Book Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Release Date: February 10th, 2015
Read: February 25th-26th, 2016
Publisher: Harper Teen
Series: N/A
Format: Hardcover, 386 pages
Source: Won in Giveaway

Description 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.

Review:

   The people we love are truly never gone.

  Summer of 2014 I binge read the Unearthly Trilogy by Cynthia Hand, loving it immensely I shoved it into my sister's face for her to love as well. (She did, because why wouldn't she?) I obsessed over the series for the rest of that summer, and that continued until that fall when I first heard about The Last Time We Say Goodbye. Even though it was supposed to be a contemporary, I still knew that I had to have it. 18 months later, 12 months after it's original release I was finally able to get my hands on a copy. 

   With serious topics, you get exactly what you expect, a serious book. Which is exactly what The Last Time We Say Goodbye was. This book was written beautifully, every little detail, Hand captures the aura perfectly. Depending on if you read the author's note before actually reading the book or if you've read it after finishing the book, you'd notice that Hand actually talks to us about how she lost a brother in a similar way that our main character, Lex, lost her brother. When reading the novel I continuously found myself flabbergasted at how earnest Hand was with the topic, how deep she went with it in her writing, but after reading her note I now know that it was because of her connection to the topic, it's personal. Although she also noted that her families story and Lex's were not the same in most cases, it still interesting to see the connection she had to the story. 

   When it comes to character development, Lex certainly went through a lot throughout the book. Going from a depressed state and not wanting to continue moving on, to coming to terms with what her life is now. I loved to have been on the journey with her, the self doubt, the self growth, Cynthia Hand took us down every step and we got to see that spark ignite in Lex which was her truly living. 

   I got so much more than what I expected when reading The Last Time We Say Goodbye, except the tears, I definitely expected those. Pulling your heart in every direction, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is the perfect book if your heart is in the need of a good cry.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

I would cross out everything and start again.

We must learn to deal with the facts.

I can't cry anymore. I think that part of myself is broken

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Death, Mental Illness, Suicide