A review by mollyxmiller
He Forgot to Say Goodbye by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

4.0

He Forgot To Say Goodbye is the story of Jake Upthegrove and Ramiro Lopez, two boys from different sides of El Paso who have one thing in common: both of their fathers walked out on them early in life.


I “effen” loved this novel. It is one of my favorite novels that has been required so far for my Young Adult Materials class. The novel alternates between Ram and Jake’s points of view, something which I usually don’t like novels to do, but I thought that Saenz was able to do this very skillfully. Even though at first it made me a bit uncomfortable, I even grew to like Jake’s very dark narrative. At first I thought “he’s just a whiny, privileged white kid who’s read too much about politics” but Jake is not a static character. And I grew to like him even though his voice is very negative. I honestly think that of all the novels we’ve read that have been required for class, this one is the strongest in the actual “craft” of the writing. Although I do think John Green is wicked awesome with words, Saenz, to me, reads as a stronger writer, not only because the humor is clever, but also because he delivers such evocative yet stylistically simplistic truths. While reading this novel, I felt a very strong, emotional connection to the characters. Since I have been reading so many different YA books, I think this was remarkable because I’ve been going through so many that I haven’t felt as strong of ties to the characters, not necessarily because of lack of characterization, but just simply because I’ve had to read so many at one time. However, this book really made me pause and connect with the characters. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA Lit or even just wants a good Realistic Fiction novel to read.