Review: The Things You Kiss Goodbye

The Things You Kiss Goodbye
Author: Leslie Connor

Publication Date:  June 24th 2014      
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 

 

 

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Bettina Vasilis can hardly believe it when basketball star Brady Cullen asks her out, and she just about faints when her strict father actually approves of him.

But when school starts up again, Brady changes. What happened to the sweet boy she fell in love with? Then she meets a smoldering guy in his twenties, and this “cowboy” is everything Brady is not—gentle, caring, and interested in getting to know the real Bettina.

Bettina knows that breaking up with Brady would mean giving up her freedom—and that it would be inappropriate for anything to happen between her and Cowboy. Still, she can’t help that she longs for the scent of his auto shop whenever she’s anywhere else.

When tragedy strikes, Bettina must tell her family the truth—and kiss goodbye the things she thought she knew about herself and the men in her life.

Leslie Connor has written a lyrical, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about family, romance, and the immense power of love.

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I got invested in The Things You Kiss Goodbye, I don't how or when, but somewhere along the way, I was in. So I looked at the ending at 60% in and didn't want to finish it. Because that means this thing happened, and I didn't want this thing to happen, so lesson. learned. My advice, DO NOT LOOK AT THE ENDING. Promise me? Good. Otherwise you'll miss out of this amazing concept centred around the title. I'm also just going to put this out there and we'll never talk about it again. I have a thing for cowboys. The end. Never. Again.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling. But, you know when you love a book so much you don't know what to say so that's all you do? Ramble. It's why I've never reviewed The Fault in Our Stars.

There's a lot of issues packed into 386 pages, warped view, mental abuse, physical abuse, different relationship abuse, death, love, growing up and, an older relationship and learning to kiss it goodbye. And I was worried once it got into the abuse side of things that I'd have to DNF because I avoid these, but it was never heavy. It didn't get heavy because we started seeing this other relationship bloom, that has an age gap, but it never felt weird or skeevy because it was gradual, and realistic. Cowboy noticed the signs with Bettina, though he never said anything, he just helped her, and as they got to know each other, found solace within one another and it never crossed a line, even when Bettina wanted it to. It was a friendship that turned into love, the age gap was an issue, and Cowboy fought that issue as long as he could, and it wasn't until towards the end that they had their first kiss. And I shipped them, okay? I did. I didn't think I would, but like I said, it never felt weird and there were no lines crossed.

We also see the cultural differences in The Things You Kiss Goodbye, especially within the family.  I know because of that culture the father was strict, but there's strict and then there's this. Bordering on mental abuse itself, just saying. The way he talks and acts around Bettina and her mother is pretty disgusting. I don't care if it is because of the culture, it's clearly not right, and because of that Bettina thought that what was happening to her was because she was weak, that she was bringing it on herself, that she was making it happen. So she put up with it. The same as her mother, not that I'm saying her father was abusing her mother because it's not focused on them and you don't see much, but you just get this...feeling, I guess and though towards the end you see the relationship between her parents better, I don't know, I just didn't like it.

The only really issue I have with this is the fact that I didn't get the abuse from Brady-Bettina's boyfriend- it just kind of come out of nowhere. He was apparently this nice, quiet, tentative character that was worried about touching her and then all of a sudden he'd changed. Forcing her to have sex with him when she wasn't ready, started turning cruel towards her, smaller things at first, that gradually went up into physically hurting her. The abuse was gradual but the change in him wasn't, so I kind of wanted an explanation for that since it showed no character development with him.

The Things You Kiss Goodbye should have a warning label. Have Ice-cream at the ready. Or chocolate. Or turn of your feelings.

Rating: 4/5

 

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