Ms. J Mentions...: Review: It Started with Goodbye by Christina June

I am so excited to share my stop on the It Started With Goodbye tour! June's debut novel does not disappoint!

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Tatum Elsea is bracing for the worst summer of her life. After being falsely accused of a crime, she’s stuck under stepmother-imposed house arrest and her BFF’s gone ghost. Tatum fills her newfound free time with community service by day and working at her covert graphic design business at night (which includes trading emails with a cute cello-playing client). When Tatum discovers she’s not the only one in the house keeping secrets, she finds she has the chance to make amends with her family and friends. Equipped with a new perspective, and assisted by her feisty step-abuela-slash-fairy-godmother, Tatum is ready to start fresh and maybe even get her happy ending along the way.

This book is available from: AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY

My Thoughts

It was so hard to adult while I was reading this book! All I wanted to do was read! I fell in love with the characters and found the story so very easy to relate to.

Let's talk about the MC. Tate is a very strong and very stressed teenager. Like most teenage girls, she sees the world around her only through her filter. She has a difficult time looking outside of herself to the way the world affects those around her. She is definitely oblivious to the effects that her choices have on others. The best part of her character, however, is that she overcomes all of these things. She grows in a way that we hope most teenagers do. I would LOVE to share this book with my students as the bildungsroman motif is one that they are currently living out.

Additionally, Tate's relationship with SK was so very organic! I loved that it grew and matured in a very realistic way instead of them being just thrown together. It was a reminder that love can develop in some of the most unlikely ways.

Lastly, I ADORED the way that June approached the Cinderella tale. I think she did a wonderful job of including all of the mystical parts while still keeping the story very true to life. Did real magic happen? No. Did it seem like magic to Tate and Tilly? You better believe it! The prince was perfect and the keychain was a wonderful alternative to the glass slipper! June promises her readers a wonderful tale and what she delivered was more magical than I had truly expected.

My Rating

About the Author

Christina June writes young adult contemporary fiction when she’s not writing college recommendation letters during her day job as a school counselor. She loves the little moments in life that help someone discover who they’re meant to become – whether it’s her students or her characters.

Christina is a voracious reader, loves to travel, eats too many cupcakes, and hopes to one day be bicoastal – the east coast of the US and the east coast of Scotland. She lives just outside Washington DC with her husband and daughter.

Her debut novel, IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE, was published by Blink/HarperCollins on May 9, 2017.