Before Goodbye by Mimi Cross

Music means more than anything to high school student Cate Reese; it’s also what unites her with Cal Woods. Devoted classical guitar players, Cate and Cal are childhood friends newly smitten by love—until a devastating car accident rips Cal out of Cate’s life forever. Blaming herself for the horrific tragedy and struggling to surface from her despair, Cate spirals downhill in a desperate attempt to ease her pain.
Fellow student David Bennet might look like the school’s golden boy, but underneath the surface the popular athlete battles demons of his own. Racked with survivor’s guilt after his brother’s suicide, things get worse when tragedy darkens his world again—but connecting with Cate, his sister’s longtime babysitter, starts bringing the light back in.
As Cate and David grow closer, the two shattered teenagers learn to examine the pieces of their lives…and, together, find a way to be whole again.@goodreads

 MY REVIEW:

3 STARS

This is my first kindle first pick of the month book and I thought this book sounded really good.

I loved how the author wrote a lot of the book almost like poetry. I did think the book was a bit long for me and I love big books, but in this case I don't think it was needed.

Cate and Cal play classical guitars together, Cate is in love with Cal, or so she thinks. Then one night there is a fateful car crash where Cal dies. (This is not a spoiler, it's on the book description.) Cate blames Cal's death on herself because she didn't tell him to slow down. Cate has a very hard time with this as her and Cal were friends since they were little. She goes on a very downward spiral.

Cate also babysits a little girl named Kimmy. There is also Bryn and David that are sister and brother to Kimmy. Cate has known David for years but never really talked to him because he was always the player jock, then something happens to him and they start to notice each other in small ways. ----> This is NOT an insta love story or a love triangle.
----> DAVID <----



But my eyes have been on the wrong things. The prizes...are not what I want.
And maybe it's because I hang back now, watching, that I see her. If I were still a blur of motion: football, track, grades, girls--girls, girls, girls--I would've missed her.
She's like...a still point.
All around her, the world twists and turns, but she is still. Like the horizon.

♣♣♣♣♣

----> Cate <----



"Because I'm at your house practically every day?" And because...The afternoon light slants through windows set high on the walls, hitting his eyes. Because of that, the golden spill of honey in your eyes. God, what's wrong with me?

There are a lot of other characters that play key roles in the book. Cate's best friend is having problems with her girlfriend who is a jerk. David is having trouble with an old friend of his that he just wants to strangle. We have drugs, rape, murder (which wasn't dwelled on too much, but they deserved it anyway), dysfunctional families, bands, love, music, music, music. The book has a lot going on, from one thing to the next. Some moments I wanted to give it 4 stars but then I would be back down to 3. I liked it good enough, but there were just too many details of random things throwing me off so it's a solid 3. I did fall in love with the writing style though..anything that reads like a lyrical soul is awesome. Yep, I made that up :-)

The ending was decent enough, some things came together for each person.

GOODREADS REVIEW:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1485851517

AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:

http://www.amazon.com/Before-Goodbye-Mimi-Cross-ebook/dp/B00ZWWG712/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1451580597&sr=8-1