The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

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A long, hot summer... that's what Macy has to look forward to while her boyfriend, Jason, is away at Brain Camp. Days will be spent at a boring job in the library, evenings will be filled with the vocabulary drills for the SATs, and spare time will be passed with her mother, the two of them sharing a silent grief at the traumatic loss of Macy's father. But sometimes unexpected things can happen -- things such as the catering job at Wish, with its fun-loving, chaotic crew. Or her sister's project of renovating the neglected beach house, awakening long-buried memories. Things such as meeting Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, the kind of boy who could turn any girl's world upside down. As Macy ventures out of her shell, she begins to wonder, is it really better to be safe than sorry?

I got this book checked out from the school library in eighth grade. And, I clearly remember, when I was done I RAN over and gave it to Amanda and was like "You have to read this book, its SOO awesome!" I also believe I got this book for her birthday one year, or maybe she gave it to me? I can't remember, one of us gave it to the other one. Now, I have to read almost EVERY one of Sarah Dessen's books and I have to say that none of them quite measure up to The Truth About Forever.

The characters of The Truth About Forever are very real, and I loved all of them, Macy, who was strong for everyone else after witnessing her father's death, I saw her need to have order and be perfect and I loved her journey from being 'perfect' to realizing the she could have flaws and that was okay, the Wish catering team was so perfectly balanced between wild, outgoing Kristy, quiet introverted Monica, funny end-of-the-world-obsessed Bert, smart insightful artistic Wes, and Delia, the motherly figure who has a habit for letting things be imperfect, the whole team is so opposite they complement each other in a chaos-worthy catering business. I actually understood Macy's mother throwing herself into work as a way of dealing with the loss of her husband, although I did want to throw things at her in a very un-ladylike manner at some points because she had me so frustrated. The plot was beautiful, full of its ups and downs, but kept me going, and cheering the characters on and kept reading when they had their downs there was funny moments, and little things that kept me reading, even when I wanted to yell at the characters and tell them to stop being so stupid. The dialogue was super cute, I loved Wes and Macy's game of Truth which kept adding background on the characters without being random, I also loved how witty the dialogue was, everyone had funny lines and everyone had something sweet to say. Overall this book is definitely one of my favs!

xoxo,

Shelbie