Forever Mine (Elizabeth Reyes) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

4. Forever Mine by Elizabeth Reyes

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year old Sarah’s life is turned upside down when her single mom is sent to jail. She’s forced to move, leaving behind everything she’s ever known, including her best friend Sydney. Lost and bitter in a new school, her one goal is to save money and move back home. Then she meets Angel Moreno. Enigmatic but gorgeous, Angel is almost too good to be true. Except for one thing, his archaic belief that guys and girls can never be “just friends”. The problem? Sarah’s best friend Sydney is not a girl. With their unexpected romance intensifying to places neither ever experienced, how long can Sarah keep Angel in the dark about the guy waiting for her back home?

My Review:

First, this book is best suited for young adults. Unfortunately, I wouldn't highly recommend it as it was a disappointment overall. There were some good points, but I feel it didn't live up to its potential.

When Sarah has no choice to move to another state and school, she isn't thrilled to say the least. Instead of trying to fit in and get to know anyone, Sarah spends all her time finding ways to get back home as soon as possible. She figures that she'll only be there for a couple months at the most - she's used to her mom getting out in jail and getting out within a good time frame due to minor infractions, but this time, it may be different.

Everything starts to change when she meets Angel through his sister. Angel's the complete opposite of Sarah, but a relationship starts to form nonetheless. It takes them places they never thought possible. Angel is one of the first people to care about Sarah in a long time. The main issue with Angel is that he was controlling in their relationship and Sarah tolerated it, for some reason. I'm sorry, but no boyfriend or girlfriend should be telling the other who to hang out with, what to wear, etc. Sarah wasn't perfect either, as she didn't want to tell him that her best friend back home was a guy, rather than a girl. Angel was adamant in that girls couldn't just be friends with guys. That was what most of the story was about - Sarah going back and forth between telling Angel about Sydney and then losing the courage to do so, but one conflict wasn't enough to keep the story interesting and flowing. And if she would have been honest about Sydney in the first place, the whole situation could have been different.

While Angel didn't like Sarah talking to other guys, he did have the right intention for one man. In this story, Sarah begins training with the track team. Unbeknownst to her, the coach has been known for sexually harassing/assaulting the members. He sets them up to go running for better training/practice on a mountain trail and makes his move sometime during the run since it's a private area. Sarah did catch on at that point, but managed to fight him off and succeeded in getting away. This was the only time throughout the book that I praised Sarah for her actions. Once Angel became aware of where she was, he tried his best to get there in time to rescue her. He arrived just as Sarah was running away and she was able to run into his safe arms. And the coach's past and actions finally caught up to him.

Just like mental health, there's a stigma associated with sexual abuse/harassment/assault and rape. It's not something that's talked about seriously enough. And if a woman does say she was, no one really listens. Society, at times, makes it seem that it's always the woman's fault for any reason like she consented, she dressed a certain way so she had it coming, etc. Let's not forget at the same time, that it also happens to men, maybe not as much, but still. We should not have to feel ashamed and feel guilty just because it's not taken seriously. As a female, I understand that if you were a victim, it's not easy to talk about. It will take time to come to terms with the actions. If anyone has been a victim and needs to let it out, be heard, etc, here are some links to check out:

Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network - you can find help centers around the country and there's a hotline number to call
Women Organized Against Rape - my local rape crisis center

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~