Time to Say Goodbye Book Review

Time to Say Goodbye by S. D. Robertson

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Blurb:

Will Curtis's six-year-old daughter, Ella, knows her father will never leave her. After all, he promised her so when her mother died. And he's going to do everything he can to keep his word.

What Will doesn't know is that the promise he made to his little girl might be harder to keep than he imagined. When he's faced with an impossible decision, Will finds that the most obvious choice might not be the right one.

But the future is full of unexpected surprises. And father and daughter are about to embark on an unforgettable journey together.

Review by Brittany:

Both the cover and the description of this novel intrigued me and prompted me to request to read it through NetGalley.

The first thing I'll say is that blurb does not indicate what happens in the very first two pages - Will's death. When I started reading this book, I was shocked and revisited the blurb to see if I had missed something big, but the blurb does not indicate that this is a bit of a "ghost" or "spirit" story.

That being said, although that's not really my type of book, I enjoyed this one. I liked the humor of it, and Will's constant shock and struggles with his newfound existence were at times really amusing. He also meets a lot of people who help guide him through this purgatory he's found himself in.

What I wasn't prepared for is how brutal this book gets at times. As Will works through his feelings and tries to connect with his daughter from his new plane of existence, he watches life unfold around him. He sees his family grieve and the ways in which that grief starts slowly tearing them apart. Throughout this tragedy, more befalls the family, and the novel got pretty intense at times. There were moments when I felt myself near to tears for these poor people.

I did enjoy getting a chance to read about a father and daughter having a positive, lasting relationship. I haven't come across a lot of novels that cover that quite as well as this one did. I also really liked the supporting characters; Will's family steps in to take care of Ella, and they all play an important part in the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Although the blurb was a bit misleading, I'm glad I picked it up. I would definitely recommend this heartfelt read.