The Problem With Forever by Jennifer L Armentrout Review

Hey ForeverBookers, 

I’ve just finished an incredible contemporary book! "The Problem With Forever" by Jennifer L Armentrout tells the story of Mallory, a 17 year old girl who’s had a tough start in life. She doesn’t know who her blood parents are and has been bought up in the foster care system. Her first foster carers abused her, but when the novel starts she’s placed with Rosa and Carl a couple who care and love her as if she’s their own. When Rider, a boy from Mallory’s past comes into her present, what will happen? 

4.75 Stars!

Both Mallory and Rider are artists. Rider likes to draw and Mallory carves soap. These are coping mechanisms to deal with their pasts. 

"The Problem With Forever", takes us on a journey as we see Mallory grow from a scared orphan girl into a independent, confident, young woman. 

"The Problem With Forever" is a book more geared to elder teens, I’d say. There are a few triggers, like coming from an orphan background, sex (two characters discuss it), drugs, and a shooting brought up. 

I read "The Problem With Forever" for the following readathons:  

• Reading Rivalry: A book I meant to read in 2017. It was a 2016 Christmas present. 

• Book Bingo... for a book that features an orphan, as both Mallory and Rider are orphans...https://m.facebook.com/events/491251081331385?ref=bookmarks

Spoilers below...

“My stomach twisted as my hands tightened on the steering wheel.”

This is Mallory at the beginning of the novel, where she’s frightened about going to school for the first time. Before this point, Mallory has been homeschooled because of her traumatic past. 

“He looked like he did back then, but bigger and with everything more… More defined.”

Mallory’s reaction when she first sees Rider again is one of complete shock. She can’t believe that she’s attending the same school as him. 

“Mouse.

          No one but him called me that.”

This is significant because Mouse is Rider’s nickname for Mallory throughout "The Problem With Forever". The fact that “Mouse” is italicised is important as it brings back memories to Mallory. It’s clear from this point onwards that Mallory and Rider have a connection that goes beyond anything else. I was rooting for them from this point onwards for the entire book! 

 “ Mouse.

                “Part of me hated that nickname, because of what it symbolised. The other half sort of loved it, because it was his nickname. I wasn’t sure which feeling outweighed the other.”

This again shows the meaning of the nickname, Mouse, and how it holds meaning for Mallory’s and Rider’s relationship. Mallory isn’t sure whether she hates it or loves it because although it holds them together, that’s a problem for them because Rider has a girlfriend, Paige. Paige is a nasty character, out to do what she can to break Mallory’s connection with Rider. 

“I’m not even going to ask why you freaked out,” she said, raising a honey-coloured eyebrow. “I know why. Poor little mouse doesn’t like to talk” (145)

This is Paige being horrible and trying to worm her way into Mallory’s thoughts. Paige is only doing it to get Mallory to stop talking to Rider because she doesn’t like the relationship they have. Mallory isn’t going to stop talking to Rider though, as he is one of the only people who understands her. 

Mallory, Rider and Paige are in speech class together. Speech is the one area that Mallory wants to get better in because as an orphan she was silenced a lot by her first foster parents. She feels like she needs to improve this area the most so she can move on and forget her past. 

“...there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Here, Rider is telling Mallory that she shouldn’t be embarrassed about giving her speech. Rider’s trying to give Mallory confidence, as well as making her see that talking isn’t hard, even when it’s in front of people you don’t know very well. 

In “The Problem With Forever”, we learn why Carl was mean to Rider when they first met and was harsh on him for the rest of the novel. There’s a reason behind why he’s like he is with Rider. You’ll need to read the book to find out what it is. 

There are other characters in "The Problem With Forever", as well as those I’ve mentioned. Kiera, a character who I expected to have a slightly bigger role is Mallory’s friend at school. The first real friend she’s had, other than Ainsley. Hector and Jayden are brothers who play a role in helping both Mallory and Rider see their futures can be anything they make them. Ainsley is Mallory’s friend who has issues to deal with as well. These characters are very much side characters. The main plot revolves around Mallory and Rider and their will they/won’t they be together relationship. 

There’s a shooting towards the end of the book. I don’t want to spoil who gets shot but it hits the characters hard, some harder than others.   

What did I like about "The Problem With Forever"? 

• I liked how the author dealt with mental health. Mallory had her lows but she also had her highs. Not every book that deals with mental health does this, I don’t think. They just focus on the lows.

• I liked how each character had a different personality. In many contemporary novels the characters act the same. In "The Problem With Forever", they each had something distinct that made them, them. 

• I liked how Mallory’s fear wasn’t solved by Rider’s love. In many contemporary books the issue is usually solved by love. In this case, the issue of Mallory’s well-being was solved by her getting over her fear of talking,  and while love from Rider and Carl and Rosa helped, it certainly wasn’t what made Mallory speak. She spoke because she wanted to better herself. 

• I liked how Rider had to go through things to become a better person, as well. It wasn’t just Mallory that had issues, because of his background Rider did too. In many stories we just see the main character having to go through lots. In "The Problem With Forever", lots of characters have stuff to work through to become better, which is the case with true life. 

• I liked seeing the parental relationship between Rosa, Carl and Mallory. Carl is at first strict with Mallory, but he learns that to protect her, he’s got to let her go a little bit and be a person who makes mistakes as well. 

What didn’t I like about "The Problem With Forever"?

• I didn’t so much like how the book’s focus was the relationship between Mallory and Rider. Yes, this is important, but other characters such as Ainsley, and a major plot point later in the book got a bit glossed over, I thought.

Overall then, I loved "The Problem With Forever" If I could have added one thing it would have been more backstory to some of the minor characters so that’s why I’m giving the book 4.75 Stuars! I definitely recommend it if you want a book about teenagers with a troubled past who work toward getting past their demons. 

Stand by for my next review coming soon...