Publishing Date:May 11, 2004
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 374 pgs
ISBN: 9780142406250
My Rating: 3 stars
Summary from Goodreads:
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 wonder, Is it really better to be safe than sorry?
My Review:
I listened to this novel as an audio book and it is my second Dessen book on audio. I quite enjoyed this novel but I wouldn't say that it was my favourite book. I like this book because it was light and an easy-read. The main character, Macy, is dealing with the death of her father and has done so mainly by hiding out in her room studying or studying with her "boyfriend". Macy is basically just going through the motions of living at this point and it's not until she starts working for a catering company does she start to come out of her shell and really start dealing with her feelings about her father's death.
There were a few characters in this book that were infuriating. The girls that Macy works with at the library were just plain disgusting to treat someone like that. I also disliked Brian who seemed to only look at things through a logical lens rather than with his heart. At some points I kept thinking "Is this kid autistic?" but this could be because I work with children who have autism. I don't know it just seemed that way because he was so factual about things and he didn't seem to really have any strong emotions about things.
The book ended as predicted, happily and it was just the kind of book that I needed at the time. Overall, there were many things that I enjoyed about this book but it just wasn't my favourite. I have to give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
The Truth About Forever was another good story by Sara Dessen. But if I'm being honest, the story lacked the spark that hooked me on Lock and Key and This Lullaby. Macy is basically working for her mother when she needs her for her events, trying to keep up with her grades and to top that off, she has a boyfriend who has some intimacy issues. She's pretty stressed out when she has to take over her boyfriend's job at the library, because two of his friends are being less than friendly towards her. All of that changes when she decides to help out Wish when they are struggling to get everything done at the party Macy's mom is throwing. She helps out, and rolls into a job pretty quickly. It all takes from there when she realizes that she is now working with Wes, a lovely guy with his own problems. I really liked reading the story, but the reason I didn't love it was because I didn't feel connected to the characters at all. I found the characters pretty forgettable, especially Macy. Macy doesn't want Jason's job at the library, yet does it anyway and takes whatever crap his two female friends throw at her. If you don't want it, don't do it! I was very annoyed by that. What also didn't help was that I absolutely hated Jason's guts. He has some intimacy issues, sure, but he is downright rude to Macy when she tries to work on their relationship and only tries to make it up to her when it's too late. I did like Kristy and Bert but for a book of this length I would have liked to have explored the other characters in a lot more depth. Wes was nice enough, but didn’t leave much of an impression and I never felt any sort of spark or chemistry between him and Macy. Their relationship just sort of… happened. This is a very character driven book with very little plot – and sadly I just didn’t connect with Macy.
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