Rowena’s review of The Last Forever by Deb Caletti.
Endings and beginnings sit so close to each other that it’s sometimes impossible to tell which is which.
Nothing lasts forever, and no one gets that more than Tessa. After her mother died, it’s all she can do to keep her friends, her boyfriend, her happiness from slipping away. And then there’s her dad. He’s stuck in his own daze, and it’s so hard to feel like a family when their house no longer seems like a home.
Her father’s solution? An impromptu road trip that lands them in a small coastal town at Tessa’s grandmother’s. Despite all the warmth and beauty there, Tessa can’t help but feel even more lost.
Enter Henry Lark. He understands the relationships that matter. And more importantly, he understands her. A secret stands between them, but Tessa’s willing to do anything to bring them together—because Henry may just be her one chance at forever.
When Tessa’s mother dies, her life goes into a bit of a tailspin. Her father has checked out on being a Dad and spends most of his free time, high. Tessa’s dealing with her own grief but when her father wants to go on a spontaneous road trip, Tessa is swept up in it and ends up being left behind in Parrish Island with her grandmother for the summer.
It is here that she meets Henry Lark. Henry Lark was a sweet love interest, one that I really liked even though I was a bit leery about him since it was obvious that he was hiding a big secret. He was kind and he was sweet and just the perfect gentleman and every scene with him and Tessa was just fantastic.
At first, all of the plant talk made absolute no sense to me and to be honest, was a bit boring but then as the story progresses and you start to understand what’s going on, I didn’t mind all of the plant talk. I thought it was pretty great that Tessa was trying to keep her mother’s plant alive.
There’s a lot to like about this story, Henry was pretty good and Tessa had her moments but throughout a good chunk of the story, it was hard for me to connect with Tessa. I was a bit disappointed with that because I thought I’d connect or understand a lot of what she was going through but I don’t know, it just didn’t click for me for a bit but in the end, I thought she really came into her own and I was glad for it.
Overall, this was a good, solid story about a young girl just trying to find her way after losing her mother. It isn’t my favorite Caletti but it was still enjoyable and I will definitely be checking out more from this author.
Grade: 3 out of 5
This book is available from Simon Pulse. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
