The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos by Kelly Irvin Review

 Happy Wednesday Bookish Lovelies :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I'm so thankful you've taken the time to stop on by The Preppy Book Princess today for another book review.

This past week, I've gone through some pretty hard things, but I've come out the other end of it being so grateful for all the amazing blessings I have in my life.

Sometimes it's so easy to fall into the comparison trap or it's easy to spend our time focusing on all the problems rather than on all the blessings.

I truly want to try and change my outlook on this, and spend more time shining a light for Jesus.

I hope to get to spend time shining a light for Him on my blog, and it's definitely going to be one of my personal goals going into 2024.

Now long winded intro aside, I'm looking forward to diving right into sharing another book review today with you all.

I hope you'll all join me down below for today's full review.

The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos by Kelly Irvin:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: December 5th, 2023

Genre: Christian Fiction/Contemporary

Synopsis:

Two sisters work to heal lingering childhood wounds and seek a new balance in work, family, marriage, and love when one receives a diagnosis that sets the clock ticking. Determined to save Sherri’s life, Kristen drops everything to guide her sister on the harrowing cancer treatment journey. When she’s unable to balance the strain of caring for her patients, being a wife and mother, and her frantic efforts to save her sister, Kristen’s carefully balanced life crumbles, starting with her marriage. Desperate to regain her footing, she vows to rebuild her broken relationships . . . as soon she’s sure Sherri will beat the odds stacked against her. Unlike her sister, Sherri Reynolds has worked to cultivate balance in her life. Her children, her job as a teacher, and her strong faith keep her grounded—until her diagnosis sends her spiraling into the scary world of what-ifs and unknown outcomes. Sherri faces the agonizing realization that family history may be about to repeat itself. With the clock ticking, she’s determined to use whatever time she has left to heal old wounds and restore relationships. Together, the sisters are forced to reexamine their priorities, address the still tender wounds of their childhood, and delve more deeply to discover what it means to live each day to its fullest.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

Cancer is definitely not the easiest subject matter for an author to choose to write about, but it's a disease that almost everyone probably has some personal experience with. Author Kelly Irvin chose to take her personal story and turn it into an emotional, heart wrenching story about two sisters navigating their way through the older sister's cancer diagnosis.

This is not an easy story to read, but it's a worthwhile one. While a lot of the plot focuses around Sherri's cancer diagnosis and her younger sister Kristen (who is an oncologist) trying to help her navigate treatment, the story goes so far beyond that and has many separate storylines all connecting together. Kristen's grappling with childhood trauma from her mother's death and her father's abandonment. She's chosen to push it all away, and instead bury herself in work. This has lead to watching her twenty five year old marriage to her husband Daniel crumble before her eyes, and neither seem able to navigate past the giant elephant in the room. Sherri has her own regrets about how her marriage ended, and how her childhood with her father was never the idyllic one she dreamed about. As time seems short and so many situations are left to navigate, the sisters will find themselves truly questioning everything they thought they knew about faith and the One who promised to always have things under His control.

A poignant and heartbreaking story about cancer, grief, familial tensions, and the Heavenly Father who is truly the only one able to navigate us through all of life's uncertainties, The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos is a book that I think will touch every single reader who chooses to pick it up.

If you or anyone you know has navigated the brutal realities that cancer brings with it, then this is the book for you. It brought back a lot of memories for me of watching my Grandmother go through cancer treatment when I was a young child, and also, while I was reading it another person in my life is currently navigating treatment and this book was honestly a bit of a reminder to look to the one who brings the light in an otherwise dark situation.

Final Rating: 4/5.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this one! 

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)