ARC Review: Forever by Karen Ann Hopkins

**Due to some problems I've been having with Blogger, I can't upload the cover.  However, you can find a link to it here on Goodreads.**


Goodreads summary:


All I want is my happily-ever-after.

That's all I've wanted since meeting Noah Miller.

From the day we met, the world has tried to keep Noah and me from being together, but now that I'm carrying his child, no one will be able to tear us apart. Or so I hope. But Noah and I have made some mistakes along the way, and the consequences are impacting the people we love. Worse, there's a storm on the horizon, and it's sure to cause serious devastation.

If we can get through this, we'll finally be Rose and Noah; a family, forever.

But first we have to survive the road ahead. And happily-ever-after is a long way off.


My review:


I've enjoyed reading this series.  It's definitely different from other contemporary books and worth giving a try.  Still, I haven't been able to give any of the books in this series more than three stars - I've always disliked the main characters and I find the stories to sometimes be a little cheesy.  Aside from my issues, though, Forever is a strong novel that fans of this series will devour.


I just don't care for Noah or Rose.  To me, Noah comes across as a jerk at times.  I couldn't stand the way he would make decisions about his and Rose's future without giving much thought to what she wanted.  It just seems like he doesn't consider Rose's opinion.  Fortunately, he does have some character growth and he ends up changing more by the end of the story, but I still didn't like him much.


Despite disliking Rose in the first two books, I liked her better in Forever.  She's finally forced to grow up and start acting more mature, and I liked this.  She was a good example of character development.  Yes, she was still too whiny and stubborn at times, but I really sympathized with her more in this book.  She suffers a lot and you can't help feeling sorry for her plight.


But the minor characters are what really makes this book shine.  I love Rose's best friend, Summer (who is also dating Rose's brother Sam), and how she supports Rose and remains loyal to her even if it means disagreeing with Sam.  She's a wonderful friend to Rose and I liked how she was so sassy and likeable.  I also liked that we get to see more of Rose's little brother Justin in this book.  He's a sweet character with surprising depth, and I enjoyed his role in the story.  Sarah, who is Noah's younger sister, is also a great character and I liked getting to read some of the story from her point of view.


I was also pleased with the pacing in Forever.  While for some reason, the previous books seemed to drag on a bit for me, I flew through Forever in a couple days.  There were a lot more high stakes and drama than in the previous books.  And yet, there were a few cliché moments where the drama just got to be too much and I almost wanted to roll my eyes.  The romance is so sappy and I've never been a big fan of Noah and Rose's love story - I just don't understand how they are willing to sacrifice so much to be together when they're so young.  Plus, the ending was slightly too happily-ever-after for me.  Everything worked out just so for the characters. 


To fans of this series, I would absolutely recommend Forever; it's a fast-paced and highly readable ending to the trilogy.  I just wasn't a fan of the sappy romance and Noah's character, along with a couple of the other small problems I mentioned.  Still, this is a unique contemporary series, and I'm glad I had the chance to read it and learn more about the Amish life.


*I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thanks!


My rating:  3 out of 5 stars


~ Kaitlyn