Review: What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Goodreads summary:
Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out.

My review:


The funny thing about reading something from a new author - I'm never sure if it was just the one story that didn't thrill me to bits...or if I just don't care for the author's writing/storytelling style. Because in the case of this story - it could be both or either. Whichever the reason, though, the story didn't really resonate with me.

Dave was adorable, but wholly underused if this is going to be billed under the romance banner. There were so many lovely little scenes with them, but he was very much an afterthought character to me. Deb, Riley, Hunter, even Opal got more screen time, so to speak. Then he makes a point of saying he didn't build model trains, he did war staging. Then he says "all that time with model trains didn't go to waste." I honestly couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or if the author forgot what his specialty was.

I loved the head on the shoulder in the van, I loved what happened with the model, I just wish there'd been a little bit more.

I seriously didn't connect at all with McLean at all, especially at the end when everything started to unravel. She's strong enough to register herself for different schools, get moves organized, basically raise herself...but her friends find her aliases, and she freaks/runs. Then she finds out they might be moving again, and she freaks/runs again. Misunderstands an overheard conversation...boom, she's off. I dunno, I wanted to smack her upside the head more than I empathized with her.

The only thing I did like is the way the author handled McLean's shifting perceptions of her parents - how her father was sainted at the beginning and her mother the selfish jerk, but as McLean started to remember herself and the way it really had been, her father's warts started to show as did her mother's compassion. It was brilliantly handled for a complex realization.

Overall, it wasn't a bad story, just not one I really connected with.