I generally love a revenge story and this should have been right up my alley. But I just wasn’t into it. Wrong book, wrong time??

I didnt like this book to be honest. I knew it was a revenge book but it was boring and I couldnt get into it. I wish there was more to say but unfortunately I just didnt like it at all.

This was a DNF for me. I generally love anything about women getting revenge on terrible men, but the pace was too slow. Hopefully this works better for other readers.

Loved the characters and the relationships between everyone but the book was way too long. And honestly, I've read her other books and this one felt like cheap to me in a way. Just not as deep and thoughtful as her others, which is ironic because it deals with a very sensitive topic

Fast-paced and delightfully entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

Goodbye Earl was such a fun ride: plenty of nostalgia, mystery, and of course, revenge. Really looking forward to diving into Leesa Cross-Smith's backlist titles!


Thank you so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

TW: rape, abuse, drug use

I don’t have words! I have been in a book funk for over a month now and this story pulled me straight out. This story does jump perspectives and times. I personally loved the Chicks reference and the cover art. This is a great read for those who love the Chicks song, or have read Where the Crawdads Sing or Fried Green Tomatoes.

Like any good The Chicks fan, when I saw this book I immediately added it to my TBR. This was a fun read and the first of Lessa Cross-Smith's books that ive read! Defiently adding her to my authors to watch for list!

When this book came up for grabs on @netgalley I had to immediately request it because I’ve been a Chicks fan since a long time gone…like, back when they were The Dixie Chicks. 😜

This book is exactly what it’s billed to be: a bunch of girlfriends empowering each other over 2 summers, fifteen years apart. There’s a little bit of tougher topics thrown in here to nicely round out the storyline. I was happy to see the “Earl” go, just like everyone else in town. 👋

If you’re not into scary thrillers and would like to try one that’s a smidge more whimsical due to it’s not being a nail-biter, I’d highly recommend this one. Reading this one is much like jamming out to the song while watching the music video, which I do believe was the intent by the author.

Like many who grew up in the 90s, I absolutely loved this song and I thought that a novel inspired by it was such a fun idea. I love a good revenge premise. I thought this book was fun but was slow to get into. I would still recommend it!

Half blown Rose is one of my favorite books so I couldn’t wait to read this. I also love this song by The Chicks so I was even more excited; the writing for this, is still excellent but the story itself fell a little flat for me.

Four women, lots of drama, lots of toxic masculinity on a revenge conquest. The idea is fun but it wasn’t my favorite.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

DNF at 35%. Absolutely nothing has happened. I am so bored. I looked at reviews and this seems to be an issue for several people. I have no interest in finding out what happens, if anything. There are also wayyy to many characters, and I say this as a fan of

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 17%

Based upon title alone, I was excited to read 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭. I grew up loving The Chicks' song and was delighted by the idea of a book inspired by it. However, I found this novel to be much less entertaining and inspired.

I tried really hard to read this book. In fact, I read the first 15% twice. However, the beginning was super slow and rather uninteresting. Add in 4 female protagonists (and rotating narrators) with no distinguishable personalities or unique names, and I could not remember who was which archetype. It made it impossible to put the book down and pick it back up again. So, I gave up. While this book 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭 may have redemption later on, I could not push myself to get read far enough to find it.

Goodbye Earl is inspired by the song of the same title by The Dixie Chicks. Four female friends reunite after 15 minutes for the wedding of the younger sister. Over the course of 3 parts, we learn about what made one friend run away from their small town 15 years ago and the other three friends backstory. Then, we discover that one friend is in trouble by an "Earl" and the friends scheme to murder the man instead of leave it to the law that they can't trust. The final part is the resolution for everyone. I wanted to enjoy this book. The premise was interesting. I liked the message behind the book about how women are often victims without any retribution for those who cause harm and the way powerful, rich men get away with crimes. However, for me--the pacing was too slow with details not related to the main plot and the characters weren't dynamic enough. The women felt like vague caricatures and the revenge plot felt 'too easy" and unrealistic. I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately the writing style and pacing didn't work for me. Disclaimer: I'm not typically a thriller reader.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central for the opportunity to read Goodbye Earl by Leesa Cross-Smith, one of my favorite authors who, once again, bas given readers a terrific story. I loved this book, loved the characters, and loved the small hometown.

I fell in love with these characters so quickly and I wanted to be a part of their friend group.

This story of found family, love, and community warmed my heart. Plus, I love the song Goodbye Earl by the Chicks.

I was so excited to dive into this book after loving HALF BLOWN ROSE. While it wasn't my favorite from her, it's no doubt that Leesa Cross-Smith is a fantastic writer. I thought this book was entertaining for sure with suspense an intrigue, but I think my expectations were a little too high. I would still recommend this book for anyone who has enjoyed this author's previous work!

I loved Leesa Cross-Smith’s novel This Close To Okay, an emotional story about love, loss, hope, and forgiveness. Goodbye Earl moves in the opposite direction, a fun read about four high school friends who stick together through thick and thin. If you know the song Goodbye Earl from The Chicks, you’ll know the novel's premise. I love this song, so the story felt a bit predictable to me.

The novel's first half covers our four friends’ backstories, which felt a little long. The revenge plot starts about midpoint and really picks up steam in the last quarter. I enjoyed the ending, but overall I struggled with the story's pacing. Nevertheless, the book illustrates important themes of sisterhood, friendship, and domestic abuse that are discussion-worthy!

This was so fun, I really enjoyed the multiple points of view and the way the town came together. it was just such a satisfying read

I am such a Leesa STAN but this book just didn’t do it for me. It’s definitely appointed take on Dixie chicks’s “goodbye earl”. Because of that I feel like the pacing was really slow and I wanted to be a bit faster. I almost put this book down but it started to pick up around 40% of the way through. The other confusing part of the story is that it hop drawn in multiple times, and with how slow the store I was going it was too much for me to follow.