Paintbrush

                Hello happy readers!  So on a Tuesday normally I participate in the weekly Top Ten Tuesday posts, however, they are taking a break for a few weeks so but I will resume when they do.  Today though it worked out beautifully because with my internet at the house acting up last week I had to push my Friday review to Monday and so on.  So that means instead of posting my review Friday I can post it today, on release day!  The book in question is Paintbrush by debut author Hannah Bucchin.  I received a copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Rating:  4 Stars

                We follow Josie and Mitchell seniors a few weeks from graduating.  They have spent their whole lives together and used to be the best of friends which is easy to see being the only kids at the time at Indian Paintbrush Community Village-AKA Paintbrush.  Josie loves Paintbrush and is content to spend her time there while Mitchell is ready to get as far away as possible.  The live separate lives in school but as Mitchell’s mother makes a huge announcement it rocks everything he knows while Josie’s younger sister is acting out in dangerous ways.  Both of them need support and find it in one another, having shared so much.  They see one another in a new light and something more than old friendship starts up, just as they are about to go down separate paths for the future. 

                I read through this in one day.  It was such a quick and sweet read.  I was so caught up in the story and the idea of this community.  I like how they both saw different sides of Paintbrush.  I’m not even an outdoorsy type of person, okay honestly I avoid it like the plague, but this made me wish I was.  It made me want to go out and just enjoy nature.  I loved the whole concept of the place as a whole and how it played its own character in the story.  The concept and idea of the place was explained simply as it was and that was that. A place that takes in all sorts and creates a diverse and colorful community that works together.  I could see the positives that Josie loved and the negatives that Mitchell was ready to escape. 

                Paintbrush is all about the characters and relationships.  Between Josie and Mitchell.  Between families. Between friends.  Between the community.  I like that while Mitchell and Josie had been best friends for most of their life and were still friendly as they grew apart they found their own grove and new friends.  Mostly because I loved Leah and Cord.  Leah though, she had some of the best moments for sure.  She is a great friend and so many of the things I love about her are things I see in my own friend!  Cord and Mitchell, they are so different but they just have this type of acceptance that is so nice.

                This story takes place in such a short time frame when compared to many other books but it manages to pack so much feeling into that time.  It tackles so many issues that I think anyone can relate to and this makes the story that much more real.  I am so pleased by this debut book!

                Until next time…