What Happened to Goodbye
What Happened to Goodbye is Sarah Dessen’s10th novel. I think this woman is an amazing writer. I LOVE Sarah Dessen. I do, really. HOWEVER, this book just disappointed me. I’m not sure why that is, though.
First, here’s the summary.
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 dialogue was killer, just like in her other books. I always feel like her characters always say the funniest thing (my favorite being Bert from The Truth About Forever).
All the characters were believable, and likeable. I didn’t feel like I really got to know them, though. They were kind of there, in and out of the narrator’s life but it felt like they had no depth. I wanted to know so much more about Riley and Deb, and I think what was there didn’t exactly satisfy me.
The relationship between the hottie and the narrator was adorable (like in all other Dessen books) and the hottie, Dave, was SO cute. He was smart and weird and I really liked him…but, like with all the other characters, I didn’t get enough of him. The book really was too short to have them all in detail. Or maybe it was that she had too many characters? I didn’t see which one she could really focus on, and I think she might’ve tried to develop ALL of them, which sort of left the book where it is now.
Don’t get me wrong, though. While I did feel that not all the characters were really all that developed the story still made me cry, and I did care about the main character as a person. Or, you know, a book person… :)
There are plenty wonderful things about this book, too. Like with all other Dessen books, you learn something. You’ll probably always remember the story and always admire Dessen’s ability to craft beautiful extended metaphors. Plus, I’m pretty sure you’ll like McLean. She’s pretty different than other Dessen main characters, quite a bit cooler, I think.
Also, if you’re a long time Dessen fan you will see characters and places from the previous books. :) That made me incredibly happy.
So, I’m going to leave this up to you. Read it. Don’t read it. You know what I thought about it. But keep in mind that I told my best friend all of this and she completely disagreed. She passionately disagreed. As a matter of fact, it was a sort of argument, if you will. SO, the point is, it depends on you, as an individual, whether this story will make you fall in love or not.
