Review: Forever, Interrupted by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Summary (courtesy of Goodreads):   “Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.”

Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met—and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending.

And here's what I thought:  I received this book from the publisher, and honestly, it was perfect timing.  I had just finished slogging through two books that I wasn't really wild about, and when I saw this book, I figured it would be a nice change.   And it was; I sat down, and read this book in one day because I just kept turning the pages.

As you can see from the summary, Elsie and Ben have only been married for a short time before something awful happens to Ben.  From that point on, the book is told in back-and-forth timing, where we're in the past, to learn about how the two of them met, and also what is happening with Elsie in the present.   I liked Elsie, and Ben, and I found that was what really kept me reading, although there's a steady pace to this book that makes it easy to keep going, as well.

The author weaves together a handful of relationships in this book, and I felt that most of the time, they, and the additional characters, were pretty realistically written.  I will say that I thought once or twice that the character of Ben's mother was a little too good to be true.   The extremely quick pace of Ben and Elsie's relationship also seemed a little too fast for me.  However, I believe that if you meet The One, then you know (because, even though it took me a few months, this happened to me).  But, I still enjoyed the story.   I will admit that once or twice, I got a little choked up; I'll be married 13 years this year to my best friend, and the love of my life --- and so reading about Elsie's relationship with Ben, and then her loss, sometimes got to me.

I wouldn't say that this is a heavy read, although it certainly covers a lot of emotional ground.  I'd consider it a good summer read, when you can set aside some time to become immersed in the story, and keep turning the pages.  

First lines: "Have you decided if you're going to change your name?" Ben asks me.  He is sitting on the opposite end of the couch, rubbing my feet.  He looks so cute.  How did I end up with someone so goddamn cute?