[2] Actually there was such an astounding resemblance between Ayat al-Akhras and her victim, Rachel Levy, that the Israeli media, in the first hours after the bombing, spread the news that the suicide bombers were two sisters.

It also follows Haim Smadar, a security guard that notices her actions and tries to stop her, losing his life in the process but saving the lives of multiple people.

Despite the very short time span – seven hours – seen from the points of view of the different characters, the book tries to portray the complex reality between Israel and Palestine.

[5] [6] The Herald Scotland gave a mostly positive review for Before We Say Goodbye, writing that it was "an imaginatively constructed work" and that it had excellent atmosphere but that the "weakness of the story is the sense that Ambrosio is sometimes trying to fit the entire Israeli/Palestinian conflict into this short book, making a series of brief references to, for instance, the keys of the Nakba, with the most fleeting of context.

[8] Reading Time also favorably reviewed the work, writing "Young readers are likely to be affected by this unhappy story, but it is probably necessary for all of us, teenagers included, to weep for what is happening before it can be changed.