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A review by harukoreads
He Forgot to Say Goodbye by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
3.0
This is one of Sáenz's earlier works, so I was very curious to see how it would compare to his other two books I've read, [b:Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe|12000020|Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, #1)|Benjamin Alire Sáenz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328320260s/12000020.jpg|16964419] and [b:The Inexplicable Logic of My Life|23447923|The Inexplicable Logic of My Life|Benjamin Alire Sáenz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465572387s/23447923.jpg|43010768]. If He Forgot to Say Goodbye is an older relative to these other books, than I would say Aristotle and Dante is a distant cousin, but Inexplicable Logic could be a son. Both books focus on friendship and loss, although I think Inexplicable Logic is a bit more successful.
Sáenz has always had a lyrical, poetic writing style, and it's still just as strong in this early work of his. Where I think you can see his growth is in his pacing - this book is a bit clumsy compared to the other two books of his I've read, and it doesn't quite wrap things up in as satisfying a way. Also, I wish his two leads had gotten more time to interact in this book. The summary makes it sound like the two of them bond over their missing fathers, but in the book itself they don't even mention each other until about 30% in, and they don't have any serious conversations until the last 80% or so.
Sáenz writes very thoughtful character studies, and I fell in love with these characters just as much as with his others. I just wish they had had more time to love each other too.
Sáenz has always had a lyrical, poetic writing style, and it's still just as strong in this early work of his. Where I think you can see his growth is in his pacing - this book is a bit clumsy compared to the other two books of his I've read, and it doesn't quite wrap things up in as satisfying a way. Also, I wish his two leads had gotten more time to interact in this book. The summary makes it sound like the two of them bond over their missing fathers, but in the book itself they don't even mention each other until about 30% in, and they don't have any serious conversations until the last 80% or so.
Sáenz writes very thoughtful character studies, and I fell in love with these characters just as much as with his others. I just wish they had had more time to love each other too.