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    The Good Goodbye
    The Good Goodbye
    The Good Goodbye
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Good Goodbye

    Written by Carla Buckley

    Narrated by Ali Ahn, Suzy Jackson and Eva Kaminsky

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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. Carla Buckley is the author of THE DEEPEST SECRET, INVISIBLE, and THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE, which was nominated for a Thriller Award as a best first novel, and the Ohioana Book Award for fiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJan 12, 2016
    ISBN9781501904493
    The Good Goodbye

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    Reviews for The Good Goodbye

    4/5

    70 ratings13 reviews

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    • 3/5
      First a brief rant: Publishers really need to quit slapping the word “thriller” on everything just because books like Gone Girl and Girl on the Train have been so popular. Misapplication of the term just leads to reader disappointment and confusion about the meaning of the word. The Good Goodbye is not, in fact, a thriller, despite that word appearing prominently on the book jacket. It is, however, good domestic fiction focused on family, relationships, secrets and lies.Rory and Arden are cousins who have grown up as close as sisters. When a failed investment destroys the girls’ plans for college, they end up attending a nearby state university rather than their dream colleges. Then a deadly fire puts both girls in the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Family tensions and secrets come to light as the parents wait for the girls to regain consciousness. An engaging read – as long as you don’t expect it to be a thriller.
    • 4/5
      Good book. It was a surprise.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      What an involved story. So many twists and turns for the reader to keep up with. This is the story of Arden and Rory who grow up like sisters but are actually cousins. There are many secrets for both families that eventually come to the surface as the story progresses. When tragedy strikes the girls both families must face reality and deal with the challenges. This is a good read and I highly recommend it.
    • 5/5
      This was an excellent book and I read it straight through! It's about two cousins, Arden and Rory who are as close as sisters. Arden's mother, Natalie and Rory's father, Vince own a restaurant together. They haven't spoken to each other in months. As she leaves the restaurant to celebrate her wedding anniversary with her husband, she gets the phone call that every parent fears. Both girls were in a fire at college and are in critical condition. Another student is dead and the police suspect arson. The story goes back and forth as they try to piece everything together to see how something so terrible could have happened to their daughters. This is a real page turner, definitely recommended!
    • 4/5
      This book tells the story of two cousins - Arden and Rory - who have grown up together but who have an extremely complicated relationship. Told from three different perspectives, the narrative jumps around from past to present and could be confusing at times. Since the time frame of this story covers only about a year, or even less, I think it would have been just as effective if it had been told chronologically. I don't know why so many authors use this device - it's kind of irritating. Even so, it's a good story and I still couldn't exactly figure out what was going on just 20 pages from the end of the book. The author left some loose ends, though - what happened to Chelsea Lee, the professor who engaged in some unsavory practices? Wasn't there more to the conflict between Rory's father and Arden's mother? A little more time could have been spent on the wrap-up so that all of these things would have been more clear. I would recommend this book, and I'll be checking out the author's other books.
    • 5/5
      Loved this book. Probably the best book I've read so far this year, even made me cry a little (which is rare).Rory and Arden are like sisters but they're really cousins. Even look like twins some say but their personalities say otherwise; they couldn't be more different.This is a story with many layers told in different perspectives and different times that lead you up to what's presently happening. I will admit, at times the jumping around got a little confusing but it didn't distract me from the story at all.Highly recommend.
    • 3/5
      I just completed The Good Goodbye by Carla Buckley, in which a family succumbs to the torturous ordeal of keeping vigil at a hospital, as they slowly piece together what occurred in a deadly fire that critically injures two cousins, Arden and Rory. Although this novel received such high ratings from readers, I felt detached for much of the story, and the pace of the novel seemed to proceed far too slowly for me. I also wondered if my detachment to the story stemmed from the fact that I never felt truly empathetic to any of the characters in the novel. It seemed that this story was riddled with main characters that were all flawed in some way. The two cousins definitely had self esteem issues; Vince was always after a big gamble or risky investment; Chelsea was a liar; Natalie compromised her life when she once thought she would never have children, a house, and a dog. Even her marriage to Theo seemed to be a compromise of sorts. And then Gabrielle was an enigma throughout the novel, and the author developed her character quite deftly as the novel proceeded. The Good Goodbye was a brilliant example of how families can be far less than perfect, and how family members might influence each other.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. I normally like books that are told from different points of view, but this one was at times a little confusing. It jumped back and forth and all over the place. That being said, this story was pretty dang good. It follows two cousins fighting for their lives after a fire in their dorm room and the secrets surrounding the cause. And it has a nice little twist at the end. Definitely a thumbs up.
    • 4/5
      I love Carla Buckley's writing style and always get excited when I see she has a new book coming out. The Good Goodbye did not disappoint. I enjoyed the change of narrators throughout the book. As soon as I started reading the book I did not want to put it down, The story was very interesting and did not disappoint when all was revealed at the end. I can't wait to read Carla Buckley's next book.
    • 5/5
      I started this book and could not put it down. It is a captivating story. The characters are intriguing and finding out what happens to them and how this story unfolds keeps the reader on edge. I read this long into the night and finished it in one day. It's a book any parent should read. I think book clubs would find a lot to talk about with this book also.
    • 4/5
      I received the Good Goodbye in the Goodreads Giveaway. Rory and Arden are cousins that have grown up together and are attending the same college. As the book opens they have been critically injured escaping a fire in their dorm room. Told from the point of view of Natalie, Arden's mother, Arden, and Rory in a series of flashbacks and present day narratives, the story seeks to uncover the cause of the fire and the events that lead up to it. Secrets are uncovered making you ask yourself if you can ever really know someone, especially your children. Every chapter offers more insight into the character's lives and adds to the complexity of the story. This was a hard book to put down and I enjoyed the surprise twist at the end.
    • 4/5
      Arden and Rory are cousins, raised together, as close as sisters. Arden's mom and Rory's dad own a restaurant together that is not doing well. Rory is expected to go to Harvard, Arden wants to go thousands of miles away to an art school but the money is no longer there. Both girls go to a college where their grandfather is on the board. A fire in their room will leave both girls critically injured and one young man dead. How well do we know our children? These girls had some major secrets, secrets that are told in back stories as both sets of parents fear to leave their hospital rooms. A detective investigating exposes things neither sets of parents knew anything about. Who set the fire? Was it set on purpose? All questions that kept me totally hooked into this story.Maybe because I'm a mom, sent many to college, really how do we know what is happening there? Anyway, yesterday I could literally not put this one down. That hasn't happened to me in a long time, but I really wanted to know what was going on.. All the things there parents didn't know. Secrets from childhood, secrets as they grew up together, and lastly what really happened in that room. I really got to know these characters and all I can say is that some people should never have children. Major twist at the end too. Loved it!!!ARC from publisher.