Monday, March 20, 2017

Forever, Again

Title: Forever, Again
Author: Victoria Laurie
Published: December 13th 2016 by Disney-Hyperion
Format: Hardcover, 360 pages
Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal

After a somewhat dull and plodding storyline that was reminiscent of books that I had read in the late 70’s - Victoria Laurie ventured down the reincarnation highway and took an odd turn at the end.

High school junior Lily and late 80’s Amber are see-sawing their stories. Lily Bennet has been having the same reoccurring nightmare since she was four years old. It is not until she has moved back to her father’s hometown, and through the help of hypnosis, that she reveals that she is the reincarnation of Amber Greeley. The same Amber Greeley that was rumored to have killed her boyfriend and then committing suicide thirty years before.

There are many ridiculous points to this book. How old is Lily’s mother and when did she finish medical school if she is only now doing her residency? I would love to know what program that Amber’s best friend went through that she should get an associate’s degree in architecture and then jump to a master’s and the of all things a PhD. Not to mention some silly FBI-in-training program for high schoolers that made Lily’s current boyfriend a prodigy when it comes to police investigation. To top it off, exactly how many teens in the 1980’s were able to run out and get life insurance on their own. Really, Ms. Laurie, a bit of research would have been helpful.

The only reason that I gave this book a chance was due to Ms. Laurie’s enjoyable prior attempt at young adult writing - ‘When’ - Disney Hyperion (January 13, 2015). ‘Forever again’, on the other hand, felt “fill in the blank” from the beginning, with nothing new or unique and at times repetitious with over the top teen angst.

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