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bethany6788's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I don’t have the words to express exactly what Jeff Zentner’s books mean to me, but I will try my hardest and truly, I’d love to meet him someday so I can tell him in person how much his books have changed my life. I have one book left on his backlist and I am planning to read it before Colton comes out in a couple weeks.
*spoilers below*
I want to protect Carver with my whole heart and soul. The goodbye days concept was harrowing and emotional and so raw. My heart just broke for him. He lost his best friends in a horrific, tragic accident and he believes he is at fault.. along with many others.
I am failing to come up with the right words, so I’m going to use quotes from the book.
“I sometimes look at my bookshelf now and think about how someday I’m going to die without ever reading a lot of the books there. And one might be life-changingly good and I’ll never know.”
“No one knows how anybody lives through anything. People just do.”
“Pareidolia…it’s when your mind sees a pattern you recognize where there isn’t one.”
“Our memories of our loved ones are the pearl that we form around the grain of grief that causes us pain.”
“For the most part, you don’t hold the people you love in your heart because they rescued you from drowning or pulled you from a burning house. Mostly you hold them in your heart because they save you in a million quiet and perfect ways from being alone.”
“I have fallen in love with her quietly. A movement evading my notice. The sun crossing the sky. It crept into my heart, like vines overgrowing a stone wall.”
“The night air tastes like chilled apple cider and the sky breathes with stars.”
“I’m really lonely…I want to be happy again before I die. That’s all I want.”
“You have a love heart, separate from your grieving heart, or your guilt heart, or your fear heart. All can be individually broken in their own way.”
“I tell him I hope.”
Thank you @jeffzentner for this gorgeous story. I’ll never forget it. Carver will be in my heart.
*spoilers below*
I want to protect Carver with my whole heart and soul. The goodbye days concept was harrowing and emotional and so raw. My heart just broke for him. He lost his best friends in a horrific, tragic accident and he believes he is at fault.. along with many others.
I am failing to come up with the right words, so I’m going to use quotes from the book.
“I sometimes look at my bookshelf now and think about how someday I’m going to die without ever reading a lot of the books there. And one might be life-changingly good and I’ll never know.”
“No one knows how anybody lives through anything. People just do.”
“Pareidolia…it’s when your mind sees a pattern you recognize where there isn’t one.”
“Our memories of our loved ones are the pearl that we form around the grain of grief that causes us pain.”
“For the most part, you don’t hold the people you love in your heart because they rescued you from drowning or pulled you from a burning house. Mostly you hold them in your heart because they save you in a million quiet and perfect ways from being alone.”
“I have fallen in love with her quietly. A movement evading my notice. The sun crossing the sky. It crept into my heart, like vines overgrowing a stone wall.”
“The night air tastes like chilled apple cider and the sky breathes with stars.”
“I’m really lonely…I want to be happy again before I die. That’s all I want.”
“You have a love heart, separate from your grieving heart, or your guilt heart, or your fear heart. All can be individually broken in their own way.”
“I tell him I hope.”
Thank you @jeffzentner for this gorgeous story. I’ll never forget it. Carver will be in my heart.
kvreadsandrecs's review against another edition
5.0
Have I already decided on a favorite book of 2017? If not, I choose this one. If so, I choose this one along with whatever else I had previously chosen. Holy shoot. This book was incredible. Raw. Gut wrenching. Heartbreaking. Emotional. I loved every minute of it. The writing was beautiful and I highlighted practically the whole book. Jeez.
Pro tip: don't read this in the company of others. You will ugly cry.
Pro tip: don't read this in the company of others. You will ugly cry.
analyticalchaos's review against another edition
4.0
Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner follows our main character Carver, a high schooler in the midst of one fo the greatest tragedies of his life. His three closest friends have died in a car accident, which has been allegedly caused by a text sent to the phone of the driver.
Who sent that text? Carver.
Suddenly, Carver is tossed into a maze of grief, reconciliation, and guilt. Carver must confront his anxiety and depression head on.
This book had an engaging premise that spoke to the mixed journey of loss. Each of the families had coped differently, sometimes negatively and sometimes positively. Each friendship was so vibrant and unique. I will admit that a certain character was not fully developed. I was disappointed that this character succumbed to a stereotype, especially considering how crucial he was to the story.
The role of support and therapy in this novel was truthful. Often therapy is stigmatized or misunderstood. The role of the therapist was not underestimated.
Overall, this read brought me to tears. This book will stick with me for a while.
Who sent that text? Carver.
Suddenly, Carver is tossed into a maze of grief, reconciliation, and guilt. Carver must confront his anxiety and depression head on.
This book had an engaging premise that spoke to the mixed journey of loss. Each of the families had coped differently, sometimes negatively and sometimes positively. Each friendship was so vibrant and unique. I will admit that a certain character was not fully developed. I was disappointed that this character succumbed to a stereotype, especially considering how crucial he was to the story.
The role of support and therapy in this novel was truthful. Often therapy is stigmatized or misunderstood. The role of the therapist was not underestimated.
Overall, this read brought me to tears. This book will stick with me for a while.
rhalfie29's review against another edition
5.0
A heart-wrenching story that had me welling up on numerous occasions - but through the vivid and hilarious vignettes of the four friends, it's elevated from being just a tearjerker. I felt so warmly towards this bunch I wanted to be their friend too! Which only makes the plot sting all the more. Written with a voice that is recognisably teen but is also nuanced, sophisticated and rarely one-dimensional, the grief in this story is painfully realistic - your heart truly aches.
phiphig's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
cathyolibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This book punches you in the gut over and over, so be prepared for that, but it is well worth the pain. Small spoiler: At the beginning I was a little put off by the premise that the sender of the text could be held liable for the death of the receiving driver, only to do a bit of research and find out that this is an actual thing that happens. Yikes! Once I had that bit of information this story was even more unbelievably gut wrenching, and like a horrible accident, you want to turn away but just can't and not only can you see the physical damage, reading the book you see all of the FEELINGS too. I tell you Mr. Zentner, after the Serpent King I was prepared to have my feet pulled out from under me because of what you did (ahem) in that book to someone I really liked. At least in the this one I knew what was going to hurt my heart from the very start.
papertraildiary's review against another edition
4.0
So sad, make sure you're in a good headspace while reading this. Spent a lot of time thinking about what I'd do if I was in this situation, which obviously is a huge bummer. I also was invested in the complicated relationship that was between Carver and Jesmyn.
This was my intro to Jeff's writing and I was super impressed. I wrote down a lot of beautiful quotes. Emotional metaphors and similes are this guy's bag.
Wondering if this book will inspire more teens to open up to their parents. I was a lot like Carver when I was a teen in the sense that there was just *some* reason why I never wanted to share anything personal with my parents, and this story brings up the question of what if your loved ones don't really know you? (Among many other questions such as the infamous WHAT IFs.)
I also appreciated that Carver goes to a therapist, something else that could stand to be more normalized to teens, though I was disappointed in the only brief mentions of Carver taking Zoloft - (side note is this the only antidepressant authors know exist?) because it was fleeting and unrealistic to not read more about how he was feeling about them and how they were making him feel besides slightly reducing panic attacks. But on the other hand, I liked the way Jeff wrote panic attacks.
This was my intro to Jeff's writing and I was super impressed. I wrote down a lot of beautiful quotes. Emotional metaphors and similes are this guy's bag.
Wondering if this book will inspire more teens to open up to their parents. I was a lot like Carver when I was a teen in the sense that there was just *some* reason why I never wanted to share anything personal with my parents, and this story brings up the question of what if your loved ones don't really know you? (Among many other questions such as the infamous WHAT IFs.)
I also appreciated that Carver goes to a therapist, something else that could stand to be more normalized to teens, though I was disappointed in the only brief mentions of Carver taking Zoloft - (side note is this the only antidepressant authors know exist?) because it was fleeting and unrealistic to not read more about how he was feeling about them and how they were making him feel besides slightly reducing panic attacks. But on the other hand, I liked the way Jeff wrote panic attacks.
cecarson's review against another edition
4.0
Utterly depressing. A good read, but definitely not a light-hearted read.
briaraq's review against another edition
4.0
would’ve been a five star if carver helped jesmyn through her grief