What Happened to Goodbye

This review is also featured on Behind the Pages: What Happened to Goodbye

Divorce is never easy. When the divorce centers around a high-profile affair, it's even worse. McLean lives with her father, traveling from town to town as he fixes restaurants for his consulting firm. Each new town is a chance to remake herself and figure out who she wants to be. And another chance to avoid her mother. But when she ends up in Lakeview, everything starts to change. McLean starts to wonder if she even knows who she is anymore.

What Happened to Goodbye takes you through a teen's perspective of divorce. It shows the struggles kids go through trying to balance between two homes and the resentment that can grow for one or the other parent. It also delves into the misconceptions that can arise when people fail to communicate or fail to listen to one another.

McLean will go through a range of emotions as she tries to come to terms with her parents' divorce. At first, the constant moves seem perfect. It's like a new adventure every time she starts a new school where she can play whatever role she chooses. But McLean slowly loses her identity. Not only does she not have a place to call home, but the long-known routines are gone as well. As she thinks back to the times when her family was whole, she starts to realize how much she misses it all. You can only hide from the truth for so long.

This an even-paced book, taking the reader through McLean's growing understanding of her new family dynamic. There isn't a lot of tension and the plot is straight forward. If you're looking for a simple young adult read, then this is your book. I also think it would be a great book to offer children whose parents are divorced. And yes, it is age appropriate for young teens.

“There's something nice about the silence of a car ride in the dark, going home. When you were tired of the radio and conversation, and it was okay to just be alone with your thoughts and the road ahead. If you're that comfortable with someone, you don't have to talk.”

Not quite a favorite, but still enjoyable nonetheless.

Although I enjoyed this book overall, I had a few problems with it, mostly being it's very similar to the rest of Sarah Dessen's work and it didn't feel like anything new.

Aku membaca buku Sarah Dessen yg kupunya sesuai thn publikasi edisi aslinya. Sejauh ini What Happened to Goodbye yg paling gk aku suka. Sebenarnya Along for The Ride aku kurang suka background story nya, orangtua yg bercerai. Namun setidaknya perceraian itu bukan karena ada orang lain.
Di buku ini, perceraian terjadi karena sang ibu jatuh cinta pada org lain dan org itu adlh sahabat keluarga. Yap, aku benci penghianatan, jadi walau berakhir damai tetap bikin emosi sepanjang membaca buku ini. Jadi, buku ini tdk cocok untukku.

Hmm. I listened to this in audio & I'm not sure the audio added anything especially. The narration was fine, but sometimes with audiobooks I feel like the narration can really enhance it? And this was just fine.

I thought the story dragged a bit–if I'd been reading it in print I probably would have skimmed a bit. I also realized that I'm old, because for at least a disc of Mclean's meltdown I was like, “Oh my god, this is not a big deal and it's really not as embarrassing as you're acting” and then I finally remembered how being in high school is all about being constantly embarrassed. How could I forgettt :O

It was a pure delight to read this novel. I know now that some writers can touch your soul no matter what they write, or how they age. Susan Dessen is one of those writers.

“I mean, it's not surprising, really. Once you love something, you always love it in some way. You have to. It's, like, part of you for good”
“Like a blinking cursor on an empty page, it was just the first thing. The beginning of the beginning. But at least it was done.” “It was kind of soothing, these sounds of lives being lived all around me, for better or for worse. And there I was, in the middle of them all, newly reborn and still waiting for mine to begin”

Such an amazing book, loved it, each and every bit of it.

Being taught to run away from her problems by both her parents made Mclean an insecure person and not ready to handle the difficulties she had to face with the courts and the custody battle. In contrast, it was nice to get to read about her memories of before the divorce and how the family really interacted; with the subtle signs of unhappiness between parents only obvious to the reader and not the main character herself. Albeit that she was insecure, I liked the fact that Mclean was always there when vital signs of changes in relationships, communication and secret talks were aired out. I do despise when the main character of any book is kept in the dark of the whereabouts going on around her.

Dessen understands and thoroughly explores the nuisances of contemporary issues. As you can tell by the amount of pages alone in What Happened to Goodbye, she deeply delves into the subjects we most always avoid. We have these constant problems in our lives and we avoid them as simple as that. What Dessen focuses on in this book is how—even though we avoid them—we can make them our focal point in life, subtly what we're always thinking about, and adapt ourselves to having that weight on our backs. What we can't look in the face is sometimes hard to read about when it's in front of us, plain as day. Consequently, another theme the author pinpoints is beginnings, and how they lead—with all the stuffing in the middle—to the endings that we just didn't see coming. Not only do Mclean's parents face that particular debacle, but the whole book portrays it as well.

On to the characters.

What one must understand about Dessen's characters is that they are so realistic that you won't be able to tell the difference between them and your next door neighbors. That's something I thoroughly enjoyed reading because all the side characters had their own unique back stories and they were all explored to an extent where you could imagine their favorite color. As a whole, they all played their roles in contributing their own personalities to Mclean's story. They all felt like “real” people. (You shall get the irony of this once you read the book, dear readers.)

Gus Sweet, Mclean's father, was a former chef and now an employee looking to improve restaurants in the nation for EAT INC. Even though it is partially his fault that Mclean is on-the-go constantly, it was essentially her decision. He is a good father that wonders how the continuous moving is affecting his daughter but not enough for him to stop doing his job of correcting people in what he considers and knows is a tough business. Overall, he is a smart man who has insight to the troubles that the people who he has to help go through.

Mclean, as well, does understand that her view of relationships and their uselessness stems from the breaking apart of her loving family. As in, if the happiest couple and family can't stay together, why should she believe that any sort of relationship is bound to work? Then, she has to ask herself the most difficult question of all, how long has it been since her parents were truly happy and how has it gone unnoticed by her? In a sense, she creates all these images and identities to distance herself from the reality of making connections with the people around her, even if she views the constant changes in name and persona to be “fun”. To Mclean, it is a waste of time and energy to get to know people and then having to leave them behind as her journey goes on. However, like her father, she is a smart person who understands the inevitable walls that these ways of looking at life are erecting around her heart.
Example: “Accepting all the good and bad about someone. It's a great thing to aspire to. The hard part is actually doing it.” –pg.236
As the story goes on, she develops into an empathetic character who sympathizes with the new friends she acquired and slowly starts to make amends for all the self-righteousness she didn't know she had.

Opal, Luna Blu's manager, is the embodiment of all the managers/owners Gus has had to deal with throughout his time with EAT INC. From the very first pages of the book you can feel the tiredness radiating off her as she deals with a restaurant she loves fundamentally but knows is being held up on its last legs. Her development throughout the book was inspiring to see, and that she at first wouldn't give up the simplest things just showed her determination to keep Luna Blu the restaurant it was meant to be. Incidentally, as Gus points out more and more the changes that need to be made, Opal knows the only way to save her favorite place is to make it more appealing to its customers. Her quirky attitude made her an endearing character when added to all her other characteristics. Out of all the characters in this book—Mclean, included—she seemed the most real. She's a person that would accept reality when presented to her and take it into her own hands to be handled as she saw fit.
Example: “Where is your sense of adventure? Of change? This could be really, really good for the restaurant. A return to its past glory days!” –pg.296

The rocky relationship that Mclean had with her mother had it's emotional and tender moments that added up to an instant dislike of her constant pushing and then a tearful reunion. Peter, the stepfather, was not as much of an ass as I thought he'd turn out to be. Honestly, he has a very stark way of perceiving the obvious that's refreshing and in-your-face.
Example: “‘Oh, there's nothing decent in North Reddemane anymore....Just a few businesses on their last legs and a bunch of teardowns.'
I thought of the Poseidon, with its mildew scent and faded bedspreads, and looked at my mom, wondering if she even remembered it....‘It used to be nice,' I said. ‘Things change,' Peter said.” –pg.184

Now in her tenth published novel, Sarah Dessen creates another hardship situation that required a lot of self-discovery and had a coming-of-age transition to seal the deal. With a beautifully crafted ending to finish the book, What Happened to Goodbye was a memorable novel of love, loss and all the lessons, mistakes, and surprises people are bound to make. “Everyone is something.” –pg.136

Grade: B+ (Almost an A-)