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trashlie 's review for:
What Happened to Goodbye
by Sarah Dessen
I'll definitely update this later with a proper review and some more articulated thoughts, but it seems everything I loved about this book is what most people dislike: I love how the family and friendships are bigger and more pressing than romance, I enjoy McLean's search for herself, I like the underlying pressure and tension between her and her mother, and I actually like the basketball. (Contrary to popular belief, sports and literature CAN go together.) I was endeared to Dave who played off as refreshingly normal - esp where Dessen has written a wealth of swoony males.
I do have a few issues/nitpicks with the story, esp with regards to McLean's parents, but over all, I was far more pleased with this than anticipated, and frankly feel that people complaining of this book's lack of swooning grand romance have heavily missed the point. Certainly Dessen is known for the males she writes and the romances she builds, but that all is heavily second to the true issues at the heart of this book: who is McLean and how does she figure it out after all her different personas, and her resentment over her parents' divorce. Every time family and friendship trumps romance, I'm more than delighted to accept it.
I do have a few issues/nitpicks with the story, esp with regards to McLean's parents, but over all, I was far more pleased with this than anticipated, and frankly feel that people complaining of this book's lack of swooning grand romance have heavily missed the point. Certainly Dessen is known for the males she writes and the romances she builds, but that all is heavily second to the true issues at the heart of this book: who is McLean and how does she figure it out after all her different personas, and her resentment over her parents' divorce. Every time family and friendship trumps romance, I'm more than delighted to accept it.