Hello Everyone :)
I hope you're all doing well, and thank you for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
This past February, my hubby and I had the pleasure of seeing Forever My Girl in theatres, and I completely adored it. I loved the sweet story, the characters, the beautiful portrayal of a second chance romance, and of course, the setting of the South.
Since I'm a book person, I knew I needed to pick up the book that the movie was based off, and I couldn't wait to do so.
However, it ended up not being quite what I was originally expecting, and today I'm here to share my thoughts and opinions about it with all of you guys.
Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughlin:
Source: Library
Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date: December 27th, 2012
Genre: Contemporary/New Adult
Synopsis:
I was never supposed to be a rock star. I had my life all planned out for me. Play football in college. Go to the NFL. Marry my high school sweetheart and live happily ever after.
I broke both our hearts that day when I told her I was leaving. I was young. I made the right decision for me, but the wrong decision for us. I've poured my soul into my music, but I've never forgotten her. Her smell, her smile.
And now I'm going back.
After ten years.
I hope I can explain that after all this time.
I still want her to be my forever girl.
*****synopsis from goodreads****
My Review:
As a huge fan of second chance romances, and already loving the movie this book is based off of, I had a feeling this was going to be one book I was really going to end up enjoying. Usually, I always read the book before watching the movie, and end up being massively disappointed with the way things were changed, and/or favorite scenes that end up being left out in the film adaptation. However, this one I ended up going backwards and watching the movie first, and then picking the book up which may have contributed somewhat to my disappointment once I finally did pick this book up.
Forever My Girl tells the story of rock star Liam Page who walked away from his hometown and the love of his love, Josie, ten years prior. He's grown accustomed to his life being the way it is; including living in a penthouse in a hotel in Los Angeles and using women to feed his urges without any emotional attachment. His world is thrown off its axis when he finds out that his best friend from childhood, who he hasn't really seen since he took off ten years ago, Mason, has been tragically killed in an accident. Liam intends to head home just long to attend the funeral and pay his respects to Mason's widow Katelyn, and their beautiful twin girls. However, an unexpected urge to see the girl he never got over has him headed to his hometown earlier than he'd planned, and when a shocking revelation about her comes to light, he ends up needing to reevaluate his life, and what's truly important to him.
Liam and Josie were unfortunately both characters that I had issues with right from the start. Liam comes across as a bit of a controlling jerk for most of the book, including trying to pursue Josie while she's in a relationship with someone else, and having no thought for what anyone else wants besides himself. Josie on the other hand has a huge chip on her shoulder for most of the book after what Liam did to her, and keeps her boyfriend of six years hanging on, even when her heart's not remotely attached to him. I hated the way that her and Liam have no respect for the fact that she's already in a relationship, and even though I really didn't care for Nick's character either, it felt like the author was trying to dissuade the reader to dislike him so that we'd instead cheer for Josie and Liam getting back together.
The story took quite awhile to peak my interest, as I didn't really care about either of the main characters, and instead my favorite moments ended up being the scenes where Katelyn is present, and the scenes where it flashes back on her and Mason's relationship. Liam and Josie never did grow on me throughout the story, and I was left feeling that they were both ridiculously juvenile and selfish, and showed next to no character growth. As well, so many plot points in this book just didn't jive together, and it felt like many times things were being skipped over or things being added in that came out of nowhere and made no sense, like Nick's final scene in the book.
I was left feeling at the end of this book that it was basically like any other New Adult novel, and nothing stood out unfortunately as original or special. A second chance romance, a cheating scenario, foul language, a controlling male protagonist, lots of sexual content, and every other plot point that's so often common throughout this genre. I was basically left feeling like every single moment I loved so much in the movie were absent from the book it was based on. In fact, when we left the theater that night I had commented on how much I loved the fact that for once a second chance romance didn't have the couple already involved with someone else when they start realizing they still have feelings for each other, but alas in the book it was not set up this way at all. Lastly, since I'd already watched the movie I knew the reason Liam had chosen to leave in the first place. However, in the book this is hinted at as a big plot point, and when it's reveal finally happens I was left feeling let down, and that the build up had basically been all for nothing.
All in all, this book just didn't do it for me, and this is a rare case I'll admit that I would much rather watch the movie than read the book, and it'll be the movie I'll be recommending to anyone in the future. This book reminded me of a dozen other new adult novels I've read in the last few years, and there was nothing present that made it stand out over any of the others.
Final Rating: ⭐⭐
Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you all again on Friday :)
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
I hope you're all doing well, and thank you for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
This past February, my hubby and I had the pleasure of seeing Forever My Girl in theatres, and I completely adored it. I loved the sweet story, the characters, the beautiful portrayal of a second chance romance, and of course, the setting of the South.
Since I'm a book person, I knew I needed to pick up the book that the movie was based off, and I couldn't wait to do so.
However, it ended up not being quite what I was originally expecting, and today I'm here to share my thoughts and opinions about it with all of you guys.
Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughlin:
Source: Library
Publisher: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
Publication Date: December 27th, 2012
Genre: Contemporary/New Adult
Synopsis:
I was never supposed to be a rock star. I had my life all planned out for me. Play football in college. Go to the NFL. Marry my high school sweetheart and live happily ever after.
I broke both our hearts that day when I told her I was leaving. I was young. I made the right decision for me, but the wrong decision for us. I've poured my soul into my music, but I've never forgotten her. Her smell, her smile.
And now I'm going back.
After ten years.
I hope I can explain that after all this time.
I still want her to be my forever girl.
*****synopsis from goodreads****
My Review:
As a huge fan of second chance romances, and already loving the movie this book is based off of, I had a feeling this was going to be one book I was really going to end up enjoying. Usually, I always read the book before watching the movie, and end up being massively disappointed with the way things were changed, and/or favorite scenes that end up being left out in the film adaptation. However, this one I ended up going backwards and watching the movie first, and then picking the book up which may have contributed somewhat to my disappointment once I finally did pick this book up.
Forever My Girl tells the story of rock star Liam Page who walked away from his hometown and the love of his love, Josie, ten years prior. He's grown accustomed to his life being the way it is; including living in a penthouse in a hotel in Los Angeles and using women to feed his urges without any emotional attachment. His world is thrown off its axis when he finds out that his best friend from childhood, who he hasn't really seen since he took off ten years ago, Mason, has been tragically killed in an accident. Liam intends to head home just long to attend the funeral and pay his respects to Mason's widow Katelyn, and their beautiful twin girls. However, an unexpected urge to see the girl he never got over has him headed to his hometown earlier than he'd planned, and when a shocking revelation about her comes to light, he ends up needing to reevaluate his life, and what's truly important to him.
Liam and Josie were unfortunately both characters that I had issues with right from the start. Liam comes across as a bit of a controlling jerk for most of the book, including trying to pursue Josie while she's in a relationship with someone else, and having no thought for what anyone else wants besides himself. Josie on the other hand has a huge chip on her shoulder for most of the book after what Liam did to her, and keeps her boyfriend of six years hanging on, even when her heart's not remotely attached to him. I hated the way that her and Liam have no respect for the fact that she's already in a relationship, and even though I really didn't care for Nick's character either, it felt like the author was trying to dissuade the reader to dislike him so that we'd instead cheer for Josie and Liam getting back together.
The story took quite awhile to peak my interest, as I didn't really care about either of the main characters, and instead my favorite moments ended up being the scenes where Katelyn is present, and the scenes where it flashes back on her and Mason's relationship. Liam and Josie never did grow on me throughout the story, and I was left feeling that they were both ridiculously juvenile and selfish, and showed next to no character growth. As well, so many plot points in this book just didn't jive together, and it felt like many times things were being skipped over or things being added in that came out of nowhere and made no sense, like Nick's final scene in the book.
I was left feeling at the end of this book that it was basically like any other New Adult novel, and nothing stood out unfortunately as original or special. A second chance romance, a cheating scenario, foul language, a controlling male protagonist, lots of sexual content, and every other plot point that's so often common throughout this genre. I was basically left feeling like every single moment I loved so much in the movie were absent from the book it was based on. In fact, when we left the theater that night I had commented on how much I loved the fact that for once a second chance romance didn't have the couple already involved with someone else when they start realizing they still have feelings for each other, but alas in the book it was not set up this way at all. Lastly, since I'd already watched the movie I knew the reason Liam had chosen to leave in the first place. However, in the book this is hinted at as a big plot point, and when it's reveal finally happens I was left feeling let down, and that the build up had basically been all for nothing.
All in all, this book just didn't do it for me, and this is a rare case I'll admit that I would much rather watch the movie than read the book, and it'll be the movie I'll be recommending to anyone in the future. This book reminded me of a dozen other new adult novels I've read in the last few years, and there was nothing present that made it stand out over any of the others.
Final Rating: ⭐⭐
Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you all again on Friday :)
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
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