This was a cute mondern day Cinderella story that is told by 16 year old Tatum.  

I can honestly say that I am not the target audience for this book, however I did enjoy reading it.  It has been a long long time since I was a teanager yet pieces of this story brought me back to my teenage years and memories of how parental punishment felt like the end of the world.  I think that my daughters would probably relate to the story more than me.  

The other thing that I enjoyed about this book was the way family, choices and communication where protrayed as some of these things seem to be lost in today's world.  

When recommending this book I think I will probably stick to the age group it was intended for.  I enjoy a good YA book, but this one was a bit out of my reach or maybe I am just old.  LOL

It Started with Goodbye by Christina June is told from the perspective of teenager Tatum. We follow Tatum as she faces the discipline of her step-mother while her father is out of town and tackles the issue of losing her best over something that was not her fault. The author does an exceptional job of developing the characters, presenting teenage issues in an accurate manner, and also providing a little bit of mystery. The biggest plus in this book for me is how the author had Tatum tackle issues that a lot of teenagers face in a responsible manner that a young adult reader will learn from without compromising the book.

I enjoyed witnessing Tatum's growth throughout the book and anticipated an important reveal later on in the story. I found myself rooting for the step-mother and getting the warm and fuzzies during the parts with the grandmother (step).

This book definitely has the Cinderella vibe; the main character lost her mother when she was young, the father remarried a very uptight and controlling woman with a daughter, the step-grandmother takes on the role of the fairy godmother, and a very special man is discovered on a magical outing allowed by the fairy godmother role.

It Started with Goodbye is intended for young adult audience and I feel the story is perfect for that audience.

Break down of stars:

First star for the excellent character development all around.

Second star for the plot; the author did a great job of going for a modern Cinderella retelling all while keeping to the classic. I did not find this book at all repetitive or overly pushy about issues or themes.

Third star is for the love story. I enjoyed how the author chose to have the love story play out and I found it a refreshing change from typical young adult novels.

Fourth star is for the excellent job the author did at providing teenage issues in a manner that won't scare a teenager away from reading the book.

Now contemporaries aren't usually my style but I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The relationships felt real and that is precisely what kept me reading. It never felt forced or false, the stories felt genuine like I was watching someone else's life unfold. It had a good hook that drew me in and I kept reading to see where Tatum's story went. I loved how the ending made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. And after finishing this story I think I might have a new otp.

This book was a brilliant read! The writing in this book inspires so much raw emotion from the reader as you are pulled into it's tale. The author writes sheer poetry as you read along and get that reminiscent of being young again. This is a wonderfully written modern take on the classic Cinderella! This book brings forth so many diverse characters in such a fun way! A true delight.

Took my a long while to get into this book and I am afraid that I struggled all the way through,  it certainly was not as good as some of the reviews.  Not really much I can say about this book,  sorry

I received a copy of this book from netgalley (wish for it) for review.

I was actually surprised to learn that this was a debut.  The book was well written with well developed characters.  I loved Tatum and Abby the most, but Blanche was awesome and Tilly grew on me by the end.  The music was a great addition.  I can't resist a book with a cool band story. :)   I really enjoyed the book and will definitely read more from the author.

I will be reviewing this book shortly on my blog. I will include the author and the publisher in the Twitter link.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book for an honest review.
4 stars ****

What I liked about this book personally was it is different from what I normally read. This book is so refreshing, the plot was realistic and the conflicts and situations Tatum finds herself in are so relatable. I also think that this book is so special, because any age bracket can read this book and love it.
     Tatum is a 16 year old girl that finds herself in an extremely unfortunate situation all in the name of protecting her best friend. Her best friend Ashlyn is shipped off to a boarding school while Tatum is under house arrest by her less than friendly step mother and step sister. 
     With a hearty fine to pay, so much free time and encouragement from a friend that she designed a logo for Tatum decides to open a secret freelance graphic design business, where she spoons learns that there is more to her family members than she realises. 
     During the summer she receives a couple of jobs through her new business, including a boy named 'SK'. Their back and forth emails become more flirtatious as it goes on, and it turns out Tatum may already have met him without connecting the dots.
     This book is super fun, light hearted and an overall uplifting read. It's definitely like a modern day Cinderella story. The character's were brilliant and the novel was quick and easy to read but packed full of content.
     Christina June is a new author to me, but ill definitely be keeping a close eye out for her other work.

Christina June did a wonderful job with her debut novel! I genuinely enjoyed It Started With Goodbye, i was sucked into the book from the first page. The characters are funny and relatable, and the family issues really made you feel for the main character Tatum.

With all that being said, i did have a couple issues with the book. First the pacing was wierd to me. It was moving along at first, then got pretty slow, and then everything seemed to happen in the last 75 pages. It made the ending feel very rushed. My other issue was with Tatum. She seemed unrealistically mature at times, not necessarily with her personality, but with the graphic design things she was doing. I mean shes only 16, i believe, and yet shes starting a business and knows business lingo with her all equally as young clients. I dont know just seemed off for me.

Regardless of of my personal feelings, they did not overshadow my overall love of the book, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good contemporary read.

Charming story about a teen who gets into trouble, then has to miss out on her summer,  loses a friend. Finds her voice and meets prince charming. Loved it!

I wanted to love this book, but it just never quite clicked for me. The writing was fairly engaging, but I thought things were often over explained to the point that the useless details distracted from the story. The story started with a lot of action and promise, but it kind of went downhill from there. Honestly Tate being grounded, staying in her room or working day after day after wasn't that interesting. The book wasn't long, but at times it felt like it was. I started to lose interest about halfway through. I was expecting to see Tate interact more with her friends and family and I was expecting the romance to play a bigger part much earlier in the story. As it was we spend most of our time inside Tate's head while she figures things out and navigates things that seemed pretty obvious to me.  I was also frustrated by how unbelievably disproportionate Tate's punishment was. It was severe to the point of being ridiculous and it was hard to take the story and Tate's issues seriously. She also felt as though she was purposely written to be a paragon of virtue and good example for teens. She was always doing the right thing and trying to live up to everyone's expectations, although her bad attitude and self-pitying internal monologue didn't match her actions.  

This book was fine, It didn't blow me away, but it was entertaining enough. The concept was interesting and it had potential. I'm not sure if I'll pick up another book by this author or not.

A predictable but cute and fun contemporary romance. I liked the writing, descriptive enough to paint a picture but not too over the top and I felt like the author was really able to get into the mind set of the characters. An enjoyable read.

Really enjoyed this book.  Quick read with nicely rounded characters and a couple of surprises.  Broke the tedious  mold of Cinderella remakes and truly used the arc to create something unique.

It Started with Goodbye was such a fantastic read! This was such a fun take on the Cinderella story that explores the complexities of family, love and change. I also really love that Tatum is such a well developed character! She is so dimensional and felt so real like I really wanted her to be my best friend! The plot was realistic and the conflicts in this story are something that could actually happen. This was a book that made me laugh and made me think all at the same time. Overall this book was so fantastic and I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone!

The premise of this was cute: a teenage girl, under house arrest after being falsely accused for a crime she didn't commit, moonlights as a graphic designer, meets a cute boy, and helps the family in some way. What way, you ask? I have no idea. The writing was too awful for me to get there. Grammatically and stuff, everything was fine, but it was extremely forced - nothing in the first three chapters flowed naturally. Maybe the author is a teenager herself and hasn't studied the craft of writing? I don't know how to explain it other than it just wasn't good writing. I know good writing - I am an author myself - and this wasn't it. The plot itself may have been good (again, I don't know!) but I couldn't wade through the writing to find out. DNF

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28762701-it-started-with-goodbye

A very intersting and gripping read.  A strong storyline that will keep you reading long into the night.  I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

A very believable and emotional contemporary story. I loved that the plot was so realistic, and I loved that I wanted to be friends with the main character! Humor and heart perfectly balanced. I think this is a great book for a younger teen, but I still enjoyed it even as an adult. 3.5 stars!

What a fantastic read! I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The story is easy for any teenager to identify with (oppressive parents who don't understand you, even when you think you're handling things right? Of course!), and the end result is an opportunity to see how viewing a situation through someone else's contextual background can radically affect your understanding of his or her behavior. As adults, many of us have already managed to learn this, but how did we get there? Novels are one excellent route option, and this one fits the bill. The main character is believable, and the reader can sympathize while still wanting to see her change and grow up. The plot moves at a decent pace, and the overall messages are positive without being over-the-top. I will certainly recommend this book to students and for my school library's purchase list, and I am excited to read more from Blink publishing.