Book: Six Goodbyes We’ve Never Said
Author: Candance Ganger
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for sending me an ARC of this book.

I went into this one knowing nothing about it and the author. I mean, there’s so many books coming out this year and this one wasn’t even on my radar. I must say that going into a book completely blind is a good thing. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this one.

This book, like a lot of young adult books, deals with complex issues. In this case, it is mental illness and the lose of a parent. Not only that, but the characters are biracial, which makes everyone feel included. I have not read a lot of books that deal with mental illness, so it was a nice touch. I thought Candance portrayed mental illness really well and did a nice job of exploring just how complex it can be. We get to see the struggles and experience the pain and everything right along with the characters. I love it whenever books suck in me like that.

The two main characters, Nemia and Dew, are really great leads. I thought, like the plot, they were really well developed and super complex. I love just how much of opposites they are. Dew is sweet and sees the good in everything, while Nemia has some sass in her. I just love how they seemed to almost complete each other, like they were made for each other. What l really liked was how we get to see their pain and how they are really trying to move on, but just can’t seem to escape their past. Both of these characters are orphans and it’s clear that they both just want to be loved. Now, Nemia does put up a wall, but underneath, you can see that is what she wants more than anything.

I like how the storyline, as a whole, is realistic and relatable. There are a lot of teens and young adults who are struggling with the issues presented in this book. There is still this sigma with mental illness and it’s just not really talked about. Having a book like this really makes people feel like they are not alone. Plus, just the overall feel of the book makes everything seem all that much more real.

So, why a four star? I’m not going to lie. The whole reason I gave this book a four star is because whenever it switched from point of view to point of view, it made it really difficult to figure out who was telling the story. Now, I was able to figure out, but it was a very rough transition. It’s not a major issue, but it’s one of the few things I can’t stand in books.

So, this book comes out on September 24, 2019.

Youtube Book Preview: https://youtu.be/ZWbnu9sfYVI

Not a fan of the sarcastic tone. Found the main character unrelatable. Did not finish, only got about half way.

"The only thing consistent is change. We have to accept it or become our own enemies."

Namia's father didn't come back from his latest tour, and she's having trouble coping with the fact she will never see him again. Because she suffers from OCD, GAD, and PTSD it's making things harder to deal. She's so used to pushing everyone away, that when someone good comes along, she doesn't know how to deal.

Enter Dew. He's living with foster parents because he lost both of his parents in a car accident. That loss has manifested in avoidance and anxiety. His foster sister throws a lot of fits, so she can be hard to deal with, but you wouldn't know it from the way Dew smoothly handles her. His foster parents are good people and they want the best for him. He wants to befriend Namia, but she isn't making it easy. She thinks he's weird and she wants him to stay out of her business.

I really liked Violet, she's a great addition to the book and the author could even give her a book that I would most definitely read. When I read e-books, I highlight things that stick out or things that resonate with me, and there was a lot of highlighting done in this book. The book is beautifully written and it touches on so many real-life issues that people are struggling with (which I greatly appreciate).

Sometimes Dew seemed a little too "on", a little too "perfect", especially in the way he looked at his foster sister Faith. But the way he watched his family form was touching, I loved his positive view of the world and his acceptance to see what was under the surface.

I know this book wasn't for everyone, it does get a bit tedious at times with some repetition. Once Naima gave Dew a chance, the book picked up and I would have liked for them to meet sooner. Despite those small issues, I loved this book. It was witty and poignant, and very thoughtful. Naima's way of playing "Would You Rather" to stay connected to her father was amusing. She's so much stronger than she realizes and I love how assertive she is. She's actually really funny when you get past the tough exterior. I'm not sure where her PTSD comes from as it would be too soon to diagnose after the loss of her father, but as a sufferer, I can relate to her struggles. Very nicely done.

I am really enjoying the stories that are being told in contemporary young adult literature, and this novel is no different. The two main characters, Naima and Dew, have both suffered the horrible and tragic loss of a parent, and unfortunately, neither is coping with the loss well. Naima is … prickly and angry, and Dew is nervous and anxious. Dew is determined to cheer up Naima and become friends with her, and Naima is determined to be angry.

There is a lot going on in this short novel, but I love it, because it can relate to so many teenagers: the loss of a parent, dealing with foster care, dealing with a sibling in pain, growing up, dealing with a stepparent, mental illness. I flew threw this novel, and felt the characters were realistic and charming, even when they weren't. It is a sad story, but a positive ending, and in addition to being an enjoyable read, I also think it is an important read. I look forward to having it in my classroom library.

I was really excited about this one at first, but then the reviews and ratings started to drop....I am not willing to devote time to this book after seeing reviews.

This novel was a truly wonderful read. The characters of Dew and Naima felt so real and relatable. This is a story of grief, and pushing through and realizing that the people around us play such an important role in our mourning process. It is about helping people going the something traumatic, even if you are experiencing the same thing, and finding healing in that.
Also, the themes of love, family, and friendship helping us through the most difficult points in our lives stand out.
I also appreciated how the author handled the issue of mental health in teenagers, and the way their families supported them.

I wanted so bad to like this book! I think it has so much potential, but I just found it to be too confusing. I often couldn't tell when the point of view was shifting so I got very confused about the lives of the different characters and often mixed them up.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Ms. Ganger's novel is a difficult read. It deals with loss and grief paired with other mental illness. Unlike other YA "let's talk about mental health" books, this is written based off the author's experience. The writing is messy, the language strong. Characters are hard to get to know and find likeable. It feels very real in its interactions.

Overall, it is a heartbreaking story, possibly triggering. Parental guidance suggested in regards to language.

4 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading.

Six Goodbyes We Never Said follows Naima as she grieves her father and Dew, the sweet next door neighbor, as he grieves the sudden lose of his parents. they both struggle with their problems of their own.

this book covered mental illnesses, such as OCD and anxiety. the beginning started off a bit rocky but eventually i was finally able to follow along and enjoy the story.

my heart truly hurt for both naima and dew, but especially sweet, kind dew. dew has my whole heart, he deserves the world and more. i really related to their constant thoughts about not being enough and their constant blaming themselves for things beyond their control. i truly admired how brave they ended up becoming once they sought comfort in each other.

i couldn't get through this book without crying. i had to keep pausing because i just couldn't see through my tears. you know a book is good when it pulls at your heartstrings. this book was so beautiful and raw and so well written, i couldn't put it down.

10/10 definitely recommend it especially if you're looking for a good cry.

I don’t want to say I hated this but I really didn’t like it at all. The writing was really terrible and the perspective of the two characters was so vastly different it was difficult to keep them continuously developing.

Dew and Naima are both individually coping with the death of their parent(s) and their various forms of mental illness. I like the mental illness rep but it was done in a way where I felt that it was almost toooo much. I know the author pulls from her own experiences but it was so over the top that I couldn’t really relate.

I really liked the idea of the story and had the writing been more developed (it felt very juvenile) I think I would have liked this more.

E-arc provided by Net Galley!

I liked the idea of the book the synopsis of it sounds amazing, something was just lacking for me. I'm not sure what it was but it felt like something was missing.

Six Goodbyes We Never Said was a book that immediately drew my attention on Netgalley as I do like YA books that deal with mental health problems, but deal with them in the correct way. And although this book approached the subject matters really well, the character development and the likability of the characters really let me down. Immediately as the book started, I didn't like Naima. I found her attitude towards other people COMPLETELY standoffish, we weren't given any reasons for her treatment of other people. The way she spoke to Nell specifically put a bad taste in my mouth when Nell was far from the wicked stepmother trope. When she first met characters, for example Stella, she also came across as a bit of a bitch. And I understand she was having a really hard time and was dealing with a lot of grief, but there was no reason for her to treat Stella the way she did. I can guarantee that Stella wouldn't have liked her very much after that because who would.

I think the layout of this book would've been better and easier to read in physical format compared to ebook, as it was a little hard to read on my Kindle iPhone app.

It wasn't a bad read, but overall, could've been better.

I received a copy of SIX GOODBYES WE NEVER SAID on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and author.

FOUR stars and here’s why:

The book is a #ownvoices for the author writes from wading in the trenches of living with mental health issues. I found the book beautifully written and hard to put down. Each person experiences life in their own unique way. The author portrayed two emotionally raw characters who are dealing with death and anxiety in different ways. I found it to be a real page-turner, but I work with teens, so I found that Ms. Ganger really captured the essence of what it’s like to lose someone near and dear to one’s heart; particularly at that age when everything is so vibrant and fresh and emotional. I fell in love with the story and rooted for the characters. I realize it’s one of these stories that does not necessarily have to have a happily ever after tied up in a big red bow, and I really wanted one which is why I gave it four instead of five stars. Having said that, however, it’s one of these stories that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Highly recommend.

Interesting idea and beautiful cover, BUT I expected so much more from this.
What unlikeable characters.
Not my jam. This simply wouldn't stand out in the flood of own voices YA novels that have better rep for mental health issues.

I seem to have read an inordinate number of “it’s not you it’s me” books recently, because this is another one of those. I don’t know what it was about this book (most likely I was just in the wrong mood to be reading it), but I just didn’t click with it. So, instead of trying to work out why, I’m going to just give you four reasons you should read this book (okay, so maybe six would have been more apt, but I was struggling).

Six Goodbyes We Never Said is a dual-POV story between Naima and Dew, two teenagers grieving the loss of their parent(s). Naima moves to live with her grandparents, who are Dew and his adoptive family’s neighbours, and meets Dew (who, it has to be said, is a little stalkerish). Ultimately, not much happens in the book – it’s like a coming of age story, but without the coming of age bit (Charlotte, this makes no sense, you say. Well, read it to find out).

Like I said, I wasn't the biggest fan of this one. But that was just me, so here's four reasons you should read this book.

1. The writing style is unique and the voices of Naima and Dew are so distinct. I don’t think I’ve read a style that sounds so realistic and I definitely haven’t read one that’s so successfully managed to differentiate between two characters.

2. It’s an ownvoices portrayal of OCD, anxiety and depression, which I haven’t read a whole amount of (particularly OCD – I can think of two other books with that). And we all know the value of ownvoices stories.

3. There’s no romance, if that’s not your thing. It’s Naima and Dew becoming friends. A boy and a girl just being friends (even though Dew does start off thinking Naima is his soulmate). Honestly that’s one thing that YA lit needs a whole lot more of.

4. Naima is bi or pan. There’s no label used which did bug me a little, but getting to see a bi character just exist in a story without being either a stereotyped side character or part of a romance? That’s something I do need to see every once in a while (as much as I do love romances).

So, in the end, even though this book wasn’t for me, it’s still a good book, and for the right person could be great.

I requested this because it sounded exactly like the kind of book I would like. It deals with anxiety and OCD and losing a loved one who was in the military.
Unfortunately, I was appalled by the amount of language in this book. I ended up not finishing the book because of the language and because I did not connect with the main character, Naima. Thank you St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this novel.

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley. I was excited to read this title, as the cover was appealing and the story line intrigued me. I was disappointed to say the least. I wanted to root for the main character Naima, being a mother and someone who has dealt with mental illness in the family. I found her lack of empathy towards others and rudeness to be a huge turnoff, it made it hard to be on her side, even though she has dealt with so much heartache and loss.
I found the chapters to be confusing at times and hard to follow. I often found myself going back to reread pages...which is a big turn off for me.
I am not sure I would recommend this book to someone who is/has struggled with anxiety/depression/PTSD. It is a heavy book that carries these topics throughout, yes they are important topics to discuss and be open about, but if you struggle this book may be a trigger.

I really enjoyed this book. The male protagonist was delightful. The female protagonist, on the other hand, was rather irritating and prickly throughout most of the book. Being a high school teacher, I sometimes see students who are as grating as this young woman, but I seldom do I see students with as much unconditional support as these students seemed to have in their families and their communities. As I read this, the thought crossed my mind that if I were a young, at risk person reading this book, I would likely be envious of all the support these two characters had. Perhaps it would be difficult to relate to these two or even to learn and grow from their experiences for that reason. Still, I found the book valuable and interesting and worth the time I spent reading so I will recommend it to my students.

Six Goodbyes We Never Said has the potential to be a very moving book that will allow readers to see their personal brands of mental illness reflected on the page. It's important to note that this story is ownvoices for the mental illness rep which is crucial to keep in mind when critiquing the rep. Not all mental illness presents the same exact way for each person.

That said, the formatting for this book was extremely confusing between the narrator shifts and the inserted histories. I made it about 30% of the way through the book before I had to unfortunately do what I almost never do, especially for ARCs: I labeled it as a DNF.

The alternating perspectives and time shifts takes you out of the story itself. Neither voice is particularly compelling either. I found the characters themselves to be interesting, but how the story was being told was not.

This will find an audience which is why I'm still rating it as a 2. However, I am not the right person for this.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the Arc in exchange for my honest review.

I don't think I have read a book in a long time that was written by an author who suffers from mental illness. I think the experiences she has had allows her to really REALLY get to the nitty gritty of certain disorders and not writing about them in a stereo typical way. Namia has OCD (and I've read some really good books that deal with OCD in a great fastion) and GAD (which is something i suffer from ) and I can really appreciate the way it was approached and addressed.
I'm glad the characters of Namia and Drew find each other (Drew has PTSD). They are both written very genuine and authentic. I really really enjoyed this book