Thanks to Netgalley for sending me and E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So this book came out earlier this year, but Netgalley still lets people request it, so I thought I’d try my luck in snagging a copy. It sounded like a fun, light-hearted and quirky read, and that’s pretty much what I got.

It was a really quick read. I finished two books in the same day; A Thousand Perfect Notes and The Goodbye Girls. It was quite nice to have something lighthearted after the heart-crushing of A Thousand Perfect Notes, so that’s probably one of the reasons I enjoyed this book as much as I did. The premise is pretty simple: Lizzie needs money for a school trip, and she and her friend Willa decide to start a special business together, sending break-up baskets to people anonymously. They rationalise this by agreeing that this is a better way of getting broken up with than say by text, but obviously some people don’t take it that way and then a bunch of things happen with the baskets and suddenly it’s for the best that they’ve done their whole business anonymously.

Both Lizzie and Willa were okay characters. I feel like there could have been a bit more depth there, particularly in terms of Lizzie. There was a lot of characters just kinda doing things, and the book might have done with a little more development of characters along the way. Same with Trish. I got some of the complex sisters who love/hate each other vibe, but not enough.

Plot-wise, it was quite a fun ride. I did guess some of the plot twists, particularly with what was going on with the mother, but even when I guessed what was happening beforehand, seeing it unfold was exciting and fun. I definitely liked the whole concept of the baskets and all the things going on with that, it was pretty interesting. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure what happened during the ending of the book. The E-book ARC acted up a bit, and it meant that I couldn’t read text messages that were on the page. They came up blank instead. So there were a few times when the plot suddenly jumped, and the ending was cut short for me, but obviously that’s a problem with the Netgalley copy that won’t be appearing in the finished version.

To be honest, I don’t really have a whole load to say about this book. It was a reasonable read, and I liked the quirky plot. The characters could have done with a bit more substance, but I liked some of the twists and turns in the book and how quickly I got through it. Overall, I’m giving The Goodbye Girls a 5.5/10 stars.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I'm still on the fence about this book. I wanted to LOVE it, but I just couldn't get into it. I think I may have to read this again to wrap my feelings around it. Its a quick read!

The Goodbye Girls has an interesting subject which is what pulled me in. Lizzie and Willa form a break-up company: the dumper purchases a unique gift basket that includes favorite items of the dumpee that the Goodbye Girls then assemble and deliver in secret. The business is successful and running smoothly for a while until someone sets out to sabotage the company by sending vile baskets that are labeled from the Goodbye Girls. Along with the mystery basket sender, there are are a few other dramatic tidbits to watch unfold.

While the overall plot is solid and entertaining, the characters are not. Lizzie, Willa, Garrett, and Trish are all one-dimensional. There is little background or explanation given for why each character is the way they are. We know that Lizzie and Willa are best friends but we don’t know the extent of their bond. We don’t really know why Lizzie and Trish are so enamored with Garrett, except for that he’s a cute football player. Most importantly, we don’t get a clear understanding of why Lizzie has such an intense loathing for her sister Trish; these sisters are the classic cliche of sibling rivalry but it seems very superficial and their relationship should be given more depth.

[Thank you NetGalley and Nimbus for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.]

I really wanted to like this book. The synopsis of it sounded so good, I haven’t read or heard of any like it, that’s why I was so interested in it.
While reading this book, Lizzie was the best part of it although maybe a little immature at times. Willa was rather annoying, because she was always getting after Lizzie about certain things were imo she had no right to do. Also going after Lizzie’s older sister Trisha I mean she’s not the nicest person ever but I still don’t think that Willa should have said the things she said. It was really hard for me to like her.
I did like that here was a mystery to who was sending the mysterious breakup baskets.
Not sure what else to say other than… this book wasn’t for me. I really did want to like it, just felt like something was lacking.
*I was given this book by netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

This is a really quick, decent read that will leave you thinking "Oh... OK". The characters in this were all really hard to like for me personally. The hatred between the two siblings seemed highly exaggerated considering there was no actual inciting incident to cause a feud this bad. The friendship that Willa and Lizzie had kind of had a weird dynamic to me that I could never fully figure out. I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but I personally though that Lizzie's dating choices were just straight up wrong.

The book wasn't bad, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. There was too much animosity throughout the entirety of the book and too little resolution. I think that the idea is cute, but it just didn't work out well for me.

This book was okay... it definitely wasn’t my favorite read.
I felt Lizzie to be really immature. I didn’t really care for Trish that much either. I was surprised to see how Trish was more domintant than Lizzie, given the opening scene.
To me, I didn’t find this read to have any sparkle. It was short, yes. But the storyline was just drawn out and flat.

The Goodbye Girls was cute and fun. I loved the idea of these breakup baskets, even if I could see the problems with it coming a mile away (they're teenagers after all). At times I found Lizzie to be annoying and quite the martyr. There were some big issues in this book (with her mom and her sister) that I wish were explored a bit more, but this was a cute summer read and would recommend it out to anyone looking for cute.

This book was a decently enjoyable and quick read. If you're not totally and utterly tired of the sibling rivalry trope, which is very present in this book, then you may enjoy this particular read.
The premise of this book seemed immensely interesting, and although I don't have any issues with the way the plot as hinted by the synopsis is played out throughout, I can't say that I'm able to rate this book very highly. I didn't find it very insightful, though it was interesting enough, I think the entire plot is sort of rushed through. This isn't reflecting anything about the pacing, which I actually enjoyed and thought was not too faced-paced or slow, but near the end, the entire mystery is solved but many conflicts are not really resolved, which gives me a sense of unfinished business. (Note, my copy had the text of texts from characters exempt throughout, so there may be some things that I'm missing from the story, as I was unable to read any of the texts supposedly on the page whenever they were mentioned).
There are a few mysteries taking place in this book. Mostly, they revolve around family issues. I think this element of the story was interesting and kept me entertained. I don't think it was particularly useful, but not enough to the point where I felt it took away anything from my experience reading overall enough to complain about it any.
I liked that there are little hints littered throughout the story, I think it always heightens a reading experience when the reader feels they've figured something out before it's actually revealed.
Lizzie as a character wasn't terribly unlikeable. I found her rivalry with her sister, Trish, a tad bit annoying, and it was in these moments where I didn't really enjoy reading from Lizzie's point of view. But overall, she was a decent person and character and reacted accordingly to different situations, at least in my opinion. The book tries really hard to make Trish as unlikeable as possible, and it works, but comes across as exactly that, trying too hard.
I really liked that this book was set in Canada! There were lots of points of familiarity to me because of this, and so few books that I actually enjoy, if at all, are set in Canada, and so I really appreciated this.
The fact that Lizzie is so head over heels for one guy the entire book was a bit unrelatable to me and hindered my enjoyment of the situations where he was present. But this isn't the book's fault, and so this is just a note I'm making in my review and nothing to dock points for.
Finally, the ending. I felt like the entire end of the book is rather rushed. The book seems pretty short to me, and this reflects on how I view the ending to come together pretty fast as if it was written in one big hurry. The situation at school isn't elaborated on, either is Lizzie's situation with Garret, or if she'll be going to New York or not, if she and Willa make up, and the situation with her mother. All these subplot points established with no redemption or explanation for them before the book ends sort of abruptly.
I think this book features a lot about family relationships, secrets, and the inability of teenagers to exist in functioning relationships. However, this book wasn't overly meaningful, and at the end of the day I rate it as how I reflect upon my experience reading it, mediocre.

Thank you to Netgalley and Nimbus Publishing for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like The Goodbye Girls. The business idea was so original, and the beginning felt so real, but everything deteriorated from there. My main problem was with all of characters, except for Lizzie, the main character. Everyone spent most of their time repetitively fighting, and I found most of the relationships to be exhausting.

Willa, Lizzie’s best friend, spent a lot of time blowing up at her about her parent’s impending divorce and her denial of their separation. She also constantly criticized Trisha, Lizzie’s older sister, for the kind of person she seemed to be. To be fair, Trisha wasn’t very nice, but I still felt that Willa had no place saying those things. I value strong friendships, and I don’t feel that came through in this book.

Trisha herself could have been an interesting character, but I found her to be incredibly petty. I don’t find that to be a driving character trait, and she only had a few moments where she wasn’t being rude or shallow. I could have gotten into a reconciliation story, and I did like her ending, but it wasn’t enough. Trisha’s relationship with Lizzie went way far beyond a sibling rivalry, and most of the time, I was so confounded by her motivations, which were just petty to begin with.

Lizzie’s mom seemed to try hard to help her daughter in the beginning and was very encouraging, but once we found out about her relationship everything went downhill. She was made out to be a single parent who’s trying her best with two teenagers, but I don’t understand why she made the choices she did while still trying to be there for her daughters.

I wish the mystery in the book had been played up. I think the book could have been stronger if it was more plot focused. I liked the parts in the beginning where Lizzie and Willa were more goal-oriented, when their friendship felt supportive, and they were set on going to New York together. If they had kept up that motivation in finding the saboteur and turning the book into more of a mystery, I would have been able to accept more of the drama.

Overall, I give The Goodbye Girls 2 / 5 stars for all the repetition and toxicity.

Um ok. I didn’t really enjoy this book. I didn’t really like the sister meanness between Lizzie and Trish. I can understand sibling rivalry but that was a bit too much. I also don’t understand Lizzie’s mom. She seems mostly hard working but what kind of message is her relationship choice sending to her two daughters?

The idea of the breakup baskets was great! I thought that was a real interesting concept and storyline but it kind of fizzled out.

The main gripe that I have with this book is that it was missing pages. At first I didn’t think it was that important because I could kind of piece together what was going on but the final text from Willa was missing!!! I’m assuming that there was some content there, if not I just don’t get it. How can you give someone a book to read that is missing parts of it?!

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing.

This was a fun book and an easy read - perfect for a summer holiday! Whilst I didn’t find the characters to be overly likeable, I enjoyed reading this.

The version I received had some missing pages (they seemed to be text conversations) which meant I had to fill the plot in a bit.

I was sent a copy of The Goodbye Girls by Lisa Harrison from Nimbus Publishing on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a fun read! I was not really emotionally invested with any of the characters but overall a quick fun read. I found 2 pages that were missing and it kind of threw the reading off a little. I definitely think it was worth the read!