[Review] Goodbye from Nowhere - Sara Zarr

Summary: Kyle Baker thought his family was happy. Happy enough, anyway. That’s why, when Kyle learns that his mother has been having an affair and his father has been living with the secret, his reality is altered. He quits baseball, ghosts his girlfriend, and generally checks out of life as he’s known it. With his older sisters out of the house and friends who don’t get it, the only person he can talk to is his cousin Emily—who is always there on the other end of his texts but still has her own life, hours away.

Kyle’s parents want him to keep the secret of his mother’s affair from the rest of the family until after what might be their last big summer reunion. As Kyle watches the effects of his parents’ choices ripple out over friends, family, and strangers, and he feels the walls of his relationships closing in, he has to decide what his obligations are to everyone he cares for—including himself. (Pub Date: Apr 7, 2020)


2.5. Rounding up because it is cute and it gets better, even if it was underwhelming overall.

Kyle comes from a very big family who always gets together in his grandparents' land called Nowhere. But things are changing in his life, he has a girlfriend, his oldest sister left home and isn't talking to them, and he learns a secret too big about his parents that throws him off. Maybe his family is very different from what he always thought it was.

I think this story is very pretty. I loved the family element and how Kyle does his best to deal with what life is throwing at him. I also like the self-criticism the writer makes sure to right. Kyle is spoiled, he has no idea, but the author does, and I found it really nice how subtle it all is until it's all blows on his face.

I also like Emily and Nadia very much. Actually, I wish we had had more of them, they were such great characters! Most of the female ones were, so it was a pretty this book centered on the male ones.

We also get plot twists, and a lot of them for a coming-of-age story. That was probably the best part of this book. Things do happen. At the same time, the story wasn't that great. I had a hard time relating to Kyle even though I did feel sorry for his situation and knew he was doing his best to cope with it all. It was really too much for him. Still, he never really grew on me.

This book is also a bit wordy, probably to give you the heartwarming atmosphere it intends. It's not that slow to read though. It's just a lot of going around until the plot twists come—and because of that effect, they always surprised me a lot, even when they weren't that big of a bomb.

In all, I'll confess I was bored through a lot of the story, it never picked much steam. Still, there were many positives, as I mentioned above, good female characters, good plot twists, they just weren't well used to balance the weak points. A book I'll recommend to people looking for YA contemporary centered on a male character, which is rare, and to those who enjoy coming-of-age stories about families that won't go crazy (although Kyle's relationship with his cousin Emily could be seen as borderline, there's no incest in the book, not even in a platonic matter, don't worry).

I also think there are themes worthy of discussion, like how Kyle's parents deal with their problems, including money problems. Who is right, his sister or his parents? What would you do if you were either of them? And the situation with Nowhere, was that the best conclusion? The story does go deep, so I'm sure there will be people loving it. I'm just not one of them.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 3 out of 5.