What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen is a coming of age story that (while being entirely predictable) had a lot of heart. I was getting a lot of Freaks and Geeks vibes from this for some reason even though the stories aren't really all that similar. But it had that same kind of underdog, uplifting feel that really gets me right in the feels. The only real issue here was that I think the ending was blatantly apparent after reading the first couple chapters. Seriously, I had literally everything pretty much figured out very early on. But, the story was rather charming so I ended up actually liking this one. 
 "It wasn't about being happy or unhappy. I just didn't want to be me anymore." 
 Mclean is our protagonist and she's on a path to self-discovery. The short version of her past is that her parents had a rather public/messy divorce and she blames her mom for most of it. So she moves in with her Dad (a restaurant consultant) and moves all over the place with him every time he gets a new job. Every time she moves, Mclean decides to just become a different version of herself and have a completely different personality as a way of distancing herself and making it easier to "cut and run" when the time comes to move again. What Happened to Goodbye begins with Mclean moving to Lakeview and from here she ends up becoming herself. She confronts a lot of her issues and finally, for the first time in a while, she starts to put down roots. What transpires is Mclean finally getting to know herself amongst her unique group of friends and family. 
 I think the thing that really got me about What Happened to Goodbye was the character building. The story itself isn't all that much as far as compelling plots go. However, I still wanted to know what would happen next because the characters were all so endearing. They were quirky and flawed and I just wanted to knit them all matching sweaters! I don't know why I want to do that... I don't even know how to knit. It just feels like something I want all of them to have. I liked that Mclean didn't move to town and immediately become friends with all the popular kids and then have multiple boys desperately in love with her all while she laments the fact that she's "plain." This stayed away from all those overly cliche YA tropes. We got to focus on the Freaks and Geeks type of kids and they are always infinitely more fascinating to me than the cliche YA kids. 
 "But anyone can begin. It was the part with all the promise, the potential, the things I loved. More and more, though, I was finding myself wanting to find out what happened in the end..." 
 This is a book that I normally wouldn't pick up and I'm glad I decided to anyway. In the end, What Happened to Goodbye was heartwarming. What it lacked in originality it made up for with realistic and loveable characters. I really was quite endeared to these characters living in a rather PG rated teen experience. The only thing holding me back from giving this a 5 star rating is the fact that the story was incredibly predictable. Bottom line: I enjoyed reading this but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to other people as a great book.