The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Title: The Last Time We Say Goodbye

Author: Cynthia Hand

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: February 10, 2015

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

There’s death all around us.

We just don’t pay attention.

Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn’t look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she’s just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that’s all she’ll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there’s a secret she hasn’t told anyone—a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex’s brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn’t have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

This is where I admit that I’ve only read the first book in Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly trilogy (I know, bad Emilie), but when I heard about The Last Time We Say Goodbye I just knew that I had to read it. It sounded like the kind of story that I love and that would give me all the feels. And believe me when I say it did.

Lex thought she had her life figured out. Her family might not have been perfect, but she had one. She had friends who understood her, and a boyfriend she thought she might even love. But then she came home one day to find out her brother had killed himself. Now Lex had to find a way to get on with her life. But how do you do that when you’re holding on to a secret you haven’t told anyone, a secret that could have changed everything on the night her brother killed himself. As she tries to put the pieces back together, Lex becomes obsessed with understanding why her brother committed suicide, reliving every memory to try and find what she missed. But eventually, Lex is going to have to let go, even if it’s the hardest thing she ever does.

It seems like (or at least it does to me) there are a lot of books dealing with teen suicide coming out this year. Or at least there have been a fair amount that have come out in the last few weeks alone. And that’s not a bad thing. At all. It’s great that we’re talking about topics like this one and bringing ore attention to them since they have been relatively taboo within our society. And that’s where Cynthia Hand’s The Last Time We Say Goodbye comes in. It’s a book about teen suicide. But it’s not about the person who committed suicide, nor is it about what led the person to commit suicide. Well, in a way it kind of is. This story is about the aftermath of suicide, the people who are left behind. In this case, the sister who is trying to make sense of what led her brother to commit suicide, and finding a way to go on with her life from that point onwards. And that’s what this story is about: finding a way to cope with your grief and the fact that you probably won’t ever know why that person made that decision. That’s what I liked so much about The Last Time We Say Goodbye, that even though suicide is a crucial component of the story, that’s not really what the story revolves around (does that even make sense?). And of course, Cynthia Hand knows what she does. This story was fantastically written and at times very understated which is where a lot of the story’s power came. Because this was a powerful story. One that at times punched me right where it hurts. Especially that ending. The ending that I had trouble reading through all my tears. And a lot of that had to do with Lex and the way she is dealing with everything that is happening in her life.

Lex doesn’t understand why her brother committed suicide. No matter how she looks at it, she can’t figure out the reasons behind what he did. But that still means she has to find a way to get on with her life, to figure out where she goes from there. In a way, Lex was someone who was a little hard to connect to at first. She’s a very logical and mathematically-minded person and because of that, she almost comes across as a little closed-off emotionally. After everything that’s happened, her being closed off emotionally isn’t necessarily that surprising, but still. Eventually though, I very much warmed up to Lex. You find out more, that she’s struggling with so much in light of her brother’s suicide, that her way of dealing with it is to try to find a clear and logical explanation for what happened. She’s a mathematical person, so she’s looking for the equation that eventually equalled suicide, not that she’s going to find one. But I felt for Lex while I was reading. Seeing her struggle to come to terms with her brother’s death was at times very hard to watch. And again, that’s what ultimately made this story so powerful: seeing Lex’s who belief system come apart as she comes to terms with her new life. And what made my feelings hurt so much. But in a really, REALLY good way.

Cynthia Hand’s The Last Time We Say Goodbye was a powerful and emotional read. It’s one that left me in a puddle of my own tears, but I wouldn’t have asked for it to be any other way.

Waiting on Wednesday (64)

For those who don't know, Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine where book bloggers showcase books they are particularly looking for to. For the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing this a little differently. Like I did last year, each week I will be talking about books that are coming out early next year from different publishers. Up first are January 2013 releases coming for HarperCollins.

Boundless by Cynthia Hand
January 22, 2013

The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to there, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life. 

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her…even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she's headed back to California--and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he's not the only one…With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfill her destiny. But it won't come without sacrifices and betrayal. 

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all.

Though I haven't read the second book, Hallowed, I am still really excited about the conclusion to this trilogy. When I read the first book, Unearthly, I completely fell in love with the story and the characters so I can't wait to finally get back in that world. You can be sure that I will be reading the second book before Boundless comes out so that I can be ready for it.

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

January 29, 2013

London, 1894. Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself--working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns her father is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations were true.

Juliet is accompanied by the doctor's handsome young assistant and an enigmatic castaway, who both attract Juliet for very different reasons. They travel to the island only to discover the depths of her father's madness: he has created animals that have been vivisected to resemble, speak, and behave as humans. Worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape the island, even though her horror is mixed with her own scientific curiosity. As the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius--and madness--in her own blood.

It wasn't until I started going through all the publishers' catalogues that I discovered The Madman's Daughter and from then on I couldn't get the summary out of my mind. The story sounds really intriguing and like it has a lot of potential so I'm really looking forward to reading Megan Shepherd's debut.

Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton
January 29, 2013

Your strength in heart and hand will fall…

Ellie knows that the darkest moments are still to come, and she has everything to fight for:

She must fight for Will.

The demonic have resorted to their cruelest weapons to put Will in mortal danger, and Ellie makes an unlikely alliance to save him and to stop Lilith and Sammael, who seek to drown the world in blood and tear a hole into Heaven.

She must fight for humanity.

As the armies of Hell rise and gather for the looming End of Days, Ellie and her band of allies travel to the world's darkest and most ancient regions in her quest to come into her full glory as the archangel Gabriel.

And Ellie must save herself.

Her humanity withers beneath the weight of her cold archangel power, but Ellie must hold tight to who she is and who she loves as she prepares for the ultimate battle for Heaven and Earth.

In this final installment in the Angelfire trilogy, Courtney Allison Moulton brings her dark world of epic battles and blistering romance to a blazing bright conclusion.

Again, I have yet to read the second book in this series, Wings of the Wicked, but I am still looking forward to reading the conclusion to the trilogy. Like with the Unearthly trilogy, I kinda fell in love with this story when I read the first book, Angelfire, so I can't wait to get back into it. 

So these are the January 2013 HarperCollins titles I'm looking forward to. If you hadn't already guessed it, January really can't come soon enough. Be sure to keep checking back each week to see what books I'm waiting on from other publishers.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Title: Unearthly (Unearthly #1)

Author: Cynthia Hand

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: January 4, 2011

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she’s part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn’t easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall in place--and out of place at the same time. Because there’s another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara’s less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’s have to make--between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

UNEARTHLY is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart. 

To be honest, the cover is what originally drew me in with Unearthly but then I hear all these great things about the book which only made me want to read it more. Angel stories are always really interesting and let me just say that I absolutely loved this one.

Clara was perfectly happy living her life in California where she had friends and she fit in, for the most part. But then she starts to have visions about a fire and a mysterious boy whose face she has never been able to see. The thing about Clara is that she has angel blood and those visions have to do with her purpose, the thing she was put on earth to do. Now Clara has to move to Wyoming where, according to her visions, she’s supposed to save Christian from a deadly forest fire. But then there’s Tucker, the boy Clara just can’t seem to get out of her mind when she should be focusing all her efforts on Christian. What will Clara choose? Love or her duty as an angel?

I’ve read a lot of books about different sorts of angels or angel-related people, but this was the first one about actual angels. I really enjoyed it to say the least. The whole concept of purpose was really interesting and it really got me thinking about how, in some way, we all have a purpose to fulfill at some point in our lives. And the same goes for choices we have to make between love and duty just like Clara has to in the book. And that was my little philosophical interlude. The other thing that really got me was all the angel stuff. I loved reading about the history of the angels and how there was a sort of hierarchy to them based on the amount of angel blood they had flowing through their veins. And you know, all the different things they could do were pretty neat too...personally, I wouldn’t mind being able to fly.

I loved the mix of characters in the book. I liked how I was finding out about the angel stuff as Clara was, it sort of allowed me to connect with her more. And I could understand her struggle choosing between love and duty. Who would find it easy to choose between Tucker and Christian? Speaking of Tucker, where has he been my whole life?! At first he really bugged me but by the end of the book I just couldn’t get enough of him. Too bad he’s only a fictional character. The other character I particularly liked was Angela, she sort of surprised me. From the initial description we get of her, I really didn’t think she would turn out the way she did. But I’m glad she ended up being who she was.

Overall, Unearthly was an amazing read. You will keep turning pages until there are no more left to turn, and even then you’ll still want more. Or at least I did. So, when can I get more, please?