The Last Time We Say Goodbye

The Last Time We Say Goodbye

by Cynthia Hand

SYNOPSIS:

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.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

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Heartbreakingly beautiful!

Do you know the feeling you get while and after you hold your breath for long? How time seems to stop for a while, how your heart beats faster and faster, how sharp everything becomes after the fuzziness washes over?

sad-girlThis is how this book feels like.
And it is wonderful, and dangerously heartbreaking.

There is nothing in this world quite like the feeling of true happiness, or deep sadness, or shattering grief. There is nothing like the words that can really get to you, or the stories that you feel like wanting to take them into your arms, hugging them breathless and never wanting to let them go.

There is nothing quite like reading a book that makes you laugh – a true, deep laugh from the very center of your being… Or the ones that can shatter you into thousands of pieces, leaving you with a mind full of what ifs.

“The Last Time We Say Goodbye” is a sad book. A beautiful, wonderful story about grief, about the pain of losing someone dear, about all the things you could have done to keep your loved ones safe. And I hate sad books. I really do. They can make my eyes leak this stupid warm, salty water, running down my face. And if not, they still make my heart ache.

But there’s beauty in them too, isn’t it?

In the fact that without being ‘hopeless’ you wouldn’t ever know what ‘hopeful’ feels like. In the fact that words have the power to create – to create emotions, to create new worlds and make you into new people. Words have the power to shut down the world around you or to make you really see it. Words can be as powerful as regrets.

“You never know when it’s going to be the last time. That you hug someone. That you kiss. That you say goodbye.”

So, you know.. Sad books are not for sad people. 
But maybe they are, because there is so much beauty in this world, so much love, so much everything, that people should NEVER feel this sad.

The story:

the-male-manI knew Cynthia can write about grief with a passion, I loved Hallowed the best because of that, but I think I might not do grief that well these days. I hate death, I hate feeling scared of it, I hate the people that have died in my life and have left me with this hollow in my heart that I can’t seem to be able to fill even years later.

But the truth is that this story is wonderful, it is filled with sorrow but it also has moments of happiness, of cuteness. It is bitter-sweet in a way that breaks your heart and some times puts it back together. It took me 3 days to read this story. Not because it wasn’t entertaining enough, but because I had work and had a terrible flu that made reading very hard. So I had enough time to think it through.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a depressing book that would make you cry an ocean (then again, it might tough, so you should keep some tissues around), even though it deals with depression, but it has the power to make you feel like your heart weights a lot more than usual, pressing really hard on you soul every now and then.

This is not a story about death, as much as one about forgiveness – Alexis (or Lex) needs to forgive her father for walking away, her mother for being so weak, her ex-boyfriend for giving her everything, her friends for feeling her despair, her brother for being so selfishly depressed, herself for not being there to save him. And she feels like she needs forgiveness to… For all the words left unspoken, for all the things that she could have done, for all the life her brother could have lived, for all the tears that have dried up.

“Forgiveness is tricky, Alexis, because in the end it’s more about you than it’s about the person who’s being forgiven”

The characters:

cute-siblingsI will start with Tyler (or simply Ty). He is not the main character here. He is not someone you should judge. He is not someone you should feel sorry for. He is not someone who could learn a lesson from this story. But he also is, isn’t he? And there are many Tys out there, in the darkness, all alone. Or so they think. I just wish they’d never feel ‘below empty’. I just wish they’d never want to say goodbye.

But this is not his story after all, so I will get back to Alexis.
She is… angry. She was left behind by her father, she was left behind by her brother, she was never actually given a choice. Or she was, that’s part of the problem too. And beyond that she is empty. But she fills that emptiness with regrets, and bad recurring dreams (in which her brother dies over and over again), and the immensity of a loss beyond her reach; she fills it with so many questions and what ifs that could choke the life out of her.

“What wishes did Ty respect?” I throw back at Sadie. “Why doesn’t anyone ever ask that, I wonder. Where’s the respect there?”

paper-flower“The Last Time We Say Goodbye” shows the effects a tragedy like this can have – we see suicide not from the point of view of the one committing it, but from all the people affected by it, even though only Alexis is the narrator.

And I think the way Lex is facing the aftermath of her brother’s death is absolutely authentic. The numbness, the confusion, the despair and even the anger she tries to hide. Alexis is a great character, but she is troubled, she is broken, she is sad and doesn’t know how to be anything else. Still she is relatable, you can understand her and be compassionate about everything she is getting through.

Then, there is the mother who doesn’t know how to live a happy life with all the broken pieces in her family. The father that never knew that his happiness would have such a high price. Steven who was perfect (a perfect geek, a perfect friend, a lovely boyfriend). And the friends, and the ex-girlfriend… Everyone was great and I wish Ty would have seen all that.

There are so many people affected by Ty’s decision, though he probably never knew he could have this effect on any of them. It is sad, really, that his unbearable sadness could cause so much more pain. Considering he only wanted the pain to stop.

“You’re like the sun and I’m like a big black cloud. I’d always be darkening your skies.”

CONCLUSION:

Wonderfully written and absolutely touching!

The cover-art is perfect, the tagline hits a soft spot, the title is spot on, the story inside is beautiful. I think that every detail is perfect. Even perfectly sad. All in one this book here is absolutely great, not only for fans of Cynthia Hand, but for everyone who likes to read emotional stories.

There are many thing I wish I could say about it. I can’t because I don’t want to spoil it, so I left tiny little clues in the form of some of those images (won’t tell you which ones though). And with this out of the way, I must say once more that this book is absolutely amazing!!

Happy midnight reading!

Early review: ARC received from the publisher for review. Thank you!
Expected publication: February 10th 2015 by Harper Teen

PS: I am not sure which hurts the most: the story or the story behind the story. *sigh*

 Music of Choice:

The Band Perry – If I die Young

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LEAVE A COMMENT

14 responses to “The Last Time We Say Goodbye”

  1. Olivia says:

    How can I say this?…. hmmm: ♥
    Love it, can’t wait for this book now!

  2. Lis @ The reader lines says:

    I cannot wait to read this book! I have it since… well, some months ago, but now I’ll try to read it ASAP!
    Thanks for sharing this great review!

    • Ari says:

      Ha haa, that’s funny considering that I saw it on your blog first, before even considering requesting it 😀 But I know that with emotional stories you just need to be in the right mood. It is wonderful though, so I hope that you will love it too 🙂

  3. Jasprit says:

    This is such a lovely review Ari! I’ve always been a fan of Cynthia’s work and I always find myself drawn to emotional reads, so I have a feeling that this book will certainly be a winner in my eyes! I think I will have give this book a go a lot more sooner than I anticipated!

    • Ari says:

      Cynthia is an amazing writer (amazing!) and because she really knows what grief feels like, she puts it into words easily and so beautifully. Lex is a tormented character, but I loved being in her head through this story, no matter how hard it was to feel her pain. She was just so… real.

      I hope that you will enjoy this story just as much 🙂

  4. Amelia says:

    Oh, this sounds heartbreaking and heart-wreaking and a sure path for me to a heart-attack, LOL. No, kidding, sounds sadly great 😀 I’m glad you liked it!

    • Ari says:

      I won’t lie, it is quite sad, but not the kind of sad like in … let’s say, a book about people dying of some creepy illness or stuff. That’s not my cup of tea at all, I don’t read books like that.

      Here it’s just the aftermath of suffering, and it is beautifully portrayed. It’s worth reading, trust me.

  5. Sophy says:

    You write some of the most heartwarming reviews ever. I always love them and the books you talk about.

    • Ari says:

      It must be because sometimes I happen to read the most heartwarming books ever too. And what can I say, I love reading and I love reading great books. And I also love sharing my love with everybody else 🙂

  6. Monik says:

    I like emotional stories though I didn’t read anything resembling this so far. Great review!

    • Ari says:

      I am not sure I did either, anyways, it is a lovely bittersweet story and I am happy that I got the chance to read it. I hope that you will enjoy it too when it comes out 🙂

  7. Cosy Dragon says:

    I loved this book too!! What a great read! 🙂 Nice review

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