Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between Review

Title: Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Genre & Age Group: Contemporary, romance, young adult

Goodreads Synopsis:

On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan have only one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night leads them to family and friends, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

Charming, bittersweet, and full of wisdom and heart, this irresistible novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that arise when life and love lead in different directions.

Source: Public library

How I Found Out About It: Goodreads/Blogging

Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between was such an adorable story, which I was totally expecting after reading a couple of other very cute stories by Jennifer E. Smith. I can honestly tell you that I was drowned in feels and that I was super entertained by both its inner and outer beauty!

For a brief summary, this book revolves around a teenage couple, Clare and Aidan. They are just about to set off to college and are faced with the very hard decision of splitting up for good or staying together even as they go their separate ways. In the next twelve hours they still have, they revisit all the places they went together as a couple, and those landmarks help them decide: stay together? Or become single again?

Smith really has a knack for crafting 3D characters, which definitely showed in this instalment of hers. Aidan was very easy-going and soooo sweet to Clare, and even though I was admittedly not Clare’s biggest fan at first- she was quite whiny- I feel like I was able to warm up to her by the end of the story.

Jennifer E. Smith is also the absolute queen of creative plots. In every book of hers that I delve into, a new concept that I haven’t thought too much of before pops up, not to mention the addition of travel which I absolutely adore. Many contemporary romances I read have quite similar plots, but I love how Smith writes about common teenage topics in such interesting, never-thought-of-before ways.

I also loved the morals in this story, which include being able to do anything you set your mind to, especially keeping in touch with someone if you’re going to be apart. In a time full of social networking and connecting, it is now easier than ever to talk with someone halfway across the world in an instant, and for this reason, I liked how realistic this story was to current times. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time reading this book, and I’m surprised it’s not talked about more often in the YA blogosphere! It had good characters, a unique premise, as well as valuable morals. Readers interested in fluffy romances with a hanging question to be answered by the end will definitely fall in love with Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between!