{Review} Wish I Could Have Said Goodye by Shari A. Brady

Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye
by Shari A. Brady
Pages: 260
Release Date: June 11, 2012
by CreateSpace

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Before my older sister Francesca died, I worked at the bakery and wrote songs, but now I write lists. Lists like ten reasons why it's my fault Francesca's dead, or five reasons why I should try and win Howie back, or one reason why I need to stop lying to everyone, including myself.
Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye is an extraordinary novel about one family's struggle to make sense of their world after losing a family member to addiction. Through sixteen-year-old Carmella's eyes, we witness the courage and strength it takes to overcome the consequences of grief, guilt and co-dependency. WIth conviction and determination, Carmella shows us what can happen when we're open to love, feel the pain of our loss, and find the courage to accept the truth of our lives.

*A copy was provided by Shari Brady for review purposes*

Wow, what a strong book.  I have never read a book with this setting and situation before, and it was pretty eye-opening.  The idea was very good, I just think that the execution wasn’t done very well.  The writing wasn’t, but the story line was atrocious, and it completely ruined the book for me.  And even though I really liked that the romance was really sweet and played a huge part in this book, I don’t like how it was written.  It’s wasn’t a case of insta-love by any means, because Howie and Carmella were dating over a few months, but it felt like insta-love because the story line jumped around so much.  There was no flow, just disjointed, random events.  The writing wasn’t very awesome either, with some sentences being run-ons, or not being correctly punctuated – well, in my opinion at least.  Also, Brady tried to put a little drama into the romance, and it was just so obvious that it was annoying instead of dramatic.  Also, the ending was really weird.  I think that Brady could have done something different and better with it, because as it was it didn’t really complete the book.

Even though the writing and story line weren’t really that awesome, I really enjoyed the characters.  Carmella is a really troubled girl, and I loved seeing her grow over the course of the story, and get over all her problems.  She was kind of a tortured heroine, and I felt really bad for her, but she was also pretty strong, so I really enjoyed the part she played.  Howie is really just a very sweet guy, and there isn’t really anything bad I can say about him.  He was nice, cute, and really supported Carmella in her struggles, so I enjoyed that.

Even though the idea and tortured characters were all set up to make this book an amazing coming-of-age story, I feel like Brady could have done a much better job finishing it off with the writing and story line, and maybe adding a new ending that actually completes the book.

2 pink flowers