What Happened to Goodbye (Book Review)

Author: Sarah Dessen
Year: 2011
Genre: Novel
Reading Level: Young Adult

Literary Awards: ALA Teens' Top Ten Nominee (2012)

Plot Summary: Mclean Sweet has spent the last three years moving from place to place with her recently divorced father.  At each new place she reinvented herself then shedded her new persona with every move.  But with their arrival in Lakeview, for the first time in three years Mclean is simply herself, but it turns out that being herself creates new complications while bringing up old issues.

 
Red Flags: PG-13 language, some very mild teenage partying/drinking, general drama

 

My Rating: B+ 
Not my favorite Sarah Dessen book--it seemed like she was trying a bit too hard.  Nevertheless, this was basically more of what I like reading her for and I happily plowed through this book.  As usual, the characters are interesting and fun, and the writing was good overall (the Meaningful Things were a bit forced).  I liked the relationships, whether friend, family or romantic, and I liked that the romance with the unfortunately named Dave took a back seat. 

Overall, an enjoyable read, even if it wasn't anything groundbreaking.