Friday, June 07, 2013

Review + Giveaway: The Trouble With Goodbye by Sarra Cannon

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The Trouble With Goodbye
Sarra Cannon
Genre: NA Contemporary
Publication date: May 21st 2013

One night can change everything…

Two years ago, Leigh Anne Davis shocked everyone in tiny Fairhope, Georgia when she broke up with her wealthy boyfriend to attend an Ivy League university a thousand miles away. At school, she finds a happiness and independence she’s never known.

Until one terrifying night takes it all away from her.

With no place else to go, Leigh Anne heads home to reclaim her old life. A life she worked so hard to escape. On the outside, she seems like the same girl everyone has always known. But deep inside, she’s hiding a terrible secret.

That’s when she meets Knox Warner, a troubled newcomer to Fairhope. His eyes have the same haunted look she sees every day in the mirror, and when she’s near him, the rest of the world fades away. But being with Knox would mean disappointing everyone all over again. If she wants to save what’s left of her old life, she has no choice but to say goodbye to him forever.

Only, the trouble with goodbye is that sometimes it’s about courage and sometimes it’s about fear. And sometimes you’re too broken to know the difference until it’s too late.

-A copy was provided by Sarra Cannonfor review-
The reason behind the 3 stars for this book is due less to dissatisfaction, than to it not standing above the rest. I enjoyed the story, I liked the characters, and the writing was good, I just didn’t find it differentiated itself from the countless similar stories I’ve read in this genre.

Girl comes back from a terrible college semester, girl meets boy, girl and boy are obviously both broken, boy helps girl find her way out of her dark place. It didn’t take long for me to put this whole story together and figure out what happened to Leigh Anne. I think this is done a little purposefully, though; how we’re made to be aware of what happened before we’re told explicitly. It does help to get us emotionally involved to some extent, making us immediately sympathetic towards our protagonist. Since we know what she’s burdened with, this helps understand her character somewhat as well. Nonetheless, I found myself not especially connecting with her with any sort of emotional depth. Her situation, albeit extremely disheartening, didn’t grasp me like I was hoping. It could be because it’s a story I’ve read numerous times, but it could also be because Leigh Anne failed to let me in. The romance is also an aspect I neither loved nor hated. It wasn’t exactly insta-love, but it did evolve into “I love yous” fairly quickly, not giving me a chance to feel it first.

Even though this plot is one I have read before, it’s the kind of story you can read countless times and, since they all have different circumstances, still gets you enraptured in it. The Trouble With Goodbye was that kind of read for me. I got caught up in it pretty easily. It helped that this one was kept fun and sweet, giving us a reprieve from the darker toned books with equally hard topics. There were some minor things plot wise that annoyed me, however. The one most worthy of note is Leigh Anne’s mother. I could not stand this woman whatsoever. She doesn’t even deserve the title of “mother” with the disgusting way she acts in this story. Caring more about her image than what her daughter went through. Ugh! I know such cold motherly behavior does exist, but I had a hard time believing Leigh Anne’s would be uncaring to such degree – not even coming through at the end at all. One thing it did offer is character growth on Leigh Anne’s part, seeing as she has to unclaw herself from her dependence on her parents.

It seems like I mentioned more negatives than positives in this review, but really I did enjoy the book, I just don’t have any comments in particular about it otherwise. It was a good book, it didn’t blow me away due to 1) the flaws mentioned above and 2) not standing out from others I’ve read with this storyline. With that said, I can see those newer to the genre being easily captivated by this novel.

3 Hot Espressos

This post is a part of The Trouble With Goodbye blog tour:

Click on banner for full tour schedule!


Giveaway
Thanks for Sarra Cannon and AToMR Tours, you can enter to win your own copy of The Trouble With Goodbye and a gift card!

Open internationally
Giveaway ends June 11th, 2013

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter!

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Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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25 Responses to “Review + Giveaway: The Trouble With Goodbye by Sarra Cannon”

  1. Amy

    This sounds good, but I would probably just think it was okay too if there’s no real connection to Leigh Ann. I depend on being invested in the characters in stories like this to really make it stand out for me. Great review babe!!

  2. Nicole

    I love contemporary but I wouldn’t say I’ve read too many stories of the same yet. I’ve only skimmed the surface of this genre. That being said, maybe I will take to this book a little more than you did without so much to compare it against. I am happy you still enjoyed it though. Thanks for the opportunity to win and sharing your thoughts!!

  3. Jenni @ Alluring Reads

    I am totally with you on all of these NA stories starting to feel the same. It really is too bad and I don’t like how they are all about the girl finding a guy who essentially saves them from the dark ghosts of their pasts. Bleh. Happy that you were able to enjoy this one overall though!

  4. Jovon Tucker

    I know you had a problem with how predictable The Trouble With Goodbye was but I really think I would enjoy this book! I want to find out what happened to Leigh and how Knox helps her through it all!

    Thanks so much for the awesome giveaway and review!

    My email: mrsjtucker2012[at]gmail[dot]com

  5. Siiri

    I know exactly what you meant when you wrote that first paragraph. I felt the exact same way. It was good, I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it and I wasn’t overly emotional nor did I connect with Leigh Anne. I just.. thought it was enjoyable enough. Sucks that neither of us loved it.

  6. Mary @ BookSwarm

    Um…not sure this one is for me. I do like a good romance but it has to stand out a bit more than this one seems to. Still, it’s one that I can recommend to others who like this genre!

  7. Candace

    I think this is one reason I’m not all over the contemp NA books, so many are just similar. I’m glad that you still enjoyed it though!

  8. Megan K.

    Eh, it’s always awkward when love interests exchange “I love you” too quickly. I mean, I know I would feel pretty uncomfortable if I was in that situation. And I’ve also noticed that a LOT of NA books don’t stand out (with the exception of Hopeless, which was really pretty good) because they have plots way too similar. I’m still glad you liked this overall, though I doubt I’ll be giving it a go. Lovely review, chickie!

  9. Shooting Stars Mag

    Thanks for the review. I need to read more New Adult. It does seem to have a fairly typical premise, but I might find myself enjoying it. I’m glad they tried to keep it fairly light, despite the negative aspects focused on in the story.

  10. Alexa Y.

    You’ve actually perfectly described how I sometimes feel about books. If I read too many stories that have similar plots, the later reads always blend with the first few – unless there’s something extraordinary about it! I’m sorry that this one didn’t really stick out to you, but I’m glad that you liked it. It sounds fairly interesting…

  11. tfalick

    this sounds like my kind of book! sounds like a good solid read 🙂 and I do love me some NA!!! i need more NA on my shelves! Thank you for this chance! lovin that cover!

  12. Aman

    I get what you’re saying. I’m reading a book right now and I’m really enjoying it but I feel like I’ve read that story so many times and don’t know how to rate it. Still, I’m a sucker for NA, so I’ll definitely check it out.

  13. Lauren Elizabeth

    This sounds pretty good, though it’s a shame it doesn’t stand out from the pack more. It seems this sort of storyline is quite popular and for someone who reads as much NA as you I can imagine it takes a bit more to turn your head. Sort of like me and dystopian. Glad you enjoyed it overall, though! 🙂

  14. Melanie

    Oh it’s a shame this wasn’t outstanding and was too predictable. It sounded pretty good, though! I guess I’ll have to get my hopes low once again.

    Brilliant review, chick! <33

  15. Erzabet Bishop

    Great giveaway! I haven’t read many new adult books so this one sounds like I would probably enjoy it. 🙂

    Best,

    Erzabet

    erzabetwrites at gmail dot com