Such an impressive debut novel, that features a diverse assortment of characters, in a holiday romance that believe it or not isn't Christmas.

As you may have guessed from the title, this book is set at Hannukah, and it features three main characters, who for the majority of the story aren't ever in the same place at the same time. But it does all link together really well, and makes total sense. There are even some fascinating sub plots at play too.

Hannah's story takes her to Tel Aviv to set Shiva for her estranged father, only for there to be more to his life than she ever knew. For Hannah all of this is a journey of self discovery, and learning to be more of an adult.

What I liked about Hannah's chapters was seeing Tel Aviv, which is a location I don't think I've ever come across before in fiction. Hannah also has some views about the general political situation out there - and this was a book written before the latest war erupted (I know this for a fact given how many months the book had been unread on my kindle for, having downloaded it from Netgalley). In fact the mentions of anything to do with the conflict were the only parts of the book (and thankfully small) that I was less keen on.

Mainly cos it was a bit too much like real life intruding on my fictional reading time!

Rachel, was someone I could identify with to a certain extent, not just cos we share a name, but also because we are both overweight (and not on a diet to do anything about it). There is a lot of body positivity in her chapters, as she gets ready to marry Chris on Christmas day. I also reckon if I was to ever get married it would be like Rachel, and a marriage to a non Jew.

Seeing Rachels's family dynamics felt so familiar, and I loved the sub plot with her Grandma.

Yet it was probably Ella's storyline that I was most drawn to at times. She is also the person I want to give away the least details about - but will say the battle with her about to be ex boss was brilliant. And learning about Ella's thought processes was eye opening.

I'm pleased to say that although it includes Israel, Hannukah, Shabbas and a bit of religious thoughts, it is not a book steeped in religion, or faith, it is just a backdrop to the story of these three ladies, over the 8 days of Hannukah.

And I loved how many of the North West Jewish London locations are familiar to me, or at least in passing and fairly local.

There was a lot I could identify with, and generally found it an all around fabulous book to read. I'm already curious to see what this author will write next.

Thank you to Headline and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Eight Bright Lights by Sara Gibbs is a wonderful Hanukkah read about 3 families and their relationships and struggles to get along. I literally couldn’t put this book down. Secrets abound in this book and I loved each family’s stories. I would love to read a sequel to this book and travel to the countries described in this book. Thank you NetGalley for an e-book copy of this amazing story and I can’t wait to read Sara Gibbs next novel. Bravo Sara🙋‍♀️🇨🇦🙏❤️👏👏👏📚🤞If you love books by Josie Silver, Emily Stone and Jean Meltzer, you will definitely love Eight Bright Lights 🕎

Good characters and setting , a real feel good Christmas story, I enjoyed reading this 4 stars

Thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for this ARC

Eight Bright Lights is a fablous festive story - warm, witty and full of just enough chaos to let you know you're in a romcom.

this is a story of three Jewish women, really enjoyed the story, it was interesting to see how each character changed.

This is a sweet holiday romance about 3 Jewish young women who are at a crossroads in their lives. Ella, a wedding planner, is tired of working for her dragon of a boss and impulsively quits her job. She decides to start working for herself as a wedding planner and agrees to plan Rachel's wedding, despite her boss's attempts to sabotage her. Rachel is looking forward to getting married to Chris on Christmas Day as she deals with her crazy family's antics and secrets while trying to land her dream job as a journalist. Hannah, Rachel's cousin has been flighty and irresponsible and working at her mom's pub until she learns that her father passed away. Her father was a famous Israeli photographer, so she flew out for his funeral and connected with her newfound family. It's a light-hearted holiday story with some romance, humor as well as serious issues. The author did a great job of tying the character's storylines together. I loved the story and the character's journey as it led up to Rachel's wedding. There was great representation as well- Jewish/Israeli, LGBTQ, Autism, and plus size.

Thanks, Netgalley, Headline Books, and Sara Gibbs for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

This book was so good!!
A perfect Christmas reading to read under a warm blanket in front of a crackling fireplace and a hot chocolate!

I liked all the characters and they seemed very vivid and real.
The story is sweet and never boring, the timing has been managed perfectly!
The sweet and evocative writing was also truly enjoyable!

In short, a perfect Christmas reading!
Highly recommended !!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC!

I love books like this that have seemingly separate narratives that it turns out have a connection - not a spoiler it's revealed very early on these characters are connected through family and work.

I enjoyed the characters and their separate, very different journeys.

The writing was great, and the characters really fleshed out with descriptive writing and development. Can't wait to read more from Sara!

What a lovely festive read!
It was heartwarming, affirming and wonderful. I really enjoyed the lighthearted comedy and loved how the cultural differences between Hannah, Rachel and Ella were portrayed.

An emotional family drama that is sure to delight fans of #ownvoices autistic and Jewish authors. This wasn't so much a holiday romance as a story about three estranged sisters who have to deal with the sudden death of their father. Recommended for fans of books like Jenny Bayliss's A December to remember. This wasn't as great as I was hoping it would be but it was still a solid read. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Lovely story with interwoven aspects - the wedding planner, the wannabe journalist and the bereaved daughter. At first i wasnt sure what was going on but as the book progressed i loved the interplay between the characters.

I really did enjoy this read, it's about 3 women becoming who they want and were meant to be, the characters are likeable and the arcs that each travel on, makes for an almost unputdownable read!

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy. So this book is quite a mixed bag, if you are expecting a cosy Christmas story, then this isn't quite that. There are several issues and conditions that are addressed within the story that maybe you aren't expecting in a chrismassy book, but some of the situations are a reality. Overall a well written story.

This story is about three different woman. It deals with loss, romance, funny bits.

Hannah ends up going to Israel as her Father has just died who she hasn’t seen for years, she is at a crossroads does not know what to do for work. Rachel is her cousin who is getting married on Christmas Day and wants to work for this magazine but needs to come up with a good story. Ella is the wedding planner who quit her job but Rachel agreed to stay with her, everything seems to go wrong for Ella with the planning.

The book was very enjoyable found some of the situations funny. It was interesting to read about the Jewish community. I read the book quickly. I liked all the characters and they all worked well together.

Eight Bright Lights by Sara Gibbs

Rachel is getting married on Christmas Day but there are many problems in the run up to the big day. Ella the wedding planner loses her job and tries to deal with all the suppliers dropping out one by one with very little time to find new ones. Rachel has her own problems with her family which threaten to sabotage the entire day. And her cousin Hannah is dealing with a bombshell too.

Oh what a fabulous book this is! Exactly the right mix of great characters, fun and comedy, serious issues and a story that keeps you turning the pages. I absolutely loved it - very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Sara Gibbs is a first time author for me. First few chapters were a delight, so I knew it would be a good read for me. Good characters, which made for an excellent read.

A festive story with a twist.

Eight bright lights follows three women, all with their own POV and journeys that intertwine in unexpected ways.

I really enjoyed this read. The first of the festive books for me. I thought it was going to be a festive romance but was met with much more plot and dialogue than I expected.

There was representation of different cultures, autism and some other heavy topics that were discussed in a natural and understandable way which was educational and enjoyable to read about.

There was a bit of humour and romance but it wasn’t the typical festive rom-com I was expecting. I did have to take a break or two and get back into it over the week.

My only negative was the over-use of certain brand or name drops. I also found it hard to connect with the characters because we were being reminded of their
‘Traits’ or ‘likes’ repeatedly at the beginning but once the story began to build, this became less. Sometimes I personally prefer a less is more approach but this may just be how I read into the introduction of the characters.

Overall recommend for those looking for a thought provoking story which is festive but not based on the usual Christmas love and romance!

Unfortunately this book was not what I thought it would be like so I have not been able to finish this. I thought this was going to be a lot more light hearted and funny, some of the topics seem quite hard including death, fat shaming and also shaming/ not taking seriously people with learning difficulties.

This was such a lovely story full of the feels of Christmas but, obviously, without much Christmas at all! There was so much tolerance and understanding of others amongst the usual festive angst that it made a beautiful story come alive.
The story is told to us broken up into each of the days by the 3 main ladies:
Hannah who needs some direction in her life and gets just that when she receives the news on her Father and even with all that is going on in the world right now as I write this, it is worth remembering those who just live in this disputed part of the world
Rachel who seems to have issues with most of her family members but still wont get married without them present. She's a great role model for us larger ladies in her work writing magazine and local news articles.
Ella understands her limitations due to her condition and tries to live within ways that keep her feeling comfortable, when that comfort is destroyed and then repeatedly bombed, it's wonderful to see her working to rise above and conquer!
I really did enjoy this read, it's about 3 women becoming who they want and were meant to be, the characters are likeable and the arcs that each travel on, makes for an almost unputdownable read!

The story is centred around three main characters, Rachel, who is due to be married on Christmas Day, Hannah, her cousin, and Ella, the wedding coordinator.
All three of the main characters are Jewish, which gave me an insight into their culture, but this is both the main part of the story yet conversely not so important. It is more about the struggles that they each have, Rachel about her body image, Hannah about her being abandoned by her father when she was still young. Ella is autistic, which presents it's own challenges, but she is the character that I can most associate with. It is told from each of the three's viewpoint, which can be confusing but is clearly signposted and is the only way that it could be told. There is humour to counteract the more somber moments, with a generally upbeat feeling. Again this is one of the books that you have to pay attention to, rather than flick through, but I did enjoy reading it.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.