She Flies with Faeries Reviews: HELLO GOODBYE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

   

Title: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they’ll retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night will lead them to friends and family, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

This new must-read novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that must be made when life and love lead in different directions.

***

Oh, I love Jennifer E. Smith. You know, I believe she’s one of those authors who could weave words magically and really get through to you, even in the simplest way. So, when I learned she had a new novel out, I definitely read it as soon as I could.

The thing with HELLO GOODBYE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN is that it deals with a turning point in a couple’s life. Quick. Ask yourself: When was the last time you were in a relationship and you felt like…Is this it? Can we make it? Maybe, we should just stop altogether.

And that’s basically where this book revolves in. You see, Aidan and Clare are about to enter college, and for a while, they’ve been debating whether they should stay together or not–until they’ve come to the conclusion that maybe, they should just break up for good. After all, it’s not every day that you find high school couples who survive college together; they had to think logically.

This story happens during the last night of their relationship; the night they chose to break up, but had this scavenger hunt sort of thing going on. One last adventure, you may say.

My problem with this book, though, is that it was as if a mountain has been made out of a molehill. I am not saying there wasn’t any premise, but somehow, I felt like it could have been about a couple who tried to survive the odds, rather than choose to end things right away. Because it wasn’t like they had a toxic relationship–it was actually healthy, and the fact that they chose to end it somehow could just make you feel like, uh-oh, why?

But then…why not?

They’re in high school, after all. And in high school, you make decisions that when you look back on years later, you’d basically wonder why you made them at all.

This novel was still quite enjoyable. It had those cheesy moments, and it also had its fair share of heartbreaking ones. I personally thought that although some parts near the ending of the book felt “odd”, they’re pretty realistic.

HELLO GOODBYE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN is poignant, and would get you thinking. Maybe, you’d look back on that old love. Maybe, you’d think about who you have now–but remember, it is the in between that counts. It’s what you have now that counts, and that’s one of those things you’d learn in this book.