The Last Time We Say Goodbye

by Cynthia Hand

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

This beautifully written book, gave me all the feels. It's heart breaking and gorgeous, definitely one of the most compelling novel's I have read in quite a while. Cynthia Hand didn't waste one moment tearing at my heartstrings, as she drug my emotions from one extreme to the other. It was refreshing to see a story of love, loss, and acceptance be written in such a wonderfully developed and personal way, that you can't help but feel with all of the characters in the story. I have so much admiration and respect for Cynthia Hand, having the courage to tell a story like this and do it so well given her own personal experiences dealing with this subject.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye, is a painful process of going through the various stages of grief, learning to accept the loss, and moving towards the a somewhat happier future. I knew that I would be a wreck by the time that I finished this book, we're talking full on ugly sobbing the whole way through. The emotion woven into this novel is incredibly raw and palpable, as you begin to watch Lexie trying to cope with the grief she feels at the loss of her younger brother to suicide. She's literally drowning in a sea of grief and she doesn't know how to really grieve due to the overwhelming amount of guilt she feels at not being able to save him. There was a dark heaviness inherent in the sadness, overshadowed by countless "what if's" throughout this story and even if it didn't seem as if it would ever lessen, somehow it did begin to in smaller much quieter ways.

Full review coming soon.

(Note: I received an eGalley of this book for review via the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)