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A review by booksong
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
4.0
I'll never get tired of the way Sarah Dessen writes these stories...people may claim that the characters are formulaic and all the plots are the same, but I see a different story and lesson in the lives of each of her girls.
Mclean is no exception...she is pulled from town to town, following her restaurant renovating father after his messy divorce from Mclean's mom. In each new place, she throws up a mask over herself, knowing the next move in only weeks away. What good would it do to show anyone the real Mclean, when she's not even sure who that is?
But from the beginning, Lakeview is different. From the failing but endearing restaurant Luna Blu to the basketball hoop in the driveway and the strange boy on the porch, the town promises to interrupt the choppy rhythm of Mclean's life, and maybe tease out the real girl in the process.
One thing is consistent about these novels...they always include a thoroughly enjoyable cast of characters. Some might even be familiar from previous books, but others are wonderfully new. The main boy this time is Dave, who may carry streaks of previous Dessen love interests but in the end is a great guy with an appeal all his own.
True, the story may have been slower paced than others, but I really could connect to a few of the themes about divorce, independence, and finding and seizing those things in life that are 'real.' And as usual there are some really beautiful sentiments expressed, those ones that stay with you after the book's over. I hope Sarah Dessen never stops writing; we always need touchingly well-done, coming-of-age romances like these.
Mclean is no exception...she is pulled from town to town, following her restaurant renovating father after his messy divorce from Mclean's mom. In each new place, she throws up a mask over herself, knowing the next move in only weeks away. What good would it do to show anyone the real Mclean, when she's not even sure who that is?
But from the beginning, Lakeview is different. From the failing but endearing restaurant Luna Blu to the basketball hoop in the driveway and the strange boy on the porch, the town promises to interrupt the choppy rhythm of Mclean's life, and maybe tease out the real girl in the process.
One thing is consistent about these novels...they always include a thoroughly enjoyable cast of characters. Some might even be familiar from previous books, but others are wonderfully new. The main boy this time is Dave, who may carry streaks of previous Dessen love interests but in the end is a great guy with an appeal all his own.
True, the story may have been slower paced than others, but I really could connect to a few of the themes about divorce, independence, and finding and seizing those things in life that are 'real.' And as usual there are some really beautiful sentiments expressed, those ones that stay with you after the book's over. I hope Sarah Dessen never stops writing; we always need touchingly well-done, coming-of-age romances like these.