A review by elizabethtye
When We Were Bright and Beautiful by Jillian Medoff

2.0

2.5/5 stars, rounded down to 2. Audio book. I really went back and forth on whether to give this book 2 or 3 stars, but I decided on 2 stars for several reasons. The premise of the book is that Cassie’s brother, Billy, is accused of raping his girlfriend. The family is very wealthy and maintains Billy’s innocence. The book focuses on Billy’s legal issues and Cassie’s relationship issues. Their stories are not new and not especially interesting. The author did not really elaborate anything in this book. The family is very wealthy, but a lot of the mention of money was more upper middle class (Pottery Barn) than ultra-wealthy. The author could have delved more into this dynamic but didn’t. Billy’s plotline could have been more flushed out, we could have gotten more evidence, but, instead, we got Cassie’s ramblings. Cassie rambles a lot and justifies a lot of things that have happened in her life. I do not give spoilers, but she has issues that lead her to be this way. Her character is fraught with major problems, and she is unlikeable, at best. As a matter of fact, all the characters are unlikeable.

Cassie’s secret was foreshadowed heavily, but it was still disturbing when said out loud.

Overall, I would not recommend as I think it had potential that was not implemented correctly. This was more traumatic than emotional and poignant. I will say that the narrator, Marin Ireland, is incredible. I thoroughly enjoyed her performance.