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literatelyalibrarian 's review for:
It Started with Goodbye
by Christina June
*I received a finished copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Not a lot of people know this about me, but I am a sucker for Cinderella retellings - whether they be movies or books. Some that I've read or seen have been really good, and others have been pretty cringe-worthy. This one, thankfully, fell under the "really good" category.
I'll be honest, this book took me a little while to get into, and the first little bit of this book had me worried that I would dislike it, or give it three stars or less, but I stuck it out, and I am so glad I did because this book did not disappoint.
One major thing that made me love this book was that there wasn't a huge focus on the love story. A lot of times in YA books, our main character is so focused on getting the love interest to fall for them, and it gets a bit boring to read that over and over and over again. This book dove into deeper, more meaningful topics; and one of the main conflicts was between Tatum, and her best friend, Ashlyn. I loved the organic nature of their fight, and how they worked through things. It wasn't a quick fix and then everything fell into place, they had to work for where they ended up.
Another thing was the integration of the wicked step-mother and step-sister(s) and the fairy godmother. In this retelling, there is only one step-sister, and if I'm honest, I think I preferred it that way. I loved how things ended between those two and Tatum, and I think that it was very realistic as well. Also, can I just say how much I love the fairy godmother in this story?! She is a blessing from the Lord above, and I think that she is one of my top fairy godmother characters ever.
Another thing, this book is such a quick, fun read - but it also packs quite the punch. There are so many underlying themes of family, friends, and forgiveness (alliteration yay!), and I think the way in which the various topics were handled was very realistic.
Although I said this wasn't a love story, I have to admit that I really did like the love interest - he was pretty cute. And I love in the end when the title of the story made perfect sense. Honestly, there is nothing more satisfying than that.
Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars, and I loved how real this book was. I strongly suggest checking it out if you haven't already. Thank you so much to NetGalley for this great read!
Not a lot of people know this about me, but I am a sucker for Cinderella retellings - whether they be movies or books. Some that I've read or seen have been really good, and others have been pretty cringe-worthy. This one, thankfully, fell under the "really good" category.
I'll be honest, this book took me a little while to get into, and the first little bit of this book had me worried that I would dislike it, or give it three stars or less, but I stuck it out, and I am so glad I did because this book did not disappoint.
One major thing that made me love this book was that there wasn't a huge focus on the love story. A lot of times in YA books, our main character is so focused on getting the love interest to fall for them, and it gets a bit boring to read that over and over and over again. This book dove into deeper, more meaningful topics; and one of the main conflicts was between Tatum, and her best friend, Ashlyn. I loved the organic nature of their fight, and how they worked through things. It wasn't a quick fix and then everything fell into place, they had to work for where they ended up.
Another thing was the integration of the wicked step-mother and step-sister(s) and the fairy godmother. In this retelling, there is only one step-sister, and if I'm honest, I think I preferred it that way. I loved how things ended between those two and Tatum, and I think that it was very realistic as well. Also, can I just say how much I love the fairy godmother in this story?! She is a blessing from the Lord above, and I think that she is one of my top fairy godmother characters ever.
Another thing, this book is such a quick, fun read - but it also packs quite the punch. There are so many underlying themes of family, friends, and forgiveness (alliteration yay!), and I think the way in which the various topics were handled was very realistic.
Although I said this wasn't a love story, I have to admit that I really did like the love interest - he was pretty cute. And I love in the end when the title of the story made perfect sense. Honestly, there is nothing more satisfying than that.
Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars, and I loved how real this book was. I strongly suggest checking it out if you haven't already. Thank you so much to NetGalley for this great read!