Book Review: The Truth About Forever

Hello everyone! I just finished reading The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. This is my first Sarah Dessen novel but I am interested to read more of her work and hopefully soon.

Goodreads Description:

A long, hot summer…

That’s what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy’s father.

But sometimes, unexpected things can happen—things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister’s project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl’s world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to question her sheltered life.

Is it really always better to be safe than sorry?

---

Again this book had a bit of a slow start for me but it was pretty good and I found it interesting that there were a few of similarities to Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour as far as the main character goes.

Let me start by saying that as soon as I hit page 5, I was already done with the boyfriend Jason. Sure he’s smart but other than that, what did Macy really see in him? He is way too uptight and I’m very happy that his role in the story is pretty small.

Moving on to the important things, I’ll start with Macy. For most of the story I feel really bad for this girl. She is absolutely miserable. Not only is she dealing with loss, but on top of that she doesn’t even get to grieve because everyone is expecting her to be this perfect little robot. Part of that I blame her mother for. I liked the way that the story left off with the two of them but I seriously hated her mother for a while. Preventing your child from being happy is definitely a sign of bad parenting. And again, there’s the one sibling that constantly screws up and gets away with it and then when the sibling that has always followed rules does one small thing the parents flip out. So Macy quit her job…so what. She had another one and she was miserable because she had to work with two selfish, stuck up, arrogant girls who made her life a living hell. And the fact that she had friends over ONE TIME is not a good enough reason to make her stop seeing them.

Okay, back to Macy. I love that she was finally able to find people that accepted and supported her when her mother wouldn’t. Her friend Kristy is definitely someone that I could be friends with. She’s a little boy obsessed but at least she’s not a stuck up perfectionist. And Wes, I love him and Macy together. Not only is he much better for her than Jason but he actually gives a damn about people other than himself. And he got her to start running again after she almost gave it up for good.

---

 

Another happy ending. I really can’t say too much more without giving all the good stuff away. But I would give this book 3.5/5 stars.

Next I will be reading The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp