Cover Image: Goodbye Earl

Goodbye Earl

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Like many who grew up in the 90s, I absolutely loved this song and I thought that a novel inspired by it was such a fun idea. I love a good revenge premise. I thought this book was fun but was slow to get into. I would still recommend it!

Was this review helpful?

Half blown Rose is one of my favorite books so I couldn’t wait to read this. I also love this song by The Chicks so I was even more excited; the writing for this, is still excellent but the story itself fell a little flat for me.

Four women, lots of drama, lots of toxic masculinity on a revenge conquest. The idea is fun but it wasn’t my favorite.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Was this review helpful?

DNF at 35%. Absolutely nothing has happened. I am so bored. I looked at reviews and this seems to be an issue for several people. I have no interest in finding out what happens, if anything. There are also wayyy to many characters, and I say this as a fan of

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

DNF @ 17%

Based upon title alone, I was excited to read 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭. I grew up loving The Chicks' song and was delighted by the idea of a book inspired by it. However, I found this novel to be much less entertaining and inspired.

I tried really hard to read this book. In fact, I read the first 15% twice. However, the beginning was super slow and rather uninteresting. Add in 4 female protagonists (and rotating narrators) with no distinguishable personalities or unique names, and I could not remember who was which archetype. It made it impossible to put the book down and pick it back up again. So, I gave up. While this book 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘭 may have redemption later on, I could not push myself to get read far enough to find it.

Was this review helpful?

Goodbye Earl is inspired by the song of the same title by The Dixie Chicks. Four female friends reunite after 15 minutes for the wedding of the younger sister. Over the course of 3 parts, we learn about what made one friend run away from their small town 15 years ago and the other three friends backstory. Then, we discover that one friend is in trouble by an "Earl" and the friends scheme to murder the man instead of leave it to the law that they can't trust. The final part is the resolution for everyone. I wanted to enjoy this book. The premise was interesting. I liked the message behind the book about how women are often victims without any retribution for those who cause harm and the way powerful, rich men get away with crimes. However, for me--the pacing was too slow with details not related to the main plot and the characters weren't dynamic enough. The women felt like vague caricatures and the revenge plot felt 'too easy" and unrealistic. I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately the writing style and pacing didn't work for me. Disclaimer: I'm not typically a thriller reader.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central for the opportunity to read Goodbye Earl by Leesa Cross-Smith, one of my favorite authors who, once again, bas given readers a terrific story. I loved this book, loved the characters, and loved the small hometown.

Was this review helpful?

I fell in love with these characters so quickly and I wanted to be a part of their friend group.

This story of found family, love, and community warmed my heart. Plus, I love the song Goodbye Earl by the Chicks.

Was this review helpful?

I was so excited to dive into this book after loving HALF BLOWN ROSE. While it wasn't my favorite from her, it's no doubt that Leesa Cross-Smith is a fantastic writer. I thought this book was entertaining for sure with suspense an intrigue, but I think my expectations were a little too high. I would still recommend this book for anyone who has enjoyed this author's previous work!

Was this review helpful?

I loved Leesa Cross-Smith’s novel This Close To Okay, an emotional story about love, loss, hope, and forgiveness. Goodbye Earl moves in the opposite direction, a fun read about four high school friends who stick together through thick and thin. If you know the song Goodbye Earl from The Chicks, you’ll know the novel's premise. I love this song, so the story felt a bit predictable to me.

The novel's first half covers our four friends’ backstories, which felt a little long. The revenge plot starts about midpoint and really picks up steam in the last quarter. I enjoyed the ending, but overall I struggled with the story's pacing. Nevertheless, the book illustrates important themes of sisterhood, friendship, and domestic abuse that are discussion-worthy!

Was this review helpful?

This was so fun, I really enjoyed the multiple points of view and the way the town came together. it was just such a satisfying read

Was this review helpful?

I am such a Leesa STAN but this book just didn’t do it for me. It’s definitely appointed take on Dixie chicks’s “goodbye earl”. Because of that I feel like the pacing was really slow and I wanted to be a bit faster. I almost put this book down but it started to pick up around 40% of the way through. The other confusing part of the story is that it hop drawn in multiple times, and with how slow the store I was going it was too much for me to follow.

Was this review helpful?

This books gives off Ginny and Georgia vibes. It came be cheesy but overall it’s a really sweet story of friendship, and how far we would go for the ones we love. It’s definitely a slow burn and about 100 pages too long, in my opinion, but it’s a great light summer read.

Was this review helpful?

“We had to do what we had to do, yes, but that’s only because women know that men always get away with this shit, and we’re tired of it.”

What started as a novelization of The Chicks song Goodbye Earl, turned out to be a poignant tale of corruption in a small town. While slow to start, mainly because there are so many characters, it did pick up around the halfway point.

I was thoroughly enjoying the references to the song, that I wasn’t expecting it to become more. I won’t say much for fear of spoiling, but it was really well done. Told in dual timelines following a group of friends during their last year of high school and then fifteen years later, there’s more than meets the eye in their small, southern town.

I really loved it, and my only critique would be that there were so many characters with backstories of their own, that they didn’t all feel fleshed out. It would’ve felt more cohesive if the story had focused on one MC. But other than that I loved it and would highly recommend. The best kind of book is one that takes me by surprise, and this one did that.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Was this review helpful?

This book was pretty depressing so be warned. I feel like this book had so much potential could It didn’t reach. The story of four women and their friendships and personal journeys through their life and also a revenge plot. The pacing of this book made it very difficult to read. It had dual timelines that went back-and-forth without much rhyme or reason, and then the book added some weird formatting and ends up just feeling too long. I think if some of the structural issues were different. I would’ve enjoyed it more.

Was this review helpful?

It feels like Leesa Cross-Smith can write any genre. Short stories? Check. Romance? Check. Revenge? Absolutely. This was a nostalgic early 2000s fever dream full of heart, humor and -- yep -- murder.

And we reviewed it for the podcast! https://pod.link/1630865152/episode/a5ed090b4fda11ecf570fa533675ae7d

Was this review helpful?

DNF at 18%. With four main characters and two timelines for each - there’s a lot of jumping around. As soon as I’m feeling really into a story, we cut to a different time or a different character. It also feels like it’s taking a long time to get going because of all the jumps. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

Was this review helpful?

See full review on "Atlanta Journal-Constitution" website:

It isn’t necessary to cue up The Chicks’ 1999 bluegrass anthem “Goodbye Earl” before reading Kentucky author Leesa Cross-Smith’s new work of fiction by the same name. But rocking out with The Chicks is a rousing way to set the mood for this rollicking summer beach read — a “revenge novel” that digs into the vigilante-justice response to domestic violence while shining a light on the powerful bonds of female friendship.

“Goodbye Earl” opens in 2019 when four best friends reunite after a tragedy following their 2004 high school graduation prompted one of their foursome to flee. Kasey Fritz vowed never to return to the fictional Southern town of Goldie, but after 15 years she’s summoned back for a wedding and is dismayed to discover Goldie has transformed into the kind of town that’s replaced its KFC with a hotel selling $30 platters of fried chicken...

https://www.ajc.com/things-to-do/book-review-leesa-cross-smiths-goodbye-earl-bring-the-chicks-song-to-life/KUBE5OVCXNEFNN4TK43WBMF6MY/

Was this review helpful?

This one had a hard time gripping my attention. I sadly felt bored and didn’t feel any plot forming until midway point.

Was this review helpful?

The title reminded me of the song from years ago so I had to read it. I was not disappointed at all. Kasey has come home after being gone for years and this has brought back memories of why she left to begin with. Slowly the story is revealed to her friends who make up her pack, Rosemarie, Ada, & Caroline. Together these four are thick as thieves as they say and as she tells her story you the reader are pulled in as well. Won’t go into it but I liked the characters and I could see this for my wife still has three friends like this for well over forty years. Overall I liked the book a good story.

Was this review helpful?

This book was not what I thought it was going to be...⁣

Based on the title and the cover, I thought this book was going to be full of shenanigans, a Finlay Donovan type of a book. It wasn't, at least not until around 50 PERCENT.⁣

Summary⁣
Four women take fate into their own hands in this big-hearted story of friendship, resilience and revenge on monstrous men. Taking inspiration from the infamous, empowering song, GOODBYE EARL follows four best friends through two unforgettable summers, 15 years apart.⁣

Sounds fun, right? Well, I almost DNF'd my netgalley because it was just not keeping me engaged BUT luck would have it that I was able to get the audio the next day and managed to finish it that way. The audio was fun and the shenangians do get going around the halfway mark. I think the most fun part of reading/listening to this book was listening to the two Dixie Chicks albums that came out around the time I graduated high school -- I remembered ALL (shockingly) of the words and had an absolute ball belting out the extremely fun songs from those two albums.⁣

Thank you @netgalley for this free copy for review!⁣

What songs from high school (and what class? I'm Class of '99! 🙌) do you remember all the words?

Was this review helpful?