The Problem With Forever – The Argle Bargle

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publish Date: June 16th 2016

Genre: YA

Rating: 4.5 stars

“For some people, silence is a weapon. For Mallory “Mouse” Dodge, it’s a shield. Growing up, she learned that the best way to survive was to say nothing. And even though it’s been four years since her nightmare ended, she’s beginning to worry that the fear that holds her back will last a lifetime.

Now, after years of homeschooling with loving adoptive parents, Mallory must face a new milestone—spending her senior year at public high school. But of all the terrifying and exhilarating scenarios she’s imagined, there’s one she never dreamed of—that she’d run into Rider Stark, the friend and protector she hasn’t seen since childhood, on her very first day.

It doesn’t take long for Mallory to realize that the connection she shared with Rider never really faded. Yet the deeper their bond grows, the more it becomes apparent that she’s not the only one grappling with the lingering scars from the past. And as she watches Rider’s life spiral out of control, Mallory faces a choice between staying silent and speaking out—for the people she loves, the life she wants, and the truths that need to be heard.”

(I received a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review)

My journey through this book was very rocky. I opened the first pages and as I read those perfect words on the page, I realized that this book was going to be so important and I was already in love. I even had to post on Goodreads about how much I loved this one. But then that love began to waver about halfway through and I wasn’t as addicted to devouring its pages as I was when I started (I also went to a festival for the weekend so I didn’t really get chance to read much then anyway). After that halfway point though, I couldn’t put the damn thing down. It was about 3 am before I went bed and the complete lack of sleep I had the next day was 100% worth it.

“Forever was something we all took for granted, but the problem with forever was that it really didn’t exist.”

I think the obvious thing to start off is how deftly Armentrout dealt with the very heavy subject matter. She made it as easy to digest as something like this could be. It wasn’t blown out of proportion in anyway or exaggerated for the sake of it but written plainly and honestly. I think that by saying it how it was made the storyline so much more powerful – you didn’t think about Mallory and Rider’s childhood abuse as some sort of ‘gossip’ but as a tender and upsetting event in their lives, making it all that more compelling.

There was also a lot of character growth that made the ‘The Problem With Forever’ even more special. I always love seeing how people develop into something that is so much more better than who they began as. It was also lovely seeing how the characters helped each other to become the better, enlightened version of themselves. Mallory was the one who made Rider see who he was meant to be how much he was holding himself back, squeezing out all of his negativity and bad memories, turning him into the sort of Rider that could be even more powerful. But in some ways it did annoy me how reliant the characters were on each other. Obviously to develop you need someone to help and guide you but Mallory seemed unable to develop until she met Rider and vice versa – surely you could be able to develop without completely relying on one person?

“Because it wasn’t that important. Something else was. Living life was.”

And I can’t go without mentioning my favourite character Ainsley. I couldn’t even dream of having a better character than Ainsley – she was so patient and kind and, in my opinion, even more relatable than Mallory. To be honest, I would just love there to be a sequel that focuses more on Ainsley just see what happens with her and her own storyline that was starting to take shape here. The rest of the characters were just as interesting though. They all seem larger than words on paper and so realistic – Armentrout’s descriptions making them seem and feel so real and vivid.

Another thing that caught my attention was that lovely focus on art! Rider’s painting skills and Mallory’s carvings were made to sound just as impressive as one another as in a few YA I’ve read that featured art like this they were compared like they in competition of something ridiculous. But Armentrout steered clear of this which was a huge positive. Also, she made the descriptions of the art really detailed so that you could sharply picture them in your mind – whether it was the textures on Mallory’s carvings or the perception within Rider’s painting, you could easily picture their creations. While talking about art, we would be stupid not to mention how magnificent that cover is.

“And it was knowing that I could still be… still be afraid of everything, but not letting that fear stop me from living”

There was just a very small reason why it lost half that star though. Along with the fact that the characters were so reliant on one another, at one point of the book it just completely focused on the romance between Mallory and Rider. I get that it was part of the storyline but after such a powerful start, it just made the intensity that Armentrout had been emulating fall flat slightly. Like there was this very serious and heavy subject matter and all of a sudden we are all fluffy with cute acts of love and kissing. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the romance itself but it just made me feel slightly bored after such an interesting start (this only lasted for a few chapters, then things got AMAZING again).

It’s such a wonderful, heart-grasping book that I highly recommend that you get this one onto your shelves ASAP.