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A review by soog
The Goodbye Kids by Debbie Iancu-Haddad
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I received a free copy of this book as part of a StoryGraph giveaway
This book was... strange. It was pretty easy to read, maybe aimed at a slightly younger audience, and it was fairly hooking. I think my main issue with it was the amount of unused potential. It began with a very interesting premise - it's half told from the perspective of a to-be suicide bomber, with a questionable motivation, but strong beliefs in the cause. It's set in an apocalyptic future with the classic utopian planet which only the richest/ most able will ever have a chance of reaching. Once Jorden is aboard the space station, however, the parts of the plot which most interested me quickly disappeared. It focuses heavily on the YA romance side of things, and while there is some focus on morality, it is presented more as "Jorden feels bad about lying to/ potentially killing his new girlfriend" and it doesn't feel as though his perspective changes that much throughout, except when it comes to Hayley. The romance isn't badly written, but it feels as though the author half forgets the situation that characters are in and leans into ship tropes and clichés. Also, there are some moments which feel half thought out and then forgotten. I could swear at one point Dawn gets close to confessing feelings for Hayley, and then this is never mentioned throughout the rest of the book.Nancy tells Jorden that there is another, backup bomber in case he doesn't go through with it, but this is only briefly considered and it's not clear if this was true.
In short, this was an enjoyable enough book but it didn't feel quite 'done' yet. There were loads of storylines that could have been really interesting but unfortunately were just not explored to their full potential.
This book was... strange. It was pretty easy to read, maybe aimed at a slightly younger audience, and it was fairly hooking. I think my main issue with it was the amount of unused potential. It began with a very interesting premise - it's half told from the perspective of a to-be suicide bomber, with a questionable motivation, but strong beliefs in the cause. It's set in an apocalyptic future with the classic utopian planet which only the richest/ most able will ever have a chance of reaching. Once Jorden is aboard the space station, however, the parts of the plot which most interested me quickly disappeared. It focuses heavily on the YA romance side of things, and while there is some focus on morality, it is presented more as "Jorden feels bad about lying to/ potentially killing his new girlfriend" and it doesn't feel as though his perspective changes that much throughout, except when it comes to Hayley. The romance isn't badly written, but it feels as though the author half forgets the situation that characters are in and leans into ship tropes and clichés. Also, there are some moments which feel half thought out and then forgotten. I could swear at one point Dawn gets close to confessing feelings for Hayley, and then this is never mentioned throughout the rest of the book.
In short, this was an enjoyable enough book but it didn't feel quite 'done' yet. There were loads of storylines that could have been really interesting but unfortunately were just not explored to their full potential.