Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

by Jennifer E Smith

[Rowena]

I haven’t read too many books by Jennifer E. Smith but I was pretty excited to jump into this story. The premise was really interesting and I thought Smith did a great job of telling Clare and Aidan’s story. The pacing worked for me and the characters were interesting and the story itself was mighty compelling.

So, Clare and Aidan are getting ready to head off to college on different coasts. Clare is heading to the East Coast and Aidan is heading to UCLA in California. This story takes place over the course of their last night together and a whole lot of things happen. The plan was for them to take a walk down memory lane, remember their history and then decide whether to do the long distance thing or not. Clare thinks they should break up because logically, things were bound to change and they would drift apart so they should end things on a high note but on the other hand? She doesn’t want to. Aidan just flat out doesn’t want to. He loves Clare and he wants them to make it work but Clare is dead set on ending things now before they grow to hate each other later.

As they hit up each stop on Clare’s list, things just don’t go the way that Clare was hoping they would. Tensions are high, memories are only half remembered and the night gets away from them but I really enjoyed Smith’s writing style with this book.

This book was a lot deeper than I was expecting but Smith really dug into the heart of what Aidan and Clare was going through. The story is character driven and even though there were times when I rolled my eyes at Clare, I finished this book having liked what I read. Smith had thinking about what I’d do if I was in their position…would I stay together or would I let go? What’s the smarter choice? I thought the story ended on a high note and being the romance loving person that I am, I appreciated the story all the more. This is an enjoyable read and I definitely recommend.

Grade: 4 out of 5