Forever & Always

by Jasinda Wilder

[Berls]

This review appeared first at Fantasy is More Fun.

Actual rating - 2.5 stars

You ever have a dish made with all the ingredients you like and some bites taste okay, but really you just don't like it? And you're not 100% sure why, because by all rights you should? But something's wrong - they just don't go together for you or one ingredient is ruining the rest? Well that's how I felt about Forever & Always. It even had elements that reminded me of one of my favorite books this year - The Wright Brother by Marie Hall. But instead of blowing me away, Forever & Always left me feeling kinda meh.

I love epistolary novels - have ever since I read Dracula four or five years ago. Having events unfold in a letter gives things a very different effect and I like that. But a lot of these letters didn't do much for me - and I think it was because the letters never really TOLD the story. With maybe one or two exceptions, I had already SEEN what Ever or Caden (the main characters) were writing about. So the letters just became a place for emotions - emotions I had already seen and felt more powerfully when watching the scenes unfold. So the letters didn't help the story, but became like a weak echo of the story. I think the letters could have done a great job telling bits of the story, but because of what I'd already read they just did little to nothing for me.

I also love stories that span over several years, as characters grow and discover friendship and love (like The Wright Brother). And it worked - for the most part - in Forever & Always. My problem was that you had the first half of the book with this sweet, young friendship that's growing and definitely laced with romance - and then there's this shift at about - I don't know, 75%? - and I felt like I was reading awkward erotica. It was all of a sudden this shift, from awkwardness about things like kissing, to discovering sex for the first time, to page after page of descriptive sex, dirty talk, and very little plot. I wanted to hit the fast forward button - and did start skimming - I like erotica, but that wasn't the book I was reading and I wanted the story back. I think Jacinda Wilder tried to keep the story there, because Ever and Caden talk during sex constantly about how much they love each other and stuff. But it didn't work for me at all, instead it made things awkward for me.

And I love to have my heart torn out. A book full of tragedy and pain? Yes please! I'll eat that up. (I'm a bit of a masochist I guess). Forever & Always has tragedy all over the place. And at first it really got to me. But as the story progressed it started to get stale - because it was so the same and so predictable. Tragedy isn't quite as tragic when you knew it was coming 50 pages or so ago. And that was the story as a whole, unfortunately. After I figured out the rhythm, I knew what was coming from pretty much every angle. And it was either tragic or eye-roll worthy.

I even saw the sort of cliff-hanger, (supposed to be) supper emotional ending coming. I rolled my eyes and was knew that I wouldn't read te next one to find out what happens. I'm pretty sure I already know, based on the pattern. There's a sneak peak at the end of Forever & Always, but I really don't care. As harsh as I sound, I didn't hate Forever & Always. It was made up of lots of elements I like - even love - so in lots of ways it was okay. But putting them together just didn't thrill me like I thought it would. Oh well, at least now I know that I'm done with this series.