What Happened to Goodbye

Review Time! What Happened to Goodbye is Sarah Dessen's latest novel. I'm sure you've all heard of her right? She's the author of The Truth About Forever, Just Listen, The Lullaby and lots more! I would like to thank Penguin for sending me a review copy!

(Goodreads) Another town. Another school. Another Mclean. Ever since her parents' bitter divorce, Mclean and her father have been fleeing their unhappy past. And Mclean's become a pro at reinventing herself with each move. But in Lakeview, Mclean finds herself putting down roots and making friends—in part, thanks to Dave, the most real person Mclean's ever met. Dave just may be falling in love with her, but can he see the person she really is? Does Mclean herself know?




The Short Story ? - What Happened to Goodbye is a coming-to-age novel that reflect on many issues real teenagers face everyday, all around the world. Great characters and clean cut, a novel for everyone to enjoy. Fantastic writing that's both comforting and wholesome! Realistic and relate-able, What Happened to Goodbye is a novel about friendship, family and rediscovering who you are!

The Long Story ? -  I'm not a fan of Sarah Dessen's books, it's not that she doesn't write good books because she does but I just don't like what she writes about. All her books deal with real teenagers and I'm not a fan of "real" writing, I know of bloggers who love "real" contemporary but quite frankly I find them annoying and borderline boring, what's the point of fiction, if it' so real? Keeping that biast view in mind, let's continue....

I enjoyed it. But it' not my favourite Dessen novel. I honestly thought it was a great book, very clean-cut and wholesome. A novel that would have a parent approval sticker on the cover. The characters are more neglected than rebellious and it's relate-able. Thousands of kids have a hard-time dealing with parent divorces and Mclean is an excellent example of a child who's been torn up by a bitter divorce. So torn up to the point that she doesn't want to be who she is, to a point where she would rather pretend to be someone else and live their life.

The writing is one of the great things about the novel. Sarah has an amazing YA voice, its comforting and  wholesome. Very easy to read and understand. The vocabulary is pretty basic but Sarah comes up with the best lines and figurative imagery. I wish I had marked a quote to show you guys but ...I haven't. Some of the best writing I have read!

The characterisation was another great thing about the novel. The character were all very well portrayed, very real and easy to relate to. One of the best things about the characterisation is that the physical appearance of the characters aren't cliched! Dave, our love interest is quite plain looking from what I gathered but is secretly a genius. The secondary characters play an important part in Mclean's character development. In a way they were the reason she changed to be someone better!

What Happened to Goodbye is a novel that I enjoyed but still thought that there were areas for improvement. It's a novel about family, friends and the importanance of facing problems instead of running away, a novel about finding yourself. I really wished that I enjoyed the romance because that's the only thing that's stopping me from giving it a 5/5 rating! I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a quiet read, perfect for summer!

Rating - 4/5

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