The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout (2016)

After she was adopted at age 14 by Carl and Rosa, the last thing Mallory was ready for was to go to public school. While she’s grateful for being adopted, she was taken away from her best friend of ten years, Rider. And she thinks she’ll never see him again, until she decides to go to public school her senior year. When she walks into her last class of the day, she runs into Rider, and the two instantly rebuild their connection. Quickly, their old routine falls in place, but now their under different circumstances. Rider no longer needs to protect Mallory, but needs to protect himself from the world he’s delved into. At the same time, they aren’t kids anymore, and their relationship isn’t the same. Slowly, they come forward with their feelings for each other, but it’s much more complicated than. They have a restless past together, and in order to make their new relationship work, they need to come in terms with how they ended up together.

Before even starting this, I knew I would like it. For a few years, I have been a huge fan of Jennifer L. Armentrout, especially her Lux series. She writes a wide range of genres, including both young adult and adult. I was also really excited to read The Problem With Forever because I was really craving to read a contemporary, since I have been reading a lot of fantasy.

I’ll be the first to say it: this book is a cutesy, gushy teen romance. And I totally loved it. Yes, the plot wasn’t that original, and every twist and turn was totally predictable. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the Perfect Chemistry trilogy by Simone Elkeles. Except, while that trilogy is really light and fluffy, The Problem With Forever is a lot heavier of a read. First, because it’s almost 500 pages. Mostly, though, because it dealt with a lot of tough issues, including PTSD. I don’t know if it was the most accurate portrayal of PTSD, but it did get the point across that it can affect a person hugely. In Mallory’s case, she had a hard time speaking because for years she had been told to stay silent. The book also showed how brutal the foster care system can be, specifically when kids aren’t adopted early on. In my experience, I’ve read several books about adoptees, and they always portrayed the main characters as very happy, upbeat people. Now, while that might be the case for some people who are adopted, I like that this book looked at how emotionally impactful an adoption can be.

Along with being typical, there was some expected characters: the bad boy, the mean girl, the comedian, and the supportive best friend. Concerning Mallory, I am really torn. A huge part of her character focused on her PTSD, which is expected and understandable. But beside the fact that she had PTSD, I didn’t really know who she was. I didn’t know what music she listened to or her favorite color. However, in a way I think Jennifer L. Armentrout wrote Mallory on purpose. Learning about her story throughout the book, Mallory was basically taught to stay in the background and be silent. So, I think she literally hadn’t developed a music taste or other personal preferences because she wasn’t really acknowledged as a person for a great majority of her life. The same went for Rider, who’s character was really all about surviving. He never even thought about his future, but just about how he would survive day to day.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I appreciated how Jennifer L. Armentrout wasn’t afraid to touch tougher issues, and ultimately crafted a beautiful story.

4 Stars