Highly recommend this book. very interesting storyline, and interesting characters. found it difficult to put down which is when i know ive found a good book

This story of Tatum Elsea and the journey she goes on for a summer is a sweet story that sucked me in.
Tatum is in the wrong place at the wrong time and finds herself being arrested along with her best friend and her best friends delinquent boyfriend. Her parents are extremely disappointed in her decisions. They work with a lawyer to have her punishment lessened. So with a $500 fine and 100 hours of community service and her Stepmonster's house arrest rules at home, Tatum begins her summer. You will follow along as she learns to navigate the rules, starts her own business, pulls weeds in the park, makes new friends and crushes on a very handsome musician.
This book had all the good stuff that I enjoy in a Young Adult novel, friendship, new love, family turmoil/reconciliation and self discovery. This is an enjoyable read!

I loved this story! I've mentioned before that I really enjoy fairy tales and reading retold fairy tales. It Started With Goodbye is my very favorite kind of retelling, since it was a Cinderella story while being totally original too. I loved the characters and that Tatum isn't the only one we connect with. I highly recommend this one, since it was delightful and surprisingly deep. It also is clean, which can be hard to find in a YA title.
I look forward to reading more by Christina!
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Tatum's summer got off to a rocky start. She happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time when her best friend's loser boyfriend decided to steal from a department store and then use her as the getaway car. Unfortunately for Tatum, the police and her parents don't think she was just being a not-so innocent bystander is forgivable, so she is sentenced to a summer of community service, a $500 fine, and house arrest as deemed fit by her parents. To make matters worse, her BFF is made at her for ratting them out and her father has to go out of the country for work leaving her with her super controlling stepmonster and evil golden child stepsister for the entire summer. The only ally she seems to have is her Golden Girls loving her step-grandmother, Blanche, who is visiting for the summer to help assist with Tatum's punishment. Thankfully the summer turns out to not be as bleak as it seemed at first once she realizes an acquaintance from her school is doing community service with her. Tatum also launches a graphic design business since she has so much free time on her hands and ends up emailing with a client who turns out to be something a little more special. Tatum does a lot of growing up in her solitude with a little help from Blanche and her new friends. By the end of the summer, she is not the same girl she was at the beginning and has a new appreciation for herself, her friends, and her family. it-started-with-goodbye
Let me preface this review by saying that I immediately wanted to read this book because Tatum is one of my absolute favorite names. Once I saw that was the MC's name, I knew I had to have this book. I didn't realize until I started reading that It Started With Goodbye is a modern day spin on Cinderella. It works perfectly and ends up being just familiar enough with the fairy tale without feeling cheesy or forced.

This is very much a character driven story, which are my favorite kind. Tatum is a great MC and does a full character arc by the end. I was able to relate to her easily and remember feeling similar things when I was 16. Tatum's friends are realistic and really feel like these could be actual people.

There is so much diversity in the characters, and it made the book so unique from anything I've ever read. Tatum's stepmom and step-grandmother are immigrants from Chile, her stepsister is half Chilean/half white, and SK is half Irish/half Kenyan and the son of immigrants. The author did a great job of incorporating the heritage of each of the characters by using their language, names, and food from their home countries. I really enjoyed learning about the characters and seeing how their backgrounds influence them as people. The characters also have a wide variety of interests- dance, graphic design, art, music, and journalism, to name a few. It was refreshing to be able to relate with so many varying hobbies.

Overall I am super happy with this book. If you love a good contemporary like I do and love authors similar to Kasie West, then you need to add this book to your TBR immediately. You will not be disappointed!

While this book ended up being a completely different read than I thought I was going to get, I really enjoyed it!

First off, the writing style is perfect for me - quick paced, down to earth without all the flourishes of long winded books. Secondly, the main characters SK and Tatum were very well developed and engaging and the best part - this book wasn't all about them and their romance. While there is quite a lot of that, there are also other relationships being explored, which gave the book more warmth and made the story realistic for me.

I know a lot of people love the whole Cinderella retelling, with a modern day twist, but that made very little difference to me. The fact that the characters spoke to me is what I take away from this wonderful story.

Sometimes there is nothing better to read to unwind than a nice breezy YA novel. This one was a complete pleasure. It is filled with a surprising amount of heart that is borne of the characters that are allowed to slowly become just a little bit more than their typical stereotypes would suggest.

I haven't actually stayed up way too late reading a book that wasn't a mystery/thriller/horror type novel in a really long while, but I lost track of time while I was reading this one. It was far too easy to get lost in Tatum Elsea's life, and far too hard to abandon her and put the book down.

This novel is a sort of modern take on the Cinderella story, with the updates making you completely forget that's what it is at its core. Actually, what I found much more interesting than the spark of romance, was Tatum's relationships with all the people in her life. She was easy to like, and easy to root for, even when you may not exactly agree with her decisions (though they are not particularly horrible decisions, she is our Cinderella character, after all.) Her narrative style was fun, earnest, sometimes funny and always just plain delightful.

It Started With Goodbye is due to be published in May 2017, just in time to be a go-to beach read!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So many things about this book spoke to me when I previewed it on NetGalley. Stereotypically, the cover grabbed my attention and had me wanting to know more. Because of the synopsis I requested the book as an early reader, and I was not at all disappointed!

Tatum is such a likeable character who - through circumstances she couldn't predict - ends up in quite a bit of trouble (involving the police). With her father leaving on business for the summer, he defers to her "stepmonster" to oversee Tatum's discipline. Basically, this leaves her working through hard labor, outdoor (in the hot summer sun) community service and no life to speak of. The novel is an interesting play on the Cinderella story; however, because of Tatum's step-Abeula, she comes to understand, if not appreciate, the strict discipline her stepmother Bélen dishes out.

The novel had a wonderful flow and a nice variety of characters that would interest many different readers. Overall, It Started with Goodbye had a neat and tidy end, but with the summer Tatum had, she deserves it!

Took me only a few days to start & finish this one. It was that good. I loved getting to know the main character, and felt like I could see all of the characters so clearly. The story line was great & the book was written so well. I'm definitely recommending this title, on all of my social media platforms including my blog. I'll be keeping an eye out for more titles by Christina June!

3.5 stars

It Started With Goodbye is a modern Cinderella retelling that manages to not be too formulaic and boring.
The writing style isn't particularly memorable but that's the truth with all the contemporary books I've read.
Of course the baseline story is predictable, but most of her people felt real and did stuff regular people might do.
Tatum is a well-rounded character who grows throughout the book, becoming a better person by the final page. Her family is flawed, but doing their best. Her friends weren't just placed in there for filler and you could imagine the rest of their lives when they weren't on the page. There was action that you couldn't see, an element important in first-person tales.
The SK parts were my favorite, but because he didn't have much page time he lacked the depth I needed to like him beyond the repartee. We didn't see his flaws and weaknesses.
In the end it was a fun and easy read with the aspects you'd expect from it.

But the title doesn't carry any meaning for me. Not sure what the "it" and "goodbye" are. Her life changed when her friend and father left?

Let me start by saying the first 70% of this book gets 4 stars, the rest 2 because I only have a certain cheese tolerance level before I overload and the last part of this far exceeded it.

While the writing made this a quick and smooth read for me the development lacked. There is little conflict and it's all resolved quickly and easily with flowers and glitter and happy happy people . Okay I exaggerated, we are told she has learned a lot and grown up over the summer but I never felt that she had. And that was the issue.

Now contemporaries aren't usually my style but I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The relationships felt real and that is precisely what kept me reading. It never felt forced or false, the stories felt genuine like I was watching someone else's life unfold. It had a good hook that drew me in and I kept reading to see where Tatum's story went. I loved how the ending made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. And after finishing this story I think I might have a new otp.

This book was a brilliant read! The writing in this book inspires so much raw emotion from the reader as you are pulled into it's tale. The author writes sheer poetry as you read along and get that reminiscent of being young again. This is a wonderfully written modern take on the classic Cinderella! This book brings forth so many diverse characters in such a fun way! A true delight.

Took my a long while to get into this book and I am afraid that I struggled all the way through, it certainly was not as good as some of the reviews. Not really much I can say about this book, sorry

I received a copy of this book from netgalley (wish for it) for review.

I was actually surprised to learn that this was a debut. The book was well written with well developed characters. I loved Tatum and Abby the most, but Blanche was awesome and Tilly grew on me by the end. The music was a great addition. I can't resist a book with a cool band story. :) I really enjoyed the book and will definitely read more from the author.

Charming story about a teen who gets into trouble, then has to miss out on her summer, loses a friend. Finds her voice and meets prince charming. Loved it!

I wanted to love this book, but it just never quite clicked for me. The writing was fairly engaging, but I thought things were often over explained to the point that the useless details distracted from the story. The story started with a lot of action and promise, but it kind of went downhill from there. Honestly Tate being grounded, staying in her room or working day after day after wasn't that interesting. The book wasn't long, but at times it felt like it was. I started to lose interest about halfway through. I was expecting to see Tate interact more with her friends and family and I was expecting the romance to play a bigger part much earlier in the story. As it was we spend most of our time inside Tate's head while she figures things out and navigates things that seemed pretty obvious to me. I was also frustrated by how unbelievably disproportionate Tate's punishment was. It was severe to the point of being ridiculous and it was hard to take the story and Tate's issues seriously. She also felt as though she was purposely written to be a paragon of virtue and good example for teens. She was always doing the right thing and trying to live up to everyone's expectations, although her bad attitude and self-pitying internal monologue didn't match her actions.

This book was fine, It didn't blow me away, but it was entertaining enough. The concept was interesting and it had potential. I'm not sure if I'll pick up another book by this author or not.

A very intersting and gripping read. A strong storyline that will keep you reading long into the night. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

What a fantastic read! I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The story is easy for any teenager to identify with (oppressive parents who don't understand you, even when you think you're handling things right? Of course!), and the end result is an opportunity to see how viewing a situation through someone else's contextual background can radically affect your understanding of his or her behavior. As adults, many of us have already managed to learn this, but how did we get there? Novels are one excellent route option, and this one fits the bill. The main character is believable, and the reader can sympathize while still wanting to see her change and grow up. The plot moves at a decent pace, and the overall messages are positive without being over-the-top. I will certainly recommend this book to students and for my school library's purchase list, and I am excited to read more from Blink publishing.