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goodbye strangerWhat: Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

Who: Text Publishing

When: August 5th 2015

How: A copy of this novel was provided by Text Publishing for review.

Back in grade five, Bridge, Tabitha and Emily made a pact. Never to fight, ever. Now, two years later, they’re still best friends, but other things are changing. Bridge meets Sherm, and is soon excited and confused by her new, strange feelings. And when Emily starts texting pictures of herself to Patrick, Bridge and Tab find themselves complicit in a naïve plan that quickly spirals out of control.

And while the three friends navigate the challenges of their changing friendship, another story — of betrayal and remorse — keeps you guessing until the very end.

Goodbye Stranger is a tender and intricate story about friendships, and love, and the pain of sometimes making the wrong choices.

4cats2I wasn’t sure I was going to read Goodbye Stranger, but then Cee told me that she loved it, and then I thought: why not?

I’m really glad I did end up reading Goodbye Stranger, because it was purely lovely. I guess this is what you’d call a Middle Grade and Young Adult crossover, because whilst the characters were fairly young, the themes of the book were quite mature.

There was a whole heap of diversity in this book, and it was AMAZING. There was racial diversity, and religious diversity, and family diversity. The diversity was just so on point, and flawlessly integrated (this was definitely not a case of: oh look at this character, aren’t they DIVERSE???).

Goodbye Stranger also has a strong focus on friendship, which is so needed in books. Even though I am a huge romance lover, when I was in high school the most “romance” I ever had was a crush. So it’s always nice to read books where friends are the most important people and relationships that the MC has.

And family! No one in this book was hating on their family, or alienated from their family. The family relationships (both parental and sibling) were seriously lovely to read about.

This book brought into question a lot of conversation about who you are, and what you do, and how you treat people. I think there were a lot of messages woven into this book in a really beautiful way, and I think that it’s so important for books to do that. To teach at the same time as providing entertainment.

The one downfall of this book is that I couldn’t really connect with the characters on an emotional level. I just didn’t feel that tug at my heart for whatever they were going through. I cared, but I didn’t feel very invested. But I didn’t mind because I nevertheless enjoyed reading every minute of Goodbye Stranger.

One aspect that I really loved was Bridge’s thinking about Sherm (her love interest, I suppose). She said that she really didn’t know if the ~love~ spark was there, and that she valued his friendship so much she wasn’t even sure she wanted the ~love~ spark. This was SUCH a great inclusion in the story, because I have felt that way before (as have countless others, no doubt). And even though the epilogue gave us romantic hope for the two characters, I still appreciated the inclusion of the doubt that Bridge had.

All in all, Goodbye Stranger, was a really unexpected surprise of the incredibly good kind.

© 2015, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.

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Posted on: August 12, 2015 • By: Chiara

12 Responses to Review: Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

  1. This sounds like such a sweet story! I’m a little iffy on the MG/YA since I feel like books for a younger audience don’t gel with me as much nowadays – and I can see myself not connecting emotionally to the book because of that – but the fact that this has a good focus on friendship and family makes it very appealing. I’m glad you enjoyed this one!

    • Chiara says:

      It is incredibly sweet! It read more like a YA novel than an MG – especially because of the content. It was just the age of the characters that might have put it in the MG category. It was so lovely to read, though, and if you’re interested you should give it a go! :D

  2. This sounds fantastic! I added this to my TBR last week and very much look forward to reading it. I was so close to buying it, but since I’m trying not to buy books, I passed. Oh well, hopefully I’ll get to check it out soon. Lovely review and glad you enjoyed this so much (despite not connecting with the characters).

  3. Emma says:

    This book sounds great! Haven’t heard of it before – adding it to my TBR list now. Glad you liked this book!

  4. Yayyy! I love the sound of the messages in this book, and the way you described it was so beautiful Chiara. I like the sound of friendship, family and diversity. Now I know what to expect, I’m looking forward to my copy.

  5. Romi says:

    You readddd ittttt. I’ve had no internet for two weeks, see, so I haven’t been able to pester you about reading this or throw overjoyed bundles of candy into the air at your having read it. Basically, though, I’m super pleased and felt basically the same. I don’t know, not that I think of it, that I invested on an emotional level with the characters, either, but I did care for them and that’s all I needed for this story to be important. You describe your thoughts so well, Chiara, as usual. Awesome sauce review. So glad you enjoyed it, too.

    • Chiara says:

      I DIIIIID. And I’m so glad I did because it was SUPER gorgeous, and just what I needed at the time. I love being surprised by books, especially when they don’t seem 100% “me”, so all the kudos to this book.

      Thank you, lovely <3

  6. Mm, I remember reading another one of Rebecca Stead’s books – When You Reach Me, I believe it was called – a few years ago and being basically stunned because it was so incredible. (Definitely pick that one up, while we’re on the topic – there is an epic plot twist of the level that is SO rare to find in MG fiction, and the characters are just gorgeous and ugh. It’s amazing.)

    I just love how… real this one sounds, I suppose. While I do love me a good fantasy any day, there’s something to be said for an author who knows how to capture the intricacies of everyday life, no? xx

    • Chiara says:

      Oooo, I will have to look it up! I LOVE plot twists, and gorgeous characters, so it sounds right up my alley ^.^

      Yes, definitely real, and definitely a gorgeous capturing of real life. I think that’s why I loved it so much. I hope you pick this one up one day, Topaz!

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