From Goodreads: 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.
Combining Sarah Dessen's trademark graceful writing, great characters, and compelling storytelling, What Happened to Goodbye is irresistible reading.
Rating: 4/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
Ending: 4/5
I bought this book a while ago but just started it 2 nights ago at 2 in the morning--I finished at 6 AM. Anything by Sarah Dessen is for sure to be good, and this book was no disappointment: Like her other novels, Dessen portrays perfectly a young woman in a struggle in her life and the people around her, but this novel took a different turn as well. I felt like this book was more pointed to a mature audience and was much more cerebral and less romanticized.
Having to endure her parents very public divorce, McLean, aka Liz aka Eliza, creates a different persona in each new town she and her father move to. When they skip town, they never say goodbye. In their newest town McLean, by accident, gives people her real name and she starts to develop friendships--real, true ones for once since her new life with her father. Now she is forced into a situation that normal young adults go through: navigating life day by day and dealing with those people you care about along with yourself and not running away form you problems, but face them because you have support.
This book moved just a tad bit slow for me, but because everything that happened was important and added to the higher maturity level of the novel it wasn't a problem at all. The ending didn't please me at all. i always felt like I wanted more. More emotions. More dialogue. More everything. This also has to do with personal taste in books, but I understood why it had that certain flow and I appreciate it.
