She Never Got to Say Goodbye by Ica Iova

When Olivia trades her promising career for a more domestic lifestyle as a wife and mother, she expects many things but never to see ghosts much less be one.

Her life with her handsome husband, Brandon, a successful criminal lawyer, starts as a happy one, but following a tragedy, guilt, alcohol and drugs crush their blissful world in a hurry. One minute Olivia is planning to leave the marriage and the next she’s floating at the foot of her son’s bed. Dead. Murdered. And all evidence points to Brandon as the prime suspect.

She is angry and determined to make him pay, but soon, she learns that if she wants justice, she must follow the clues that reach back into Brandon’s past.

Suspenseful, romantic and awash in the afterlife thrill, She Never Got To Say Goodbye captures the power of love and friendship.

REVIEW: 

She Never Got To Say Goodbye is a very original, fast paced, albeit short novel that left me a bit unsatisfied for a few reasons. I read the book in one sitting, which is a characteristic I love in a book personally, but I would have loved for this story to be a hundred or so pages longer. Because of how quickly each moment passes, the story feels a bit underdeveloped.

It doesn’t take long for girl to meet boy, boy to marry girl, girl to get pregnant, boy to ruin marriage and girl to get murdered. It was almost too fast. It took almost half of the book for me to feel a connection to the main characters and by that time Olivia was dead.

However, by that time I was also hooked. I was pretty intrigued by the idea of the story still being seen from Olivia’s point of view despite the fact that she had passed away from the land of the living. I always find the varying differences and theories between supernatural things like this super interesting. Iova’s spin on ghosts was definitely different for me.

The way Olivia was unable to move on definitely added to the thrill and mystery of the rest of the book. She’s both ruled by her own emotions and doubt while being a bit casual about the entire being dead thing. I totally plan on haunting everyone when I die.

I enjoyed this story a lot, but there were times when I found something Brandon or Olivia said or did a bit cringey. But, I think that’s my natural inclination to roll my eyes as anything romantic. Ask my husband, I definitely win the award for least romantic wife in history. Most likely. Ahem. Definitely.

Despite my aversion to overly romantic things, the array of emotions within the story is really grabbing. It’s pretty similar to having emotional whiplash, especially given the speed of the story. The ending was a bit predictable, but I’ll admit, I liked that it tied itself up with a tight bow.

Three stars

This guest review was contributed by The Desert Bibliophile. Kay gives honest reviews that both showcase the pros and cons of every book that she reads/reviews with a twist of her own unique personality and humor. She also participates in regular posts within the blogosphere that often include mentions and throw backs to books she’s reviewed in the past.