Jen Wilde

After being labeled the music world's newest celebrity trainwreck, a bisexual teen drummer has to find a way to be true to herself in the midst of family betrayal, relationship drama and the ever-present paparazzi attention.

The Brightsiders

menna

3.5 stars⭐

I loved the diversity in this book so much and i loved the characters and the romance and I loved seeing Taylor, jamie, Charlie and Alyssa again.💙
What I didn't like was the drama. There was so much drama and most of it was public and I didn't like that at all.
Still it was a good read and i highly recommend it.
 
TW: emotional abuse, alcohol abuse

brianna

"I'm still here. I'm still standing. And I'm not standing alone. I've already won."
 

TW: alcohol abuse, abusive parents, abusive relationship, emotional manipulation

Nothing about this was really SPECTACULAR but I do appreciate some good representation and it was a really fun time! Jen Wilde's writing doesn't really do anything for me but I enjoyed the plot of this one more than Queens of Geek. ALSO Alfie Jones is highkey giving me Harry Styles vibes and I would love to know if I'm alone on this or not.

Luc 

It's like if 'I was born for this' by Alice Oseman was from Lister's pov,,
And if it was written very badly with underdeveloped characters

Allie Herrington

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The fact that I was given the book did not influence my review.

So I loved Wilde's last book Queens of Geek a lot. Like seriously, a lot. It's a fantastic book. You should go read it. Anyway because of how much I loved it I was both excited and wary about this book.
Librarian: As I said, I loved her first book. And I'm not the only one. When the copy of it arrived in our last book order, one of my fellow librarians and I mutually geeked out over how much we loved it. We found it an amazing book that provided a great jumping off point for getting our students to start to think about some surprisingly deep topics. In that regard this book might be even better.
Like its predecessor Brightsiders has a bright, energetic, almost joyful cover that attracts the eye and makes readers want to pick it up and discover what's inside. It also has a premise that all but guarantees that it will be devoured by girls who are fans of other music themed realistic fiction stories(which honestly could be its own subsection). The cover may be bright but the topics inside are anything but. There's tough issues being dealt with here. Important issues. And I hope that reading this book will get people thinking. So I'll definitely be buying this one for my library.
Reader: In a lot of ways I like this book even better than her last one. As mentioned before, there's tough issues in this one. And a lot of heartbreak. But there's joy too. And love, and laughter. It's well worth falling in love with.

A teen rockstar has to navigate family, love, coming out, and life in the spotlight after being labeled the latest celebrity trainwreck in Jen Wilde's quirky and utterly relatable novel. As a rock star drummer in the hit band The Brightsiders, Emmy King’s life should be perfect. But there’s nothing the paparazzi love more than watching a celebrity crash and burn. When a night of partying lands Emmy in hospital, she’s branded the latest tabloid train wreck. Luckily, Emmy has her friends and bandmates, including the super-swoonworthy Alfie, to help her pick up the pieces of her life. She knows hooking up with a band member is exactly the kind of trouble she should be avoiding, and yet Emmy and Alfie Just. Keep. Kissing. Will the inevitable fallout turn her into a clickbait scandal (again)? Or will she find the strength to stand on her own? Jen Wilde, author of Queens of Geek, which Seventeen called, “the geeky, queer book of our dreams” is back with a brand new cast of highly diverse and relatable characters for her fans to fall in love with. Praise for Queens of Geek: "The book deals head on with issues of mental health, body shaming, sexuality, and internet celebrity, handling them with a delicate and skillful touch." —Teen Vogue "This fun book about fierce friendships gives voice to a group of diverse female characters who are so defined by so much more than just their mental health and sexuality." —Bustle "This celebration of geek culture and fandom promotes diversity and being true to oneself." —School Library Journal

Sahi K

TW: parental abuse, manipulative and abusive girlfriend, alcoholism

Emmy is a drummer for Brightsiders who has been labeled the lastest media trainwreck after a drunken accident. Along with the paparazzi onslaught, she also has to deal with her totally uncaring, emotionally abusive and manipulative parents who would rather sell her story for money than show some support for their daughter. Emmy’s girlfriend Leslie is also abusive, always berating and belittling her but showing just enough affection for Emmy to feel grateful because all she has ever wanted is to be liked and loved. Due to all these negative influences in her life, her self esteem is extremely low, she questions if she is worthy of anything every step of the way and struggles throughout the book to accept herself, deciding to come out about her bisexuality, believe in her self worth and trust that her chosen family is enough.

She is supported in all this by her friends who are truly amazing. Ryan is the goofy Korean-American guitar player who always brings a smile when he is around but is secretly coming to terms with his own bisexuality. Alfie is a pansexual genderqueer teen who suffers from social anxiety but puts up this confident front for his fans and everyone around him and is loved by all for the same. He has always been there for Emmy and their friendship, support and thoughtfulness towards each other is so endearing. Chloe is a biracial non binary teen and they are Emmy’s best friend. Their insight in helping Emmy realize how she is already loved by her friends and doesn’t need her parents or Leslie to feel worthy is extremely helpful in Emmy’s progress in confronting her doubts. Kass is EMmy’s cousin and best friend and though they are separated by geography, it is great to see them always be in touch, be encouraging and empower each other.

There is a lot of drama in this story and I think it’s written well – teenagers dealing with new found popularity, reconciling with the fact that love of their fans also comes with a fair share of trolls and paparazzi always looking for them to screw up, every single step of their life scrutinized and put up for public consumption, handling people who just want to be around them for the fame or money or notoriety; all this while trying to produce the best music they can and be respectful of their supporters. There are also a lot of conversations among the characters about biphobia, bierasure, misgendering, but despite this, how they have to be true to themselves and their fans because it might help others who are struggling too.

The romance between Emmy and Alfie is quite steamy but it still felt a little insta-lovey. But I could still connect to it because their long term friendship is established well and I really loved that they could express their feelings through songs. The last part of the story definitely took a little dramatic turn than what I would have liked but it is resolved pretty quickly. The ending is sweet and optimistic and it showed that if you choose to surround yourself with people who love and support you for what you are, you can truly be happy.

This book might seem a little over the top in some situations, but on second thought, it’s actually quite close to reality in our world of celebrity culture. So, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to read not just a swoon worthy romance but a book that confronts important issues without being preachy and in a very realistic manner with lots of empathy.

Candyce Kirk

4.5 stars

I'm still not sure if this book is better than Queens of Geek, but it's definitely amazing. This book sucked me in from the start, because this author has an amazing way with words. At first, I wasn't sure if I would like Emmy. The partying type and Jessie (the girlfriend I knew would be trouble), who knew what to expect? The Brightsiders is a fun, but serious book. Emmy has a lot to deal with and it's not always easy. Parents who care more about themselves really messed with her. Her band and fans mean the world to her, so she luckily gets an amazing support system. Jen Wilde wrote a very diverse book, but in a way that fit really well. Everyone is accepted for who they are, exactly the way they should be. To be that young and have more of a break with your band must be an amazing ride. This book is filled with amazing friendships, characters who find themselves and who fight for what they need. It's a mix of funny and serious moments. The Brightsiders had me tearing up a few times. I hope this author writes many more books in the future. It's clear this author knows what she's talking about. The Brightsiders even sound amazing. Reading some of the song lyrics, really make me think I would love music like that!

Katie

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A solid 3.5.

The concept of this book–a teenage band trying to make it big while juggling all the normal teenage angst and THEN SOME–is really fun, but because it is so character driven and some of the characters are not fully fleshed out, it fell a little flat in parts. I LOVE how smoothly different identities are interwoven, and I think that is this book’s greatest strength. If someone wants to see themselves represented, it is pretty likely they’ll find that in this book, and that is AWESOME. However, not all the characters got equal time on the page and that was a major hindrance. The main character supposedly has this supportive group of friends that are like family to her, but some of them got 4 or 5 lines in the whole book! I think the book would have been more effective if Wilde had narrowed the focus a little more and not included characters just because.

I still definitely enjoyed this as a fun, quick read that does delve into some serious topics as well. TW for verbal abuse and binge drinking.

Elaine

This was soooo fun and the romance was just perfection! It was hot and steamy jet still brought me to tear at it's sweet moments. And the story was so much fun as I just love music and the behind the scenes stuff was interesting and entertaining, the friendships felt real..oh I just loved this with all of my heart.

Isabella Stocka

Meet your new favorite Punkband- The Brightsiders.

Alfie, Ryan and Emmy love music and are close friends and combined they rock every music hall. Unfortunately not everything is just rainbow and glitter. To be a rockstar with a mostly young audience means that you have to be the perfect role model at all time. Underage drinking does not fit into that picture and being involved into an accident just makes it worse.
Emmy is in need of a break. She has to lay low, but to go home to her parent’s turns out to be a big mistake. You should stop drinking, but your parents are alcoholics and self-pity themselves for not being the biggest musicians of their time because, Emmy happened.

She tries so hard to not end like her parents and that she will be finally understood by everyone. Emmy wishes she could be like her best friend Alfie, who is out and told everyone he is genderqueer, while she wishes to confess that she is bisexual.

Thankfully her 18st birthday is just around the corner and she could not be happier that her friends planned a week of holiday on a Yacht. To be away from everything that pulls her down.

But this free time comes also with time to think. How could Emmy miss that Alfie is a pretty good looking guy? With not much space to get out of each other’s way, how do you deal with these thoughts?
Is it wise to fall in love with your best friend you know from childhood? On the other hand, no one understands you better as he can.

The Brightsiders

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