of heartbreak but also great love and the hope that generational cycles can be overcome. The storytelling was beautiful, weaving common themes through the perspective of each character as the Bright family's legacy is carried on through the years. A truly remarkable read!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

ARC Review!
Comes out 4.22.25

I have been in a family saga reading phase for a few weeks and this one has been my favorite by far. Sarah’s writing moved me to the point of literal tears, and the fact that it’s her debut novel is still blowing my mind! To put this book into an emoji: ❤️‍🩹

This month I’m celebrating 2 1/2 years of sobriety, and while my reason for quitting alcohol are not as intense as some situations this book, a lot of it still rang true for me personally.

To give you a general idea, I took this piece of the synopsis from the back cover:

“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. Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.”

This book ripped my heart out and put it back together all within its beautiful pages, honestly I haven’t had a good book cry like this in a long time, and mind you I just read the new Hunger Games prequel. The way the author shows the difficult balance of trying to love an addict and setting boundaries while trying to show them they’re not alone is incredible. I loved Lillian’s bravery to love someone but stand her ground in keeping her family safe, I was heartbroken for Georgette and her fear of people leaving her, and I struggled with how much I resonated with Ryan and his struggle to be the man he wants to be vs who he could be with help.

You could feel every characters heartache, self loathing, acceptance, forgiveness, hope and above else their love. Sarah, congratulations on this beautiful and powerful story, I cannot wait to see the big things you have in store for us readers.

I don’t even know how to describe the weight of this story without giving spoilers away, so just trust me when I say you won’t regret picking up this read! The Bright Years comes out TOMORROW!! I hope you all love this one as much as I do!

A solid five-star read for me.
I read this novel in one day. I couldn't put it down. Sarah Damoff wrote a beautiful story about grief; I could feel everything the characters were feeling. My tears kept flowing at the end of this novel.

The story about Lillian and her family blew me away. The story follows the family, the Brights, throughout their struggles with addiction, grief, anguish, trauma, and hope with different perspectives by parts (Lillian, Jet, and Ryan) throughout the book. Secrets come to light. This book covers some really heavy topics such as addiction, miscarriage, and death.

I would highly recommend The Bright Years. Do yourself a favor and read this one; you won't regret it!

Thank you to Simon and Shuster for gifting this novel to me!

This one comes out tomorrow and if you are a fan of family dramas, you are going to want to get your hands on this one.

Here’s yet another book I’ve read this year that I am shocked is a debut. Damoff’s writing is deeply emotional and eloquent with flushed out characters and a story that will rip your heart out and then put it back together again.

I really don’t want to give too much away with this one and really recommend you read it blind. I will say that you’re in with a real treat with multiple POV and dual timelines.

If you are a fan of Claire Lombardo, read this one!

4.5 stars

💔 Goodness, this one is a heartbreaker. There’s a lot of healing along the way too though. Thanks to @simonbooks for my #gifted ARC of this brilliant debut. It’s out tomorrow!

💔 This is a family drama told over generations that centers on the struggle with addiction. It shows the impact on not just the addict, but his family members as well.

💔 Much like addiction, this book is an emotional roller coaster! In less than 300 pages, it will have you swooning then smash your heart to bits only to start piecing it back together through forgiveness, effort, and hope.

💔 Lillian Bright is such a saint. While I appreciated her character so much, I also wanted to feel her frustration and anguish a little more. Maybe I’m projecting but if I was raising a kid alone I think there’d be some late night sob sessions or moments of real frustration and I wanted to feel that from her.

💔 All that to say, I could have stayed with these characters for even longer. The book was that good, and left me wanting even more.

💔 This also reads as a love letter to Fort Worth, Texas. Sundance Square, Old South, TCU, the Trinity, Kincaid’s, Braum’s— it’s all in there! If you’ve spent time in FW, you’ll get a kick out of all the references. I can’t believe I didn’t take my copy when we went last week. 🤦🏼‍♀️

💔 If you love a good character-driven family drama, I definitely recommend this. Again, it’s out tomorrow. Congrats to @sarahdamoff and a wonderful debut!

My five star reads have been few & far between this year and I’m happy to report The Bright Years is a new addition to the club.

The Bright Years is the story of a family, drawn together then torn apart by major, long-held secrets. Set in Texas, it’s a multigenerational family drama, with characters who felt authentic and faced real challenges. I liked the Bright family. Even when I didn’t agree with their choices, I was rooting for Lillian, Ryan, and Georgette.

I didn’t see everything coming in this story and I really enjoyed the journey, blinking back tears on a flight home as I finished it.

Oh my goodness, The Bright Years is such a phenomenal debut! I fell so deeply in love with these characters and then they broke my heart into a million pieces. The prose is so lovely, I could have read many more pages. This is such a well-written family drama, I can’t wait to see what Sarah Damoff does next.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Still digesting this one as I wipe the tears from my eyes. What a genuine and difficult depiction of alcoholism, that was handled with care. I would not be surprised if the author has firsthand experience with this as I think any reader who has loved someone with alcoholism would resonate with the arc of this story.

The writing here was a triumph, with many sentences reading like lines of poetry. I also loved how the prose was tailored to the character narrating the story, so the reader could clearly tell the difference in the generational differences in narrator perspectives. I am shocked this is a debut.

This story really moved me and made me quite emotional in the final few chapters. I was not expecting this and it was further proof as to how connected to the story and these characters I became in under 300 pages. This was a sweeping and ambitious novel but it managed to hit all the right notes for me in a short amount of time. I am truly impressed by what the author has done here in a shorter novel and I think this is a testament to her skill as a writer. The characters are vivid, humerus, lovable and flawed.

I think this book will be a favorite for many readers this year. I eagerly look forward to the future of Damoff’s writing career.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I am not sure why but this book did not work for me. However, as I always say when I don't like a book, just because I did not like the book, it doesn't mean that someone else won't like it. It also doesn't necessarily mean that I may not like another book by the same author. Or even that I may not like the book if I try it again in the future...

The Bright Years is a strong debut novel by Sarah Damoff told in three parts. Georgette "Jet" Bright is the daughter of Ryan and Lillian who have a sweet love story, with both of them hiding secrets from one another. Ryan and his mother fled his abusive, alcoholic dad and Ryan vows (and fails) to not fall into the same behavior his father exhibited. Lillian gave up a child for adoption when she was a teenage mother and does not disclose this to Ryan. Jet grows up resenting her parents in many ways and is raised by her grandmother. As each character's life is fleshed out in the three sections, emotions are heightened, and the reader understands the reasons behind characters' actions. Lillian's first child Davis enters the picture in hopes of learning more about his birth mother. There is a lot of family drama and complex emotions in this one which are ultimately quite satisfying.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for gifting me a digital ARC of this fabulous debut novel by Sarah Damoff. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 bright stars!

This is the story of Ryan and Lillian - how they met, their marriage, their new family, their friends, and their secrets. We follow them through the years, through the happiness and sorrow.

I'm still gasping from this book. This will undoubtedly be one of my top favorites of the year - and it's a debut novel! I can't stop thinking about these characters - not only the mains, but all the characters and their stories. I think it's best gone in to blind to experience all the emotions as you read, so I'm keeping my synopsis and review short. Told from three different viewpoints, it's honest, beautiful, hopeful, painful - just like life. I was sorry it was over but felt so privileged to read it. An absolute must read - don't miss it.

This is a must read for everyone - do yourself a favor and add it to your TBR. Make sure you have the tissues ready though. A beautifully written story that will completely break your heart - touching on tragedy, addiction, loss, and the ever complicated family dynamics. 4 generations, told from different points of view, this book displays family life and how decisions can impact generations to come. I loved the writing and flew through this book (read it in a few hours) and was disappointed when it ended. I loved how realistic this book felt - the characters had their flaws and issues (some bigger than others!) but they all cared for one another and did their best to support each other. There was a lot of trauma and a lot of love felt throughout the chapters which flowed seamlessly. I truly loved this book and think everyone should pick it up.

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.