The problem with ‘The Problem with Forever’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout

So….

This is the author everyone seems to rave about, huh? I have so many book friends who love this author and love her other books. But in all honesty, I don’t see the appeal. I found nothing extraordinary about her writing and nothing made it stand out to me. Maybe it’s me. Or maybe this isn’t her best work; maybe this specific book doesn’t reflect her writing abilities. I think (and am HOPING) it’s the latter.

What didn’t work? What I found incredibly annoying was first and foremost the actual writing. This author seems to be a HUGE fan of using an excessive amount of commas (and I REALLY HATE THIS TYPE OF WRITING) and an even bigger fan of ellipses:

“The kids in my class will know…that I can’t do it and that I’m getting something..they aren’t. They all…have to stand up there and I don’t? I need to…do it.”

“I….I didn’t think you’d do that.”

“Then…you shouldn’t have followed me because….I’m not your problem anymore.”

After a while, all the “…” in the text was really irritating.

The book is also unnecessarily LONG. 480 pages of nothing really. And I would have considered the writing issues I had minor details if the actual story was more substantial with a romance that wasn’t so freaking stilted. There was absolutely no quick banter or witty dialogue which is something I look forward to when I read YA. It was like the author was trying really hard to make the reader cry by forcing this awful backstory on the MCs. It didn’t make me cry. Not even once. Not even a little tear. Not even an eye rub. And maybe that’s a harsh thing to say, especially considering the tough subjects this book covers. But you know what YA book with a heroine that has a really tragic backstory made me cry my eyes out? That was FILLED with witty banter regardless of the sad undertone of the plot? THIS ONE.

Another huge issue was Mallory herself. I know a few people who read this said there was WAY too much inner monologue. But an issue the heroine faces is speaking. So I understand the use of it. That isn’t what bothered me. It was that her voice was never authentic. It was all over the place and felt forced. She vacillated between having a really mature thought process to having these immature “teenage” thoughts. And I say “teenage” because it felt like the author wrote her as an adult mimicking an annoying teenager and their slang.

It all just came off as amateur and this doesn’t seem like a book that was written by a seasoned professional.

This was a YA book with no soul. I am a firm believer that there are YA books out there that can appeal to all ages (*cough* THIS ONE *cough*) but this one seemed too juvenile, among the many other issues. I won’t write this author off and plan on reading her other books. But if they are anything like this one, I think I’ll need to just accept her writing isn’t for me.

1 star