poorashleu's review against another edition
4.0
This book series is like a comforting warm hug and I love it so much.
mindfullibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
(free review copy) I’ve loved this entire series and Axel’s story is no exception. The autism rep is excellent, as is the chronic illness rep. Liese does such an exceptional job of being inclusive and writing characters who have real life issues woven into their love stories. My only “but” about this book is that it was pretty short and pretty one dimensional with the entire story taking place with almost no outside influences. I love the series though and can’t wait for more!
maggiekdean's review against another edition
4.5
Once again, Chloe Liese delivers a super sweet, cozy romance! I am usually not a fan of grumpy/sunshine tropes because I feel like authors will lean a little too far into the trope and the characters come off as annoying. Axel and Rooney were both the perfect levels of grumpy and sunshine, respectively.
This book is the textbook definition of cozy vibes. The comfort of the setting really lent itself to the character's willingness to be vulnerable with each other. The way that they reassured and supported one another was so swoony and tender, I couldn't get enough!
The only issue I had with this book was the fact that they never revealed to the rest of the Bergmans the true nature of their relationship and what happened to the A-frame. I get that it fits in with Axel's character, but I felt like it wasn't in the spirit of the genre for that loose end not to be tied up. I mean, at the very least they could have told the truth to Ryder and Willa, but I digress.
Chloe Liese is working her way onto my list of insta-buy authors. She writes such amazing and well-developed charactersand I will never not recommend one of her books! (update: I read If Only You and therefore revoke this statement).
This book is the textbook definition of cozy vibes. The comfort of the setting really lent itself to the character's willingness to be vulnerable with each other. The way that they reassured and supported one another was so swoony and tender, I couldn't get enough!
The only issue I had with this book was the fact that they never revealed to the rest of the Bergmans the true nature of their relationship and what happened to the A-frame. I get that it fits in with Axel's character, but I felt like it wasn't in the spirit of the genre for that loose end not to be tied up. I mean, at the very least they could have told the truth to Ryder and Willa, but I digress.
Chloe Liese is working her way onto my list of insta-buy authors. She writes such amazing and well-developed characters
gingerspice's review against another edition
5.0
I don’t even know where to start. I LOVED this book so much! Chloe just writes the most perfect stories of real people! This is my favorite Bergman Brother book because of Rooney! I don’t want to leave any spoilers but she is the first female character that I’ve connected with on such a personal level. Thank you Chloe for bringing to light to something invisible a lot of people struggle with. And Axel was just SWOON to the 100! Honestly it only took me two days to read this because I purposely tried to read slow so this book wouldn’t end.
kendra's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
cakt1991's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
With You Forever is perhaps my least favorite in the series. There are still some very high highs here, but there’s also some low lows mixed in, making this a very polarizing reading experience for me.
The character work, especially how it realistically portrays disability, is Liese’s consistent strength. While I don’t personally have ulcerative colitis, I appreciated seeing the rep on the page through Rooney’s character and how it impacts her daily life. Axel is also pretty solid, and while he’s not my favorite Bergman brother, I do appreciate seeing how he navigates the world as an autistic person, and drawing comparisons and contrasts to both my own experience and that of other autistic Liese characters.
The romance itself is where it fell apart for me. It seemed like it wanted to do too much with too little. Rooney and Axel are already into each other at the start, so the stakes feel pretty low to begin with, and the marriage of convenience itself didn’t feel super consequential for most of the book. And what it actually is is friends-with-benefits/no-strings sex, with a plan to eventually break up when they’re tired of each other, and in most cases, I’ve found that this type of dynamic is just not for me, because then the development is inevitably weighted to the sexual chemistry as opposed to establishing a deeper connection, and unfortunately, that felt very much the case here.
But on the bright side, the family dynamics remain fun, almost stealing the show at times. I particularly loved some of the callbacks to earlier books, like my current favorite, Aiden and his romance reading.
While I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the others, I’m clearly in the minority here. If contemporary marriage-of-convenience and friends-with-benefits are your favorite tropes, I think you’ll enjoy this one more than I did.
ssepko's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
emjm's review against another edition
4.0
Because I've actually written out a review for most of the others in this series.... I feel somewhat generous giving this 4 stars. Not to say I didn't enjoy it (I clearly did), but I think I had my hopes set too high. If you read my review on the two books before this one, I specifically mention how much I can't wait for Axel's book.
I love Axel, and, as I suspected I would based on the snippets we've seen of him through the series, I really related to him in many ways (and not so much in other ways, but ya know). I was mainly disappointed with the ending of this book. It felt abrupt and left me wanting so much more. Without giving any spoilers, I feel as if some of the main plot points were left unaddressed by the family (which is part of the appeal of this series - the family's interactions mingled in with their individual lives), and the ending, at least to me, felt as if it were only reaching a climax of sorts, but definitely not a completely finished story.
Anyway, I still love the Bergman clan and these books, and I think Axel Bergman is my favorite, even if his book was ultimately pretty disappointing. Characters + the first 75% of the books = solid 4 stars for me. That's how I'll justify it.
I love Axel, and, as I suspected I would based on the snippets we've seen of him through the series, I really related to him in many ways (and not so much in other ways, but ya know). I was mainly disappointed with the ending of this book. It felt abrupt and left me wanting so much more. Without giving any spoilers, I feel as if some of the main plot points were left unaddressed by the family (which is part of the appeal of this series - the family's interactions mingled in with their individual lives), and the ending, at least to me, felt as if it were only reaching a climax of sorts, but definitely not a completely finished story.
Anyway, I still love the Bergman clan and these books, and I think Axel Bergman is my favorite, even if his book was ultimately pretty disappointing. Characters + the first 75% of the books = solid 4 stars for me. That's how I'll justify it.