[Review] The Good Goodbye - Carla Buckley

Summary: Two cousins, Rory and Arden, lie unconscious in a hospital burn unit. The fire, which broke out in their shared college dorm room, killed another student, and the police want answers. Tension between Rory and Arden’s parents was already at an all-time high before the fire, owing to a recent financial crisis and the decline of the family business. As the parents huddle anxiously in the waiting room, carefully avoiding the subject of their own unraveling relationships, disturbing truths come to light. This is the deeply moving story of a family’s struggle to hold together while their secrets threaten to tear them apart. (Pub Date: Jan 12, 2016)

ARC received from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Natalie already thought she had her hands full with her restaurant going down because of a bad investment by her partner in business and brother-in-law. As it turns out, that was nothing when she learned her daughter and niece were injured in a fire, of which one of them might have been the perpetrator, and which killed a boy caught between the two cousins. Also, both are in a coma and may never wake up to tell their side of the story.

Narrated in three voices, Natalie, her daughter, and her niece, this is surely a page-turner. Right from the beginning the author drops hint after hint of how wrong things are, and I couldn't put it down, waiting for her next tip.

Natalie was a nice character to follow, I always looked forward to her parts. Even though the other two points of view were confusing the first time, I soon appreciated the effect of not having a defined present time, as it made each scene real. It's the classical life passing before before one's eyes. I said confusing but it's just a first impression; considering how this style could have gone wrong when you don't have any indication of when this flash of memory is happening, it was rather easy following. That was clever but mainly quite a brave choice.

When reading about some mystery, and the key to this book is really finding out what happened and why, a potential reader's question is on whether the book could deliver it, after all. Well... I thought the answer was too simple. There were so many twists and turns, I expected more of a bang, then a linear ending. The ends met, they did. At the same time, I hoped for more. This was presenting so many possibilities... You know, some stories make you feel lost and then exclude the options as it goes along. I had a feeling this book was wonderful in doing the opposite. You open it thinking: 'oh man, there was an accidental fire and the two poor cousins are touch and go', only to learn it was probably on purpose and there couldn't have been anyone else but the three. 'Could it?' is what you think after the next twist. This was marvelously done.

The book is well-worthy of the ride if a psychological mystery is what you're looking for. Still, the ending was rushed and unappealing. At the same time, it did get me crying. You've been warned.

Rating: 4 out of 5