I absolutely loved reading Jeff Zentner's other novel The Serpent King earlier this year and I added Goodbye Days to my list of most anticipated releases as soon as I finished it. You can imagine my reaction when my Netgalley request was actually approved... I didn't want to set my expectations too high after such a fantastic debut, and I kept telling myself it would be hard for Goodbye Days to outshine it. But I guess I shouldn't have worried, because I think I have just found my new favorite Zentner novel. Basically, this story took my feelings, put them on the middle of the road and ran them over repeatedly with a bulldozer. It doesn’t happen often that a book actually manages to make me cry, but Goodbye Days managed to break my heart more than once. Brilliant prose, excellent characters and those feels!! I literally flew through the pages of this story and the characters were easy to love. And this isn't just another YA contemporary story either; it also touches a very important topic. Thank you Goodbye Days for raising awareness to the dangers of using your phone while driving; is more dangerous than drunk driving and causes so many unnecessary accidents... Hopefully an eyeopener as well as a brilliant read! Recommended to any contempory/realistic fiction fan who doesn't mind sad stories.

C’est une histoire de dépassement. Comment dépasser son deuil? Comment dépasser sa culpabilité? Comment dépasser son chagrin? L’auteur répond à ses questions en nous projetant dans toutes les étapes que suit Carver.

Entre flashbacks et présent, il nous fait vivre son deuil comme si c’était le nôtre car lorsqu’on revient au présent, on est écrasé par l’absence d’Eli, de Mars et de Blake. Un instant, ils sont rayonnants de vie devant nous et l’instant d’après, ils n’auront plus jamais ces instants de complicité et de joie auxquels on vient d’assister. C’est déchirant.

A realistic and poignant portrayal of grief, Goodbye Days takes us into the life of Carver, a young man who loses his best friends - Mars, Blake and Eli - in a car accident, and who blames himself for possibly causing it. At the time of the accident, one of his best friends Mars (who was driving) was texting him back. Now, in the aftermath of that accident, Carver is stuck in a whirlpool of grief, fear and guilt. The grief because he lost his closest and only friends in the world, the fear because one of the parents wants a criminal investigation into the accident with the purpose of seeing him in prison, and guilt because moving on feels like he is being stabbed over and over with their loss. My only experience with such a kind of grief has been distant (a family member dying) so I wouldn't know how to even imagine losing someone who has been a part of your life so closely and who have brought light into your life. Now, in his Sauce Crew-less world, his support system is his sister and Eli's girlfriend, Jesmyn. Coping with loss and trying to survive through it are the main arcs of this story.

Emotion-wise, Goodbye Days is raw - it will make you laugh along with the shenanigans of the Sauce Crew, the witty quips between Carver and his sister or Carver and Jesmyn, and make you cry at every part where he remembers them or when their loss hits him hard. Trying to get closure, he agrees to a 'goodbye day' with Blake's grandmother - a day where they would hang out like Blake would with his grandmother, and they can tell each other stories about Blake. What really made me cry in these moments was the fact that it is a wound that you open again and again, to remember the person, but also to let yourself heal. But all of his goodbye days are not the same - because not all people process grief in the same manner. His goodbye days with the other parents are not beautiful and light, but they also show the varied ways in which people mourn.

What I liked in this novel is the presence of a positive support system and a good therapy doctor who help Carver come to terms with this loss. It is not that he is happy and healed at the end of the book, but he is in a place where he can process through the grief of his friends in a better way. I loved the characters in the book, especially his sister, and I also loved how they were open with one another, be it the love or the hatred. I mean, I expected it because it I read The Serpent King, but the writing blew me over again. Zentner crafted an emotional, beautiful piece of art with this novel.

Goodbye Days is my first Jeff Zentner’s book and I am so glad I have requested it: it is so much more than what I have expected. The writing is so overwhelming and tears were actually flowing out my eyes even in public places I couldn’t control myself. This story is so real that I am still shacking.

In a world where people decided to using their phones careless while driving even to do stupid things like to answer a text or (worse) check their Facebook page (I have seen those people and insult them from my car!) Jeff Zentner has been able to portrait a topic like “no texting while driving” in a brilliant and realistic way. Goodbye Days is gonna to make your think about life and not not take things for granted.

Zentner's writing style is special, not only does it seem as if he's playing with the words, he is one of the rare authors who manage to intertwine their work with emotion so evident, that you don't just read the story, you feel it, it overtakes you, it drains you.
The story deals with grief in it's many shapes, and with saying goodbye after someone is gone, something that we all have felt in one way or another, so it's easy to relate to it. Everything about this book is shockingly realistic, from the diversity of the characters, to their actions, and to the descriptions of the panic attacks (this comes from someone who gets panic attacks on a daily basis).
I am in love with this book. I don't think there's a person who wouldn't like this book.

After reading Serpent King, a book that crushed me, i couldn't wait for "Goodbye Days". When I saw the approval by Netgalley, I jumped. Up and down. While at work. Several times. My joy needed to get out of my body. Sadly, after having read "History is all you left me" by Silvera, this came around a bit too soon. I feel as if you can only read this many grief books at a time.
At first I did had my difficulties, then my great aunt died during my read and I felt as if NOW I had to relate, right? With the griefing? Well... kinda not so. My problem, and this is personal, is that I need a longer grief period. As with Silvera Zentner makes it seems as if he expects you to be fine in a 4 weeks course. So all your friends died? In a month you should be fine. That's not working for me.
I liked his approach on panic attacts and therapy. Also the goodbye days were adding the much needed spice to the story. As soon as these started this was my book. The investigations gave a little thrill to it all. So all in all Zentner knows how to do it. He is a great writer. I really do like him. For my personal taste, this could have been better, but wasn't bad. It is solid. A nice read, that I kinda enjoyed ( I mean it's about death and griefing... not so fun ).
Am looking forward for his next book! I am definetely hooked!

A group of four boys, the Sauce Crew as they were known are now made of one sole member, Carver.

The other three, Eli, Mars and Blake tragically died when colliding with a truck.
Carver blames himself as he was texting them when they crashed.

However, Blake's gran is the only relative not to blame Carver, but to celebrate the life her grandson had with him. Carver's guilt also means he takes over Blake's chores he did at his gran's as she can't get down and weed to garden or now the lawns.
They also celebrate Blake's life by having a Goodbye Day for Blake together.

Carver bottles up a lot of his emotion but does open up to Jesmyn and Blake's gran about how he feels. He does suffer anxiety as the threat of possible jail time rests undecided over his head and see's Dr Mendez about his panic attacks in order to try and handle his emotions better and grieve. He and Jesmyn are talented students, Jesmyn in piano and Carver with his creative writing. They both appreciate and support each other's talents encouraging each other they do have a future to hope for.

This book shows the true horror of losing those closest to you but the flip side as well, showing who stands by you when you need them most. We see Carver go through a true rollercoaster effect of up's and down's throughout the book, love and loss play huge roles in this book. We also see Carver imagine his friends still with him throughout scenes in the book as he can't let them go at first. I really enjoyed it as it wasn't all solely focused on death, there are times of friendship flashbacks and happy moments for Carver with his sister and Jesmyn too.

Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review it for them!

<b>L I K E S</b>
• The book was about the <b>effects of Texting and Driving, which is a serious topic that interested me</b>. I’ve been to the US for a month and witnessed how common it was for people to just text while driving, which is unimaginable for me. Driving comes with responsibility and when I drive I don’t even touch my phone. In Germany Texting and Driving is less common, but still happens. When it came to the “blame game” I’d say that the normalization of Texting and Driving is what really is to blame. Many people did blame Carver, but forgot that Mars (the Driver) chose to pick up his phone and therefore endangered the life of the people riding in the care with him by not paying enough attention to the road.

• <b>Everything is so heartbreaking</b>, because there’s guilt everywhere and people blaming the main character, while he blames himself most of all. It was difficult for Carver, because some relatives of his three friends (Adair, Judge Edwards) blamed him for the death of his friends. Even in school people did not talk much to him anymore because Adair made sure no one dared too. At one point in the end he even gets a note saying “Murderer” in his locker. He basically only had Jesmyn and no other friends anymore. Then there’s the <b>criminal investigation</b> that puts him on edge he could be charged and put into prison, which he constantly thinks about.

• <b>I honestly got so emotional</b>, because there was so much hurt and serious topics, that really got me. Especially in the beginning and the end I was near crying, since these were about the funerals and how things ended. This book is sure to not leave you untouched and instead make your care, especially since accidents like this happen frequently in real life.

• The <b>narrator Carver is a realistic flawed character</b>. I felt for him, because he’s left behind without his 3 best friends and if that wasn’t enough he also gets blamed and shunned by everyone else to the point where he only has one friend. Carver also constantly blamed himself and got panic attacks multiple times. I obviously liked that he was a writer, since I’m a writer too.

• <b>There were so many amazing female characters that I absolutely loved</b>!

- <b>Jesmyn</b> was Eli’s girlfriend before his death and the first to approach Carver, not blaming him at all for what happened. She’s a true gift, because she calls out sexism and racism and does not care at all about Adair hating everybody that takes Carver’s side. She does not back down one time or worries about her own reputation. She’s a loyal friend that’s always there for Carver and calls him out on his bullshit. Jesmyn had Synesthesia (people who can e.g. see tones in colors) and a musician!

- <b>Georgia</b> is Carver’s older sister and always there for him. She was very concerned for Carver and the one to encourage him to go visit Dr. Mendez for therapy sessions, since she used to go to him too. Georgia is very grown up and a strong person that would fight anyone that came too close to her brother or dared to blame him for what happened.

- <b>Nana Betsy</b> is Blake’s grandmother and the kind of grandmother you’d want to have. She’s a kind sweet human being and loved Blake dearly. She saved him from his abusive mother and literally went in there with a shotgun, doing everything to save him. She never blamed Carver and came up with the idea of the Goodbye Day for Blake.

• The <b>friendship between Jesmyn and Carver was truly enjoyable</b> and great! She’s his only friend and cares about him, despite so many people blaming him and getting side-eyed by Adair who wants to bring anyone against Carver. I loved their interactions and how Jesmyn was always there to talk to Carver and helped him through his panic attacks.

• The <b>aspect of the “Goodbye Days” was really gripping and unique</b>. It was something special about remembering the boys and truly saying Goodbye. The original Goodbye Day for Blake was the best, because Nana Betsy did not blame Carver at all and was such a kind human being.

• <b>SO much art appreciation</b> ♥ All major characters go to the Nashville Arts school and each specialize in a different part of art. Everything was represented: Carver is a writer, Eli and Jesmyn are musician, Blake is into video editing, Mars likes to draw and Adair dances I think. I was just very pleased to read about all the art ♥

• <b>The way panic attacks and therapy was portrayed was good as far as I can tell</b>. That was the part of the story that dealt with mental health in a good way, as the panic attacks seemed to be described in a very thorough and accurate way, as was the therapy sessions with Dr. Mendez.

• <b>There was so much Diversity in the book</b>! Carver is dealing with panic attacks. Jesmyn and Mars are both people of color. Blake is gay and Carver’s sister Georgia had been in therapy prior to the book.

• <b>The ending was really great and perfect</b>! I loved how everything was resolved in a realistic way, even though I wished we’d seen Nana Betsy one more time because she was such a gift. What <b>I freaking loved is how Carver and Jesmyn were not together in the end</b>, as she was not ready and it was only implied that there could maybe something the very near future. YES YES YES!!!!! I’ve never seen this in any other contemporary and I was beyond happy!!!!

<b>D I S L I K E S</b>
• The friendship between the 4 boys was the typical “goofing around, making inappropriate jokes” sort of things, which I couldn’t really connect to. I just have very different friendships, so <b>I was a bit out of touch with their friendship</b>.

• <b>In the beginning it was hard to get a grasp on the three dead boys</b>, since there were so many of them. Later that got better as we got to know more how they were through flashbacks. 

• <b>Every now and then there were a few quotes that didn’t sit well with me</b>, which is why I didn’t rate the book even higher. I’ve listed a few examples that I came across while reading.

1. How the world <b>“crazy” was used quite a few times in reference to Carver’s panic attacks</b> was what bothered me. After his first therapy session a character asks “Are you crazy now?” which is just not okay. 

2. In a flashback Carver and Blake are in a lessons and super bored. Therefore, <b>they mimic committing suicide</b> (hanging themselves, taking pills, cutting their wrists) which was honestly so sickening to read about was left unchallenged. This did not sit well with me at all.

3. Blake is one of Carver’s friends that likes to embarrass himself in public and film video about it to put on Youtube. I get that he’d do anything for a bit of laughter, but then he busts out this phrase: <i>“Dignity is overrated. People can live without it. I know because I did. But people can’t live without laughter. I’ll gladly trade dignity for laughter, because dignity is cheap and laughter is worth everything.”</i> No. Phrasing it this way? Not cool, <b>it’s beyond my understanding to claim that Dignity is something people can live without</b>, tell that to all the people getting disrespected and told they don’t deserve to live. In Germany, where I live, the first sentence of the Basic Constitutional Law is “The Dignity of humans is untouchable” so I couldn’t ignore this quote, even though many probably won’t think twice about it.

4. When Blake is coming out as gay, Carver being like „why are you not attracted to me then?“ I don’t like this because it’s a common thing people say when someone comes out. <i>Just because Blake is gay does not mean that he’s now automatically attracted to every male being</i>.

Hilarious and heartbreaking, Goodbye Days is a winning combination. Perfection itself.

Goodbye Days is an incredibly poignant and relatable story. How many lives have been affected by the tragic deaths of teenagers - friends, classmates, sons or daughters? How many stories of death and grief are punctuation by questions of why, what if, if only? Guilt and sorrow mixing to form a potent poison. Goodbye Days captures all of that emotion and mixes it with a friendship so strong it can only be called a brotherhood. Mixes it with humour and levity and life so bright it dances in front of your eyes. I was crying one minute and laughing the next.

The day Carver Briggs sent a simple text message irrevocably changed everything. Now his three best friends are dead after a fatal car crash - a crash that may or may not have been caused by Carver's text message. With a pending criminal investigation and guilt heavy enough to level him, Carver begins to form a new connection with Eli's girlfriend as they both cope with their grief and he accepts Blake's grandmother's request to spend one final day celebrating Blake's life.

This book is narrated by Carver and his voice is one of the most unique and authentic male teen voices I've ever read. He sounds exactly how one might imagine a teenage boy who is an aspiring writing would sound - magnificent words thrown into mundane yet profound statements.

I think Carver's sister might be the best character in the book, which is amazing given she's got some serious competition. She is full on, takes no prisoners, is unafraid to speak her mind, and is determined to help Carver. Yet, all of the characters are incredibly detailed and vibrant. Through flashbacks, memories and shared stories, the reader gets a strong glimpse of Carver's three friends and the friendship they shared.

I so desperately wanted a happy ending. One of those unbelievable, soap-opera endings where all the characters miraculously and without explanation come back to life. But that ending would not have been true to the authenticity of this story, even if it would have made my heart happy. Instead we have the most perfect, bittersweet ending of a continuing - not really a ending, not a beginning either. The type of ending that has you smiling while tears stream down your face.

And on top of everything else that is wonderful about this book, it gets extra points for a positive portrayal of therapy. In fact, it gets points for everything.

Goodbye Days is a must-read novel - sad, sweet, honest, hilarious, and so very important in the ongoing conversation of teenage mental health, grief, friendship, life, and death.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Beautifully written tale of grief, friendship & responsibility whose vivid characters really bring the story to life & make it both unexpectedly funny & achingly sad. A bittersweet treat.

4.5 stars

Can you imagine my joy when I got an e-mail telling me I was approved for this book on Netgalley? I'M SURE YOU CAN. The Serpent King was my favorite book of 2016 so I had HIGH expectations for this one. Because obviously. Did this book meet those expectations? WHY YES IT DID. I cried my eyes out and am still in mourning for my heart that was ripped out and stomped on. Clearly this is how things will be every time I read a Jeff Zentner book, yes? But I will gladly suffer through it. Because it's so very worth it.

Goodbye Days tells the story of Carver Briggs. His three best friends, Blake, Eli and Mars, died in a car accident. An accident which Carver believes is his fault. Because he texted his friends. And the driver was texting him back when a truck hit them. Now Carver can't stop blaming himself for the accident. There may even be a criminal investigation, as if working through the grief isn't enough. Then Blake's grandmother asks Carver to do a "goodbye day" with her for her grandson. One last day doing all the things Blake loved in his memory and saying goodbye to him. But with everything else going on, will it really help?

Okay, so where do I even start? Maybe get my one itty bitty negative out of the way so I can proceed all the gushing? Yes, that's a plan. So my only teeny tiny negative is that at one point something happens with Jesmyn and I thought it was a tad too dramatic and it wasn't super necessary. But that's it, really. It might be just me too so there's a good chance it won't bother anyone else and I'm just being weird about it.

NOW I CAN GUSH. By which I mean tape my heart back together because it is in shambles all over the floor. My poor heart couldn't handle the feels. If you're a crybaby like I am, do not read this book in public unless you don't mind being a blubbering sobbing mess in front of strangers who will wonder whut in the hell is going on with you. Seriously. This book hit me hard, guys. Maybe because I'm very experienced with grief and depression. The way this book handles both is perfect and SO relatable and I cried lots.

Though this book is kind of evil with it too, I must say. Because it does this thing where one chapter you're in a supersad moment and it makes you all teary eyed, but then it shows a superhappy, hilarious memory so you're all happy and laughing because friendship goals. AND THEN THE BOOK KINDLY REMINDS YOU THAT 3 OF THOSE 4 FRIENDS ARE DEAD. And then I died too. Every time. And Carver also kind of imagines conversations with his dead friends in certain situations and THEY ALSO MAKE ME DIE A LITTLE because dude, the friendship goals are so real with these 4. MY HEART. It's gone. Who needs it anyway, right?

And yes, oh my god the writing is glorious again. It is so darn quotable that I want to just paste the whole book here. But you know, I can't. So you'll have to do with the few quotes I put here and then go read the rest for yourself. YOU MUST. Jeff, if you're reading this, I adore your writing and aspire to one day be as amazing as you are. I bow down to you sir. 10/10 would let you crush my heart again. Anytime.

I also want to re-read The Serpent King now.

Oh god I feel like this review is miles long and I haven't even talked about the characters yet. Okay so I'll try to be brief. I basically ended up loving all of the characters. Even the ones I wasn't really sure about at first. Except Adair. Still don't like her. But I loved Jesmyn, Blake's grandmother, Dr. Mendez and Georgia especially. All great characters. They have my heart. But Carver is the most precious. He is so relatable to me and I just want to hug him and wrap him in warm fluffy blankets. He's a writer and kind of a crybaby and he's funny and sweet and I love him. I really felt for him right from the start. He needs so many hugs guys. All of the hugs.

In the end Goodbye Days is definitely already a top favorite for this year for me. Written beautifully, as expected, Goodbye Days tells a heartbreaking and touching story about grief and guilt and friendship while also being an ode to Nashville. Most definitely a must read for 2017 for everyone. Put it on your lists people. You want this book.

Dammit, Jeff Zentner, I’m crying again and it’s all your fault.

Goodbye Days took me a while to get into. I was worried I wouldn’t like it as much as I did The Serpent King, and I thought it was because I already knew the main plot hook, whereas for TSK, I was going in blind. The thought of reading about Carver, dealing with the simultaneous loss of all three of his best friends sounded heartbreaking and I had to prepare myself for the second-hand pain.

But apart from the tragedy that remained a constant, there were so many diamonds hidden throughout that makes this book a worthy sibling to TSK:

1. Supportive Sibling Relationship – It was so lovely to read about boy/girl siblings with an age gap who had each other’s backs.
2. Parents. Everywhere. – Mars, Eli and Blake all have people who care about them and, boy, was it hard to watch them come to terms with their losses. The Judge was just next-level upsetting, and Blake’s grandma had my heart from the very first sentence.
3. Religion – It felt more prominent that it did in TSK, but it led to some extremely interesting discussions on the afterlife and forgiveness that enriched the book no end.
4. Jesmyn – Loved her.
5. Carver and Jesmyn’s relationship – Oh, it was complicated but sensitive and not too let’s-perpetuate-the-friendzone-thing. It was a really interesting dynamic, and I was definitely a fan of them forming a friendship in the aftermath of something so tragic.
6. Adair – She’s sort of posed as the villain in this story, as Blake’s twin sister who thinks Carver deserves to go to prison, but I couldn’t feel anything towards her but sympathy. If my twin sister died, I’d be just as vengeful, and I hope other reader’s are just as forgiving of her behaviour.
7. Friendship Squad Vibes – Through the flashbacks, I got a sense of how much the boys loved each other, and their sentimentality was refreshing. The inside jokes, the deep and meaningful chats, it was great. Although I didn’t always understand their humour, I understood that, to them, chasing squirrels in a park meant more than just a good time.

Will you cry and laugh? Most likely. Would I recommend? Definitely!