BOOK REVIEW: HOW MANY LETTERS ARE IN GOODBYE BY YVONNE CASSIDY

How Many Letters Are In Goodbye?

by Yvonne Cassidy

Paperback edition, 432 pages

Expected publication March 8th 2016 

MY GOODREADS RATING 2/5 STARS

(Thanks to Flux and NetGalley, I received an ebook copy of this book for free to review.)

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

It's been almost eleven years since Rhea Farrell last wrote to her mother.

It was a Friday night ritual - until Rhea's father decided it was stupid to write letters to a dead person. That was the summer before the accident. The summer before Rhea began to keep her first secret.

Now about to turn eighteen, Rhea finds herself alone on the streets of New York with nobody to talk to about the future, or the past. So, just like she used to do as a little girl, she begins a letter with the words 'Dear Mum' and tells her mother the things she can't tell anyone else.

In the city where Allison Farrell was born, her daughter begins to delve into her past. And as she uncovers more about who her mother truly was, Rhea starts to figure out exactly who she herself wants to be. And that sometimes it takes longer than you think to say goodbye...

I know a lot of people are looking for more diversity in YA novels, but this book just went way overboard. She’s originally from Ireland, her mom past away before she was born, she lost an arm when she was pretty young, her father passed on sometime after that, and she ends up homeless living with her aunt. This is more than enough diversity for me in particular, but there is more that comes up as the story goes along. 

I found the story very repetitive, which I believe is because the book is written in letter form. Usually I’m a big fan of books written like this, but I found it just wasn’t working for the story, or for me in general. The whole time I was reading this book I kept waiting for something to shock me, but there was honestly so much diversity that it got to a point where none of the plot twists were shocking.

Overall this book wasn’t for me. It seemed a bit too far fetched and repetitive. I’m not sure if I would read anything else by this author.