The Bright Side of Darkness

By: J. E. Pinto

Narrated by: Adam Syron

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

What is a family?

Rick Myers is a despondent 17-year-old who just lost his parents in a car wreck. His family is now the four teenage buddies he's grown up with in a run-down apartment building. Fast with their fists, flip with their mouths, and loyal to a fault, "the crew" is all he has. At least he thinks so until he meets Daisy, an intelligent, independent, self-assured blind girl. Her guts in a world where she's often painfully vulnerable intrigue Rick, and her hopeful outlook inspires him to begin believing in himself.

But when the dark side of Daisy's past catches up with her, tragedy scatters the crew and severely tests Rick's resolve to build his promising future. Fortunately, his life is changed by a couple with a pay-it-forward attitude, forged out of their personal struggle with grief and loss. Their support makes all the difference to Rick and eventually to the ones he holds most dear as they face their own challenges.

The Bright Side of Darkness is a story of redemption and the ultimate victory that comes from the determination of the human spirit.

©2015 J. E. Pinto (P)2015 J. E. Pinto

Sweet and heart-warming

I really enjoyed this story's positive portrayal of blindness and the author's detailed attention to character development. Each of the characters had their own arc and problems. The book was not as preachy as I expected it to be. I enjoyed getting to know Daisy, Rick, and the rest of the crew, who all made me laugh at unexpected moments.

a great book!

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoy stories about people from the wrong side of the tracks, or in this case the wrong side of the highway. The narrator did a great job as well.

What an excellent book!

I'm just sitting here having finished this book, and my question is. "Why isn't there more?" Also, what happens next?
As much as I hate to compare books, I see a lot of Outsiders influences in this book. When I was reading it, I just couldn't stop because I needed to know what was going to happen next.
There wasn't anything that I disliked about the story. Quite the opposite. I found all the characters to be realistic, and I enjoyed their stories. Especially Rick's. The author did an excellent job of coming up with backgrounds and situations for everyone to go through. So much so that I almost wondered if they were real. I also wonder if the author had brothers because a lot of the guy banter and dialogue made me laugh so hard, and I could hear guys talking the way they did in the novel.
I really liked Daisy's character and how she was represented. She was a no-nonsense blind character, and I felt all of her struggles when reading about her. Captain, her dog was super cute as well. If only he'd have been shown guiding Daisy a bit more. The fact that Rick didn't even care about Daisy's blindness was another positive aspect.
I thought the main point of the story was connections and brotherhood.
There was a good mixture of grieving in this book as well as humor. You can tell that the author thought out all of these characters and their situations. I think my favorite character to follow other than Rick was Tim.
I didn't feel that religion was pushed down my throat, and I like the way the author showed how God exists without preaching to the readers. I look forward to reading any other books she comes out with.

Heartwarming

This is a powerful coming-of-age story. I would recommend it to anyone. Especially those who feel as if they are down on their luck, whom have a disability, or other disadvantage.

Great contemporary coming-of-age story.

I'm glad I read this book. Inspirational fiction isn't normally my cup of tea, for a lot of reasons, but this story explodes off the page, full of action and emotion, and the journey to Christian faith our main character, Rick, takes is just one part of a big picture.
Our main set of characters is a group of young men living in a public housing apartment building in gritty, urban Dallas Texas. Each guy has specific personality traits, likes and dislikes, and habits and behaviours, and we get to know pretty quick which one is the jokester, which the would-be "tough guy," and so on. All the guys have prickly personalities in one way or other, but Ms. Pinto shows us, almost right away, what is likable about each of them, and keeps reminding us, even as they do some pretty unlikeable things.


So, this is a book about male friendship - awesome, messy, loving, devoted male friendship. This aspect is, quite seriously, the best part of this story. I've never read a book that depicted such close connections between young male friends. I mean...these guys touch and hug each other!!! :-) More than that, though, they have each other's backs in huge ways, and even when some of the friendships break apart, they do the hard work and say the difficult words they need to to not only heal the rifts in the friendships, but to heal the rifts in themselves. If you want a depiction of masculinity that's toughness hiding softness, savviness warring with brashness, sassiness shaking hands with smartness...you've found it in this book.

If you love coming-of-age stories, and religious elements are your thing (or you can respect some religious content for the sake of a good story), get this book.

A word about the narration: It's good, but not fantastic...but it works. If anything, the rough edges make the story feel a lot more real.

Amazing Book!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes because it was great!

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the humor!

What about Adam Syron’s performance did you like?

I loved his reading style.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I loved this book! it made me laugh and cry.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book! I haven't enjoyed a book this much in a long long time.

I will read it more than once!

Do you want to trigger a realistic human experience and read a great book at the same time? Take a walk with Rick and his crew as the unexpected events in life push them to their limits and help them discover their potential for good and bad. If you're a fan of dogs and cats you'll love scenes with all of the fur faces in them I highly recommend this book to you.
The story is well paced and keeps you invested from the beginning till the end using fast action and heart touching events without over taxing your time. The lessons and trials of the crew are strong with emotion and experience but aren't spread out over a million pages. This was a powerful Saturday afternoon read and it tugged at all of my heart strings while strumming at my emotions. Fall for the bad boy or crush on the ladies you'll find someone to love and hate. If you're a dog or cat fan you'll have a fur face to follow as well.
Overall the book is a good investment in time, money and has a great story to share with friends and family.

Great book.

I really enjoyed the story and writing. Great book! The author has a great ability to captivate her reader!

One of the best books I've read!

As a person with sight loss, I am always searching for books that include characters with disabilities, especially characters who are blind or have low vision. The Bright Side of Darkness by J.E. Pinto is one of the best depictions I have ever read of a character with a disability. I absolutely loved Daisy. She was my favorite character and one of my favorite aspects of this book was the fact that Daisy’s blindness was not her defining characteristic. Daisy is three dimensional, fully formed character, and a great representation of blindness in literature.

J.E. Pinto’s skilled writing brings all of her characters to life. They seemed to jump off of the page and take shape before me.The narrator did a great job. His narration helped breathe life into the cast.

The Bright Side of Darkness has a powerful message. I loved the elements of faith that were clearly at play in the text; however, readers who are not Christian will still be able to enjoy this novel. It is clear that the text is written by a person of faith, but the author does not proselytize. Instead, she presents a deeply moving story that speaks for itself.

I recommend this book for anyone and everyone. Anyone who loves to read should pick up a copy of The Bright Side of Darkness. I wish that there were more books like this one.

Brilliant! Hard to put down.

I absolutely love this book. I found myself rooting for the main characters in this story. I like the fact that this book is not all roses and rainbows and there are no Hollywood endings, but it still offers a lot of insight and hope for those who face challenges. Well done. I recommend this to everyone.