Thank you to Pan Macmillan and netgally for this e-arc

Throughout this book I was wavering between 3 and 4 stars- but after battling it out in my head a four seemed more appropriate. I adored Sara Barnard's "A Quiet Kind of Thunder", but this book had a more serious and intense plot-line- which just made for a different kind of reading experience. I had no idea what this book was about before picking it up- other than two best friends- which is kind of true but far from the whole picture. I feel I can't discuss this book without mentioning what I didn't know (even though it's mentioned in the Goodreads description and brought up very early in the book). I will say this had a good balance of bad and good ideals- and never made the bad decisions feel romanticized while maintaining that drama and half a sense of realism. They'll be no spoilers for the rest of this review but it will mention details I didn't know before starting- but are on the blurb of the book


Characters

At the beginning of this book- I really didn't like Eden. I found her whiny and annoying- but even though I never grew fond of her, by the end she wasn't irritating. I really liked how this book explored familial and platonic relations over romantic ones (even if Eden did have a boyfriend- he was far from the spotlight) and how it built of those relationships in a realistic way.
I liked the way Valerie was developed, how she and Eden were distant, and how she was a flat character to begin with- as that's how Eden viewed her- and how she fleshed out as Eden got to know her for who she really was.
I didn't care for Connor, but didn't hate him. I like how he represented a young carer- but I don't know much about that to speak for the representation. I liked that his relationship with Eden felt grounded and more realistic- it wasn't fantasized and didn't make Connor sound like some superhero boyfriend (even though there was one line saying that Connor is "not like other boys" which I didn't like). Basically, I liked what Connor done for the overall themes of this book- and his function in the story. I liked that his and Edans relationship acted as a juxtaposition to Bonnie and Jack (or Mr Cohn). To show what teenage relationships- if you happen to be in one- can he normal and healthy. That one is right and normal and one is a disturbing fantasy and inappropriate. I liked Connors function within Edens life once Bonnie vanished- as she was Edens best friend- but Eden still needed someone her age to confine in who was not in the same emotional position as she- aka someone who wouldn't have known Bonnie as well- like a boyfriend.
I loved the development of Bonnie and how her character was handled, how her and Edens friendship suffered through it all and the tensions it wrought throughout their whole lives. I was impressed with how the author dealt with that student-teacher relationship and made it very clear, so young readers wouldn't get the wrong impression, that it is wrong and Mr Cohn was misusing his position of power.
Back to discussing Eden for a second- I did find some of her views as being a little too perfect and educational- instead of teenagery. It was clear the author was trying to show the right ideals through Edens eyes- so it wouldn't feel like a lecture, which it might've done if it came from an adult figure. Though at these points the writing was a bit too unsubtle for me. It was also said Eden was the "wild" one- but I saw no evidence of that. She read as being well-behaved despite what she was said to have done in her past. It was all tell instead of show.


Plot

This story is interesting, I was intrigued and the plot moved forward at a steady pace. I really liked reading about how something big like this could effect the outsiders and still be just as interesting as if we were reading about Bonnie and Mr Cohn. How it was still able to portray that relationship and give us a feel of it through flashbacks and recollection.
The plot picked up near the end, but I can't help but wonder if the author has a thing with Scotland- because the characters went there for the climax of "A Quiet Kind of Thunder" as well.

Writing style

The writing style is fairly simple and easy to read. It's compelling, and despite a few too-obvious "teaching moments" it wasn't awkward. The characters voice was steady and I found myself flying through this.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a book that held my interest all the way to the end. The plot is engaging and it focuses a lot on how big events can change friendships- or just how relationships can change, how life can change, when you don't expect it to for good and bad reasons. You would never want a teenager to read this and think what Bonnie and Mr Cohn did was right by any stretch of the imagination- and it does a good job of grounding it and showing the reality of it through Edens eyes. This actually helps put forward what is "normal" and healthy, and it shows a whole array of lifestyles and people.

Sara Barnard does it again. Goodbye, Perfect was perfectly pitched, a story of sisters and best friends, discovering who you are and who the people around you are. I loved Eden's fierce, unstoppable love for her younger sister Daisy, and her bewildered and angry begrudging of her older sister Violet. Achingly real in how it's drawn, it was wonderful to have a main character with a boyfriend who's supportive and interesting, more than just a YA dreamboat, and actually essential in developing the story of the book. Together with that bizarre feeling of realising that you don't know your best friend half as well as you thought you did, and set against the backdrop of GCSE week, Goodbye, Perfect was that unusual kind of book where the main character isn't the bookish, studious character gone wild, but her already troubled best friend, bewildered at how she's ended up left behind in the dark. Debating the lines of loyalty to your friends against the insistence of all those around you that you need to break that trust, Eden's development over that week in the early summer was enthralling to read. I particularly loved her fragile, fractured relationship with Violet, the older sister whose family she invaded without invitation, without giving Violet a choice in the matter, and how it develops over those days of Bonnie's jaunt off with her teacher.
Set against the backdrop of the seediest of relationships, a fifteen year old who's been groomed by her teacher to run away so that they can be together, Eden was a wonderful companion along this journey, and I ended up standing in the middle of the pavement after getting off the bus so that I could finish the final pages of this. Barnard is quickly becoming a leading voice in UKYA, and her pitch-perfect depiction of those awkward and frustrating teenage years where everyone looks at you like you'll grow up and learn how wrong you were soon is more relatable than I know what to do with.

A touching book about friendship and the struggle to stay loyal to a loved one while knowing that they're doing the wrong thing. Sara Barnard writes beautiful and realistic female friendships and handles a complex subject matter with delicacy and love. Gorgeous book!

This review is on Goodreads, and hopefully will be cross-posted to my blog when I'm able to get it updated again.

Sara Barnard has a gift, which is that even when the premise of her book is completely unrelatable and doesn't resemble my own life at all (e.g. your best friend running off with a teacher), she manages to make the feelings so painfully real that they hit all your own personal spots despite the circumstances being totally different. Like, who knew this would play into my very specific insecurities about friendships? Not me, but it did.

Her books also have a wonderful focus on friendship where it's central to the story, whatever else is going on. This book has romance, although it's established before the timeline of the book so there isn't a need to dedicate time to watching it develop. This book has sibling relationships and complex family dynamics, and they're real and messy and deep. You could argue that it's as much about those as about the central friendship between Bonnie and Eden. But ultimately the story revolves around friendship and realising you don't know someone as well as you thought you did. I don't read enough books where the primary theme is friendship. Maybe I don't read enough contemporaries, but most of the ones I do read have much stronger romantic elements.

Also, I think one of the reasons Barnard's books feel real to me is because they're British, and so I can relate to the very specific school pressures and experiences. Unlike YA books set in the US where I have to wade through things I don't really understand like homecoming and spirit week and the SAT, there's none of that baggage. GCSEs? Oh boy. Been there and done that. I, too, remember staring hopelessly at my Biology revision guide and wondering how to make the information go in. Though Eden must have sat a different exam board to me if the sciences were first -- my science GCSEs were the last ones I took, right at the end of the exam period.

So, basically, what I'm saying is: I FELT this book. Even though I had no experience of 90% of the PLOT, I felt like I had experience of the feelings. Does that even make sense? It managed to universalise a very specific set of events by relating them to all sorts of feelings that people go through even if their best friend hasn't run off with their music teacher. And that's good writing. So I'll continue to seek out Sara Barnard's work, because honestly, she's one of very few UK-based YA contemporary authors whose books I've enjoyed without exception so far, even if the first one possibly had the most direct emotional effect on me.

Also, lest it seem like the book's only strengths were its feelings, I actually really enjoyed the plot too. I thought I knew where it was going at one point, but it turned out I was wrong, and it's always nice when that happens. It wasn't exactly a twisty turny thriller -- it's not intended to be. But it's also not the kind of contemporary that drifts through without a clear underlying focus because it's only about characters. (Those books have their place! I'm not a big fan of them, but it can work.)

So yeah, I enjoyed this. I don't actually yet OWN any of Sara Barnard's books -- I read the first one from the library and I've been lucky enough to have the other two as ARCs from NetGalley -- but I ought to try and change that. They're pretty and colourful and they give me feelings: what more do I want in a book?

This was an amazing story. A different and very moving take on a well a known concept. Eden was a superb character, so well written and i really connected with her. I can't wait to read more of the authors work.

This is my second Sara Barnard book and I really love what I've read of her writing. She has a wonderful way of capturing a teenager's voice in a manner that doesn't sound whiny or immature (something I'm finding more common in YA novels).

Eden's best friend Bonnie has suddenly up and run away with her music teacher, after a two month affair. Bonnie's the steady, reliable, academically achieving member of their friendship, and this move is so unexpected that when Bonnie asks Eden not to tell anyone about where she is, Eden agrees before she finds out what it really means.

What follows is an exploration of female friendship, social and parental expectations, and a rollercoaster of emotions as Eden tries to hold everything together in the wake of Bonnie running away. Eden struggles to understand why Bonnie has been keeping secrets, and why she thinks a life on the run with her teacher is fun/romantic/viable, but she purposely doesn't ever make Bonnie feel stupid for doing it. She refuses to tell the police about being in contact with Bonnie because she's desperate to save their friendship, despite feeling betrayed and hurt that Bonnie never shared any of it with her before she made a huge, life-changing decision.

This line really struck me:
<i>The feeling of something half forgotten, half finished, that comes with loss.</i>
I'm really glad there's a book like this. Friendships don't last forever, or always go the way they're planned, and that is dealt with so well here.

I will definitely be reading more books by this author.

Eden and Bonnie are chalk and cheese, they have also been best friends forever. And their friendship works perfectly. That is, until Eden wakes up to a knock on the door from the police: Bonnie has run off with her boyfriend. Who just happens to also be the girls’ music teacher.

This newest novel from the ever-brilliant Sara Barnard proves that she is a writer who just keeps getting better. Eden is a fantastic protagonist, through whom Barnard deftly explores issues of adoption, academia and identity. The other characters in the book are brilliant too - finally, a YA novel with parents who aren’t all total disasters. Aside from the cast of great characters, this is also a thoroughly enjoyable page-turner. As always, Barnard dodges the ‘boy meets girl’ plot that characterises so much contemporary YA fiction. Instead, she explores friendship and family in all their fascinating messiness, while also driving forward a riveting plot.

There aren’t enough superlatives for how much I loved this book. Read it - I guarantee you won’t regret it.

I've enjoyed all of Sara Barnard's other books, but this one is my favourite by far. It deals with the fall-out that Eden feels when her best friend runs off with a teacher. The book handles the issues with such an inappropriate relationship with care and ease, and manages to tread the line between preachy and condoning perfectly. You never feel like Eden thinks Bonnie's made a smart choice, but you also never feel lectured about it either. I was also a huge fan of how the adoptive relationship between Eden and her family plays out. It has depth and realism. Finally, there's something altogether refreshing about how Eden isn't a straight A student, but life works out for her anyway - we don't often see that in books aimed at teens.