It Started with Goodbye

by Christina June

After being falsely accused of a crime, Tatum is confined to her house under the watchful eye of her step-mother. But when a twist of fate comes in the form of a mysterious client to her graphic design business, maybe there’s a bit of fairytale luck after all.

Sixteen-year-old Tatum Elsea is bracing for the worst summer of her life. Trapped under her stepmother-imposed house arrest and her BFF ghosting her, Tatum pours herself into the assigned community service. With a helpful push from her fellow community service member, Abby, Tatum fills her time at homebuilding her covert graphic design business, right under her stepmother’s nose. When a cute cello-playing client sweeps Tatum off her feet, she’s left breathless and eager to get out of these four walls.

But Tatum discovers she's not the only one in the house keeping secrets as she takes the chance to make amends with her family and friends. Encouraged by her feisty step-abuela/fairy-godmother, and filled with a new perception of life, Tatum is ready to start fresh and maybe even get her happy ending along the way.

 A contemporary twist on the Cinderella tale, It Started With Goodbye features:

• secret admirer and hidden identity trope
• a strong, spunky female lead
• for fans of Elise Bryant, Meg Cabot, and Sarah Dessen

• ISBN10: 0310758661
• ISBN13: 9780310758662
• Publish Date: 15 June 2017 (first published 9 May 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Imprint: Blink
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

It was case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

When Tatum was arrested as an accessory to a crime, she was unable to convince her family of her innocence. Her father and step-mother sentenced her a summer long grounding in addition to the fine and 100 hours of community service she earned courtesy of the Commonwealth. She lost her freedom. She lost her best friend. Worst of all, she lost the trust of her family. The summer began under a grey cloud, but Tatum was determined to atone for her discretions, and earn back the trust from those she loves.

My reaction at the end of this book:



I can honestly say, that this book charmed the pants off of me. I have an affinity for books like this, where the protagonist embarks on a journey to self discovery, and also where the author ties things up so nicely.

"The talking probably wouldn't be pretty, but I'd learned a lot about myself this summer. I knew I would be okay..."

With all the extra time on her hands, Tatum began to take a look inward. She had definitely suffered some setbacks in her 16 years, which left her with some open wounds, but during this summer of imprisonment, she was able to find the girl, who was always there. She was smart, witty, talented, giving, and loyal. I really enjoyed getting to know the Tatum that was just waiting to be discovered, because she was a wonderful young woman.

"Yeah. I'm good. Really good. Today kind of feels like the answer to a wish I made at the beginning of the summer."

I am all about the characters when I read a book, and June gave us some great ones to fall in love with in It Started with Goodbye. Other standouts for me, aside from Tatum, were: Abby, SK, and Blanche. Abby was a fantastic example of the type of friend everyone should have. She backed Tatum up, supported her in her endeavors, encouraged her to grow and try new things. She was definitely a friend I would want in my corner. And then there was Blanche, who was an awesome step-abuela. She was so many things for Tatum. She was a calm in the storm, when things were getting really tense at home. She was a voice of reason, when Tatum could only see her own side of things. She was love and support and exactly what you want in a grandma. I just found her delightful. Finally, there was SK. *heart-eyes* You may be able to tell that SK was the love interest, and he was perfect. This romance played out predominately online through emails. I always find that approach sort of fun, and it was amusing and cute in this book too. The things he said, the way he said them, it was all so endearing and sweet. I swear! I may have gotten my first cavity.

One thing, which took center stage, was Tatum's relationships. When this story began, Tatum was feeling disconnected from her step-mother and step-sister. She was also reeling from losing the only friend she thought she had, Ashlyn, and losing her father's trust. There is so much to say with respect to how June handled all these things. She showed that there are two sides to every story, and that sometimes one needs to look at things from a different perspective. She also showed how anything worth keeping, is worth fighting for, and the best things do not come easily. It was beautiful how June had Tatum fighting for her relationships. It was a rocky road to redemption, but Tatum kept at it, and was a winner in the end.

From the blurb, I learned that this is a Cinderella retelling. What I like most about modernized retellings, is trying to find the original story elements present in the book. It was fun looking for all the analogs, and I really liked how June adapted the idea of Cinderella's story. I am a lighter-fare fangirl. Once upon a time, I liked those soul crushing stories, but now that I am older, I am more about the fun, the fluffy, and the HEA. June gave us the "evil" step-mother and step-sister, absentation of the parent, a fairy godmother, and even a prince charming, but it never really went to that dark place like in the original story, and I was ok with that.

Sidenote
I loved all the fuss with valedictions, because I fuss over that too.

"Yours in music and marshmallows....
It was the best valediction yet."

Overall: A delightful Cinderella-esque story, filled with charming and down-to-earth characters, which left me with miles of smiles.

**I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book


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[Leah]

It’s been ages since I’ve read a good young adult contemporary novel. I’ve had It Started With Goodbye on my wishlist for ages so I was super, super excited when my wish was granted on Netgalley. So excited that I had to start reading it right away! It took me a bit to get into It Started With Goodbye, but it turned out to be an incredible read. What I struggled with at first was how harsh Tatum’s dad (whose name is never mentioned?) and step-mother Belén react to her being arrested, which may sound bad, but Tatum didn’t actually do anything wrong. And I kind of don’t understand how it got to the point of her paying a $500 fine and to do community service, because SHE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! She wasn’t an accomplice or anything, she was literally the innocent driver but what do I know about American law? The whole punishment thing, though, just seemed like an exaggeration so much like Tatum, I was aggrieved for the first portion of the novel, because it was like being punished for nothing. (Actually the whole plot would have made more sense to me if I knew it was a modern day Cinderella – I didn’t see that in the description til just now, but if I’d known, I’d have had more perspective.)

However, I liked how it brought Tatum and her family closer together. So there very much was a moral at the end of this story, and Blanche was very much the kickstarter to that, seeming to know just when Tatum needed a push in the right direction, to do the right thing. I actually really liked Tatum, considering she could have just gone off the deep end, and refused to do anything Belén said, she wasn’t actually a bad kid. Yes, she rebelled a bit (deserved, actually) but she was hardly a career bloody criminal, y’know, so it was all entirely justified.

My favourite part of the book, though? Tatum’s secret graphic design business and the absolutely swoon-worthy subplot with the mysterious SK. Did I know who SK was right at the start? Yes. Did I care one jot that Tatum was oblivious? HECK NO. Because it was delightful. Pulling off flirty via email is hard, but Christina June nailed it. I felt everything Tatum and SK were saying to each other, and their spark was visible just via email. It made my heart sing and want to burst with happiness all at the same time. I’ve been desperate for a good romance and this one was A+++++++++++++++++. Yes, that is a lot of pluses but that’s just how I felt OK? *Heart explodes*

I genuinely loved It Started With Goodbye. It was such a nuanced read, but it also read really light, as if you were just floating through the pages. I have no idea if that even makes sense, but the book never got me down, despite everything, despite Tatum basically being on house arrest for much of the novel. Christina June is a fantastic new talent to the world of YA and I’m incredibly excited that it appears that her second book will feature Tilly as the main character – HUZZAH! PLUS that could mean more Tatum, and I’m *SO* on board for that.