Ryan and Lillian Bright met in a library and immediately had a connection. That meeting becomes hours of walking and talking, which turns into marriage. Her parents are dead and his mother left Ryan’s father because he was an abusive alcoholic. Ryan, in an effort not to become like his dad, never drinks. But Ryan and Lillian are both keeping secrets that threaten to shatter their marriage and everything they are trying to build together.

The story follows Ryan and Lillian, as well as their daughter Georgette, as they try to navigate a life filled with love and tragedy. It asks the question of how a family can move on after loss and examines the effects of alcoholism and grief.

Trigger Warnings
Death of a parent, abuse, alcoholism, miscarriage, adoption

Why Jackie loves it
This is a beautifully written book that shows the multigenerational trauma associated with alcoholism. The beginning of the book moves back and forth between the 80s and the 70s which I found a bit disorienting at first, but as the story progressed, I was drawn to the characters, hoping they would find peace and happiness. The story is filled with loss and felt real to me. It is emotionally moving, and you will need to sit with your emotions. But it is a powerful family saga that will stay with you. Gifted by Simon and Schuster Audio

For about 30% of this book, I was thinking it was one that was going to build to nothing but be one I enjoyed anyway, because the writing and characters were hitting.

But the last 45% of the book was like being attacked in the best way possible. I didn’t know what to expect after a plot trigger point and it was all the things. Like simultaneously being gut punched and also bear hugged. I loved this book and stayed up until 1 on a school night to finish.

Appreciate the care the author took in writing about alcoholism and the conflicting feelings that come with loving an alcoholic.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review, book publishes 4/22

Little did I know when I finished this book, that it would quickly become more relatable than I wanted it to be. However, this book also found me at a time when I needed it the most. Such a beautifully written exploration of how the people in our lives shape us and how relationships change and evolve throughout the course of our lives. A stunning debut!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced digital copy!*

I put this one off for a while because I knew it would be a tearjerker and I needed to be in the right headspace. The story of the Bright family is one that impacts so people - addiction and dishonesty, but so much love that it's impossible to fully break away. It was sad when Ryan, who had tried so hard to be different, fell into the same cycle of alcoholism and (almost) violence as his father. This changes the course of Ryan and Lillian's relationship, and that of his relationship with his daughter Jet. As the years pass, sobriety remains elusive and his family evolves without him.

There are bright spots in this novel, but they are tinged with the pain of missed opportunities and, unfortunately, are often followed by tragedy. This book is a beautiful story, but readers will need to brace themselves for the emotional roller coaster that Ryan, Lillian, Jet, Elise, and Kendi find themselves on.

I found this book very moving and almost shed a tear at the end - I liked the changing of perspectives in parts instead of mixing chapters and I think the storyline was well paced. My only qualm is that the mother and grandmother deaths were so out of the blue that it kinda threw me off and I wish it delved a little deeper on the underlying emotions, specifically Ryan's perspective at the end

There's a lot of sadness and secrets in this book. The Bright Years tells the story of four generations of a Texas family, with lots of sadness, two major secrets, and themes of substance abuse, adoption and loss.
The family's story begins primarily in the 70's, and eventually takes us to 2019. Lily is a young woman in Texas, naively thinking she has a future with Zack, a good looking musician with dreams that take him out of Texas and his relationship with Lily. The story then unfolds through a series of different narrators, including Lily, her husband, Ryan, and their daughter, Jet.
The Bright Years seemed like a very long book to me, perhaps trying to cover too many subjects, and some of them were handled superficially, including Ryan's gallery (how did it survive with Ryan's erratic behavior). Years passed in between chapters and it seemed the device the author used to benchmark timing was to insert cultural references (ie 9/11 and the Spice Girls). This didn't really work for me.
Ms. Damoff's background is in Social Work and that experience was well-reflected in her writing about the different social issues addressed in the book. This is her debut and I look forward to reading more from the author.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to read The Bright Years. I received a complimentary copy of the book and opinions expressed are completely my own.

Some books just cut deeper than others.

I don't even know where to begin with THE BRIGHT YEARS. My reading experience was so wholly personal - and yet, I think Sarah Damoff's writing will work for many.

Generational cycles are not exactly a new topic in literary fiction, but I loved how she wrote about this family - that it wasn't just addiction popping up in multiple generations. Some challenges can be passed down, but so can some really beautiful traits.

The long and short of it is that I related to this book in a way that was painful, and I'll be first in line for whatever Damoff writes next.

Ms. Damoff, please allow me to say: BRAVA!

Holy epic family saga! This story covers 4 generations of the Bright Family and their ups and downs, their challenges and the consequences of their actions. This is a beautiful story about family and love and betrayal and forgiveness and loss and reconciliation and endings and new beginnings, and OH MY HEART! A*freaking*MAZING!

The Bright Years is a must read for anyone who enjoys family sagas. The story is about 4 generations of the Bright family -told from the perspectives of 3 of the family members. The book shares their ups and downs and how very powerful love is. Addiction plays a pivitol role in the story and is relayed very candidly. The author is a professional social worker and has seen firsthand the ramifications of addiction in families lives, she does a remarkable job conveying them. The Bright Years is first and foremost a story about family, also love, betrayal, forgiveness, reconciliation, death, birth and reconciliation. I cried for and also celebrated with the Brights. Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and the author Sara Damoff for the opportunity to read an ARC of this wonderful and newly released novel. 4.5 stars.

I liked this emotionally-charged story about a couple and their daughter as they make choices and learn and grow from their choices. It's told from each of the main three characters point of view which added a nuance and complexity to the story. It's interesting to hear how three different people take a single event and interpret it. This will tug at your heartstrings in multiple ways. For me, some of the threads seemed disjointed and others didn't get enough meat for me to feel invested. That said, I think everyone will like this book. It's a fast read with enough topics to connect to anyone. Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy.

This book covers some heavy topics. Romance, regret, grief, addiction, hurt, and more.. It is a heavy book but it pulled me in from the very beginning. I liked it a lot more than I expected! I found myself crying and smiling throughout the book. This is a good one!

This was heartbreaking but so very very good. Hard to recommend because it is so heavy but it is beautifully written.

One of my favorite books of the year. The Bright Years is poignant, yet easy to read. I appreciated that we were able to get the full scope of the characters' lives, without being bogged down by excessive details. I also appreciated that it was a very emotional read, yet it never felt too heavy and there were flickers of hope throughout. I loved it so much that despite receiving an ARC, I bought a physical copy to keep on my "forever shelf" and have been recommending to everyone I know.

Wow! Wow! Wow. What a beautiful sad and wonderful story about loss and love and forgiveness and all the messy things that come with family.

This was an excellent debut. A beautifully written story of such pain, hope, and love. Addiction, loss, love. There are some parts that made me weep. But overall it was just a great debut novel.

This is the story of the Bright family.

When Lillian first meets Ryan she is working at the bank. He's an aspiring artist and very good. He saw her at the library and said hello and from there their love story took off. A love that is so deep. They seem to truly have it all. Until they don't.

Ryan and his mother ran away from Ryan's father when he was very small. His father was an abusive alcoholic. Ryan vowed he would never drink. And he didn't. Until he did.

After the birth of their daughter Ryan changes. He adores his baby daughter very much. But seems there is a demon in him that was waiting to get out. He starts drinking and he scares Lillian when he throws a bottle at her. Ryan leaves. He doesn't want to hurt his wife or daughter and believes he would if he stays.

This book takes you through all the ups and downs of having an addict for a husband and father. And son. Elise is Ryan's mother. She has lived this life and doesn't approve what he has done. She only wants him to stop drinking and be the man she raised. Elise loves Lillian like a daughter and of course adores her granddaughter.

This book deals with giving a baby away. Losing a fetus. Alcoholism. And finding the way to sobriety. It deals with the loss of loved ones. It deals with a lot. I cried big tears while reading parts of this. It's a tough subject but also very good. This author did a great job of painting the picture of a family dealing with addiction...

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC.

It really took me a while to get into this one, and for a while I wasn’t sure I liked it. It picked up quite a bit about a third into the book and I really got hooked during Georgette’s portion. The characters are real and flawed and relatable. The story is compelling. There are several parts that hit hard emotionally. There were a few parts that felt superfluous, like they could have lifted out. The ending really hit me and I was satisfied where everything resolved. GoodReads says readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo will enjoy - I would agree. Feels quite similar to their work.

Lillian and Ryan are a match made in heaven and they're about to expand their little family unit with their daughter Georgette. The only problem is that Lillian has a secret son she hasn't told Ryan about and Ryan copes with the stress of life by drinking, just like his abusive father before him. The story follows their family through the years as Georgette grows up and Lillian and Ryan grow apart and back together again.

This was a really beautifully written story about family and heartbreak. All of the characters were really well-developed and had their own unique voices and experiences. I did not love the chapters from Ryan's point of view and didn't really appreciate the way that Jet talked about adoption in the story, but other than that I enjoyed it. The chapters are pretty short, so the pace of the book feels quite quick even as it spans the years. I would recommend this for readers who enjoy stories about families, particularly non-traditional families, and character-driven stories.

Sarah Damoff’s debut, The Bright Years, completely blew me away. The writing drew me in immediately and I became truly invested in the story of the Brights - who are flawed characters dealing with very real struggles. This is a very emotional read that broke my heart more than once - if you’re a crier, you’ll definitely want to have some tissues on hand. I feel confident in saying that The Bright Years will be among my top reads of 2025.

The Bright Years is a stunning debut from Sarah Damoff—a deeply moving, beautifully written exploration of love, loss, growth, and the complicated, often gray areas of family life. Told through three perspectives over the course of several years, this structure allowed me to connect with each character on a deeper level. I found myself rooting for the Brights before they even became the Brights.

Damoff writes with emotional clarity and immense compassion. My heart broke, healed, and broke again as I journeyed through these pages. Each character felt real, complex, and deeply human. I saw parts of myself in both Jet and Lillian—thank you, Sarah, for writing them in such an honest and validating way.

Growing up with an addict is incredibly difficult, and Damoff handles this theme with incredible care and nuance. She doesn’t shy away from the pain or the messiness, yet she also offers a glimpse into the addict’s experience, which helped me view addiction through a more empathetic lens. It was honest and illuminating.

I was especially moved by Ryan’s arc—how he came to recognize his mistakes and truly appreciate the light his girls brought into his life. Jet’s ability to grow past some of her resentment toward him without invalidating her hurt felt raw and real. And seeing Ryan get his time with Apricity was a pleasant and unexpected delight.

The Bright Years is a story that reminds us life isn’t black and white. Some of the people we love are hard to love. Some people struggle to accept love at all. Damoff captures that truth beautifully.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Damoff for the opportunity to read this ARC. I feel lucky to have experienced this story. An unforgettable debut—highly recommended.

A family drama set over a long period of time and told from different perspectives? Sign me up! I loved Damoff’s writing and how she pulled the reader into the Bright family. It was emotional, heart breaking, and hopeful.