This is the story of Carter, who is 17 when he loses his 3 best friends in a car accident that may or may not have been his fault for texting the friend who was driving. We follow Carter as he attends their funerals and deals with the aftermath of the events and the decisions he made that night.
As this novel is written from Carter's point of view, Zentner actually does a creditable job of replicating the voice of a 17 year old, for the most part it reads fairly accurately. That being said there are sections of the text which are quite unlike a 17 year olds manner, but I just put these very pretentious passages down to Carver's past-time as a writer!!
This novel is sad; Zentner's depiction of grief is powerful and moving. The novel as a whole was quite moving and I was appreciative of Zentner's ability to give the grief its space to breath and grow in the novel.
I also thought that Zentner's description of panic attacks and anxiety was excellent. The author got the feelings and experiences across in the narrative very well, in addition to keeping the narrative voice from Carter realistic to the experience. I appreciated this, it gave the character another layer, and its always good to read about mental health in novels, especially young adult ones.
In terms of plot, there isn't a lot to get excited about, it is a fairly typical YA contemporary, although I was very pleased that the romance there was felt realistic, there was no sight of 'insta-love'.
The reason I gave this novel only 3.5/5 was for a couple of insensitive jokes in the novel. At one point two of the characters made some crude suicide jokes because they are not enjoying a class in school. This is extremely insensitive from the author, and particularly because his novel had dealt with grief and mental health sensitively through the rest of it. The author also made some homophobic jokes when the characters are teasing another character, who actually turns out to be gay! As if that somehow makes it ok, it just felt unnecessary to the storyline, and frankly I was really disappointed when I read it.
Overall I gave this novel 3.5/5 stars, and I thought it was an ok depiction of grief, but it was let down by some crude and insensitive jokes in the narrative which didn't sit well with me.

Let's be honest - it is no Serpent King. It keeps you going. There are so many great moments. I absolutely love the comedian character and his grandma. The bits of humor are priceless. I would read the book just for that. The main character just keeps getting hammered and that may reflect real life, but it was such a bummer. It seems like there is a massive collection of YA fiction that is dark and moody. I can't say it really appeals to me. This also was written with a whole lotta liberal passion. It's timely, but had me rolling my eyes sometimes. Like a liberal facebook feed came to life. Still, there was a lot to love in this book - the squirrel rodeo, the food, the colors, the awesome big sister. I'm torn about it. Read it and decide for yourself.

I just finished reading it a few minutes ago. I think I'm in live with this book. Even it was hard for me to read this one at first cz who doesn't feel so sad when they lose their bestfriends? it reminds me a lot about my high school buddies who now live separately :(, plus I didn't find any difficulties while reading it. and the topic tthough i just love it so much when it mentioned something related to laws in it. I would totally make a review for this one as soon as possible. I really want to read Jeff's other works too. Going to put his work, The Serpent King, on my TBR list.

How do you live with grief? How do you live with those feelings when you think you're responsible for he deaths of the people you're grieving? That is the question Carver Briggs asks himself.
When we first meet him he is at the third funeral for the last of his friends to be buried. His was the last text on the phone of Mars, the boy driving, and Carver - along with a lot of others in their town - think he is to blame for what happened.
The question of guilt aside, this was a thoughtful exploration of how to manage the grieving process. It was emotionally intimate - at times, uncomfortably so. Yet there was, throughout, a sense of enjoyment and celebration of the lives lived. A stark reminder that we should make the most of our experiences and reach out to all those who touch our lives in some way.

Honestly, I should really have expected how much this book would wreck me. I mean, it's Jeff Zentner. The Serpent King actually had me in floods of tears so I should have known this one would too. And I did expect to an extent that it would, I just didn't realise I'd be reading through my tears at points (chapter 24 was especially rough).

I loved pretty much everything about this book, but if there was one thing I didn't it was the romantic subplot (although it never fully came into fruition it was definitely hinted at). I didn't necessarily think that Carver falling in love with his dead best friend's girlfriend was really needed. I mean, the plot would have been just as good if they'd been friends and that was it. I guess it added a bit of angst but it wasn't like that couldn't have been achieved another way.

But in general, the book was amazing, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to have their heart ripped out and torn up.

With last year's THE SERPENT KING, Jeff Zentner handily became an author to look out for. His debut was honest, enthralling, and I could not wait to see what he would produce next. As a result, GOODBYE DAYS had a lot to live up to. Thankfully, it matched and even exceeded my already lofty expectations. Zentner has all the sincerity of Adam Silvera with the gut-wrenches of Patrick Ness.

‘Can a text message destroy your life? Carver Briggs never thought a simple text would cause a fatal crash, killing his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, there could be a criminal investigation into the deaths. Then Blake’s grandmother asks Carver to remember her grandson with a ‘goodbye day’ together. Carver has his misgivings, but he starts to help the families of his lost friends grieve with their own memorial days, along with Eli’s bereaved girlfriend Jesmyn. But not everyone is willing to forgive. Carver’s own despair and guilt threatens to pull him under into panic and anxiety as he faces punishment for his terrible mistake. Can the goodbye days really help?’

This book is stunning. Zentner writes teenage friendship so beautifully. He perfectly portrays the feeling of freedom and sense of invincibility that young people feel. He aces their playful language and the relationships are immensely believable.

Goodbye Days is an exploration of the grieving process, alternating Carver’s grieving in the present with memories of the times the friends spent together, building up a picture of their friendship and then crashing it with a hit of reality. You learn just what he’s lost as you watch him coping.

There’s some brilliant diversity within these pages, including a beautiful post-death coming-out scene that will have you sobbing but leave you feeling that there is hope in the world. And that’s what Zentner does best – destroys you but gives you hope.

The writing is beautiful and perceptive. Every page has a truth; something that chimes as a revelation of life. The idea of a goodbye day as a celebration of life and relationships is something I’d love to see filter into life. Overall Goodbye Days is a beautifully written celebration of friendship; of the closeness that enables you to tell each other everything and support each other with laughter and love.

Source – kindly sent for review by the publisher

Every page of Goodbye Days felt like my emotions were being turned up to full volume. It manages to be sweet, heartbreaking and belly-achingly funny. Jeff Zentner handles difficult issues with so much care and grace that I feel certain I would read anything he`s written and will continue to do so.

If you want to cry like a baby and remember the importance of friendships and family and basically living in the moment then this is the book for you. I own another book by Jeff Zentner but I have never read anything by him before. He is an author I've heard many a good thing about but I am so glad I waited to read this book by him first. I was emotionally wrung out by the end but so very, vert happy as well.

This book is centred around Carver who has lost his three best friends in a car accident and is blaming himself because he texted them around the time of the car accident. It leads him on a path of guilt and self-discovery as he spends time with the families of those he loved trying to help them get some closure whilst also trying to get closure for himself. There is a mixed response from the family of his loved ones because too often we want to find someone to blame when we lose someone. It has to be someone's fault because bad things can't just happen.

I haven't cried so much reading a book in a long time. I know I get emotionally involved in things very easily, much like Carver I cry at youtube videos about good deeds, but this book will hit you in the feels and then beat you around the head with your emotions right until the end. But in a good way,y ou know? You may be ugly crying but you'll be happy about it, trust me.

Last year everyone was talking about, and loving, The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner but for some reason I ended up not reading it. However, after hearing so much about it, and when I saw Goodbye Days on NetGalley, I decided I wanted to read it so I requested the book, twice, and got approved, twice. It was the first time it happened but it was funny to end up with two digital copies of this book XD. Because it was my first Jeff Zentner book I didn't know what to expect. I knew it would probably be heartbreaking (and it was) but I knew nothing else.

Carver, the main character was a great guy. I loved to read this book from his point of view. While he feels guilty about what happened to his friends it was still really cool to read when he was remembering about them and getting to know his friends from that scenes. It still hurt sometimes to read from his POV due to his grief and the guilt he felt but I really enjoyed his character development and he coming to the terms of his best friends deaths. I also loved the idea behind the "goodbye days", even when some of them were kind of weird. It's a good idea... just not good to do with some people who might ruin everything.

I really loved this book and the story. It was really deep and it showed different ways to deal with grief but there were a few things I didn't like as much. I really didn't like that a lot of people blamed Carver for what happened to his friends. I understand why he felt guilty and I can see why a few people would want him to be guilty but in the end he wasn't the one who made the decision that ended up with his friends lives.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. While there were a few things that might have got me mad it was still a great and emotional read. I 100% recommend this book, but beware because it's not an easy read.

Jeff Zentner has received such high praise for his debut novel ‘The Serpent King’ that when I saw this book I thought I would give it a shot.

The goodbye days follows Carver Briggs on the aftermath of the death of his 3 best friends. The problem is Carver has this terrible guilt hanging over him, if only he hadn’t sent that text his friends might still be alive. Instead his life is turned upside down with funerals, grief,anxiety and the fact that people actually blame him for the boys deaths. He agrees to a Goodbye day in honour of his friend, doing everything they would do with his family. News starts to spread and the other families want their own goodbye days.

I enjoyed this book, it’s quite nice to read a Young adult contemporary written by a male author. The majority of contemporaries I read are written by women and was just so refreshing to read something from the male perspective.

The writing in this book was really good and had no problem understanding the conversations. I like that he chose to write about this topic to make young adults aware of the dangers of using your phones whilst driving. I thought the way that he wove all the stages of grief into the book was very clever.

So I wasn’t too sure about the plot, the main pointer for me was that Carver could actually go to prison for negligent homicide – contributing to his friends deaths. I don’t know too much about the criminal justice system so I couldn’t believe that this could really happen. It wasn’t like Carver made his friends text him back. They should have had the common sense at 17 years old to maybe get a passenger to respond not the actual driver.

I liked pretty much all the characters, there were great parents, siblings, grandmothers and friendships that gave the book depth. There were no annoying tropes in this book either, so that gets a big thumbs up for me. The book had the occasional moment when Carver was having flashbacks/memories of his friends, they would say something really immature for their age and then would counteract it with something quite profound.

The reason I can’t give this a higher rating than 3.5 stars is that I felt no emotional connection to the characters and got a little confused about all the boys and their family dynamics, however you do get more of an insight in to each of the boys lives and characters towards the end of the book but I just found it a little too late.

Overall this book is good and would recommend it as this seems to be getting 5 star ratings and you probably don’t have a heart of stone like me.

I rated this 3.5/5 stars

Teenagers dying in random, shocking accidents have been a constant in my YA contemporary reads for the past 18 months. It’s a rare book that doesn’t include the grief/loss trope as a way to explore the feelings and actions of the teens who are left behind to ponder their existence and the meaning of life.

Not all books do it well.

Goodbye Days does it exceedingly well. Yes, I am tired of sore eyes, and waking up to thoughts of trauma and emptiness, but today I am also grateful for those same things – I have cried so much I couldn’t read the words on the kindle. I have thought about the characters, while awake and while trying to fall asleep, and I wonder why this book has affected me so profoundly when others leave me sad but not consumed.

There are a couple of factors I can think of.

Zentner instils his three dead characters with so much life, right up to the final chapter that, just like Carver, I mourn their loss, I miss their antics, I grieve for the waste. And just like Carver, I long to celebrate their creativity, their intelligence, their joy. We spend a lot of time with Blake, Eli and Mars. We know them well by the end, and their passing hurts.

Carver is another strong component of the novel. His feelings are laid bare. As a writer, he is able to articulate every fear, every shameful thought, and every scared moment. His loneliness without his three best friends is exacerbated by the hostility from Eli’s twin sister Adair, who isn’t the only one who blames Carver for the accident. Carver himself feels responsible, but it’s Mars’s father who pushes for a criminal investigation into the ordeal.

With that threat hanging over him, Carver finds solace befriending Eli’s girlfriend, Jesmyn, herself devastated and lost. Together they navigate the trials of Carver’s panic attacks, Jesmyn’s preparation for a Juilliard audition, and something invented by Blake’s Nana Betsy called the goodbye days. She invites Carver to join her on a day where they experience many of Blake’s favourite activities and food. It’s cathartic, but it also forces Carver to confront his guilt, and to share things about Blake that his grandma didn’t know.

This sets up similar days with Eli’s parents and Mars’s father. Each day is different, and each opens Carver up to more hurt, more memories, and while some readers might feel manipulated, I felt moved by powerful emotions. I felt Carver’s unassailable and overwhelming pain, and most of all, I wanted to see him through this. Admittedly, through the novel, he does some stupid things, and says some regrettable words, but overall, he proves to be a true friend.

You can probably figure out that I was caught up in this book, and was surprised by its power over me. Copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley. It’s out today in the states, and in a couple of weeks here in Australia.

Recommended to readers who want to be utterly at the mercy of strong and painful emotions, who want their main characters to be honest with themselves, and who fight to overcome their fears. The female characters are strong and do not put up with anything other than respect. The adults are flawed, and try to make the best of a tragic situation. Each one offers something, most significantly Carver’s therapist, who is an amazing support for him.

I’m not sure how to go about reviewing this book, so I’ll try to keep it simple and on point, ok? First of, this was my first Zentner book, I still haven’t read The Serpent King, but Kat had loved it so much, that I ended up requesting this book from Netgalley, and I’m not sorry at all. I really liked Goodbye Days.

I actually loved the writing and Carver’s voice throughout the book. Carver is an amazing character, I loved this guy and the way the story was told. Even throughout all his pain, grief, guilt and fear, Carver was still a very funny and relatable character. That’s not to say that he didn’t have his bad moments, but he read like a 17 yo boy, and I loved him. Still, this book felt super slow for me for some reason, maybe I was just in the right mood for it, …

Either way, I really liked the premise and the plot. Grief and guilt are such complicated emotions, and I thought it was dealt with super well here. It sure as hell made me cry several times during the book. But I have to say that the “goodbye days” were weird at some points, and some parts were definitly not fair. But the thing is, it would have been impossible not to feel guilty on Carver’s shoes, and it’s also not fair to say that he’s blameless on this situation, but still, a lot of people put the blame solely on him – and I get it, he’s alive and the other are not – but from an outside perspective, it’s a tough pill to swallow.

I highly recommend this one, but be warned that this is a sad read, with heavy subjects, though the way they were dealt with didn’t make for a heavy book. Also, this book has such great elements of friendship and family, and those are always amazing to find in YA.

“I’ve heard that people who lose a limb have a “phantom limb,” which itches and senses pain as though their body’s forgotten that it’s gone. I have a trinity of phantoms.”

6 ugly crying stars

Ugh, I don’t know if I was hormonal (I’m a girl so it happens), an easy cryer (might be) or if this book was extremely emotional (undoubtedly) but I cried buckets while reading Goodbye Days.
I was on the train and big fat tears kept falling on my cheeks, along my neck… I was sniffling all the time (how gracious I know). I tried every trick I know: looking at the ceiling to try avoiding the tears; blowing my nose at the slightest inkling of water; chanting “this is not true, this is fiction, Carver/Blade does NOT exist”; telling myself to “breathe in, breath out, blow slowly….” NOTHING WORKED.
By the end of the book I had puffy red eyes and a congested nose. As I read till the wee hours to finish the story I was sporting slits for eyes the morning after and yawning all the time at work.

Jeff Zentner with his Goodbye Days opened my chest, tore my heart out and scattered the remaining pieces all around the floor.

Blade/Carver had lost his tree best friends, the Sauce Crew in a car accident and he HURT all the time. Worse he was texting the driver just before the accident happened and he feels guilty. He is drowning in guilt. Not only survivor guilt but “maybe murderer of your best friends” guilt.
The “beat me up”, despise me because I’m undeserving of forgiveness guilt.

All along when I witnessed people conspiring against Blade, be it Adair Eli’s twin sister, Eli’s dad or Mars’s father JudgeEdward I really wanted to shout: open your eyes guys! Maybe he sent that text but the driver was a fool. He could choose not to answer while driving. He could have been careful and wise! It’s not Blade’s fault it’s Mars fault! How could they not see it? I was beyond rightfully indignant. I was MAD at these people.

Now I guess it’s easier to blame someone alive than a dead guy. With Blade they had an outlet. They could throw all their anger and grief to his head. They could hurt him as much as they were hurting. They could…
And Blade was crumbling under the sorrow, the guilt, the grief. He had panic attacks. He wanted to disappear.

This story addresses the topic of grief. All the ways people use to cope with grief. The sorrow, the anger, the acceptance and then the forgiveness.

The goodbye days were beautiful sometimes, dreadful other times or a harsh catharsis.

Blade was a generous and vulnerable character. He was gutted by what happened and wore his heart on his sleeve. Jesmyn helped him cope with the grief and she was a lovely character as well but Blade has a rare uniqueness in his frailty and honesty.

I loved Blade. Fiercely. Protectively. Utterly and unconditionally.

I loved Nana Betsy her strength and generosity.

I loved Georgia she was a kickass big sister.

I loved reading about Sauce Crew and their pranks. I was baffled when I read what happened to Blake and realize he still had not a bad word about anyone.

I loved Jeff Zentner’s writing, so realistic, sensitive and vivid. It hit every cranny and nook in my soul. It made me bleed out.

I loved…everything. I can’t fault a thing in this book. Because it made me feel. It made me hurt and smile sometimes. It made me fear the worse. It made me forget my world and live in Blade’s heavy world for some hours. That’s what I expect from books: to make me travel and experience other’s lives. To make me ponder and think on hard topics.

Jeff Zentner turned my world upside down and I need to recover.

Oh and replenish my stock of tissues.
And invest in waterproof mascara.
And sleep some more.
And …


Some of my favorite quotes (among many of them)

“Our minds seek causality because it suggests an order to the universe that may not actually exist, even if you believe in some higher power. Many people would prefer to accept an undue share of blame for a tragic event than concede that there’s no order to things. Chaos is frightening. A capricious existence where bad things happen to good people for no discernible reason is frightening.” It is certainly that. “Pareidolia,” I say. “Come again?” “Pareidolia. One of my favorite words. It’s when your mind sees a pattern you recognize where there isn’t one. Like seeing a face in the moon. Or shapes in clouds.”

“Nobody around. The beach is freezing. But you couldn’t tell how cold the beach was by looking. There aren’t leafless trees there or anything. The ocean looks the same; everything looks the same. So it could be summer, except that the beach is deserted and everything’s closed. It’s a really sad and lonely feeling.” “That’s me now, inside. Beach-in-November.”

Today was cathartic in the way of a vigorous puking session. You don’t feel good, exactly. Just purged of something.

Going into a book written by Jeff Zentner, you have to be prepared for sadness. I knew this, I hardened my heart, but I still cried multiple times. While the Serpent King was more of a punch in the gut, this was like a constant cloud of somberness following you around. There’s such an important message here – don’t text while driving! It’s what starts this mess and then unabashedly portrays the devastating aftermath. It sugarcoats nothing and goes deep into the self-blame, the anxiety, the loneliness and sometimes downright panic of the situation.

“For the most part, you don’t hold the people you love in your heart because they rescued you from drowning or pulled you from a burning house. Mostly you hold them in your heart because they save you, in a million quiet and perfect ways, from being alone.”
I thought that most of the story was handled in a very realistic way and that it flowed beautifully. No matter how emotional or intense the book gets, it never overwhelms you. The sadness comes in waves and little punches instead, always revealing something new to you about the people Carver cared so much about and he loved those boys so very much. I enjoyed that this was a book about friendship and family, especially the parents or guardians had important roles to play and we all know how rare that is in YA these days. There might be a sort of romantic sub-plot, but it didn’t take up too much of the time and I liked how that was left in the end.

The only reason this book isn’t a complete 5-star-read for me, is that I struggled a bit with the criminal investigation. While I understand the components of guilt and blame, I just couldn’t wrap my head around the legal charges. I think it was explained pretty well, but I just don’t believe that those claims were substantial, which is also why I wasn’t entire happy with the resolution of that part. It’s really only a minor thing though, something that adds to the drama I guess.

Finally, there’s a cameo of someone from The Serpent King and it’s bit of a spoiler if you realise that person is the cameo. So, I would recommend you read the other book first, but it’s completely up to you.

After first reading the blurb for Goodbye Days, I was happy that an author was finally going to write about the dangers of texting and driving. It's such a dangerous thing to do and so many people die because of it. So to have a young adult book address this is amazing.

One day Carver Briggs had it all--three best friends, a supportive family and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts. The next day it all crashed and burned, literally, after he wrote them out of existence with a text sent to his friend Mars--the last words his friends ever see.

Carver can't stop blaming himself for the fatal crash and he's not the only one. But Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli's girlfriend, who is the only person to stand by him at school, and Blake's grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her--having him stand in as Blake for one last day doing all their favorite things so they can share memories and say a proper goodbye.

Soon Eli and Mars's families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver--but he's unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to prison or a complete breakdown?

This book gripped me immediately. We were taken straight into the story line and I felt like no build up was necessary; we were given character foundations through flashbacks that Carver had. I just felt so sorry for Carver but it also made me think about my actions. Carver knew that Mars was driving when he text him and Mars went to answer Carver's text. Who's in the wrong? Carver or Mars? Personally, I text my Mom when I know she is driving, but I know that she'll reply once she is parked up. So does that make me equally as guilty as Carver? I don't know... let me know your thoughts on this...

I also loved how panic attack were portrayed in Goodbye Days, I think Zentner describes them spot on. I actually got quite emotional reading Carver have a panic attack because it made me realise how scary it is for the people around you to witness it happening.

However, there were a few problematic areas for me....

1) During one of the flashbacks, Carver and Blake are shown to make jokes about hanging themselves and they then go on to imitate cutting their wrists... This was deeply upsetting to read, because it shouldn't be used in a humorous context..

2) The second problematic area for me was when *slight spoiler ahead* Blake came out as gay to Carver but then Carver automatically questioned Blake as to why Blake wasn't attracted to him. Just because someone is gay or lesbian, that does not mean that they are automatically attracted to everyone who is the same sex.

So yeah, those were the two problematic areas for me that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. But this was a very good book and I loved the way Zentner showed that it wasn't strange to see a therapist to get some help. He made it feel normal (to a certain extent. There were a few times where Carver asked if he "was crazy yet?" that didn't really sit right with me. Having panic attacks doesn't make you 'crazy') Georgia - Carver's sister - also went to therapy which I thought was good because, again, Zenter showed that therapy was normal.





"But understand that young black men have no margin for error in this country. I had to teach him that. I had to teach him that he can be the son of a judge, but if he acts the way young white men do - the way his friends do - he will be treated more harshly. People, police - they won't see a judge's son. They won't see a kid who worked hard and mostly stayed on the straight and narrow. They'll see another 'young thug' - the term du jour for all young black men in certain circles. They'll go through and find every picture of him wearing clothes that are too big for him, or flipping off a camera, or acting like a normal, rambunctious young man, and that will be all the proof anyone will need that he got what was coming to him."
- Jeff Zentner, Goodbye Days





I have one more issue. It's not problematic, it's just something that i didn't like about the book. *spoiler ahead* I hated it. Absolutely HATED it when Carver started to fall in love with Jesmyn. No. She was your best friends boyfriend. You do not get to love her. It's wrong. It's so disrespectful to the memory of his best friend. And you know the most infuriating bit? I knew it was going to happen. Once they started hanging out and helping each other with their loss, I knew he was going to fall in love with her. And I didn't want that at all. I am so glad she said no.

However, overall this is amazing book. I loved the whole concept of it, I loved the message that Zentner was conveying, I loved the characters, I loved Zentner's writing style (apart from those few problematic areas) and the ending just made me cry. I do definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a brilliant contemporary.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review

Released 6th April

Seventeen-year-old Carver Briggs was texting one of his best friends, Mars, when Mars and Carter's two other best friends were killed in a highway car accident. Carter, as a result, feels responsible for their deaths and must now deal with this guilt as well as going on to live his life, forever altered.

Under Tennessee law (our story is set in Nashville), Carver might be held as “criminally negligent” for knowing Mars was driving when he text him. As well as battling the threat of being punishable by law, Carter must cope with the feelings of his own family, his deceased best friends' families, his friends and high school acquaintances, and the local community, who have all been affected by this horrible accident. The term "Goodbye Days" refers to the act of holding a day in a deceased loved one's memory, where you honour that person and say a proper goodbye to them.

This novel looks at the aftermath of tragedy and the feelings that are conjured up by those who are left behind to deal with it. It is about trying to process overwhelming loss and grief while also consumed with guilt and fear, and finding the strength to carry on.

This is quite an emotional story, for sure, but was not quite as gripping as I hoped it would be. It certainly paints an important message for teenagers around the dangers of texting while driving, but, dare I say, it left me a little cold. Zentner is a great writer (I have heard great things about The Serpent King and will still read it) but I found it a little hard to engage with these characters. I found Carver to be a little too old beyond his years, with a wisdom that I feel can only come from age and experience. He just wasn't believable enough for me to fully love him and this had an effect on how I responded to this story.

Saying that, I can see how fans of YA literature will enjoy this book. It is an emotional, tear-jerking story of young life lost, both physically and emotionally, and a sentimental look at friendship and belonging.

This is an incredibly moving novel about bereavement and finding your way through grief. Carver sent a text to his friend, and this led to the car accident that killed his three best friends and now he has to find a way to live with that.

I have to be honest and say that I found it a bit far-fetched that someone who sent a text could potentially be held legally responsible for the death of the person who read that text whilst they were driving and died in an accident as a result. This jarred with me and made it difficult to get into this book. However, once I put that to one side and focused on what the book was really about I found it such a heartbreaking read.

I lost my best friend when I was just a little older than Carver, and it’s so hard to process that someone so young can just be gone. I felt such empathy for Carver, and his thoughts through his grieving process were so real and raw to me. The descriptions of grief are so well written and absolutely believable.

Carver and the Nana of one of his friends decide to hold a goodbye day – where they spend a day together doing the things that each of them had enjoyed with Blake, and sharing their memories. I think this is such a wonderful idea, a dedicated time to share things – it must be a very emotional but ultimately cathartic experience.

Carver then holds a goodbye day with the parents of his other two friends who were killed. Each of the three days show the different ways that people grieve after losing a child – the devastation, the anger, the hurt. It’s palpable in places. I found the goodbye day Carver spends with Mars’ dad to be the most emotional and affecting.

Through the course of the novel Carver works through all of the feelings that come with grief, and the over-riding emotion is loneliness and this broke my heart. I remember that feeling so well, and it’s such a hard thing to come through. Once you lost someone you’re so close to you can never be the same person again, you just have to learn to be ok with the loss of them and the loss of the part of you that they took with them.

This book ultimately is a book about redemption, about how we atone for the things we’ve done wrong, or are perceived to have done wrong. It’s a book about the depths of grief, but our ability to recover and to find a way through the pain. I highly recommend it.

I received a copy of this book from Penguin Random House via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliantly descriptive story. Poor Carver sent a text at the wrong time and his best mates were found dead in a car crash whilst texting back. Should someone living be blamed? Is it carvers fault? This book deals with all the emotions and feelings of each family and the public. Could not put this book down. Hope to read more from this author.

When a single text message sets off a tragic chain reaction resulting in the death of Carver Briggs’ entire friendship group, nothing can touch the grief and guilt he feels. Jeff Zentner takes an interesting approach to looking at grief, particularly when it affects teenagers, and the various processes people go through to learn to carry on without their safety nets. This book really highlighted to me the importance of those close to you, more so than I already realised, and how much each individual becomes a component in a finely knit unit that unravels as soon as you take a component away. It isn’t however the tear-jerker I expected; instead it is more of a frank, refreshing depiction of how Carver starts to put the pieces back together, for himself but also for those around him.

I loved Zentner's writing style. This is the first book I’ve read of his and it certainly won’t be the last. The writing is fluid and beautiful, whilst having elements of comedy I fully didn’t expect from this sort of book. Carver is self-aware, and intelligent, making him an interesting protagonist, but his ability to make even the most uncomfortable situation a little lighter made what could have been a pretty depressing read much less intense. Equally, as the book is told between past and present, we get to know the boys that died in the beginning of the book. I really bought their silliness, their reliance on each other and their ability to have each other’s backs and this helped me to connect with the characters, and the story, really quickly. It’s something I wish we saw more of in YA fiction actually instead of the typical mean-girl story arcs.

I also really enjoyed the interesting angle on a less than conventional love interest in this story; it was great to see this challenged. Carver develops an interesting relationship with a girl who was previously the girlfriend to one of his deceased friends – I love that this story challenges what we would expect and thought this was a unique twist.

However, I did struggle with the pacing of this book. Whilst Zentner tackles some really poignant issues in an interesting way, the story moves relatively slowly with no real developments until a long way into the book. The story is given a little more energy when we are introduced to a potential criminal conviction – could Carver be held responsible for sending a message which instigated the deaths of his friends? But I didn’t find this idea particularly believable; in fact it seems highly far-fetched to me to expect that a boy sending a text to his friend, who is driving and reads the text, is at fault for that person’s decision to read it.

Nevertheless, this is a unique look at dealing with loss and developing your own kind of coping mechanisms along the way. I like that this author has so wonderfully captured that each person is different when it comes to dealing with this, and that we can adapt to get through awful tragedies that life throws at us. I just found the pacing too slow and the story lacking in the necessary peaks and troughs to keep me hooked all the way through.