My rating

green4.5

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hello again! I hope everyone’s enjoying their Saturday! I just finished this book I got from NetGalley called It Started With Goodbye by Christina June. It focuses on Tatum  after she’s falsely accused of a crime, ghosted by her best friend, and being treated as guilty by her father and stepmother. As a way to pay for the fine of the charges against her, Tatum starts her own graphic design business. During the course of the summer, Tatum discovers more about her family than she has in years, with these surprising revelations changing the way she sees them.

First things first: I loved reading this book! I actually started yesterday in the middle of the night, and even though I was tired, I still wanted to read it. Usually, if I’m tired, I get bored with the book pretty easily and just continue reading the next day. But not this book. I can’t exactly put my finger on it. Maybe it was the tone, or the arts component of the book, implementing visual arts, ballet, contemporary dance as well as classical and popular music. It could be that I related to Tatum and always wanted the best for her, or the fact that there was always something to look forward to when reading the book. It could have been all of those things! Overall, for me, this book was unputdownable! Plus, everything I wanted to happen occurred in the end, which is really satisfying in a book. Most of the time, I might get some sort of resolution but it isn’t fully realized. Or I’d have questions about certain issues that were left unanswered in the book. I really like how It Started With Goodbye ties up all the loose ends nicely. The only thing I’m wondering after reading this book is why it is called It Started With Goodbye. Seriously, if any of you know why, please let me know!

Character-wise, I thought that everyone was okay. No one really stood out to me as boring, but there were some flat characters, mainly because the focus is on our protagonist, Tatum, and her family. The relationships between Tatum, Tilly (Tatum’s stepsister), and Belén (Tilly’s mom and Tatum’s stepmother) was interesting to read about. I love how it started off complicated but by the end, they were opening up to each other and to new possibilities. It goes to show that if you  can’t expect progress if you don’t try to change the narrative.I think that Tatum learns that lesson this summer. She could have just given up on people in general after being accused of a crime she didn’t commit, but she keeps on going and actually tries to make things better. It doesn’t always turn out the way she wanted, but at least she tried, I’ll give her that.  😉

Well, that’s all I have to say about It Started With Goodbye by Christina June! It was a really great read and I’m so happy that NetGalley granted my wish! I recommend this to anyone whose interested in reading about the arts as well as a contemporary novel concerning family. It Started With Goodbye comes out on May 9th, 2017 for anyone whose interested! By the way, if you have anything you’d like to share about this book (like the mystery of the title), feel free to talk about it in the Comments Section below. Have a wonderful day, everyone!

–  Sumaya

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