Title/Author: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Publication Date/Publisher: February 10, 2015/Harper Teen
Series: No
Source and Format: I received this book for free from the publisher via Edelweiss. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.
Rating: 2 stars
From Goodreads:
There’s death all around us.
We just don’t pay attention.
Until we do.The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn’t look at her like she might break down at any moment.
Now she’s just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that’s all she’ll ever be.
As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there’s a secret she hasn’t told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.
Lex’s brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn’t have to be real to keep you from moving on.
When a book makes me cry, or even just tear up a little like The Last Time We Say Goodbye did, my heart screams FIVE STARS!! So even though I trudged my way through this one, and kind of disliked it the entire 400 pages (WHY IS THIS 400 PAGES) the last 5% made me a little emotional and started confusing me about how I felt. Also, the last 5% thing is right there in the summary which would have made me even more mad the whole time I was reading it if I knew/remembered that.
It wasn’t the teen suicide or aftermath or teen suicide that bothered me. It wasn’t even all the math that bothered me. I think it’s that The Last Time We Say Goodbye feels pointless until practically the last page. There’s a lot happening, but it doesn’t really matter – you could completely get rid of two semi-prominent characters and the book wouldn’t change, except to be blessedly shorter.
There are a lot of religious-y things happening here, and then all of a sudden reversed – a lot of Alexis/Lexie/Lex bemoaning God for doing this to her and her family and why God why – until she announces she doesn’t even believe in God and drops it. It wasn’t like there was a crisis of faith or anything that should have made her switch up like that.
And the ghost thing…Is he a ghost? Was Alexis/Lexie/Lex just imagining it? I thought this was going to be a ghostier story, but it’s really not. It’s a maybe ghost sometimes showing up (smelling of Brut) saying “hey give this letter to my ex-girlfriend” or “hey give this picture to Dad” and that’s it. And God talks to the mom on the way home from Graceland? Are you confused, and not intrigued, by these elements? Then this might not be the book for you.
Paperback Heart 