A heartwarming debut with a vibrant cast of characters and a nice collection of questions for the reader to gradually unravel the answers to.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A sweet and heartwarming novel that makes the world a little brighter. I really enjoyed this story and Dawn felt like a close friend by the end.
A great read.

This book tells the story of Dawn that due to a series of sad circumstances finds herself homeless. Luckily she is given a room in St Jude’s hostel where she becomes a vital member of the community.
Due to the issues tackled this should really be a sad read, but thanks to Dawn endless optimism it is an uplifting read and you can’t help but get drawn into the characters lives and root for them.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for letting me review this book.

During these current times, everyone needs a bit of Dawn Brightside in their lives! Brightside by name, and bright by nature - you can’t help but love Dawn in this story. Despite all the hardships she has been through, and her current living situation, she can’t help but radiate positivity and help those around her. A truly selfless character, who has been through some turbulent times.

Whilst Dawn is full of positivity, there are parts of this story that are hard going and full of sadness. The turning point for me what half way through, and I had tears in my eyes reading it. I had found the beginning a bit slow going, but after this development, I zoomed through the rest of the book and found myself loving Dawn even more!

Despite being centred around a homeless shelter, this is a very uplifting book. Full of hope, I think the author has written something rather wonderful for her debut novel and I would enjoy reading more about Dawn and the other inhabitants of St. Judes in the future.

A lovely warm-hearted read which brings out the full range of emotions. There's a wonderful mix of characters and I enjoyed learning all their stories. Well-written and engaging.

At the age of twenty-two, Dawn finds herself homeless when she’s offered a place to stay at St Jude’s Hostel. St Jude is the patron saint of lost causes – a description that Dawn can easily relate to yet, as the title suggests, she strives to overcome her difficulties particularly in the way she is always eager to help others. As the story unfolds there’s a certain level of mystery surrounding Dawn's previous life, particularly that of her daughter Rosie, leaving the reader unsure of her actual existence.

This is a story filled with hope and warmth – something we could all do with more of, particularly in present times. It was a beautifully written story that really made me think more about how we can so easily have preconceptions on how people can find themselves in such desperate situations.

Many thanks to HQ and NetGalley UK for the review copy.

The story of Dawn Brightside may appear at times to be just a life with some obstacles, but the reality is she is troubled, scared and needs support. Half of her life is spent in denial and fantasy scenarios, and the other is spent running away from what she fears the most. When she finally manages to find a place to stay she is torn between guilt, paranoia and the strong will to stay safe for herself and her daughter.

Ryn shows the precarious balance that caretakers or staff have to take into account when working alongside people who have slipped into homelessness, which is often part of a larger cycle of addiction, mental health issues and vulnerability. The line between professionalism, friendship and love can't be crossed when working in certain careers.

The strength of the story however is in the way the author brings homelessness to the reader in a way that makes it easier to comprehend and digest. Its an uncomfortable truth that the majority of us walk by, ignore or simply feel powerless to help in any way. What is also a truth, albeit one more tied to vanity and money, is that help for homeless people is underfunded and not a big enough priority.

Cuts to funding are eliminating desperately needed avenues of help. Shelter, food, healthcare and someone to help people regain a certain status and skills in life again. Regain a level of security and safety we tend to take for granted. The roofs over our heads, the warmth and food, and to be able to live without feeling as if one is in constant fear of harm, insult and death.

It's a very introspective and reflective read, and it is also one with a slither of hope in it, which is what is most important for the characters and for people in similar situations. When the world seems to be against you there is always someone out there willing to help you.

A complete stunner of a book, an uplifting treat which is crying out to be made into next Christmas's feelgood film -it is just right for a Richard Curtis launch.

Dawn is a woman in her (very early) 40s who is down on her luck but permanently looking for ways to make everyone else's lives better. She finds herself living in a homeless hostel in Dover, where she helps other residents in all manner of ways, positivity shining through. We can tell that she must be hiding something sad from her past, but will she let anyone in enough to tell them what happened to her?

This is a perfectly pitched and uplifting novel of human hope and sense of community. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming story

The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside by Jessica Ryn is about Dawn Brightside, who is homeless.  She gets a place in St Jude's Hostel for the Homeless, and she sees all the possibilities.

And I do mean all of them, as Dawn is a dreamer.  Helping out in cafe means she'll be discovered to be an amazing chef, and find fame and fortune.  And it's the same for most things.  Her wild optimism means that she's the person with the can do attitude, which helps when there's a crisis, like the threat of closure for the hostel.

This was a book that didn't pull it's punches.  It wanted you to know about the heartbreak, and the struggle to remain sober.  It wanted you to know about sleeping rough.  It also wanted to you know the community spirit, and how people look out for each other.

   The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside  was published on 26th November 2020, and is available from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop .

You can follow Jessica Ryn on  Twitter  and on her  website .

I was given this book in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  HQ .

For a debut novel, this is an absolute must read!
The setting of St. Jude’s hostel is equal parts a perfect home and stark halfway house. The onsite café provides opportunities for the residents to gain work experience whilst providing a centre for workshops and classes.
Grace works tirelessly for the hostel and lives a solitary life in her bedsit. Peter is a former hostel resident who is now giving back by working alongside Grace as a worker for the centre.
Spaces are limited and life changes when they offer a room to the sweet but strange Dawn Brightside. Little do they know the power that their kindness brings, and the effects are far reaching.
This is without a doubt, a study in mental health and an education in homelessness. Led by Dawn, this is an ensemble story that is filled with tragedy and hope.
Dawn has something of a ‘Walter Mitty’ perspective on life, she creates an alternative reality which is filled with the possibility of happy endings. If she can just get her life back together, she can save up and visit her daughter in America. The only problem is the spectre of the red-haired man. He’s filled with sinister intent and now he may have tracked her down to St. Judes.
I read this book with a tear in my eye and a warm feeling in my heart. It’s difficult to convey how this story affected me, but it will stay with me for a long time. I like to find the silver lining in every cloud, but I am no competition for Dawn’s resilience and kindness.
There are laugh out-loud moments too, watch out for the liberation of the stolen bicycle!
I love a book that wraps up all the loose threads and this story ties them in a bow. It’s not a spoiler to say that Dawn’s outlook is infectious, and the ending is just perfect.
This book deserves all five stars!

What a book! It has made me laugh and cry!

Dawn is homeless. Once a student midwife with a new family, her life felt apart and she has spent her adult life running from a past that terrifies her.

She has lived in in many towns and many place and now finds herself homeless and referred to St Jude’s hostel.

St Jude’s is just what Dawn needs. Security, friendship and a chance to plan for the future, here she finds the support she needs to face the demons of her past.

The story unfolds and the reader realises the truth about Dawn’s life. There are some really emotional moments that are wonderfully and sensitively written.

There is real life, everyday tragedy in this book: addiction, mental illness, grief, suicide, sexual assault and homelessness. The lack of funding and resources available to help some.extremely vulnerable people is a theme running throughout the book.

And yet there is a lot of humour.

Dawn’s enthusiasm and positive outlook on life are infectious and her determination to help others brings joy to some very vulnerable characters.

The supporting cast are all quite wonderful and you will be rooting for all of them. Their backstories show how anyone, no matter their background can find themselves facing homelessness, and charities and centres like St Jude’s are so valuable.

This is a wonderful read. Heart-breaking, heart-warming and thought provoking.

Dawn Brightside will stay with long after the last page of the story.

Gosh this was not what I was expecting. There is so much sadness in this book but it’s beautifully balanced with happiness and hope. It’s a very poignant and uplifting story, and I’m not sure I’ve read a book that centres around a hostel or homelessness in this way.🧐 It tackles issues such as addiction and mental health with compassion and authenticity. I think Jennifer does a brilliant job of keeping the subject matter grounded and has written characters who have light and shade. No one is perfect. Awww...I really liked Dawn. 😍 Hard not to really. She radiates this comforting warmth, and has this bubbly personality which made me smile. As the story progresses, it’s like the puzzle pieces start to click into place and you start to understand why Dawn is in this situation. I cried 😭 obviously because it really tugs on those heartstrings. It emphasises the importance of kindness, empathy and how positivity can have that wonderful domino effect on others.

I enjoyed this debut, I found it really moving and charming.

What a special book. Dawn's life takes some unravelling as we go through the book. We know she lives in a made up world a lot of the time but we don't know why. What has happened to affect twenty years of her life so badly? Through all her troubles Dawn remains a very special person, her nurturing instinct always to the fore. She lives up to her name and brightens everyone's lives for them despite her struggles with her past and her mental health. A good supporting cast of characters in the residents and staff of St Jude's, and a very sympathetic portrayal of homelessness and mental illness. Not just sympathetic but understanding and just showing how these issues are part of life. I run a mental health charity and to me Grace epitomised what those working in the charity sector are all about - it can never be just a job, it's a way of life and you have to care passionately. I'll be recommending this wonderful, uplifting read. I finished it with tears! #netgalley #theextraordinaryhopeofdawnbrightside

I knew as soon as I started this book I was going to love it. Dawn is an intriguing character who ends up at St Jude’s looking for a place to sleep. She encounters a case of mistaken identity when she arrives and ends up doing admin in the office. She manages to secure a place at the hostel but finds out it was at the cost of a young guy called Shaun.

The next day she finds out that a young man overdosed in the public toilets over night and she assumes the worse.

We find out soon in the book that Dawn is a mother to Rosie. She likes to gamble even though she has no spare money, she can tell a good story, and she has had a troubled past and she is very kind.

Even after she gets her place at St Jude’s she continues to put others before her own needs.

It is a really honest and heartbreaking story of how people end up homeless, and this book tells the other side of the story not just of people in doorways and sleeping rough but the real people behind this image. Working in a library we have hugely diverse visitors and these include rough sleepers and I often wonder about their lives before they were homeless.

Grace, Peter and Cara who all work at St Jude’s have all had sadness in their lives and the hostel means the world to them and when Grace gets a letter to say the hostels funding could be reduced she panics at first but then decides she needs a plan.

This is a joyful read, the author portrays the characters with warmth and tackles a difficult subject sensitively and with humour at times. I loved Dawn nothing stops her from trying to help, she is desperate to be needed. A fabulous touching debut which shows kindness and friendship go a long way in the world. Beautiful!

"And if being at St Jude's has taught me anything, it's that you need to find your tribe. The rest of the journey's not designed to be a solo one. Group tickets always offer the best value."

The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside is a truly special book. The definition of 'uplit', it is one of those books that feels like a warm hug or a hot chocolate on a cold day. It will make you laugh and cry. It will steal your heart and make a permanent home in your soul.

I adored the colourful cast of compelling and very real characters. I liked that the author showed their humanity and personality rather than making them a cliché. She makes their experiences leap from the page, transports you into their world and makes you live every moment alongside them.

Dawn is quite the character. She is damaged, flawed and unreliable but also hopeful, joyous and endearing. Despite being down on her luck and going through some very traumatic things, she sees the silver lining - the 'bright side' you might say - and encourages others to do the same. She cares deeply about others and becomes a real light in the lives of those around her. She is a character I won't forget and I challenge anyone not to fall in love with her too.

This was a very nostalgic book for me as my father was a manager for the YMCA and we lived on-site for three years when I was twelve to fifteen. The experience made a huge impact and is a big part of who I am today. The residents became like family and we are still in touch with a number of them even now. All the memories of that time came flooding back while reading and it was clear to me that the author knew her stuff. This felt authentic. So I wasn't surprised to learn she'd worked with the homeless and had even lived on-site too.

But while this is a very uplifting book, it also addresses serious topics such as mental health, addiction and homelessness. She examines these things on a deeper level, commenting on the perception and judgement of the homeless or with mental health or addiction issues, the underfunding of homeless hostels and the degradation of applying for sickness benefits, something I personally related to as someone unable to work because of chronic illness. But she has a talent for doing all of this without bringing the mood down, balancing gritty realism with a humour and optimism that is reminiscent of Dawn.

Addictive, heartbreaking, hopeful, evocative, entertaining, warm and emotionally resonant, this is a remarkable debut. This book has arrived at the perfect time; Dawn's kindness and positivity is something we all need more of right now. READ THIS BOOK!

There are few types of book that give me joy like stories of underdogs achieving their dreams and that’s exactly what I was expecting from this one. I’m overjoyed that this is exactly what I got!

Dawn Elisabeth Brightside has escaping from her past for 22 years but when she is offered a bed at St Jude’s Hostel for the Homeless, her life is finally starting to look up. When the hostel faces decreased funding and potential closure, it’s up to Dawn and her new friends to save their home and the jobs of those who have given them a chance.

I learnt so much about the truth behind the UK’s homelessness crisis while reading this charming novel. Of course, I knew that it is a very severe social problem that is growing due to the pandemic but experiencing life through the lens of the people actually living through it was a unique, eye-opening experience that I wholeheartedly thank Jessica Ryn for.

These characters are all of us and that’s something that was very much with me for a lot of the time I was reading this book. They’re not bad people or even people who have made terrible decisions. They’re simply people who have had tremendous streaks of bad luck or one or two devastating traumas. Homelessness is something that could happen to anyone extremely suddenly and this reinforced my desire to actively do something to help.

‘You can make anything happen if you hope hard enough.’

Dawn is an eccentric optimist with a lot of darkness and loss in her past. Her mental health and self-growth journey slowly unfolds over the course of the narrative and my heart swelled as good things slowly began to come her way. She works so hard to keep everyone else’s spirits up and I really wanted some of her light to reflect back on to her.

Dawn regularly has these little impossible fantasies and I admit that my own daydreams often get as big as hers too. These passages always made me smile and marvel at how she has managed to hold on to the ability to dream so big, despite the hand she has been dealt. The fact that she has these breaks from reality led me to immediately cotton on to the truth about one particular friend of hers. It’s a devastating twist when it comes out but I knew instantly that it was something that Dawn would definitely do.

There is also a romance in this book and it’s a very cute, easy-to-root-for one. I had no doubt that they would eventually get together and both parties thoroughly deserve each other. It’s a beautiful wholesome sub-plot built on friendship and genuine care that is the sugar on top of this wonderfully light novel.

The writing is studded with little gems of wisdom and I felt so uplifted on finishing it. It felt like justice had been served, good things exist and gave me an enormous amount of hope. Hope is something that is so precious right now and we need to drink in every drop of it that we can possibly get. Read this book for a healthy dose.

‘You need to grab happiness whenever it comes past, otherwise it just keeps moving, leaving you cold and empty.'

This was an absolutely gorgeous novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Dawn is a hugely loveable character. She felt older than her years. I had to keep reminding myself that she was only in her forties but I feel that is because of the weight the years have put on her. She made me smile, chuckle and full on belly laugh. She also made me cry. This strange little community of people at St Jude’s had such heart. They are what some would consider the lowest of the low but within the pages of this novel you see that each and everyone has a sad tale to tell and that any one of us are just a bad turn away from being in a situation like them.

This was a truly heartwarming read. Yes at times it was very sad but it reminded me how resilient we can be and that as long as we have someone to care about and someone to care for us, well, we can make it through the tough times. It also showed me that sometimes the people who really care are there even when we can’t see it and the heart and empathy that can be found when needed. During these difficult times, when so many people are suffering for so many different reasons, this novel seems to capture the magic of the human spirit.

How to sum up my time at St Jude’s with Dawn and the other wonderful characters in this story? It was a wonderfully uplifting read, full of memorable characters and a story that will stay with me for a long time.

Many thanks to the lovely team at HQ Stories for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for providing me with a digital copy via Netgalley. It was a real pleasure to meet Dawn.

Do you ever read a book and think WOW. For me this book definitely hit all the right spots for me, it had emotion, humour, love, friendship, excellent characters, well written and most of all it made me FEEL.

The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside is exactly what its title says, its EXTRAORDINARY and has HOPE. I was a bit dubious at first let me tell you and I put it off to the last minute to read as I wasn’t in the mood for it HOWEVER I read this book in one sitting, THAT’S RIGHT ONE SITTING. I could not put this book down to save my life. It had me enthralled it has my emotions going and yes I did reach for a tissue or two. It really did evoke that much emotion in me and you know why I think that is, I think its because I also work with the homeless and persons with mental health illnesses and I can see the frustration that Grace has with no funding and the support just not being there for people who need it.

Ok so I digress, the book is about Dawn Brightside. She’s down on her luck she has no job and she is homeless. She is in Dover which is in Kent, she turns up at the Council declaring herself homeless and it goes from there. She ends up on the waiting list of St. Jude’s a Hostel and that is where she meets Grace and Peter. Things start to look up when she is accepted at the Hostel but there is tragedy waiting as well.

I don’t want to go too much further into what the book is about as I feel that you need to read it and get all the feels that I did with it. This was a five star read for me, I never ever on reviews now tell you what I rate it but this one definitely deserved it. It was powerful and made me sit back and think as well as well up with emotion.

Lets talk Characters. There is a motley crew of characters in this book, all with different backgrounds and abilities and I tell you what I loved each and everyone of them. Even though the book is about Dawn Brightside each of the characters had their own limelight in the book. They each had enough about them that I was invested, and to me this is one of the reasons why I enjoyed the book so much. I have always said that the supporting characters need to be heard as much as the main ones. The way they all interacted with one another made it that much more special.

Grace was a fabulous character, nervous at times but coming from her being a Social Worker and having to make big decisions I get it. She wants to please everyone and help those that need it with the restrictions she has. I think this is another reason why I liker her character, I work in Social Services as well and its hard. You want to help so many people but there are restrictions everywhere. I love how her kindness and wanting to help others shone through.

The book talks quite a lot about hard topics. There would say is some trigger issues from some people including alcohol and drugs misuse, sexual assault, mental health and overdosing. These were done however with sensitivity and with knowledge especially around mental health and the knowledge behind the Mental Health Act and what it means being under the Mental Health services. I will say it didn’t go into detail but from experience I can see how it goes and applaud Jessica Ryn for including it.

I one hundred percent will recommend that others read this book. It was pure joy to read. As I said it did make me laugh, smile, cry and get emotional that I had to put it down. It makes you realise how much suffering people go through and not to judge them just because they may be homeless, suffering from mental health issues, drug addiction or alcohol misuse. Everyone has a story and not all are able to deal with it in the way that some may think they should.

This is a story of kindness and hope. It is a charming read about Dawn who needs to get as far away as she can, when she is offered a bed at St Jude's hostel she is over the moon, can she make a better go at living a fairly normal life? Will life be plain sailing or will it come crashing down again? I really liked Dawn and wanted the best for her. I am sure people can relate to her story and also we get to see the lives of the other characters which could be relatable too. I feel like in times like these we need books to be uplifting and promising warmth and with Jessica's writing we get the best of both worlds.

Thank you to HQ and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

This is an emotive read, a story that shines a light on the plight of the homeless but doing so in both a realistic and uplifting way. The lead character, Dawn Brightside, usually lives up to her surname, always looking on the bright side of life, but events more than twenty two years ago made this particularly difficult for her. She has been homeless, moving regularly for all those years but when she's offered a bed in St Jude's Hostel for the Homeless she finds support, friends and the opportunity to make a new start. . . . . only to have the hostel threatened with closure. That's when her positivity comes to their aid as she strives to sort out not only her own life but supporting others and endeavouring to help inspire the residents and staff to work together to raise the funding necessary to keep the hostel open.

As the story progresses you learn the history of many of the people who are homeless, some who are still on the streets and others who are staying there, no two are the same but, like many other homeless people, fate has dealt them many blows, disrupting their lives and derailing their hopes and dreams. It is only through the support of St Jude's and places like this that they can have the opportunity to be supported as they find their way again. I suspect reading this story will help highlight the plight of the homeless and gives examples showing that this could be the fate of anyone of us. Hopefully it will encourage people to look more kindly on those unfortunate enough to find themselves without a home or safe, warm place to call their own. Everything doesn't go right for them, there are issues of substance abuse, mental illness, family dramas and so much more that are dealt with sensitively through the story, There are also some heartwarming incidents, too, involving moving on, romance, family reunions and unexpected sources of support that make this a moving and delightful read, one that is not to be missed IMHO!