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desiree930 's review for:
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between
by Jennifer E. Smith
So, here's the thing. I am NOT the target audience for this book. As a grown woman in my mid 30s, a story about a teenage couple on their last night together before going off to separate schools shouldn't leave much of an impact on me. But for some reason, this book really affected me.
Maybe it's because this could've been my own story. I had a high school sweetheart too. But we ended up going to the same college, staying together, and getting married. There was never a conversation about possibly breaking up. So in reading this story and thinking about what might have been, I really felt connected to the characters and their struggles.
What I liked:
1. The characters: I really liked Clare and Aidan. I especially like that he is the more outwardly emotional one and she is the common-sense, let's-make-a-list one. I liked their interactions, their banter, and their friendship. I also enjoyed their friends, although they weren't a huge part of the story.
2. The story's structure: This book takes place during the course of one night. Each chapter takes place in a differebt place that means something in their relationship, and each is time-stamped so you see when all of these things are occurring. To me, it adds to the kind of bittersweet feeling because as each chapter goes by and they revisit all of these memories, the time they have together grows shorter and shorter.
3. The ending: I'm not going to say too much about this, but I felt like the ending was done really well. It was sweet, sad, and realistic.
4. I could see the story playing out in my mind. I could totally see this turned into a movie one day.
Things I didn't like:
1. This is really nit-picky, and I totally get why the author didn't do this...but I wished we could've had more in the second prologue...even though it was actually super sweet and perfect...the romantic in me wanted more. So really, this isn't something I 'didn't like', but I did want more.
This is the first book by this author I've read, and I think I'll definitely keep my eye out for other books by her.
Maybe it's because this could've been my own story. I had a high school sweetheart too. But we ended up going to the same college, staying together, and getting married. There was never a conversation about possibly breaking up. So in reading this story and thinking about what might have been, I really felt connected to the characters and their struggles.
What I liked:
1. The characters: I really liked Clare and Aidan. I especially like that he is the more outwardly emotional one and she is the common-sense, let's-make-a-list one. I liked their interactions, their banter, and their friendship. I also enjoyed their friends, although they weren't a huge part of the story.
2. The story's structure: This book takes place during the course of one night. Each chapter takes place in a differebt place that means something in their relationship, and each is time-stamped so you see when all of these things are occurring. To me, it adds to the kind of bittersweet feeling because as each chapter goes by and they revisit all of these memories, the time they have together grows shorter and shorter.
3. The ending: I'm not going to say too much about this, but I felt like the ending was done really well. It was sweet, sad, and realistic.
4. I could see the story playing out in my mind. I could totally see this turned into a movie one day.
Things I didn't like:
1. This is really nit-picky, and I totally get why the author didn't do this...but I wished we could've had more in the second prologue...even though it was actually super sweet and perfect...the romantic in me wanted more. So really, this isn't something I 'didn't like', but I did want more.
This is the first book by this author I've read, and I think I'll definitely keep my eye out for other books by her.