Every once in a while, I like to read something by Sarah Dessen because I know it will take me by surprise. It will awe me with its prose, startle me with its beauty and stir up feelings with the story within. While What Happened to Goodbye is not her best work, it still comes up pretty close. 
 What Happened to Goodbye tells the story of Mclean Sweet, a teenager who has moved four times in the past two years. At each stop, she will assume a new persona, be it an effervescent cheerleader, an all-around over-achiever or an intense drama queen. But nothing can quite dispel the turmoil and rage she has towards her mother since her parents' divorce. 
 What I liked about What Happened to Goodbye was how Sarah Dessen managed to capture, so perfectly, the vulnerability of a girl who has just witness the breakdown of her family. Mclean now has to bear the responsibility of both wife and daughter and I suppose her taking on a different persona each time her father and her moves, is her way of coping with everything. Moving on; a clean slate. 
 The idea of a girl who assumes a new persona every time she is in a new town is not new but Dessen does it in a refreshing way. That coupled with strong secondary characters makes this a compelling story. Mclean's father is a restaurant manager who has commitment issues of his own. I don't blame him, not after what his wife did, but it certainly was fun seeing him in "action", taking a fledging restaurant and attempting to turn it around. 
 No Sarah Dessen novel would be complete without a cast of supporting characters as well as a budding romance. Out of all supporting characters, I love Opal and Deb best. Opal is the "leader" of the restaurant Mclean's father has been brought in to revamp and naturally, she clashes horns with him all the time. Yet, she has an interesting backstory and is an overall good character. Deb is a lonely girl who Mclean makes friends with, and when she's included into a circle of friend, Deb shows just how fun and amazing she can be. I feel like that sometimes and can definitely relate. Another secondary character I like is one of the cooks. I can't remember his name but he was the smart one. I really wanted to know more about him. After all, he went into Harvard. Why would he want to quit school and become a cook? 
 And the romance! Well, it was sweet, innocent and endearing, which is typical of most of Dessen's novels. I quite like Dave but unfortunately, their romance was not something I clicked with, unlike the romance in Dessen's other novels. 
 There were some parts of What Happened to Goodbye I didn't quite enjoy. It seems that in every Dessen novel, our heroine will undoubtedly have some sort of conflict with an older female and in this case, it's Mclean vs. her mom. I suppose there's something to be said about the author's skill when a reader can really dislike a character but Mclean's mom was a real piece of work, truly! There were so many times when I really felt like reaching in and hitting her hard on the head. 
 Also, there wasn't any sort of conflict/climax in What Happened to Goodbye. Well, there was, but I didn't feel its impact at all and by the time it was resolved, I felt sort of underwhelmed. Everything was tied up in a pretty little bow, and this usually happens in all of Dessen's novels but here, it just felt a little off. 
 Still, What Happened to Goodbye was a great story, just not one that I'd want to keep a copy for myself.