Review: All the Forever Things by Jolene Perry

Title: All the Forever Things
Author: Jolene Perry
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Publication date: April 1st
Pages: 288 (hardback)
Source: Netgalley







From growing up in the funeral home her family runs, Gabriella knows that death is a part of life and nothing is forever. Yet Bree, her best friend, has been a constant; it's always been the two of them together against the world. But when Bree starts dating a guy the worst guy from the ultra-popular world, suddenly she doesn't have time for Gabe anymore. Now the only one at school who wants to spend time with "Graveyard Gabe" is Hartman, the new guy, but Gabe, not wanting to lose her mind over a boyfriend the way Bree has, holds back. It takes a very strange prom night (with the family hearse instead of a limo) for Gabe to truly fall for Hartman. But when she leaves the after-prom party with him, she's not there for Bree or for the deadly accident that happens that night. Bree survives, but will she and Gabe ever be able to rebuild their friendship?"

Goodreads

So far I have read a couple of books by Jolene Perry and they have always either been a hit or miss for me. I am glad to say that All the Forever Things was a hit. I truly enjoyed reading this book from the first until the very last page.

One of the things that I enjoyed the most about this book that it explored the meaning of death. It is something that people do not talk about often mainly because it is a hard topic. But sadly enough it is also a part of life so I believe that it should be addressed more. And I think she did a pretty good job of addressing it. Gabe grew up in a funeral home, so she is around dead all the time. For her it is part of everyday life so she does not get why people get so upset over it since everyone knows that it will happen eventually. The least you could say is that she had a complex relationship with death. In some ways she got really detached from her emotions because she needed to do that to survive or at least she thought she had to do that.

I really enjoyed Gabe as a character, she might come across to some people as selfish but I did not see her like that at all. What I saw was a girl that did not have a lot of friends and tried to keep the one friend she really had close to her. And yes when that friend was slipping away from her she made some wrong decisions but overall I think she did her best to please everyone. Bree on the other hand I found to be selfish, they had been best friends for years but then a boy enters the picture and she basically tosses her friend to the side. I really hate it when people do that because in the end they always come crawling back. Another character that I did enjoy was Hartman, he really complemented Gabe well. He made her see again that it is okay to feel things and that she should really live her life. And for that alone I already liked him.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It might have been a book mainly focused on romance but it also dealt with so many other topics and that is what made this book so good. I am glad that I decided to pick up this book by Jolene Perry because she has proved again to me that she can address a heavy topic in a way that does not make it too depressing and sad. 

Elien