Forever, Interrupted Paperback – 5 Jan. 2023

Let me take a moment to count how many TJR books I’ve read so far. There was Seven Husbands, then Daisy Jones, Evidence of the Affair, Malibu Rising, After I Do, and Forever Interrupted. 6 amazing books written by Ms Jenkins-Reid. Forever Interrupted is the golden debut by Taylor and it’s one that tugs on the heartstrings. We follow Elsie Porter-Ross, freshly widowed and very grief stricken. Throughout the novel we experience her growth firsthand, in which she accompanied by her best friend, her mother-in-law, and the lovely 86-year-old man who frequents her place of work, a library. Elsie’s story is one that none of us want to experience in our lives but unfortunately grief is one of life’s guarantees. I enjoyed this book. On a TJR scale we’re going:Seven Husbands of Evelyn HugoDaisy Jones + The 6Forever InterruptedEvidence of the AffairAfter I DoMalibu RisingI am yet to read Carrie Soto, One True Loves, and Maybe In Another Life. But as always, I am sure to leave a review for those.

What a heartbreakingly, devastatingly beautiful book this was 💔A tale of grief and heartache, and learning to live again. Elsie meets Ben in a pizza shop on New Year’s Day. They instantly connect and go on a daylong date the following day. After a six month whirlwind romance, they get married - because when you know, you know. What neither of them knew is that just nine days later, Ben would be hit by a car and not survive. Leaving Elsie a widow after just nine days of marriage.The hardest part is that neither Elsie nor Ben introduced each other to their families. So the first time Elsie meets Ben’s Mum Susan is at the hospital following the devastating news. At first, Susan doesn’t want to have anything to do with Elsie. She is angry and grieving and confused. Elsie attends Ben’s funeral knowing one other than her best friend and support network Ana. It’s a really tough time and TJR did a really good job of showing raw, real grief. It’s not pretty and it’s not sugarcoated because that’s what true grief looks like.Eventually, Susan realised that the way she has treated Ana is unacceptable and the two bond over their shared grief for a man that they both loved, no matter how long they loved him for.The chapters alternate between the present and the months leading up to Ben’s death. The stark contrast between the chapters is deafening. The hope and the excitement and anticipation in the chapters where Elsie and Ben are getting to know each other, and the loss and darkness that shrouds those that follow that fateful night in June.This book serves as a very good reminder of how precious our loved ones are to us. Our partners, parents, best friends. A heartbreaking read but a very, very good one.

This book was different from the other Taylor Jenkins Reid books I have read. The story was sad about people’s journey through grief. It showed the characters journey well and how situations can affect people differently but not much happened in the story itself.

This is a super sad but also a enlightening storyA brief marriage that was full of passion and love and how young Elsie gets over her incredible lossTheir forever was very much interrupted

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERSOk I’ll admit it, I had my doubts about this book when I was reading it. It was cute and romantic and I honestly thought that the book was ‘nice’. Not incredible, but nice. However I was proved wrong. Tears fell out of my eyes on those final few pages, my heart warmed and I was so happy I finished the book.For me it was a tear jerker, I was ultimately impressed. TJR, has really moved me with this book. As a reader I can relate to it, as a lover I can relate to it, and as a young woman innocently falling head over heels; I can relate.The book was moving and every character I adored. Ben was a simple guy, who loved life and hated the smell of musty books. Elsie was a fun loving woman, who loved life, but loved it just that little bit more when Ben was there.Their relationship was like a supernova 💫CONTAINS SPOILERS ⚠️⚠️⚠️Honestly I thought of putting the book down because I felt like it wasn’t going anywhere in those final chapters, I thought after the time spent with Susan at the house I thought “Where is this going?”. I am so so glad I didn’t put it down because WOW.When Elsie bought that whole young adult section and made it the “Ben Ross Young Adults Section” I CRIED!!! I was so happy, so moved and it was such a nice touch.This is the third book I’ve read by TJR and she’s not let me down yet. The way she writes is so moving and it all nicely fits together like a jigsaw at the end.My favourite quote from this book is “We have to find little ways to smile. No matter how strong you are, no matter how smart you are or tough you can be, the world will find a way to break you. And when it does, the only thing you can do is hold on”.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars!!!

The topic of this book is sad, not really one I would usually pick, but I downloaded it because I like the author. It is well written and probably would be comforting to someone going through a loss as there are positive aspects to the sad story.

Too like many of her other books. Gave up on it about 1/2 way through

This is a devastatingly beautiful book about love and loss. It is the second book by the author I have now read and she is quickly becoming one of my favourites. No it’s not thrilling or particularly exciting, in fact it’s quite heartbreaking, but it’s page turning nonetheless because you truly come to root for Elsie and her future. Very interesting concept about duration of a relationship and it’s correlation (or lack of correlation) to the duration of grieving.“Sweetheart, I’m telling you, you love someone like that, you love them the right way, and no time would be enough. It doesn’t matter if you’d had 30 years, it wouldn’t be enough”Truly brilliant.