When Kristen and Sherri lost their mom to breast cancer back in their teens, Sherri took over the role of both mother and father at the tender age of 18. She guided her younger sister, Kirsten, through high school, college, and marriage. The wounds from their father’s abandonment and their mother’s death run deep, but each sister processed them differently.

Kristen launches herself into a cancer-curing career path as an oncologist. She vows to always be there for her patients—some of whom will need treatment for years or decades. Kristen carefully balances marriage to her one love, Daniel, and motherhood with her demanding occupation. Once their nest empties, Daniel and Kristen feel a growing rift between them.

Sherri relies on her faith to navigate life as a wife, mother, and teacher, and after her divorce, a single mom. When she receives an ovarian cancer diagnosis, Sherri turns to her little sister to help her navigate the frightening world of cancer. She doesn’t expect her faith to waiver nor her relationship with her ex to rekindle.

Kristen drops everything to guide her sister through treatment. Sort of. She can’t leave her patients high and dry, and she realizes too late the consequences of shortchanging Daniel. While her professional life offers her an opportunity to really make a difference in saving lives, Kristen must decide if the cost is too high.

Why I Loved This Book

Irvin paints a tender story of family, relationships gone awry, faith in crisis, a woman’s mid-life crisis, and redemption. Told from multiple points of view, readers will relate to the two sisters and Daniel. Daniel and Sherri feel emotionally abandoned by their spouses, and each reacts differently.

Reading books where a character has cancer isn’t easy for me (my husband has survived three different kinds of cancer), but The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos didn’t trigger any adverse emotions (unlike other books I’ve read where a character has cancer). Instead, I came away feeling hopeful about my relationship with God and his ability to handle my big questions and uncertainties.

While this book doesn’t fit into Irvin’s usual genres (romantic suspense and Amish romance), it’s a gem readers won’t be able to put down.

Cancer is definitely not the easiest subject matter for an author to choose to write about, but it's a disease that almost everyone probably has some personal experience with. Author Kelly Irvin chose to take her personal story and turn it into an emotional, heart wrenching story about two sisters navigating their way through the older sister's cancer diagnosis.

This is not an easy story to read, but it's a worthwhile one. While a lot of the plot focuses around Sherri's cancer diagnosis and her younger sister Kristen (who is an oncologist) trying to help her navigate treatment, the story goes so far beyond that and has many separate storylines all connecting together. Kristen's grappling with childhood trauma from her mother's death and her father's abandonment. She's chosen to push it all away, and instead bury herself in work. This has lead to watching her twenty five year old marriage to her husband Daniel crumble before her eyes, and neither seem able to navigate past the giant elephant in the room. Sherri has her own regrets about how her marriage ended, and how her childhood with her father was never the idyllic one she dreamed about. As time seems short and so many situations are left to navigate, the sisters will find themselves truly questioning everything they thought they knew about faith and the One who promised to always have things under His control.

A poignant and heartbreaking story about cancer, grief, familial tensions, and the Heavenly Father who is truly the only one able to navigate us through all of life's uncertainties, The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos is a book that I think will touch every single reader who chooses to pick it up.

If you or anyone you know has navigated the brutal realities that cancer brings with it, then this is the book for you. It brought back a lot of memories for me of watching my Grandmother go through cancer treatment when I was a young child, and also, while I was reading it another person in my life is currently navigating treatment and this book was honestly a bit of a reminder to look to the one who brings the light in an otherwise dark situation.

Final Rating: 4/5.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This is my first Kelly Irvin book and she made me cry .It's a perfect read for sisters as it follows two sisters dealing with an unfortunate diagnosis. The book follows Kristen an oncologist and her sister Sherri who has cancer . While trying to help her sister her career takes a tumble and her marriage comes under fire. It's a story about family bonds, trauma, sisterhood, marriage and faith. It will break you and because it's good.

In "The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos" one might believe, is mostly about cancer and loss, but that would be wrong. Although a large portion of this book accurately describes stage 4 ovarian cancer diagnosis, symptoms and treatment, It is also a book about how a successful career-woman deals with her feelings of responsibility to her sister, her husband, her children and the oncology practice she has so painstakingly built over the last few decades.

Kristen, the main character in Kelly Irvin's book, grapples with the age-old dilemma; how to balance work and home life? The reader is presented with the two sides of a marriage and asked to ponder; is it harder for women to be successful than men? Does the author want us to resent Kristen for being such a dedicated practitioner because she gave her career priority over everything else? Daniel, her husband, certainly has harbored resentment toward Kristen because of her career.

Daniel, uber-successful architect and businessman, feels rejected and ignored. He has a great deal of resentment for his wife's career path and has chosen this very difficult time in her life to test his wife's commitment to their 25 year marriage. After making a series of demands and requests for Kristen to 'change her ways' without her doing so; Daniel decides to moves out. Some might find this self-centered, cruel and unnecessary but Daniel felt it was imperative for him to decide if he really wants to continue their relationship.

Kristen's world is coming down around her, her sister has just been diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer, the love of her life has left her, and her children aren't really speaking to her. Kristen knows statistically, Sherri (Kristen's sister) will only have about 19% chance of more than five years of survival. Being an oncologist herself, Kristen is haunted with the reality of Sherri's diagnosis. Cancer had already robbed the sisters of their mother in their teens, and it was back to try and rob them again. Daniel had chosen THIS as his moment to try and make Kristen see how neglected, rejected and hurt he has felt over the last few years of their marriage.

Living with Sherri while she furiously battles cancer gives Kristen perspective into what things matter and gives her a chance to examine her own life, leading her closer to self-realization. The sisters begin to communicate with an intensity and honesty known to people diagnosed with a terminal disease. They begin to collectively work through their own feelings of loss, grief, disappointment, abandonment, motherhood, marriage and religion as Sherri continues on her journey through cancer treatment.

Thank you NetGalley, and Thomas Nelson for this eARC book, these opinions are all my own. I gave this book four stars because I was thoroughly engrossed. I wondered how Kelly Irvin's depiction of ovarian cancer and treatment was so accurate without her being a medical professional, and then I read the author's note and learned of her own diagnosis. It had such a feeling of sincerity and now I know why! As an RN friend/supporter of a stage 4 ovarian cancer survivor, I found Ivin's depiction very authentic! This book was a beautiful story of love, anger, forgiveness, prioritizing one's life, and letting go.

Cancer is never an easy subject to discuss or read about, but it is a reality that so many will face. Kelly Irvin did not shy away from the hard parts in this book. I couldn’t put this book down because of the characters; but I also couldn’t believe a book about a fight with cancer would pull me in and captivate me in such a way.

Sherri is diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and her oncologist sister, Kristen, believes that she is the key to her healing. Never fully coping with the trauma in her past, Kristen has resigned to overworking and overcommitting herself to prove her worth in the world all while neglecting the things that hold the most personal value to her.

I gave this book 4 Stars, not because of the story. The story was worthy of 5 stars, but there were a few occasions that God was referred to with modern terminology and slang nicknames that I found very irreverent. I understand how far away He can feel in such desperate moments, and one characters relationship with God was not intact, but the use of such monikers was not necessary and took away from the experience for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an advance reader copy for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Thomas Nelson Publishing for an ARC of this wonderful book in exchange for a review.
Wow! What an emotional read, beautifully written, thought provoking and covering so many topics in one heartfelt story, grief, cancer, marriage, divorce, religious beliefs, family dynamics and relationships, it’s all there.
Kirsten and Sherrie are sisters, Sherrie is the older sister and she has just been diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. Kirsten is an oncologist, she immediately has Sherrie come to stay with her, she takes over her care, she continues to oversee her own patients, her working days are long with often no clock off time. Kirsten and her husband Daniel, are approaching their 25th wedding anniversary, they have two grown up daughters, but with Kirsten’s hectic work schedule her family relationships often suffer.
Sherrie also has a grown up family, she is divorced, her ex husband is her best friend, and they have grandchildren..
The two sisters are estranged from their father, he walked out when they were young, their mother died from cancer when they were teenagers. Sherrie is keen to see their dad again, knowing that her cancer is not curable and her treatments are only buying small chunks of time.
The story follows Sherrie’s cancer journey, her treatments, her relationships with her grown up children, her ex husband, her father and her grandchildren and alongside Sherrie’s story there is Kirsten’s journey, her sisters illness, her demanding job, and her crumbling family relationships.. Sherrie is encouraging her to give their father a second chance and she knows she needs to repair her marriage before it is too late.
This book is beautifully written right to the end, it’s heart wrenching and a tear jerker but I am so glad I have read this very poignant story.

Such a complex, emotional and moving story. Be prepared for an emotional roller-coaster. This was a very easy and fast paced story.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

3.75. Great and quick read. Moving. Characters were well developed. Plot was not unique but it was handled well. Book was hard to put down. Story of two sisters who lost their mother to cancer when they were young. Younger sister is successful oncologist who values her career over all else. Older sister gets an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Story details the challenges and reactions of the two woman and their families over the next couple of years. Author is a survivor of ovarian cancer, so she is able to describe what life with that diagnosis is like for everyone involved. Story is realistic and characters are easily identifiable as everyday people. Recommend the book.

This book gutted me! Such a REAL account of a 25-year marriage, sibling illness, and how past traumas show up in the present. A moving tale with amazing character development. I love when a book is told from each character's perspective! This one hit all the right notes and reminded me of some of my own experiences. Highly recommend - you won't be sorry!

I don't have enough positive words in my vocabulary for this book. I absolutely loved every minute of it. I laughed out loud. I cried. I worried. I wanted to pray for the characters. I loved each and every 0ne of them. They were so real, so relatable, and so full of life. By far, The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos is my favorite book of the year. Kelly Irvin did a masterful job of weaving her own journey into a story for many. Is it sad in some places: yes. Does it make you want to hug the people around you: definitely yes! Is it worth every second that it takes you to read it: absolutely yes.
It is the story of two sisters who lost their mom to ovarian cancer when they were teenagers. Now, one of them has the same cancer, while the other fights to save her. Full of hope for the future, the truths of family and faith, and the reality of every day people seeking connections to each other, you won't want to miss this. Thank you for being brave enough to share a piece of your heart and your story with us, Mrs. Irvin. We are honored.

When I first seen the cover of this book I wondered what it was about. I knew it was written by one of my favorite authors and I considered reading it. Then I heard that it was a story written about two sisters and one sister had just learned at the book’s beginning that she had Ovarian Cancer. The other Sister was an Oncologist who worked for a big cancer care center in Texas. I knew I wanted to read this book because my sister died from Ovarian Cancer in 2009. I spent a lot of time up in Canada with her and was there for her first chemotherapy treatment. As I started reading this book all the memories and feelings I had during my sisters fight for her life came flooding back to me. The book seemed very real and I could feel Sherri’s fear as her treatments started and her cancer advanced. The Author knows a lot about Ovarian Cancer because she also has this disease. Kelly Irvin is well researched on the topic of this type of cancer. I thought the book was very well written and the story though emotional was a warm story with a heart felt message to all women about how this type of cancer or any type of cancer can effect the patient and her family and support team. This was a book that I found impossible to put down. Though the story was sad it was also about learning what was really the important things in life. Now that I’ve finished the book I can truthfully say that this is the best book that I have read this year.

I recommend this book to all readers of women’s fiction, Contemporary Christian Fiction, and standalone novels. It is a story that all women should consider reading. This book is scheduled by be released on 12/5/23.

I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

#TheYearofGoodbyesandHellos #NetGalley

Based on the author's personal experience with cancer, The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos delves into the emotions one experiences when dealing with cancer. It also shows it from the perspective of a loved one.

Kristen is an oncologist on a mission to save her patients from this horrible disease. Her sister, Sherrie, is a kindergarten teacher. Sherrie was responsible for raising Kristen when their mom died of cancer.

Throughout the book, the author delves into Kristen's fierce determination to save everyone she can from cancer, including Sherrie who is diagnosed with stage-four ovarian cancer.

Kristen is so laser-focused that sadly, she doesn't see how her devotion to her job is affecting her marriage and relationships with her daughters. It takes her husband to make a bold move before she willingly agrees to make changes.

Sherri, on the other hand, has great relationships with her daughter and two sons and loves her students. She's even still in love with her ex-husband.

If you or someone you love has or fought cancer, you will be able to relate to the struggles Sherri encounters. If you are/were a caregiver, you'll see yourself in some of the characters.

Be prepared for an emotional roller-coaster. I did enjoy that Irvin included God and having faith, something that we need a little more of in this chaotic world.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos.

#TheYearofGoodbyesandHellos #NetGalley

I just finished The Year of Hellos and Goodbyes by Kelly Irvin. This book is a fictional account of a very personal story. It is about love, loss and forgiveness. Two sisters find themselves navigating a crisis of marriage, family and health while coming to terms with major childhood losses. This story made me laugh, cry and really think about making the most of each day. I highly recommend reading this book.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. The title drew me in, but then I almost had to stop reading in the first chapter because the sister, Sherri, gets a cancer diagnosis. My sister died from cancer just over 3 years ago so it was very hard to read parts of this book. Kristen, as the main sister, was very frustrating to me as her marriage swirled down the drain. This book does have a Christian theme throughout. The book did hit on some of my points about prayer. An emotional read for me.

This is a difficult story to read.
When Kristen’s sister is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the characters are thrown into an urgent situation that changes everything.
Kristen is a difficult character to like. She’s a strong character, career-driven to the point that she doesn’t see what’s happening to her relationships with her husband, daughters or friends. I did not connect with this character at all and I found it difficult to like her or even want her to succeed in her mission. Her sister Shelley is a very likeable character, so I kept reading because I wanted Shelley’s story to turn out well. Kristen’s husband, David, is another great character though I felt bad for him because of the way Kristen treated him.
Readers are given an eye-opening experience as to how cancer treatments work. Medical language is used, with reader-friendly explanations that bring another layer to the story.
There are some sweet moments between secondary characters that made the read enjoyable.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Nelson Publishers, and Kelly Irvin for this ARC. Two sisters, Sherri and Kris are forever bonded through childhood losses and experiences. When Sherri is diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer, Kris, an oncologist, puts herself in charge of Sherri’s care. Kris’s dedication to her job, to the detriment of her relationships with her husband and daughters, is a focal point of this story as well. This was an engrossing, well told story, with more religious content than I am used to, but it was an important part of the story, especially for Sherri.

Sherri and Kristen, two sisters who've faced their fair share of life's hardships, take center stage in this heartfelt Christian-based fiction. In the midst of their trials, Sherri is confronted with the devastating news of her terminal cancer diagnosis. Her sister Kristen, a dedicated oncologist, bears the heavy burden of knowing Sherri's fate, yet struggles to comprehend the depth of her sister's unwavering faith.

Sherri's enduring belief that God answers every prayer, though not always in the ways we hope or desire, is a theme that resonates throughout the story. It's a reminder that true faith shines brightest in the face of adversity.

Amidst the whirlwind of cancer diagnoses and treatments, Kristen finds herself also navigating the disintegration of her 25-year marriage. These intertwined challenges force Kristen to confront the most fundamental question of all - what truly matters in life. Through their shared journey, the sisters discover that it's the time spent together that reveals the genuine priorities of the heart.

What an emotional read, even more so knowing the author has battled with the same challenges in her own life.

Be prepared to shed a few tears as you read this touching novel.

I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

Be prepared with tissues before tackling this book! This was a very emotional read for me, since there is a history of cancers in my family, but I felt like it needed to be read. It is a must read for all women.
I'm happy the author wrote about the subject of ovarian cancer, especially since she went through the treatments herself. There is so much need for people to know and be aware of the symptoms and signs of this cancer.
Thank you to Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book to review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I was given an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and all opinions expressed below are my own.

This story definitely pulled on my heart strings, and I even shed a few tears towards the end. The author showcases a variety of family dynamics and the complexity of relationships as they grow and evolve throughout a lifetime but are always influenced by the past. At times I was angry at some characters, felt bad for others, and was sad for them which I believe is a sign that an author knows how to develop characters well. Overall, I thought this was well written book from a literary perspective. I do think that there were a few too many pop culture references relevant to the current times that will not be understood by future readers; this will not be a timeless book and frankly, it could’ve done without all the current agendas being pushed (in my personal opinion, mentioning a hot topic is pushing an agenda, regardless of whether or not you state which side of the issue you are on). I thought those references really took away from the story. From a Christian perspective, I do not think this is a great book. I do believe it is an accurate portrayal of “luke warm” Christianity though, and as a Christian myself, I didn’t think it was a great example. All in all, I do not think I will be recommending this book to anyone.

#theyearofgoodbyesandhellos #kellyirvin #Christianfiction #cancer #netgalley #ARC #thomasnelsonfiction