The Last Time we Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Cynthia Hand's website
Expected publication date:  February 10, 2015

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Description (taken from Cynthia Hand's website):

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

Lex is a senior in high school trying to deal with her brother's death.  With Dave the psychiatrist's attempt to help her, he asks her to write about memories of her brother.  And as the story weaves through Lex: her home-life and her school-life, she travels back to her favorite memories of her brother.  But as she tries to cope with her life moving on, can she accept that her brother's is over?  Can she answer the whys and the what ifs?

With the fallout of her brother's suicide, Lex and her mother have distanced themselves.  Coming from an imperfect family and coping with visions of her brother's ghost, Lex just wants to move on without the hurt.  Then one of her childhood friends shows up and offers a way to help her mourn and move on.  But she's still holding onto a secret.  A secret that could have changed the outcome of her brother's death.

This book is a story you can get into easily and really enjoy.  I loved the story-telling in between what was happening in Lex' world.  It was really easy for me to connect with a smart/nerdy girl (because I definitely am one).  But what I absolutely loved was watching Lex try to reconcile her mistakes with her brother's mistakes.  And the fact that some romance creeps up on you in the story without seeming overwhelming.  This book is a story about a girl dealing with death.  And it's good.

Honestly, I loved this one.  And it's coming from someone who isn't a huge fan of contemporaries.  This book would be the reason why I have to pick up a contemporary every now and then.

Thanks goes to Around the World ARC Tours for providing me a review copy.