What Happened to Goodbye

McLean lives and travels with her father, a restaurant consultant, after her parents’ divorce. Her father’s work takes them to different cities for a few months at a time, and McLean takes advantage of this by exploring a different personality — and name — in each place. So far she has been through four names, which makes it quite a surprise when she finds herself just being plain old McLean in her new town, Lakeview, where her father is helping to makeover an Italian restaurant. After being snapped up on her first day of school by Deb, the self-appointed hospitality committee of one, McLean finds herself making friends and starting to settle down comfortably. However, her mother, who is now married to a star basketball coach, show more is determined to be a part of McLean’s life. Despite her parental strife and falling (literally) for the boy next door, McLean is enjoying life in Lakeview more than any of her previous stays.

Although I have long been a fan of Dessen’s work, I found this latest novel lacking. I felt that the storyline wrapped up far too quickly and neatly at the end. I did find the inclusion of technology as a plot device interesting — especially McLean’s multiple Internet personas finally catching up to her. Hopefully this novel was just a fluke in Dessen’s otherwise usually stellar books for teenage girls. show less

“Home wasn't a set house, or a single town on a map. It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together.”

Another wonderful Sarah Dessen book. I love that she is a wonderful author, a go-to author that I know there will be a character I love, a story that's easy to slide right into and a plot with depth and interesting twists.

I'm a mover. We don't move every 6 months, but I don't like to stay in one house longer than 4 or 5 years......so I completely understand McLean's understanding that she can be whoever she wants to be after each move. She's completely right.

Dave was wonderful - a boy that everyone deserves. Someone who is so patient and sweet and so comfortable with who they. Riley, Deb and Heather also show more added a great dynamic that gave the characters more depth and personality as the banter was natural and their situations and personalities were recognizable. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this one. I loved it! show less

The last few years since her parent’s divorce, McClain’s tried on different personas in every city she and her father move to, and even though as the novel starts she decides to be herself again, her personality somewhat eluded me throughout, not that I disliked her or was bored just that I never felt like I knew her all that well, not her aspirations, what she liked to do in her spare time, etc. Despite being the novel’s heroine, she seemed the least fully formed of the characters, although maybe that was on purpose to underscore that she doesn’t really know herself anymore after hiding behind those other personas?

Regardless of her personality, I still found McClain’s story engaging, the conflict with her mom and the sense show more of responsibility she feels towards her father were believable, particularly the confrontational moments with both parents, those were also the moments where I did feel like I had a stronger understanding of her.

I loved the side characters as I often do with Dessen’s work. She has a particular gift for crafting super interesting characters who don’t need a ton of page time to come across so vividly, the standout for me here was Deb, one of those onion characters, where every scene she appeared in peeled back another fascinating layer and I just really wanted more of her. Is it too late to ask for Deb to star in her very own book? I’d even be game for one set in the present day with an adult Deb. She was just fantastically original. I’m holding out hope that I’ll at least see Deb pop up in some fun way in one of the author’s later books, those cameos/Easter eggs (a The Truth About Forever character appears in surprising circumstances here) are one of the many joys I’m finding in reading Sarah Dessen’s novels in chronological order. show less

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 show more 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. show less

This was my first Sarah Dessen read. A friend strongly recommended her, so I went ahead and tried it out. At first the story felt a little slow, there was a little too much explanation and setup, but I kept on and soon I couldn’t put it down. McLean’s parents go through an ugly divorce. Her mother remarries the coach from their favorite university and has more kids. It’s a big enough scandal that it makes the papers. Ouch. McLean chooses to live with her father who is a restaurant consultant, aka he comes into a struggling restaurant and revamps the staff, menu, and vibe so that it will become profitable again. This has meant a lot of moves for McLean, but each time she takes the opportunity to reinvent herself, with a new name show more and a new style. This latest stop turns out a little different. McLean ends up using her own name and becoming friends with the next door neighbor and the restaurant staff.

I just loved the characters. McLean was understandably messed up and trying to figure out who she was. Her growth was gradual and felt realistic. She makes some big mistakes and reacts in a fairly typical fashion. All the other characters had such quirky personalities they totally jumped off the pages. The relationships all felt realistic. McLean’s parents were present for the story despite the baggage they are dealing with. This was a nice change from the absentee parent syndrome so frequent in teen books, which always irritates me. The way the friendships developed felt natural. Dessen hit the perfect blend of enough description to visualize all the scenes but not so much to bog the story down. There was a basketball injury scene I couldn’t stop laughing over. I loved the subtle pieces of humor especially in the conversations. As for Dave, the eventual romantic interest, he was a sweetheart. I was really rooting for them to work it all out. Aside from the slightly slow start, this was a perfect coming of age/finding yourself story and I loved it. show less

Oh Sarah Dessen, how accurately you capture what is going on in the mind of today’s teenage girl. It’s frightening how accurate this book is!

Mclean is suffering in What Happened to Goodbye, of that I am very, very certain. Her parents have suffered a huge break-up and in the process, one of the biggest things in life that bonds Mclean to her father has been compromised, painfully so. Sarah Dessen very accurately portrays the hurt and pain Mclean is dealing with and her coping mechanisms to try to get it all to work out.

It’s strange reading these books as an adult, because you see all sides of the equation, whereas a teenager would feel as if Mclean is being so hardily abused by both parents for not being able to just live her life show more as she pleases. It’s important to remember, however, that Mclean is a teenage girl – and as much as we all wished we knew everything at 17, we really didn’t.

Yes, her parents act selfishly, but so does Mclean and that’s what makes this story so very, very real. My emotions were tugged left, right and then ripped up and thrown all over the place before being haphazardly put back together. And folks, that’s what Sarah Dessen does best.

Highly recommend this book, especially for people dealing with 17 year old girls. Great insights into just how their minds work. show less

McLean has spent the last two years of her life in motion, running from whatever ghosts might come from the past to haunt her if she stops. She and her father have been physically moving around the country, but McLean’s ‘journey’ is more than that – she recreates herself in every new town. Until she arrives in Lakeview, and a surprising boy interrupts her ‘creating’ and she finds herself as simply ‘McLean.’ This surprising boy – Dave – and the equally surprising friends she finds herself surrounded by, gently force McLean to rediscover who she really is. To find the real McLean, and give her a chance. It’s hard, it’s messy, and McLean fights it like there’s no tomorrow. It’s what she needs though, and show more probably, somewhere deep inside, what she wants. Nothing ever comes easy, and nobody can go through life without making mistakes – and McLean definitely makes some. But that adds to the realism and charm of the story. One of the things I love about Dessen novels is how human her characters are: they have moments of incredible blind-stupidity, they have their scars and their ghosts. They’re just like you and me. McLean could be one of many girls who see their family dissolve and have to come to terms with their new reality, and decide if they are the same or different. show less