Forever, Interrupted

Title: Forever, Interrupted

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Published: 9th July 2013

Pages: 324

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fiction

Start Date: 6th July 2022

Finish Date: 8th July 2022

Summary

Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething, yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year's Day, she heads out to pick a pizza for one. She isn't expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they've eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met and who doesn't even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben's charmed romance with Elsie and Susan's healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there's more than one way to find a happy ending.

Review

Forever, Interrupted is told from Elsie's perspective, and it also would have been nice to have seen Susan's perspective. As she has lost her husband in the years previous and now her son, it must be horrible as you never imagine outliving your children.

Elsie is consumed by grief. How could she have known Ben for such a short time yet felt so wholly known and loved? To make matters complicated, Ben never told his mother that Elsie existed, let alone became his wife. As Elsie tries to figure out how to face life without Ben, she tries to bridge the gap with his mother to see if somehow grieving together may help them both. This was an emotional ride. The story's message was who are we to tell someone how to suffer or if they should be allowed to grieve.

As Elsie is grieving, many characters teach her something through this process. Every character illustrates all of the different people you will be surrounded by during a tough time and what each person will tell you about yourself and yourself.

Taylor Jenkins Reid does it again; she weaves a beautiful story whilst tearing my heart out in the process; I adored how Taylor Jenkins Reid split the chapters between now and then. I thoroughly enjoyed this book; having read her other books, I can see how far Taylor Jenkins Reid has come in her writing. Taylor Jenkins Reid writes very beautifully, and her stories honestly portray what her characters go through.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️