What Happened to Goodbye - Sarah Dessen

What Happened to Goodbye - Sarah Dessen
Grade: YA
Rating: 5/5 stars

Who is the real McLean?

Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out. (Description from Goodreads)

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I have been slowly making my way through Sarah Dessen’s amazing list of publications, and realised I still hadn’t read her latest novel, ‘What Happened to Goodbye’ – being Summer and a time for kicking back with a good book, I thought what better time to read a comfort novel by one of my favourite contemporary authors? ‘What Happened to Goodbye’ was a perfect book.

Mclean Sweet has not been herself for two years – not since her parents split up and a massive custody battle finally landed her with her dad, travelling around America while he fixes up failing restaurants. I was really interested in Mclean’s coping mechanism, using her middle name – Elizabeth – to recreate herself in different ways as Eliza, Liz, Beth etc, in a new towns and new ways, leaving the old Mclean behind. But what was more interesting was watching Mclean become herself again without any conscious decision to look back. The self discovery in Sarah Dessen books always makes me happy; to see broken characters become whole again is pretty uplifting.

What I love most about Sarah Dessen books, other than the patterns and flashes of past characters and situations that make the books join together, are the relationships. The friendships in ‘What Happened to Goodbye’ were so real. The way awkward characters remained wary of new friendships or how the nerdy characters brought sci-fi references into everyday conversations. The dialogue is always so easy and flows so well. What made this book better in terms of relationships was the family involvement. A lot of contemporary novels ignore the family side of things, even when family is the reason for broken characters in the first place. But with Mclean’s issues, and the storyline itself, having a pretty strong family involvement with an ugly divorce; family cannot be ignored and I really liked the family plot in this book.

For most contemporary, and Sarah Dessen books I’ve read; a guy helps bring the girl back to reality. ‘What Happened to Goodbye’ is no different, but our guy isn’t what I expected. Dave Wade - neighbour, smart guy and model train lover (sort of) is the obvious choice for romantic love interest, but while the signs are all there, the chemistry present, an actual relationship is slow to develop and not very detailed. It was refreshing to just have a story and not be so caught up on when the characters will get together.

But it’s not all family and changing identities. There’s always a subplot – an occupation and hobby that the characters keep coming back to. For Mclean and her life, this is the restaurant world and basketball. I thought they’d both be pretty big features in the story, especially the basketball because Mclean’s history focused pretty heavily on College Basketball; but it was the life of a restaurant consultant that we see more of. I’m always interested in seeing what hobbies are going to pop up next.

Another wonderful story – another amazing comfort read. Looking forward to the next Dessen book.

5/5 stars


Kim
(Originally Posted on Goodreads)

This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen

This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen
Grade: YA
Rating: 4/5 stars

When it comes to relationships, Remy doesn't mess around. After all, she's learned all there is to know from her mother, who's currently working on husband number five. But there's something about Dexter that seems to defy all of Remy's rules. He certainly doesn't seem like Mr. Right. For some reason, however, Remy just can't seem to shake him. Could it be that Remy's starting to understand what those love songs are all about? (Description from Goodreads)


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Another book to add to my list of comfort contemporary YA reads. I had high expectations for 'This Lullaby' not only because I have loved all Sarah Dessen books I've read in the past, but also because many friends recommended it and claimed it was the best Dessen book ever. I wouldn't go that far, but I really enjoyed the book and I can definitely see myself rereading it when I need a comfort story.

Sarah Dessen's books have a pattern. This isn't a bad thing, I like the pattern she uses, but it does mean you go into each new book knowing what will come next. There will be a girl with some family or personal issues, who falls for a guy who brings out the best in her; but she gets scared, worried or lost along the way. There's a separation for a while and then they'll get back together in the end. I like this pattern and knowing it exists means it fits into my "comfort" category so well. I don't have to worry that the story will send me spinning out of control; I know it'll end well.

'This Lullaby' starts with Remy Starr, a teenage girl who is just finishing High School and who plans to spend the summer before college having fun and letting loose - but first she must plan her mother's fifth wedding. Remy was a strange main character, I didn't like her all that much for most of the book. Because of her mother's relationship past, Remy convinced herself that love didn't exist, and this showed in nearly all her actions. She was hard and cold; and even though she used the same words (and others) to describe herself, I just couldn't bring myself to like her. I could understand why she came off this way, because of her images of love and relationships she wasn't really open to them for herself - it drove me mental. She's not an easy character to like. I sort of hated myself for not liking her, because Remy reminded me a lot of Auden from 'Along for the Ride' - they had a few differences, but I loved Auden and had to really try to love Remy. In the end, I warmed up to her a lot more, but I think that was all because of Dexter.

When you say the word 'lullaby' you think of music and, as the title suggests, the book involves a little bit of music. It's not a big focus, but there is a band: Truth Squad. Their musical journey becomes a side story as we see them write their own strange songs about Potatoes and attempt to get signed by a record label. Dexter, our love interest for this book, is the lead singer of Truth Squad and the one who finally breaks through Remy's cold heart. It sounds cheesy, but he had a really tough job to tackle and he did help change her. Dexter's a clumsy, loud, funny guy and he balanced Remy's personality so well. He brought out the best in her.

What I love most about Sarah Dessen books are the friendships she writes. Not all of her main characters end up with a close group of friends, but some of them do, and I love the dialogue that comes with them. The easy banter and the crazy conversations. I always like seeing characters that have these stable and well formed friendships. It makes them seem more real.

An easy, touching and comforting read. I loved it!

4/5 stars


Kim
(Originally posted on Goodreads)