My Final Thoughts

      As you probably already know, for the third quarter blog I read What Happened to Goodbye. The author is Sarah Dessen and i think she is a fantastic writer. I'm not sure if it's because third quarter is shorter or if I have just had a serious case of blog block, but third quarter blogs have been a bit of a challenge for me. I even struggled with finishing my book this quarter. Usually I have no problem, just an easy read and I'm done. This book was different, though. Which is my first problem with the book. Now I know that all books need an introduction and that the beginning is probably going to be boring, but this book started off very slow. It felt like it was just taking me through McLean's everyday life, but nothing was happening. I'm sorry but the book was dry. It just wasn't enough to really draw me in. Maybe another reason I had a time getting involved in the book is because McLean and I don't have a lot in common. Not that I completely have myself figured out all the way, but I don't find myself wanting to be several different people. I have never experienced what it is like to have your parents go through a divorce either. I've had experiences with cheating, so I understood why she was upset, but the only thing I know about divorce is what I've seen on TV. McLean doesn't let people get close to her and she doesn't get attached to people. That was the only way I found to relate to the character. I completely understood why she did what she did because I'm the same way. Another problem I had with the book was all of Sarah Dessen books start to have a similar theme. There is a girl with some kind of family issue that makes her act a certain way, but then she meets a boy. The boy changes her, but then they break up. And in the end, they always get back together. It just gets old after the third or fourth book you've read of her's. 

     I didn't create this blog post to express my dislike for the book, there were things I actually did like. As I said above, I have never experienced what it feels like for your parents to divorce, but I like the way Sarah Dessen writes it. She is able to portray the way a child would feel torn between each parent in a very real way. I do have friends with divorced parents and they will talk about how they feel guilty to hang out with the other parent. I know McLean feels this way when she goes to the Defriese basketball game with her mom. She is even tells her dad this, but he tells her she should be with her mother. He isn't mad at all. I also liked how real McLeans character is. Even though I'm not currently going through an identity crisis, high school students all over the country are. It's something that everyone must go through to find who they really are. Sarah Dessen expresses this in a very real way that wasn't exaggerated at all. McLean could be a real girl at Carbondale High School and no one would think anything of it. I really like McLean as a character, and sometimes it really does take someone else to come into your life for you to find yourself. If we were talking about this situation like it wasn't made up for a book, I would say that McLean and Dave were meant to find each other. They met for a reason to help each other. All in all, the book was very realistic just not what I was looking for.

Just because I didn't like doesn't mean you won't. If you have read What Happened to Goodbye, what do you think?